II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2385

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and carry out a Sustainable Ecosystems and Economies Demonstration Program, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 12 (legislative day, AUGUST 11), 1994

Mr. DECONCINI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and

carry out a Sustainable Ecosystems and Economies Demonstration Program, 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 ‘‘Sustainable

5 Ecosystems and Economies (SEE) Demonstration Act of

6 1994’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings:
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1 (1) The successful implementation of new and

2 innovative processes is required to assist in deter3 mining ecosystem management practices for Federal

4 lands.

5 (2) A reduction in timber sales and the avail6 able volume of timber has had significant adverse

7 impacts on the economic health and well-being of

8 many small communities that are dependent on Fed9 eral timber resources.

10 (3) Conditions in many forests, including heavy

11 fuel loads, tree density, and increasing threats from

12 catastrophic fires, disease, and insect infestations

13 adversely affect the biodiversity, health, and sustain14 ability of forests.

15 (4) The achievement of ecosystem management

16 will be greatly hindered, unless the Federal Govern17 ment determines a means of balancing sustainable

18 ecosystem requirements with the growing demands

19 on timber resources in an expeditious manner.

20 (5) The authority granted to managers of Fed21 eral lands does not provide for the distribution of re22 ceipts of revenue from timber and other products to

23 fund actions properly or to achieve ecosystem man24 agement.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol2 lows:

3 (1) To provide for demonstration projects to es4 tablish and implement new ecosystem management

5 practices on specific lands managed by—

6 (A) the Secretary and the heads of other

7 Federal agencies; and

8 (B) States and private landowners.

9 (2) To test the feasibility of ecosystem manage10 ment contracts.

11 (3) To improve the health of forest resources.

12 (4) To provide for needed flexibility in contract13 ing and funding practices and distribution of re14 ceipts of revenue from timber and other products to

15 ensure that Federal land managers have the nec16 essary means to implement ecosystem management.

17 (5) To provide an economic stimulus to commu18 nities that are profoundly dependent on Federal tim19 ber resources.

20 (6) To provide the Secretary of Agriculture the

21 authority to enter into ecosystem management dem22 onstration contracts to achieve management require23 ments prescribed in the following provisions of law:

24 (A) The Multiple Use Sustained-Yield Act

25 of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 528 et seq.).
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1 (B) The Forest and Rangeland Renewable

2 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.

3 1600 et seq.).

4 (C) The Act of June 7, 1924 (commonly

5 known as the ‘‘Clarke-McNary Act of 1924’’)

6 (43 Stat. 653, chapter 348).

7 (D) The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to facilitate

8 and simplify national-forest administration’’,

9 approved June 15, 1940 (54 Stat. 398; 41

10 U.S.C. 20a).

11 (E) The Soil and Water Resources Con12 servation Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.).

13 (F) The last paragraph in the matter

14 under the heading ‘‘FOREST SERVICE.’’ in

15 the Act of May 23, 1908 (popularly referred to

16 as the ‘‘Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act’’) (35

17 Stat. 260, chapter 192; 16 U.S.C. 500).

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 As used in this Act:

20 (1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Account’’ means the

21 Sustainable Ecosystems and Economies Account es22 tablished under section 5.

23 (2) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’

24 means the Coordinator for the Forest Service se25 lected by the Secretary under section 4(b).
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1 (3) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term

2 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means a demonstration

3 project carried out under the Program.

4 (4) ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT CONTRACT.—

5 The term ‘‘ecosystem management contract’’ means

6 a contract that a local land use manager enters into

7 pursuant to section 4 to carry out a demonstration

8 project.

9 (5) ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT AREA.—The

10 term ‘‘ecosystem management area’’ means any unit

11 of a national forest selected by a local land manager,

12 in consultation with the Coordinator, as a site for a

13 demonstration project pursuant to section 4(c).

14 (6) LOCAL LAND MANAGER.—The term ‘‘local

15 land manager’’ means the supervisor of each na16 tional forest selected as a site for demonstration

17 projects pursuant to section 4(d).

18 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means

19 the Sustainable Ecosystems and Economies Dem20 onstration Program established under section 4.

21 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

22 the Secretary of Agriculture.
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1 SEC. 4. SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES DEM2 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

4 and implement in the Forest Service a Sustainable

5 Ecosystems and Economies (SEE) Demonstration Pro6 gram to investigate and demonstrate strategies to provide

7 for new management practices to—

8 (1) ensure sustainable ecosystems; and

9 (2) provide technical and economic assistance to

10 forest resource-dependent communities.

11 (b) ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS.—Each

12 local land manager may enter into an ecosystem manage13 ment contract with a qualified non-Federal entity. The

14 contract shall contain a description of the elements of the

15 demonstration project, including the following:

16 (1) Site-specific criteria.

17 (2) Clearly delineated treatments and services.

18 (c) APPLICATION OF PRODUCT VALUE.—A local land

19 manager who is an official of the Forest Service may apply

20 all or part of the revenues received from the sale of timber

21 or any other forest product removed from within an eco22 system management area pursuant to an ecosystem man23 agement contract as an offset against the cost of steward24 ship services to carry out a demonstration project under

25 the Program. Such services may include site preparation,

26 recreation, replanting, wildlife habitat enhancement,
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1 silviculture programs, watershed improvements, and other

2 enhancements made pursuant to the demonstration

3 project to achieve the ecosystem management objectives

4 prescribed in the contract.

5 (d) COORDINATOR FOR THE FOREST SERVICE.—As

6 soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act,

7 the Secretary shall appoint an individual to serve as Coor8 dinator for the Forest Service. The Coordinator shall—

9 (1) administer the Program; and

10 (2) provide, upon request, support and technical

11 assistance to local land managers.

12 (e) DESIGNATION OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

13 AREAS.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the

14 enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the

15 Coordinator, shall designate locations for ecosystem man16 agement areas, including the following:

17 (1) Not more than two districts located in each

18 of two national forests located in each region of the

19 Forest Service.

20 (2) Districts within a forest authorized to enter

21 into a stewardship end result contract, as described

22 in the twenty-third paragraph in the matter under

23 the heading ‘‘ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS, FOREST

24 SERVICE’’ under the heading ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’

25 under title II of the Department of the Interior and
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1 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public

2 Law 102–381; 106 Stat. 1403). 

3 (f) RESEARCH AND OTHER TECHNICAL ASSIST4 ANCE.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent fea6 sible, in hiring part-time employees for conducting

7 inventories and related activities, the Secretary shall

8 ensure that priority is given to qualified unemployed

9 individuals in rural communities in close proximity

10 to national forests.

11 (2) PARTICIPATION BY NON-FEDERAL INDIVID12 UALS AND ENTITIES.—The Secretary shall ensure

13 that non-Federal individuals or entities are involved

14 in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of a suffi15 cient number of demonstration projects conducted

16 under this section to provide an adequate assess17 ment of such processes.

18 (g) SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES

19 DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ACCOUNT.—The Secretary,

20 acting through the Coordinator, shall advise the Secretary

21 of the Treasury concerning the administration of the Sus22 tainable Ecosystems and Economies Demonstration Pro23 gram Account established under section 5.

24 (h) REQUIREMENTS FOR SELECTION OF ECOSYSTEM

25 MANAGEMENT AREAS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PRO-
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1 GRAM.—To the maximum extent practicable, in selecting

2 ecosystem management areas and implementing the Pro3 gram, the Secretary, acting through the Coordinator, shall

4 provide for the use of existing land use plans, public review

5 processes, and current administrative review processes in

6 effect at the time of the implementation, and consult with

7 appropriate existing advisory councils.

8 (i) PROJECT PRIORITIES.—To the maximum extent

9 practicable, the demonstration projects shall be de10 signed—

11 (1) to serve communities that have been des12 ignated by the Secretary as timber dependent or

13 have significant unemployment rates attributable to

14 land management decisions made by the Federal

15 Government, as determined by the Secretary;

16 (2) to maximize the employment of qualified

17 local individuals; and

18 (3) to initially give priority to wildland interface

19 areas (as defined by the Secretary) with respect to

20 reducing wildfire hazards and minimizing the effects

21 of insect or disease infestation in a manner consist22 ent with ecosystem management objectives estab23 lished by the local land manager.
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1 (j) REGULATIONS.—To the maximum extent possible

2 the Secretary shall carry out the Program without pre3 scribing additional regulatory requirements.

4 (k) APPLICATION OF SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—In car5 rying out this Act, the Secretary shall give such pref6 erential treatment to small businesses, including small

7 business concerns (within the meaning of section 3(a) of

8 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a))), under exist9 ing laws and policies relating to the allocation of timber

10 sales programs in the Forest Service.

11 (l) TSPIRS.—Any timber offset made pursuant to

12 subsection (k), and any other value for timber that is ap13 proved by the Secretary as an offset pursuant to a dem14 onstration project, shall be credited as a revenue for the

15 purposes of the Timber Sales Program Information Re16 porting System (commonly referred to as the ‘‘TSPIRS’’)

17 of the Forest Service.

18 (m) ACRES TREATED.—A local land manager may

19 use the number of acres subject to treatments and services

20 prescribed under an ecosystem management contract as

21 a standard for assessing the relative merit of a demonstra22 tion project.

23 (n) PAYMENT TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—The Sec24 retary (acting through the Chief of the Forest Service)

25 shall consider the tract value (as defined and determined
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1 by the Secretary) of timber or other product (as defined

2 and determined by the Secretary) removed pursuant to a

3 demonstration project as money received for the purposes

4 of computing and distributing payments to States under

5 the last paragraph in the matter under the heading

6 ‘‘FOREST SERVICE.’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 (pop7 ularly referred to as the ‘‘Twenty-Five Percent Fund

8 Act’’) (35 Stat. 260, chapter 192; 16 U.S.C. 500).

9 (o) JOINT OR COOPERATIVE DEMONSTRATION

10 PROJECTS.—As part of the Program, the Secretary may

11 enter into agreements and memoranda of understanding

12 to conduct joint or cooperative demonstration projects

13 with—

14 (1) the heads of other Federal agencies;

15 (2) appropriate officials of the governments of

16 States and political subdivisions of States; and

17 (3) appropriate officials of other public and pri18 vate entities that the Secretary considers appro19 priate for carrying out a demonstration project.

20 (p) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—

21 The Secretary shall ensure that the entity that intends

22 to carry out the demonstration project has met all applica23 ble Federal environmental laws (as determined by the Sec24 retary).
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1 (q) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The Program es2 tablished under this section shall terminate 5 years after

3 the date of enactment of this Act. A demonstration project

4 established under the Program shall terminate not later

5 than 5 years after the date on which a management con6 tract is executed, or with respect to a demonstration

7 project described in subsection (o), 5 years after the date

8 the Secretary executes an agreement or enters into a

9 memorandum of understanding under such subsection.

10 SEC. 5. SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES DEM11 ONSTRATION PROGRAM ACCOUNT; SUPPLE12 MENTAL FUNDING.

13 (a) PURPOSE.—There is hereby established in the

14 Treasury of the United States a Sustainable Ecosystems

15 and Economies Account. The Secretary of the Treasury

16 shall maintain a subaccount in the Account for each na17 tional forest that is selected as a site for demonstration

18 projects under section 4.

19 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF ACCOUNT.—The Secretary

20 of the Treasury shall administer the Account in consulta21 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the

22 Coordinator.

23 (c) DEPOSITS.—Notwithstanding any other provision

24 of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit in the

25 Account the amount of revenues received from demonstra-
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1 tion projects in excess of any amount required to offset

2 the cost of stewardship services pursuant to section 4(b).

3 (d) EXPENDITURES.—On the request of the Sec4 retary, acting through the Coordinator, the Secretary of

5 the Treasury shall make available to the Secretary of Agri6 culture from the appropriate subaccount of the Account,

7 funds directly related to the development, planning, and

8 implementation of demonstration projects carried out in

9 a national forest in an amount equal to the revenues re10 ceived in the subaccount from the sale of forest products

11 from such national forest.

12 (e) TERMINATION DATE FOR DEPOSITS.—No depos13 its may be made into the Account after the earlier of—

14 (1) the date that is 5 years after the date of en15 actment of this Act; or

16 (2) the date on which all demonstration projects

17 authorized under this Act have been terminated.

18 (f) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Upon the termination of

19 the Account, funds remaining in the Account shall be

20 transferred to the general fund of the Treasury.

21 (g) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—In addition to using

22 funds from the Account established under this section, the

23 Secretary may use funds made available to the Secretary

24 by appropriations to carry out the mission of the Forest

25 Service (as defined and determined by the Secretary).
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1 SEC. 6. DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRA2 TION RESULTS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall disseminate

4 to public and private forest owners the results of the re5 search and demonstration projects carried out under sec6 tion 4 that may be beneficial to such forest owners.

7 (b) APPLICATION OF AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out

8 this section, the Secretary may exercise the authorities re9 lated to the dissemination of information granted to the

10 Secretary under the following provisions of law:

11 (1) The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re12 sources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1641 et

13 seq.).

14 (2) The Act commonly known as the ‘‘McIn15 tyre-Stennis Act of 1962’’ (Public Law 87–788).

16 (3) The Wood Residue Utilization Act of 1980

17 (16 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).

18 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180

19 days after the date of termination of each demonstration

20 project, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Con21 gress a summary and evaluation of the elements of the

22 demonstration project (as described in the applicable eco23 system management contract) and the results of the dem24 onstration project. The report may include the following:
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1 (1) A summary of the beneficial and adverse

2 environmental impacts associated with the activities

3 conducted pursuant to the demonstration project.

4 (2) The functional role of the ecosystem man5 agement area that is the site of the demonstration

6 project with respect to—

7 (A) the ecosystem encompassing the eco8 system management area and other associated

9 ecosystems; and

10 (B) the long-term demands of the health

11 and biodiversity of the forest.

12 (3) The economic impacts on local employment

13 and adjacent rural communities of the activities con14 ducted under the demonstration project.

15 (4) The project costs and revenues and cost

16 savings, if any, resulting from coordinated treat17 ments, including an identification of revenues real18 ized from the sale of forest products.

19 (5) With respect to the ecosystem management

20 contract, a summary of the following:

21 (A) The benefits and limitations of the eco22 system management contract.

23 (B) The number of applicants for partici24 pation in the demonstration project.
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1 (C) A description of the regulatory process

2 that governs the ecosystem management con3 tract.

4 (D) The effectiveness of the ecosystem

5 management contract in defining and achieving

6 results in the demonstration project.

7 (6) The impacts on small businesses.

8 (7) The effectiveness of the public involvement

9 process in the development and implementation of

10 the demonstration project.

11 (8) The number and nature of appeals associ12 ated with the development and implementation of

13 the demonstration project.

14 (9) The use of research in developing and im15 plementing the development project.

16 (10) An evaluation of the work conducted under

17 agreements or contracts with institutions of higher

18 education (as defined in section 1201(a) of the

19 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)))

20 or other appropriate educational or research institu21 tions (including a nonprofit corporation, a private

22 foundation, or a consortium of such institutions) to

23 carry out research, establish project criteria, or con24 duct project end-result evaluations.
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1 (11) A determination of measurable units that

2 were used to measure progress or improvement to3 ward achieving sustainability for the ecosystem.

4 (12) The relative effectiveness of the provisions

5 under the last paragraph in the matter under the

6 heading ‘‘FOREST SERVICE.’’ in the Act of May

7 23, 1908 (popularly referred to as the ‘‘Twenty-Five

8 Percent Fund Act’’) (35 Stat. 260, chapter 192; 16

9 U.S.C. 500) in determining the amounts of pay10 ments to local governments in comparison with the

11 effectiveness of the determinations made under the

12 demonstration projects.

13 SEC. 7. REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit to

15 Congress an annual report concerning the status of the

16 Program. The President shall submit the first report not

17 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act,

18 and shall submit a final report not later than 1 year after

19 the date on which the Program terminates.

20 (b) FINAL REPORT.—The final report submitted by

21 the President under this section shall contain the follow22 ing:

23 (1) An evaluation of the results of the dem24 onstration projects conducted under the Program

25 and an evaluation of the Program, on the basis of—
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1 (A) costs and the quantities of outputs;

2 and

3 (B) environmental costs and benefits.

4 (2) Such recommendations concerning the

5 achievement of ecosystem management and other

6 matters related to the Program as the President de7 termines to be appropriate.

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