II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1780 

To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to promote 

watershed health, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2015 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. FLAKE) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 

2009 to promote watershed health, 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 ‘‘Restoring America’s 

5 Watersheds Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WATER SOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

7 Subtitle A of title III of the Omnibus Public Land 

8 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 

9 1126) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3002. WATER SOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service (referred 

4 to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall establish and 

5 maintain a Water Source Protection Program (referred to 

6 in this section as the ‘Program’) for National Forest Sys7 tem land derived from the public domain. 

8 ‘‘(b) WATER SOURCE INVESTMENT PARTNER9 SHIPS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro11 gram, the Secretary may enter into water source in12 vestment partnerships with end water users (includ13 ing States, political subdivisions, Indian tribes, utili14 ties, municipal water systems, irrigation districts, 

15 nonprofit organizations, and corporations) to protect 

16 and restore the condition of National Forest water17 sheds that provide water to the non-Federal part18 ners. 

19 ‘‘(2) FORM.—A partnership described in para20 graph (1) may take the form of memoranda of un21 derstanding, cost-share or collection agreements, 

22 long-term match funding commitments, or other ap23 propriate instruments. 

24 ‘‘(c) WATER SOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro26 gram, the Secretary may produce a water source 


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1 management plan in cooperation with the water 

2 source investment partnership participants and 

3 State, local, and tribal governments. 

4 ‘‘(2) FIREWOOD.—A water source management 

5 plan may give priority to projects that facilitate the 

6 gathering of firewood for personal use pursuant to 

7 section 223.5 of title 36, Code of Federal Regula8 tions (or successor regulations). 

9 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.—The Sec10 retary may conduct— 

11 ‘‘(A) a single environmental impact state12 ment or similar analysis required under the Na13 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for all or part of the res15 toration projects in the water source manage16 ment plan; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a statement or analysis described in 

18 subparagraph (A) as part of the development of 

19 the water source management plan or after the 

20 finalization of the plan. 

21 ‘‘(4) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—In carrying 

22 out the Program, the Secretary may use the Manual 

23 on Adaptive Management of the Department of the 

24 Interior, including any associated guidance, for pur25 poses of fulfilling any requirements under the EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jul 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780

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1 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

2 seq.). 

3 ‘‘(5) FUNDS AND SERVICES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

5 Program, the Secretary may accept and use 

6 funding, services, and other forms of investment 

7 and assistance from water source investment 

8 partnership participants to implement the water 

9 source management plan. 

10 ‘‘(B) MANNER OF USE.—The Secretary 

11 may accept and use investments described in 

12 subparagraph (A) directly or indirectly through 

13 the National Forest Foundation. 

14 ‘‘(C) WATER SOURCE PROTECTION

15 FUND.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the 

17 availability of appropriations, the Secretary 

18 may establish a Water Source Protection 

19 Fund to match funds or in-kind support 

20 contributed by water source investment 

21 partnership participants under subpara22 graph (A). 

23 ‘‘(ii) USE OF APPROPRIATED

24 FUNDS.—The Secretary may use funds ap25 propriated to carry out this subparagraph 


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1 to make multiyear commitments, if nec2 essary, to implement 1 or more water 

3 source investment partnership agree4 ments.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. WATERSHED CONDITION FRAMEWORK. 

6 Subtitle A of title III of the Omnibus Public Land 

7 Management Act of 2009 (as amended by section 2) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3003. WATERSHED CONDITION FRAMEWORK. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

11 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service (referred 

12 to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall establish and 

13 maintain a Watershed Condition Framework for National 

14 Forest System land derived from the public domain— 

15 ‘‘(1) to evaluate and classify the condition of 

16 watersheds, taking into consideration— 

17 ‘‘(A) water quality and quantity; 

18 ‘‘(B) aquatic habitat and biota; 

19 ‘‘(C) riparian and wetland vegetation; 

20 ‘‘(D) the presence of roads and trails; 

21 ‘‘(E) soil type and condition; 

22 ‘‘(F) groundwater-dependent ecosystems; 

23 ‘‘(G) relevant terrestrial indicators, such as 

24 fire regime, risk of catastrophic fire, forest and 


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1 rangeland vegetation, invasive species, and in2 sects and disease; and 

3 ‘‘(H) other significant factors, as deter4 mined by the Secretary; 

5 ‘‘(2) to identify for restoration up to 5 priority 

6 watersheds in each National Forest, and up to 2 pri7 ority watersheds in each national grassland, taking 

8 into consideration the impact of the condition of the 

9 watershed condition on— 

10 ‘‘(A) wildfire behavior; 

11 ‘‘(B) flood risk; 

12 ‘‘(C) fish and wildlife; 

13 ‘‘(D) drinking water supplies; 

14 ‘‘(E) irrigation water supplies; 

15 ‘‘(F) forest-dependent communities; and 

16 ‘‘(G) other significant impacts, as deter17 mined by the Secretary; 

18 ‘‘(3) to develop a watershed restoration action 

19 plan for each priority watershed that— 

20 ‘‘(A) takes into account existing restora21 tion activities being implemented in the water22 shed; and 

23 ‘‘(B) includes, at a minimum— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the major stressors responsible 

2 for the impaired condition of the water3 shed; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a set of essential projects that, 

5 once completed, will address the identified 

6 stressors and improve watershed condi7 tions; 

8 ‘‘(iii) a proposed implementation 

9 schedule; 

10 ‘‘(iv) potential partners and funding 

11 sources; and 

12 ‘‘(v) a monitoring and evaluation pro13 gram; 

14 ‘‘(4) to prioritize restoration activities for each 

15 watershed restoration action plan; 

16 ‘‘(5) to implement each watershed restoration 

17 action plan; and 

18 ‘‘(6) to monitor the effectiveness of restoration 

19 actions and indicators of watershed health. 

20 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—Throughout the process de21 scribed in subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) coordinate with interested non-Federal 

23 landowners and with State, tribal, and local govern24 ments within the relevant watershed; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) provide for an active and ongoing public 

2 engagement process. 

3 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—Notwithstanding 

4 subsection (a)(2), the Secretary may identify a watershed 

5 as a priority for rehabilitation in the Watershed Condition 

6 Framework without using the process described in sub7 section (a), if a Forest Supervisor determines that— 

8 ‘‘(1) a wildfire has significantly diminished the 

9 condition of the watershed; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the emergency stabilization activities of the 

11 Burned Area Emergency Response Team are insuffi12 cient to return the watershed to proper function.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORA14 TION PROGRAM. 

15 (a) SELECTION PROCESS.—Section 4003(f)(4) of the 

16 Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 

17 U.S.C. 7303(f)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(C) PREQUALIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before awarding a 

21 contract funded by the Fund, the Sec22 retary shall determine whether the con23 tractor has the ability to complete the pro24 posed restoration activities, including— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the financial ability to raise 

2 the funds necessary for the proposed 

3 restoration activities; and 

4 ‘‘(II) sufficient capacity to per5 form the type and scope of the pro6 posed restoration activities. 

7 ‘‘(ii) CRITERIA.—If the Department 

8 does not have sufficient expertise to de9 velop and evaluate criteria to make a de10 termination under clause (i), the Secretary 

11 shall seek the assistance of other agencies 

12 or third-party consultants for purposes of 

13 developing and evaluating the criteria.’’. 

14 (b) REAUTHORIZATION OF COLLABORATIVE FOREST

15 LANDSCAPE RESTORATION FUND.—Section 4003(f)(6) of 

16 the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 

17 U.S.C. 7303(f)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘2019, to re18 main available until expended’’ and inserting ‘‘2014, and 

19 $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2024, 

20 to remain available until expended’’. 

Æ 


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