II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 636

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to issue new term permits for grazing

on National Forest System lands to replace previously issued term grazing permits that have expired, soon will expire, or are waived to the

Secretary, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 27), 1995

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself and Mr. PRESSLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to issue new term

permits for grazing on National Forest System lands

to replace previously issued term grazing permits that

have expired, soon will expire, or are waived to the Secretary, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in

6 this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) administers the
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1 191,000,000-acre National Forest System for mul2 tiple uses in accordance with Federal law;

3 (2) where suitable, 1 of the recognized multiple

4 uses for National Forest System land is grazing by

5 livestock;

6 (3) the Secretary authorizes grazing through

7 the issuance of term grazing permits that have

8 terms of not to exceed 10 years and that include

9 terms and conditions necessary for the proper ad10 ministration of National Forest System land and re11 sources;

12 (4) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the

13 Secretary has issued approximately 9,000 term graz14 ing permits authorizing grazing on approximately

15 90,000,000 acres of National Forest System land;

16 (5) of the approximately 9,000 term grazing

17 permits issued by the Secretary, approximately one18 half have expired or will expire by the end of 1996;

19 (6) if the holder of an expiring term grazing

20 permit has complied with the terms and conditions

21 of the permit and remains eligible and qualified, that

22 individual is considered to be a preferred applicant

23 for a new term grazing permit in the event that the

24 Secretary determines that grazing remains an appro-
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1 priate use of the affected National Forest System

2 land;

3 (7) in addition to the approximately 9,000 term

4 grazing permits issued by the Secretary, it is esti5 mated that as many as 1,600 term grazing permits

6 may be waived by permit holders to the Secretary in

7 favor of a purchaser of the permit holder’s permitted

8 livestock or base property by the end of 1996;

9 (8) to issue new term grazing permits, the Sec10 retary must comply with the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

12 and other laws;

13 (9) for a large percentage of the grazing per14 mits that will expire or be waived to the Secretary

15 by the end of 1996, the Secretary has devised a

16 strategy that will result in compliance with the Na17 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other

18 applicable laws (including regulations) in a timely

19 and efficient manner and enable the Secretary to

20 issue new term grazing permits, where appropriate;

21 (10) for a small percentage of the grazing per22 mits that will expire or be waived to the Secretary

23 by the end of 1996, the strategy will not provide for

24 the timely issuance of new term grazing permits;

25 and
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1 (11) in cases in which ranching operations in2 volve the use of a term grazing permit issued by the

3 Secretary, it is essential for new term grazing per4 mits to be issued in a timely manner for financial

5 and other reasons.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure

7 that grazing continues without interruption on National

8 Forest System land in a manner that provides long-term

9 protection of the environment and improvement of Na10 tional Forest System rangeland resources while also pro11 viding short-term certainty to holders of expiring term

12 grazing permits and purchasers of a permit holder’s per13 mitted livestock or base property.

14 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this Act:

16 (1) EXPIRING TERM GRAZING PERMIT.—The

17 term ‘‘expiring term grazing permit’’ means a term

18 grazing permit—

19 (A) that expires in 1995 or 1996; or

20 (B) that expired in 1994 and was not re21 placed with a new term grazing permit solely

22 because the analysis required by the National

23 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

24 4321 et seq.) and other applicable laws has not

25 been completed.
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1 (2) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘final

2 agency action’’ means agency action with respect to

3 which all available administrative remedies have

4 been exhausted.

5 (3) TERM GRAZING PERMIT.—The term ‘‘term

6 grazing permit means a term grazing permit or

7 grazing agreement issued by the Secretary under

8 section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage9 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752), section 19 of

10 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to facilitate and simplify

11 the work of the Forest Service, and for other pur12 poses’’, approved April 24, 1950 (commonly known

13 as the ‘‘Granger-Thye Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 580l), or

14 other law.

15 SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF NEW TERM GRAZING PERMITS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law,

17 the Secretary shall issue a new term grazing permit with18 out regard to whether the analysis required by the Na19 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321

20 et seq.) and other applicable laws has been completed, or

21 final agency action respecting the analysis has been

22 taken—

23 (1) to the holder of an expiring term grazing

24 permit ; or
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1 (2) to the purchaser of a term grazing permit

2 holder’s permitted livestock or base property if—

3 (A) between January 1, 1995, and Decem4 ber 1, 1996, the holder has waived the term

5 grazing permit to the Secretary pursuant to

6 section 222.3(c)(1)(iv) of title 36, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations; and

8 (B) the purchaser of the term grazing per9 mit holder’s permitted livestock or base prop10 erty is eligible and qualified to hold a term

11 grazing permit.

12 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Except as provided in

13 subsection (c)—

14 (1) a new term grazing permit under subsection

15 (a)(1) shall contain the same terms and conditions

16 as the expired term grazing permit; and

17 (2) a new term grazing permit under subsection

18 (a)(2) shall contain the same terms and conditions

19 as the waived permit.

20 (c) DURATION.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A new term grazing permit

22 under subsection (a) shall expire on the earlier of—

23 (A) the date that is 3 years after the date

24 on which it is issued; or
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1 (B) the date on which final agency action

2 is taken with respect to the analysis required by

3 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

4 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other applicable

5 laws.

6 (2) FINAL ACTION IN LESS THAN 3 YEARS.—If

7 final agency action is taken with respect to the anal8 ysis required by the National Environmental Policy

9 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other ap10 plicable laws before the date that is 3 years after the

11 date on which a new term grazing permit is issued

12 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

13 (A) cancel the new term grazing permit;

14 and

15 (B) if appropriate, issue a term grazing

16 permit for a term not to exceed 10 years under

17 terms and conditions as are necessary for the

18 proper administration of National Forest Sys19 tem rangeland resources.

20 (d) DATE OF ISSUANCE.—

21 (1) EXPIRATION ON OR BEFORE DATE OF EN22 ACTMENT.—In the case of an expiring term grazing

23 permit that has expired on or before the date of en24 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a new

25 term grazing permit under subsection (a)(1) not
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1 later than 15 days after the date of enactment of

2 this Act.

3 (2) EXPIRATION AFTER DATE OF ENACT4 MENT.—In the case of an expiring term grazing per5 mit that expires after the date of enactment of this

6 Act, the Secretary shall issue a new term grazing

7 permit under subsection (a)(1) on expiration of the

8 expiring term grazing permit.

9 (3) WAIVED PERMITS.—In the case of a term

10 grazing permit waived to the Secretary pursuant to

11 section 222.3(c)(1)(iv) of title 36, Code of Federal

12 Regulations, between January 1, 1995, and Decem13 ber 31, 1996, the Secretary shall issue a new term

14 grazing permit under subsection (a)(2) not later

15 than 60 days after the date on which the holder

16 waives a term grazing permit to the Secretary.

17 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

18 The issuance of a new term grazing permit under sec19 tion 3(a) shall not be subject to administrative appeal or

20 judicial review.

21 SEC. 5. REPEAL.

22 This Act is repealed effective as of January 1, 2001.

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