II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1705 

To provide to the Secretary of Agriculture the ability to enter into a lease 

agreement for administrative sites on National Forest System land, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide to the Secretary of Agriculture the ability to 

enter into a lease agreement for administrative sites on 

National Forest System land, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Service Flexible 

5 Partnerships Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR LEASE OF FOREST SERVICE 

7 SITES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE SITE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘administra2 tive site’’ means— 

3 (i) any facility or improvement, in4 cluding curtilage, that was acquired or is 

5 used specifically for purposes of adminis6 tration of the National Forest System; 

7 (ii) any Federal land that— 

8 (I) is associated with a facility or 

9 improvement described in clause (i) 

10 that was acquired or is used specifi11 cally for purposes of administration of 

12 Forest Service activities; and 

13 (II) underlies or abuts the facility 

14 or improvement; and 

15 (iii) for each fiscal year, not more 

16 than 10 isolated, undeveloped parcels of 

17 not more than 40 acres each. 

18 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘administra19 tive site’’ does not include— 

20 (i) any land within a unit of the Na21 tional Forest System that is exclusively 

22 designated for natural area or recreational 

23 purposes; 

24 (ii) any land within— 


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1 (I) a component of the National 

2 Wilderness Preservation System; 

3 (II) a component of the National 

4 Wild and Scenic Rivers System; or 

5 (III) a National Monument; or 

6 (iii) any Federal land that the Sec7 retary determines— 

8 (I) is needed for resource man9 agement purposes or to provide access 

10 to other land or water; or 

11 (II) would be in the public inter12 est not to lease. 

13 (2) FACILITY OR IMPROVEMENT.—The term 

14 ‘‘facility or improvement’’ includes— 

15 (A) a forest headquarters; 

16 (B) a ranger station; 

17 (C) a research station or laboratory; 

18 (D) a dwelling; 

19 (E) a warehouse; 

20 (F) a scaling station; 

21 (G) a fire-retardant mixing station; 

22 (H) a fire-lookout station; 

23 (I) a guard station; 

24 (J) a storage facility; 

25 (K) a telecommunication facility; and 


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1 (L) any other administrative installation 

2 for conducting Forest Service activities. 

3 (3) MARKET ANALYSIS.—The term ‘‘market 

4 analysis’’ means the identification and study of the 

5 market for a particular economic good or service. 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may lease an 

9 administrative site that is under the jurisdiction of the 

10 Secretary in accordance with this Act. 

11 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE SITES.—A re12 gional forester, in consultation with forest supervisors in 

13 the region, may submit to the Secretary a recommendation 

14 for administrative sites in the region that the regional for15 ester considers eligible for leasing under this Act. 

16 (d) CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND

17 PUBLIC NOTICE.—Before making an administrative site 

18 available for lease under this Act, the Secretary shall— 

19 (1) consult with local governmental officials of 

20 the community, and governmental officials of the 

21 State, in which the administrative site is located; 

22 and 

23 (2) provide public notice of the proposed lease. 

24 (e) LEASE REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) SIZE.—An administrative site or compound 

2 of administrative sites under a single lease under 

3 this Act may not exceed 40 acres. 

4 (2) CONFIGURATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE

5 SITES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the lease 

7 of an administrative site under this Act, the 

8 Secretary may configure the administrative 

9 site— 

10 (i) to maximize the marketability of 

11 the administrative site; and 

12 (ii) to achieve management objectives. 

13 (B) SEPARATE TREATMENT OF FACILITY

14 OR IMPROVEMENT.—A facility or improvement 

15 on an administrative site to be leased under this 

16 Act may be severed from the land and leased 

17 under a separate lease under this Act. 

18 (3) CONSIDERATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—A person to which a 

20 lease of an administrative site is made under 

21 this Act shall provide to the Secretary consider22 ation described in subparagraph (B) in an 

23 amount that is not less than the market value 

24 of the administrative site, as determined in ac25 cordance with subparagraph (C). 


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1 (B) FORM OF CONSIDERATION.—The con2 sideration referred to in subparagraph (A) may 

3 be— 

4 (i) cash; 

5 (ii) in-kind, including— 

6 (I) the construction of new facili7 ties or improvements, title to which 

8 the lessee transfers to the Secretary, 

9 for use by the Secretary; 

10 (II) the maintenance, repair, im11 provement, or restoration of existing 

12 facilities or improvements; and 

13 (III) other services relating to ac14 tivities that occur on the administra15 tive site as the Secretary considers ap16 propriate; or 

17 (iii) any combination of the consider18 ation described in clauses (i) and (ii). 

19 (C) DETERMINATION OF MARKET

20 VALUE.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

22 determine the market value of an adminis23 trative site to be leased under this Act— 

24 (I) by conducting an appraisal in 

25 accordance with— 


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1 (aa) the Uniform Appraisal 

2 Standards for Federal Land Ac3 quisitions established in accord4 ance with the Uniform Relocation 

5 Assistance and Real Property Ac6 quisition Policies Act of 1970 (42 

7 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.); and 

8 (bb) the Uniform Standards 

9 of Professional Appraisal Prac10 tice; or 

11 (II) by competitive lease. 

12 (ii) IN-KIND CONSIDERATION.—The 

13 Secretary shall determine the market value 

14 of any in-kind consideration under sub15 paragraph (B)(ii) by a process determined 

16 by the Secretary to be appropriate for the 

17 form of the in-kind consideration. 

18 (4) CONDITIONS.—The lease of an administra19 tive site under this Act shall be subject to such con20 ditions, including bonding, as the Secretary deter21 mines to be appropriate. 

22 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

23 (1) FEDERAL PROPERTY DISPOSAL.—Chapter 5 

24 of subtitle I of title 40, United States Code, shall 


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1 not apply to the lease of an administrative site 

2 under this Act. 

3 (2) LEAD-BASED PAINT AND ASBESTOS ABATE4 MENT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

6 provision of law relating to the mitigation or 

7 abatement of lead-based paint or asbestos-con8 taining building materials, the Secretary shall 

9 not be required to mitigate or abate lead-based 

10 paint or asbestos-containing building materials 

11 with respect to an administrative site to be 

12 leased under this Act. 

13 (B) PROCEDURES.—With respect to an ad14 ministrative site to be leased under this Act 

15 that has lead-based paint or asbestos-containing 

16 building materials, the Secretary shall— 

17 (i) provide notice to the person to 

18 which the administrative site will be leased 

19 of the presence of the lead-based paint or 

20 asbestos-containing building material; and 

21 (ii) obtain written assurance from 

22 that person that the person will comply 

23 with applicable Federal, State, and local 

24 laws relating to the management of leadVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Aug 16, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1705.IS S1705

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1 based paint and asbestos-containing build2 ing materials. 

3 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—The National 

4 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

5 et seq.) shall apply to the lease of an administrative 

6 site under this Act, except that, in any environ7 mental review or analysis required under that Act 

8 for the lease of an administrative site under this 

9 Act, the Secretary shall be required only— 

10 (A) to analyze the most reasonably foresee11 able use of the administrative site, as deter12 mined through a market analysis; 

13 (B) to determine whether to include any 

14 conditions under subsection (e)(4); and 

15 (C) to evaluate the alternative of not leas16 ing the administrative site in accordance with 

17 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

18 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 (g) USE OF CONSIDERATION.—Cash consideration 

20 for a lease of an administrative site under this Act shall 

21 be available to the Secretary, until expended and without 

22 further appropriation, to pay— 

23 (1) any necessary and incidental costs incurred 

24 by the Secretary in connection with— 


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1 (A) the acquisition, improvement, mainte2 nance, reconstruction, or construction of a facil3 ity or improvement for the National Forest Sys4 tem; and 

5 (B) the lease of an administrative site 

6 under this Act; and 

7 (2) reasonable commissions or fees for broker8 age services obtained in connection with the lease, 

9 subject to the conditions that the Secretary— 

10 (A) determines that the services are in the 

11 public interest; and 

12 (B) shall provide public notice of any bro13 kerage services contract entered into in connec14 tion with a lease under this Act. 

15 (h) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.— 

16 (1) ANTICIPATED USE OF AUTHORITY.—As 

17 part of the annual budget justification documents 

18 provided to the Committee on Appropriations of the 

19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ap20 propriations of the Senate, the Secretary shall in21 clude— 

22 (A) a list of the anticipated leases to be 

23 made, including the anticipated revenue that 

24 may be obtained, under this Act; 


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1 (B) a description of the intended use of 

2 any revenue obtained under a lease under this 

3 Act, including a list of any projects that cost 

4 more than $500,000; and 

5 (C) a description of accomplishments dur6 ing previous years using the authority of the 

7 Secretary under this Act. 

8 (2) CHANGES TO LEASE LIST.—If the Secretary 

9 desires to lease an administrative site under this Act 

10 that is not included on a list provided under para11 graph (1)(A), the Secretary shall submit to the con12 gressional committees described in paragraph (3) a 

13 notice of the proposed lease, including the antici14 pated revenue that may be obtained from the lease. 

15 (3) USE OF AUTHORITY.—Not less frequently 

16 than once each year, the Secretary shall submit to 

17 the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on 

18 Appropriations, and the Committee on Natural Re19 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

20 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 

21 the Committee on Appropriations, and the Com22 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen23 ate a report describing each lease made by the Sec24 retary under this Act during the period covered by 

25 the report. 


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1 (i) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Sec3 retary to enter into a lease agreement for an admin4 istrative site under this Act expires on September 

5 30, 2027. 

6 (2) EFFECT ON LEASE AGREEMENT.—Any 

7 lease agreement entered into by the Secretary under 

8 this Act before the date of the expiration of author9 ity under paragraph (1) shall not be affected by that 

10 expiration of authority. 

Æ 


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