II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1253

To provide to the Federal land management agencies the authority and

capability to manage effectively the Federal lands in accordance with

the principles of multiple use and sustained yield, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 3, 1997

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

NOVEMBER 5, 1997

Ordered, that if and when reported by the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources, S. 1253 be referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry solely for consideration of matters within its jurisdiction for not to exceed 40 session days and if not reported by that time,

the committee be discharged and the bill placed on the calendar

A BILL

To provide to the Federal land management agencies the

authority and capability to manage effectively the Federal lands in accordance with the principles of multiple

use and sustained yield, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Public Lands Management Improvement Act of 1997’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Supplemental authority.

Sec. 5. Transition.

TITLE I—ENSURING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND

IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL LAND PLANNING

Sec. 101. Purposes.

PART A—IN GENERAL

Sec. 102. Mission of the land management agencies.

Sec. 103. Scientific basis for Federal lands decisions.

PART B—RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY PLANNING

Sec. 104. Levels of planning.

Sec. 105. Contents of planning and allocation of decisions to each planning

level.

Sec. 106. Planning deadlines.

Sec. 107. Plan amendments and revisions.

Sec. 108. Disclosure of funding constraints on planning and management.

Sec. 109. Consideration of Federal lands-dependent communities.

Sec. 110. Participation of local, multi-interest committees.

Sec. 111. Ecosystem management principles.

Sec. 112. Fully allocated costs.

Sec. 113. Citizen petitions for plan amendments or revisions.

Sec. 114. Budget and cost disclosures.

Sec. 115. Monitoring and maintenance of planning; adaptive management.

PART C—CHALLENGES TO PLANNING

Sec. 116. Administrative appeals.

Sec. 117. Judicial review.

TITLE II—COORDINATION AND COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER

ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

Sec. 201. Purposes.

Sec. 202. Environmental analysis.

Sec. 203. Wildlife protection.

Sec. 204. Water quality protection.

Sec. 205. Air quality protection.

Sec. 206. Meetings with users of the Federal lands.

TITLE III—DEVELOPMENT OF ECOREGION ASSESSMENTS

Sec. 301. Purpose.

Sec. 302. Authorization and notice of assessments.

Sec. 303. Status, effect, and application of assessments.

Sec. 304. Applicability of other laws.

Sec. 305. Report to Congress.
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Sec. 306. Pacific Northwest Forest Plan review.

TITLE IV—DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBAL RENEWABLE

RESOURCES ASSESSMENT

Sec. 401. Purposes.

Sec. 402. Global Renewable Resources Assessment.

Sec. 403. National Council on Renewable Resources Policy.

Sec. 404. Repeal of certain provisions of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable

Resources Planning Act.

TITLE V—ADMINISTRATION

PART A—IN GENERAL

Sec. 501. Confirmation of the Chief of the Forest Service.

Sec. 502. Monitoring funds.

Sec. 503. Interagency transfer and interchange authority.

Sec. 504. Fees for processing records requests.

Sec. 505. Off-budget study.

PART B—NONFEDERAL LANDS

Sec. 506. Access to adjacent or intermingled non-Federal lands.

Sec. 507. Exchanges of Federal lands for non-Federal lands.

PART C—THE FOREST RESOURCE

Sec. 508. Forest health credits in sales of forest products.

Sec. 509. Special funds.

Sec. 510. Private contractors.

Sec. 511. Non-harvested forest products sales.

Sec. 512. Exemption from strict liability for the recovery of fire suppression

costs.

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 601. Regulations.

Sec. 602. Authorization for appropriations.

Sec. 603. Effective date.

Sec. 604. Savings clauses.

Sec. 605. Severability.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) The Bureau of Land Management, Depart4 ment of the Interior, and the Forest Service, De5 partment of Agriculture, are comprised of profes6 sionals with considerable expertise and judgment to

7 manage Federal lands within their jurisdictions.
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1 (2) In 1976, the Congress enacted the Federal

2 Land Planning and Management Act and the Na3 tional Forest Management Act which declared mul4 tiple use and sustained yield to be the basic prin5 ciples under which the two land management agen6 cies are to manage their Federal lands.

7 (3) These principles of multiple use and sus8 tained yield enjoy strong support from the American

9 public and among the diverse stakeholders in Fed10 eral land management.

11 (4) These same Management Acts established

12 resource management planning processes as the

13 method for engaging the land management agencies’

14 expertise and professional judgment in, applying the

15 multiple use and sustained yield principles to, and

16 obtaining the views of the public on, management of

17 these Federal lands.

18 (5) Nevertheless, in the two decades since the

19 Management Acts were passed, fundamental flaws in

20 the planning and decision making processes estab21 lished by these Acts have become apparent and have

22 caused all stakeholders, whether they favor resource

23 protection or resource extraction, to express increas24 ing dissatisfaction with and distrust of these proc25 esses.
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1 (6) These numerous flaws threaten the integrity

2 of the Federal lands planning and decision making

3 processes and undermine the ability of the agencies

4 to fulfill their statutory land management respon5 sibilities and accomplish management that is well

6 grounded in science.

7 (7) The intent of the Congress that the land

8 management agencies would complete the planning

9 required by the Management Acts within a discrete

10 time frame and the new resource management plans

11 would provide secure guidance for subsequent man12 agement activities has not been met.

13 (8) Although mid-eighties deadlines were set by

14 statute or regulation for completing the new re15 source management plan, initial planning remains

16 unfinished twenty years after enactment of the Man17 agement Acts even as new planning is undertaken.

18 (9) The land management agencies are engaged

19 in a perpetual cycle of planning through the continu20 ous preparation of interim policies, plan amend21 ments, and plan revisions that preclude the provision

22 to both agency professionals and the public of any

23 secure guidance for predictable management of the

24 Federal lands.
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1 (10) Although the Management Acts antici2 pated and directed that only two layers of plan3 ning—multiple-use resource management planning

4 for each national forest, Bureau of Land Manage5 ment district, or other designated planning unit, and

6 site-specific planning for management activities—be

7 undertaken, the agencies have engaged in planning

8 at multiple layers—regional, ecoregion, watershed,

9 etc.—without license or direction from statute or

10 regulation.

11 (11) These new layers of planning have not

12 been applied uniformly on the Federal lands; fre13 quently have ignored the multiple use mandates of

14 the Management Acts and, instead, have focussed

15 narrowly on a single resource, even a single species

16 of wildlife; have been undertaken without consistent

17 agency-wide direction; have been conducted without

18 the meaningful opportunities for public participation

19 established for planning by the Management Acts;

20 and have resulted in guidance that often conflicts

21 with the planning that is prescribed by the Manage22 ment Acts.

23 (12) The procedures and requirements of other

24 environmental laws often burden with increased

25 costs and delays, conflict with, and frustrate the
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1 planning and management processes established by

2 the Management Acts; effectively transfer the plan3 ning and management decision making authority

4 from the professionals in the land management

5 agencies to officials of other agencies; and sanction

6 decisions by those officials who are not expert in

7 land management and are less familiar with the af8 fected resources, activities, and sites. Without doubt,

9 Congress has failed to reconcile the procedures and

10 requirements of other environmental laws with the

11 planning and management processes established by

12 the Management Acts.

13 (13) Increasingly, even after the land manage14 ment agencies reach decisions on the planning and

15 management of Federal lands implementation of

16 those decisions is barred by administrative appeals

17 and litigation. These myriad administrative appeals

18 and lawsuits have delayed substantially completion

19 of planning; encumbered and, at times, paralyzed

20 plan implementation and management activities;

21 drained scarce agency resources; and, on several oc22 casions, compelled the Congress to enact emergency

23 provisions to restore land management authority to

24 the agencies.
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1 (14) The loss in goods and services from Fed2 eral lands resulting from these numerous flaws in

3 Federal land planning and decisionmaking has in4 creased this Nation’s dependency on foreign sources

5 for certain resources and has encouraged imports

6 from countries with land management policies and

7 priorities that are far less environmentally respon8 sive.

9 (15) New concepts in Federal land manage10 ment, such as ecosystem management and adaptive

11 management, are not recognized in the Management

12 Acts and are being imposed on or incorporated in

13 Federal land planning and management without

14 statutory authority.

15 (16) New processes developed by stakeholders

16 to better participate in Federal land planning and

17 decision making, such as the community-based col18 laborative deliberations of the Quincy Library Group

19 and Applegate Partnership, are not recognized or

20 encouraged by the Management Acts.

21 (17) The provisions of section 322 of Public

22 Law 102–381 (106 Stat. 1419) requiring the Forest

23 Service to establish a streamlined administrative ap24 peals process for management activities has expired

25 and these well-received Congressional requirements
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1 for processing administrative appeals should be re2 stored and expanded to include appeals of decisions

3 concerning planning, as well as decisions on manage4 ment activities, made by the Bureau of Land Man5 agement, as well as the Forest Service.

6 (18) The Management Acts were passed at a

7 time when the ecosystems on the Federal lands were

8 regarded generally as healthy, but now many, exten9 sive forested areas of Federal lands are undergoing

10 or are threatened by an unprecedented forest health

11 crisis.

12 (19) These numerous flaws in the laws pertain13 ing to Federal land management and in the planning

14 and decisionmaking for Federal lands, particularly

15 the multiple layers and perpetual existence of plan16 ning, the increasing intervention of other agencies,

17 and the constant barrage of administrative and judi18 cial challenges, have escalated the land management

19 agencies’ costs of managing the Federal lands even

20 as their ability to secure actual management accom21 plishments on these lands has diminished substan22 tially.

23 (20) All stakeholders have incurred injuries—

24 both environmental and economic—from these plan25 ning and decision making flaws, but none more than
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1 the local resource dependent communities, which

2 have little or no protection under the Management

3 Acts and have experienced the loss of wages, reve4 nues, and public services, and resultant social insta5 bility.

6 (21) Although the Management Acts and their

7 implementing regulations contain detailed instruc8 tions to the land management agencies on planning

9 procedures and contents, they are virtually silent in

10 providing guidance or authority to enable the agen11 cies to implement resource management plans,

12 thereby devaluing the term ‘‘Management’’ common

13 to both their titles.

14 (22) As described in the United States General

15 Accounting Office report, ‘‘Forest Service Decision16 making: A Framework for Improving Performance,’’

17 April 1997, these flaws in the laws pertaining to

18 Federal land management and in the planning and

19 decision making for Federal lands, and the increas20 ing distrust in the laws and decision making experi21 enced by virtually all stakeholders in the Federal

22 lands, have both contributed to and been

23 compounded by the lack of a clear mission statement

24 for the land management agencies.
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1 (23) Additional Congressional direction for the

2 planning of, and implementation of planning on, the

3 Federal lands is required to ensure that the predict4 ability in Federal land management intended by the

5 Management Acts is achieved, that the land manage6 ment agencies are able to exercise fully their consid7 erable management expertise and judgment, that the

8 public can be heard in land management decisions,

9 and that the adverse environmental effects and eco10 nomic and social dislocation which result from the

11 present flaws in the planning processes are avoided.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 (a) SPECIFIC TERMS.—As used in this Act, the

14 term—

15 (1) ‘‘Agencies’’ means the Bureau of Land

16 Management, Department of the Interior, with re17 spect to the lands described in paragraph (4)(A),

18 and the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture,

19 with respect to the lands described in paragraph

20 (4)(B).

21 (2) ‘‘Committees of Congress’’ means the Com22 mittee on Resources and Committee on Agriculture

23 of the House of Representatives, and the Committee

24 on Energy and Natural Resources and the Commit-
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1 tee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the

2 United States Senate;

3 (3) ‘‘ecosystem management’’ means an ap4 proach to implementation of the principles of mul5 tiple-use and sustained-yield on the Federal lands

6 which employs current understanding of ecosystem

7 processes to evaluate the effects of management

8 strategies on ecosystem health and productivity in

9 conjunction with attainment of planned outputs of

10 goods, services, and amenities.

11 (4) ‘‘Federal lands’’ means—

12 (A) those lands managed by the Bureau of

13 Land Management and defined in section

14 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage15 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. § 1702(e)); and

16 (B) those lands in the National Forest

17 System, including units of the national grass18 lands, managed by the Forest Service and de19 fined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range20 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of

21 1974 (16 U.S.C. § 1609(a));

22 (5) ‘‘resource management plans’’ means land

23 use plans prepared by the Bureau of Land Manage24 ment for units of the lands described in paragraph

25 (4)(A) pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land
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1 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.

2 § 1712) and this Act, and land and resource man3 agement plans prepared by the Forest Service for

4 units of the lands described in paragraph (4)(B)

5 pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland

6 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as

7 amended by the National Forest Management Act of

8 1976 (16 U.S.C. § 1604), and this Act; and

9 (6) ‘‘Secretaries’’ or ‘‘Secretary’’ means the

10 Secretary of the Interior with respect to the lands

11 described in paragraph (4)(A) and the Secretary of

12 Agriculture with respect to the lands described in

13 paragraph (4)(B).

14 (b) OTHER TERMS.—Terms used in this Act shall

15 have the same meaning they are accorded in the Federal

16 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.

17 § 1701 et seq.) with respect to the lands described in para18 graph (4)(A) and in the Forest and Rangeland Renewable

19 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. § 1600 et

20 seq.) with respect to the lands described in paragraph

21 (4)(B).

22 SEC. 4. SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORITY.

23 The provisions of this Act apply to all Federal lands

24 and supplement the Federal Land Policy and Management

25 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.), the Forest and
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1 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as

2 amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976

3 (16 U.S.C. § 1600 et seq.), and other laws applicable to

4 the Federal lands. Except as otherwise provided in this

5 Act, in the event of conflict or inconsistency between this

6 Act and any other law referred to in this section, this Act

7 shall prevail: Provided, That, for any Federal lands des8 ignated as units of the National Wilderness Preservation

9 System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, or Na10 tional Trails System, the provisions of law governing man11 agement of those systems or specific units shall prevail

12 whenever such provisions conflict or are inconsistent with

13 this Act.

14 SEC. 5. TRANSITION.

15 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any plan,

16 policy, or guidance of the Agencies with respect to the

17 Federal lands in effect on the date of enactment of this

18 Act shall continue to apply to such lands until such plan,

19 policy, or guidance is revised, amended, changed, or termi20 nated in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
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1 TITLE I—ENSURING THE EFFEC2 TIVENESS AND IMPLEMENTA3 TION OF FEDERAL LAND

4 PLANNING

5 SEC. 101. PURPOSES.

6 The purposes of this title are to establish a mission

7 for the Agencies in the management of the Federal lands;

8 to provide Congressional direction on, and eliminate fun9 damental flaws in, the conducting and implementing of

10 planning for the Federal lands; to avoid the environ11 mental, economic, and social injuries that result from

12 those flaws and the past absence of direction; and to

13 achieve predictability in the management of, and timely

14 and cost-effective accomplishment of management activi15 ties on, the Federal lands.

16 PART A—IN GENERAL

17 SEC. 102. MISSION OF THE LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.

18 The mission of the Secretary of Agriculture and the

19 Forest Service, and of the Secretary of the Interior and

20 the Bureau of Land Management, shall be to manage the

21 Federal lands under their respective jurisdictions to fur22 nish a sustainable flow of multiple goods, services, and

23 amenities while protecting and providing a full range and

24 diversity of natural habitats of native species in a dynamic

25 manner over the landscape.
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1 SEC. 103. SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR FEDERAL LANDS DECI2 SIONS.

3 In rendering decisions concerning resource manage4 ment plans for and management activities on Federal

5 lands, each Secretary shall utilize the best scientific and

6 commercial data available to the Secretary.

7 PART B—RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND

8 MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY PLANNING

9 SEC. 104. LEVELS OF PLANNING.

10 (a) PLANNING LEVELS.—Subject to subsection (c),

11 the Secretaries shall conduct no more than two levels of

12 planning for the Federal lands, comprised of—

13 (1) multiple-use planning in the form of re14 source management plans for planning units; and

15 (2) site or area specific planning for manage16 ment activities.

17 (b) PLANNING UNIT SIZE.—Each Secretary may des18 ignate planning units of whatever size and number the

19 Secretary deems appropriate.

20 (c) OTHER ANALYSES OR ASSESSMENTS.—Each Sec21 retary may conduct analyses or assessments for geographi22 cal areas larger or smaller than the designated planning

23 units, including ecoregion assessments pursuant to title

24 III, but shall not apply the results of such analyses or

25 assessments to the affected Federal lands unless the re26 source management plans for the planning units encom-
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1 passing such lands are amended or revised in accordance

2 with this Act and other applicable law.

3 (d) NONCOMPLYING PLANS.—(1) The Secretaries

4 shall have three years from the date of enactment of this

5 Act to amend or revise resource management plans in ac6 cordance with this Act to modify and incorporate any poli7 cies contained in any plans applicable to the Federal lands

8 which are effective on the date of enactment of this Act

9 and which do not comply with subsection (a).

10 (2) All noncomplying plans referred to in paragraph

11 (1) shall terminate three years from the date of enactment

12 of this Act.

13 (3) A noncomplying plan referred to in paragraph (1)

14 shall no longer apply to Federal lands in a planning unit

15 upon its termination date established by paragraph (2) or

16 when the resource management plan for such lands has

17 been amended pursuant to paragraph (1), whichever is

18 earlier.

19 SEC. 105. CONTENTS OF PLANNING AND ALLOCATION OF

20 DECISIONS TO EACH PLANNING LEVEL.

21 (a) PLAN CONTENTS.—(1) Each resource manage22 ment plan shall contain the following basic elements which

23 shall be accorded equal consequence by the Secretary con24 cerned:
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1 (A) a statement of goals and objectives for the

2 management of the Federal lands to which the plan

3 applies during the term of the plan;

4 (B) the allocation of land uses to areas of the

5 Federal lands to which the plan applies;

6 (C) determinations of outputs of goods and

7 services from the Federal lands to which the plan

8 applies annually and for the term of the plan; and

9 (D) policies necessary to ensure compliance

10 with the requirements of this Act and other applica11 ble law for the conservation of the resources and

12 protection of the environment on the Federal lands

13 to which the plan applies: Provided, That, to the

14 maximum extent feasible consistent with this Act

15 and other applicable law, such policies shall not be

16 prescriptive requirements generally applicable to the

17 planning unit and, instead, shall provide guidance

18 for the determination, during the planning for each

19 management activity, of specific requirements that

20 are addressed to the precise conditions of the lands

21 and resources to be affected by such activity.

22 (2) Each resource management plan also shall con23 tain—
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1 (A) a statement of historical uses, and trends

2 in conditions, of the resources on the Federal lands

3 subject to the plan;

4 (B) a schedule and procedure for monitoring

5 the implementation of the plan, the management of

6 the Federal lands subject to the plan, and trends in

7 the conditions and uses of resources on the Federal

8 lands subject to the plan, as required by section

9 115(b)(1); and

10 (C) criteria for determining when circumstances

11 on the Federal lands subject to the plan warrant

12 adaptive management of the resources of such lands

13 pursuant to section 115(b).

14 (b) ASSIGNMENT OF DECISIONS TO PLANNING LEV15 ELS.—(1)(A) Each Secretary shall promulgate regulations

16 that assign to each level of planning for Federal lands au17 thorized by section 104(a) the analyses and decisions to

18 be made at that level.

19 (B) All analyses and decisions to be conducted in the

20 levels of planning for Federal lands authorized in sub21 section (a) shall be assigned exclusively to a specific level

22 and may not be conducted or made, or reconsidered, at

23 the level to which they are not assigned.

24 (2) The regulations required by paragraph (1) shall

25 provide that, among other matters—
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1 (A) in resource management plans: in addition

2 to the matters specified in subsection (a) and sec3 tions 108, 109, 111, and 112, resource inventories

4 and analyses of cumulative effects of planning deci5 sions and subsequent management activities shall be

6 conducted; the relationship of each plan to relevant

7 State and local plans shall be discussed; Federal

8 land which may be exchanged or otherwise made

9 available for disposal shall be identified; and deci10 sions concerning wilderness, lands unsuitable for cer11 tain activities, and visual objectives, shall be made;

12 and

13 (B) in the planning for specific management ac14 tivities: Analyses of site specific resources and ef15 fects shall be conducted; decisions concerning the de16 sign of and requirements for a management activity,

17 including decisions related to water quality, method

18 for harvesting forest products, and revenue benefits

19 from other economic matters pertaining to the activ20 ity, shall be made; and a schedule and procedures

21 for monitoring the effects of the activity shall be es22 tablished.

23 SEC. 106. PLANNING DEADLINES.

24 (a) Except as provided in section 104(d), the dead25 lines for completing planning and management activities
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1 and all decisions associated therewith on the Federal lands

2 shall be:

3 (1) for preparation of a resource management

4 plan, 30 months;

5 (2) for development of an amendment to a re6 source management plan which is determined to be

7 significant, 12 months, and for development of an

8 amendment to a resource management plan which is

9 determined not to be significant, 9 months;

10 (3) for revision of a resource management plan,

11 24 months; and

12 (4) for a decision on a management activity

13 which is determined to be significant in accordance

14 with regulations that define significant, 9 months,

15 and for a decision on a management activity which

16 is determined not be significant in accordance with

17 regulations that define not significant, 6 months.

18 (b) The deadline established in subsection (a) for any

19 activity or decision deemed to be a ‘‘rule’’ as defined in

20 5 U.S.C. § 804(3) shall be the date on which such activity

21 or decision is submitted to each House of the Congress

22 and the Comptroller General pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

23 § 801(a)(1)(A).
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1 SEC. 107. PLAN AMENDMENTS AND REVISIONS.

2 (a) INCONSISTENT OR CONFLICTING PLAN PROVI3 SIONS OR FEDERAL LANDS POLICIES OR DECISIONS.—

4 Except as provided in subsection (b), no policy may be

5 applied to or decision made on a resource management

6 plan or a management activity, or the Federal lands sub7 ject to such plan or activity, if that policy or decision is

8 inconsistent with any provisions of the plan, including any

9 of the basic elements specified in section 105(a)(1).

10 (b) RESTORING PLAN CONFORMITY; MAKING RE11 QUIRED PLANNING CHANGES.—(1) Whenever, as a result

12 of monitoring the implementation of a resource manage13 ment plan pursuant to section 115(b), planning a manage14 ment activity on Federal lands to which the plan applies,

15 or other circumstance, the Secretary concerned determines

16 that a conflict exists between any of the provisions of the

17 plan or that a policy or decision the Secretary would other18 wise establish or make is inconsistent with a provision of

19 the plan, whether the provision concerns a goal, land allo20 cation, output determination, or environmental require21 ment, the Secretary shall initiate immediately the process

22 to amend or revise the plan to eliminate the conflict, in23 consistency, or departure: Provided, That the Secretary,

24 for a single specific management activity within any class

25 of management activities, may waive any provision in a

26 resource management plan without an amendment to or
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1 revision of the plan if such provision does not implement

2 a nondiscretionary statutory requirement and the Sec3 retary determines in writing that the waiver is in the pub4 lic interest.

5 (2) Any change in the management of any Federal

6 lands that is required by a law enacted, regulation promul7 gated, or court order issued, or is warranted by new infor8 mation that becomes available, after the resource manage9 ment plan which applies to such lands is adopted shall

10 be effected by an amendment to or revision of the plan,

11 and, except where the Secretary determines such law or

12 court order requires otherwise and publishes the deter13 mination in the Federal Register, shall not become effec14 tive until the amendment or revision is adopted.

15 (c) PLAN REVISIONS.—Whenever a resource manage16 ment plan is revised, the Secretary shall consider all provi17 sions of the plan and all Federal lands and resources sub18 ject to the plan in the decision and environmental analysis

19 documents associated with the revision and may not ad20 dress only those provisions, lands, or resources which may

21 be identified by the Agency, any other Federal agency, or

22 any segment of the public at the time of revision as requir23 ing review or alteration.

24 (d) CONTINUATION OF MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

25 DURING PLANNING.—(1) No management activities shall
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1 be stayed during the process of preparing an amendment

2 to or revision of a resource management plan in anticipa3 tion of changes to be made by the amendment or revision,

4 except as otherwise required by this Act, court order, or

5 a formal declaration of the Secretary published in the Fed6 eral Register: Provided, That a specific management activ7 ity may be stayed by the responsible agency official for

8 a purpose that is unrelated to the purpose or likely effect

9 of the amendment or revision.

10 (2) The authority for a formal declaration pursuant

11 to paragraph (1) may not be delegated.

12 (3) Except as provided in paragraph (1) or required

13 by court order, an amendment to or revision of a resource

14 management plan shall not become effective until final de15 cisions on management activities on the Federal lands to

16 which the plan applies that are scheduled to be made dur17 ing the amendment or revision process have been made.

18 (e) EFFECT OF PLAN AMENDMENT OR REVISION.—

19 Whenever a resource management plan is amended or re20 vised, the Secretary shall consider, and discuss in the envi21 ronmental analysis documents, associated with the amend22 ment or revision, any effect which such amendment or re23 vision may have on the basic elements, as identified in sec24 tion 105(a)(1), that are contained in the plan prior to

25 completion of the amendment or revision process. The de-
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1 cision document on the amendment or revision shall in2 clude a discussion of the reasons why such effect is nec3 essary and any steps that were or shall be undertaken to

4 ameliorate any adverse economic or social consequences

5 which will or could result from such effect.

6 SEC. 108. DISCLOSURE OF FUNDING CONSTRAINTS ON

7 PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT.

8 The environmental analysis accompanying each re9 source management plan, or amendment to or revision of

10 a resource management plan, shall consider generally for

11 each alternative, and the decision on such plan shall deter12 mine specifically for the plan, how implementation of the

13 alternative or plan will be affected by, and what goals and

14 objectives, land allocations, outputs, and policies as set

15 forth in section 105(a)(1) shall be effective for the alter16 native or plan, within a range of possible levels of funding

17 of Agency programs determined reasonable by the Sec18 retary, with at least one level which provides less funds

19 annually, and one level which provides more funds annu20 ally, than the level of funding for the current fiscal year.

21 SEC. 109. CONSIDERATION OF FEDERAL LANDS-DEPEND22 ENT COMMUNITIES.

23 (a) RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONSIDERATION OF COM24 MUNITIES.—In preparing, amending, or revising a re25 source management plan, the Secretary shall consider if,
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1 and explain whether, the plan maintains to the maximum

2 extent feasible under this Act and other applicable law the

3 stability of each community dependent on the resources

4 of the Federal lands to which the plan applies.

5 (b) PROCEDURE.—The Secretary shall conduct dur6 ing, and publish in the environmental analysis document

7 prepared in, the process of preparing a resource manage8 ment plan, or an amendment to or revision of such a plan,

9 an analysis for each community dependent on the re10 sources of the Federal lands to which the plan applies

11 that: (i) Examines the impacts of planning alternatives on

12 the community, including its revenues and budget, the

13 level and quality of its public services, wages for its resi14 dents, and its social conditions; (ii) explains how resource

15 allocations for the planning alternatives would comport

16 with or differ from historic community expectations; and

17 (iii) describe how those impacts were considered in select18 ing a preferred alternative.

19 (c) DEFINITION.—(1) The term ‘‘community depend20 ent on the resources of the Federal lands’’ means a com21 munity which is located in a proximity to Federal lands

22 and is significantly affected socially, economically, or envi23 ronmentally by the allocation of uses of one or more of

24 the resources of those lands.
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1 (2) The Secretaries, in consultation with the Sec2 retaries of Commerce and Labor, shall establish by regula3 tions the criteria for identifying communities dependent

4 on the resources of the Federal lands as defined in para5 graph (1).

6 SEC. 110. PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL, MULTI-INTEREST

7 COMMITTEES.

8 (a) INDEPENDENT COMMITTEES.—(1) The Secretar9 ies shall include and analyze in any documentation under

10 section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act

11 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)) related to the development

12 of a resource management plan, or an amendment of or

13 revision to such plan, and consider and discuss in any de14 cision document on such plan, amendment, or revision,

15 any alternative for such plan, amendment, or revision de16 veloped by an independent committee of local interests as

17 defined in paragraph (5).

18 (2) If more than two independent committees of local

19 interests are established and submit alternatives pursuant

20 to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall conduct the analysis

21 required by paragraph (1) on the alternative submitted by

22 each of the two committees which the Secretary deter23 mines to be most broadly representative of the various

24 local interests likely to be affected by the plan, amend25 ment, or revision referred to in paragraph (1). The Sec-
28

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1 retary shall endeavor to consolidate for analysis or other2 wise discuss alternatives propounded by committees other

3 than the two selected committees.

4 (3) If the entirety or a significant part of an alter5 native of an independent committee of local interests ana6 lyzed pursuant to paragraph (1) is adopted by the Sec7 retary, the Secretary may provide to the committee ade8 quate monies from the appropriate fund established pur9 suant to section 502 or, if such monies are insufficient,

10 appropriated funds to enable the committee to monitor the

11 implementation and effects of the plan, amendment, or re12 vision in accordance with the schedule and procedures for

13 monitoring provided in the plan, amendment, revision, or

14 activity referred to in paragraph (1).

15 (4) Independent committees of local interests shall

16 not be established or funded by either Secretary and shall

17 not be subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory

18 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

19 (5) For purposes of this section ‘‘independent com20 mittee of local interests’’ shall mean a committee or other

21 entity formed by and composed of representatives of two

22 or more interests active on the Federal lands to which the

23 plan, amendment, revision, or activity referred to in para24 graph (1) would apply: Provided, That at least one such

25 interest shall be concerned principally with the production
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1 of a commodity resource or resources from such lands and

2 at least one such interest shall be concerned principally

3 with use or protection of a noncommodity resource or re4 sources on such lands.

5 (b) COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED BY THE SECRETAR6 IES.—(1) Each Secretary is authorized and encouraged to

7 establish committees corresponding to the planning units

8 established pursuant to section 104.

9 (2) The membership of each committee established

10 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be broadly representative

11 of the various local interests likely to be affected by the

12 planning and management of the Federal lands within the

13 planning unit for which the committee is established.

14 (3) Each committee established pursuant to para15 graph (1) is authorized to—

16 (A) advise each Secretary prior to any decision

17 by the Secretary to adopt a resource management

18 plan, or an amendment to or revision of the resource

19 management plan, applicable to the planning unit

20 for which the committee is established; and

21 (B) monitor the implementation of the plan,

22 amendment, or revision.

23 (4) Each Secretary shall—

24 (A) in accordance with procedures established

25 by regulation, seek the advice of the committees es-
30

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1 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) as provided in

2 paragraph (3)(A); and

3 (B) provide to the committees established pur4 suant to paragraph (1) adequate monies from the

5 appropriate fund established pursuant to section 502

6 or, if such monies are insufficient, appropriated

7 funds to permit the committees to conduct the mon8 itoring provided for in paragraph (3)(B).

9 SEC. 111. ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES.

10 The Secretaries shall consider and discuss in the en11 vironmental analysis documents prepared for resource

12 management plans, and amendments to and revisions of

13 such plans, ecosystem management principles. Such prin14 ciples shall be consistent, and shall not be authority for

15 noncompliance, with the other requirement of this Act and

16 other law applicable to resource management plan docu17 ments and decisions.

18 SEC. 112. FULLY ALLOCATED COSTS ANALYSIS.

19 The Secretaries shall specify, in the environmental

20 analysis documents prepared for resource management

21 plans, and amendments to and revisions of such plans, the

22 fully allocated cost including foregone revenues, expressed

23 as a user or cost-per-beneficiary, of each noncommodity

24 output from the Federal lands to which the plans apply.
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1 SEC. 113. CITIZEN PETITIONS FOR PLAN AMENDMENTS OR

2 REVISIONS.

3 (a) PETITION FILING.—(1) A person may challenge

4 a resource management plan, or an amendment to or revi5 sion of such plan, after the deadline for filing an adminis6 trative appeal thereof established pursuant to section

7 116(b)(3) solely—

8 (A) on the basis of new information, law, or

9 regulation, as defined in this section, that is perti10 nent to the issue on which challenge is based; and

11 (B) by a petition to the concerned Secretary of

12 amendment or revision of the plan.

13 (2) The petition shall be filed in accordance with reg14 ulations adopted by the Secretary.

15 (b) PETITION DECISION.—(1) The Secretary shall

16 accept or deny a petition pursuant to subsection (a) in

17 writing within 90 days of receipt thereof.

18 (2) The decision of the Secretary to accept or deny

19 a petition shall be subject to section 7 of the Endangered

20 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1536) and shall not be

21 subject to section 102 of the National Environmental Pol22 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332).

23 (c) EFFECT OF PETITION DECISION.—(1) If the Sec24 retary accepts a petition pursuant to subsection (a), the

25 amendment or revision process shall begin on the date of

26 acceptance.
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1 (2) If the Secretary denies a petition pursuant to sub2 section (a), or fails to render a decision on such petition

3 within 90 days of receipt thereof, the petition may seek

4 immediate judicial review pursuant to section 117.

5 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, ‘‘new

6 information, law, or regulation’’ means any material and

7 significant information related to resource management

8 plan, or an amendment to or revision of such plan, that

9 was not known to and considered by the Secretary in the

10 development of the plan, amendment, or revision, and any

11 law or regulation not in effect when the decision was made

12 to adopt the plan, amendment, or revision.

13 SEC. 114. BUDGET AND COST DISCLOSURES.

14 (a) PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.—Commencing with the

15 fiscal budget for the fiscal year following enactment of this

16 Act, the requests presented by the President to the Con17 gress governing the planning and management of Federal

18 lands shall include as an appendix to the budget a state19 ment of what funds would be required to achieve 100

20 percentum of annual outputs specified in, and otherwise

21 implement fully, the resource management plan for each

22 planning unit of the Federal lands.

23 (b) PLAN PREPARATION.—On or before July 1 of

24 each year after the date of enactment of this Act, each

25 Secretary shall submit a report to the Committees of Con-
33

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1 gress that provides the total cost and costs per function

2 or procedure incurred in the preparation of each resource

3 management plan, ecoregion assessment, and significant

4 amendment to or revision of any such plan or assessment,

5 which is published in the preceding calendar year. Such

6 costs shall include the costs of the Agency responsible for

7 preparation of the plan, amendment, or revision and of

8 any other Federal agency which participates in the prepa9 ration of the plan, amendment, or revision or prepares an

10 opinion, report, or comments on the compliance of the

11 plan, amendment, or revision with any Federal law or reg12 ulation administered by such agency.

13 SEC. 115. MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE OF PLANNING;

14 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT.

15 (a) PLAN CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT.—Each Sec16 retary shall report in writing in each decision to undertake

17 a management activity on the Federal lands that such de18 cision contributes to or, at a minimum does not preclude,

19 achievement of the goals, land allocations, outputs, or poli20 cies of the applicable resource management plan.

21 (b) MONITORING FOR PLAN COMPLIANCE.—(1)

22 Using monies from the Monitoring Funds established pur23 suant to section 502 and, where such monies are insuffi24 cient, appropriated funds, each Secretary shall monitor,

25 on a schedule established by each resource management
34

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1 plan but no less than every two years, the implementation

2 of the plan and management of the Federal lands subject

3 to the plan and trends in the conditions or uses of the

4 resources on such lands to—

5 (A) ensure that no goal, land allocation, output,

6 or policy of the plan is constructively changed

7 through a pattern of management activities or of

8 failures to undertake management activities; and

9 (B) determine if circumstances warrant adapt10 ive management of any of the resources, to be au11 thorized either—

12 (i) in accordance with requirements and

13 procedures prescribed in the plan, if such man14 agement will not require or result in any change

15 in the basic elements of the plan as described

16 in section 105(a), or

17 (ii) by amendment to or revision of the

18 plan.

19 (2)(A) If the Secretary finds that a change described

20 in paragraph (1)(A) has occurred, the Secretary shall di21 rect that corrective management activities be undertaken

22 to restore compliance with the affected resource manage23 ment plan or that the plan be amended or revised.

24 (B) If the Secretary finds the circumstances de25 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) to exist and to require an
35

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1 amendment to or revision of the plan, the plan shall be

2 amended or revised.

3 PART C—CHALLENGES TO PLANNING

4 SEC. 116. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.

5 (a) APPEALS REGULATIONS.—Each Secretary shall

6 promulgate regulations to govern administrative appeals

7 of decisions to approve resource management plans, and

8 amendments to and revisions of such plans, and to ap9 prove or disapprove management activities for or on the

10 Federal lands.

11 (b) APPEALS REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations re12 quired by subsection (a) shall—

13 (1) provide that any person may bring an ad14 ministrative appeal of a decision to approve a re15 source management plan, or amendment to or revi16 sion of such a plan, or to approve, disapprove, or

17 otherwise take final action on a management activity

18 if he or she has submitted written comments during

19 the preparation of such plan, amendment, revision,

20 or activity on the issue or issues for which adminis21 trative review is sought: Provided, That this para22 graph shall not apply when no opportunity is ac23 corded to the public to present such written com24 ments;
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1 (2) provide that an administrative appeal of a

2 decision to approve a resource management plan, or

3 amendment to or revision of such a plan, may not

4 challenge any analysis or decision assigned to man5 agement activities pursuant to section 105(b)(2)(B)

6 and an administrative appeal of a decision to ap7 prove, disapprove, or otherwise take final action on

8 a management activity may not challenge any analy9 sis or decision assigned to resource management

10 plans pursuant to section 105(b)(2)(A).

11 (3) require that a person who seeks administra12 tive review of a resource management plan, or an

13 amendment to or revision of such plan, on the basis

14 of new information, law, or regulation as defined in

15 section 113(d) must petition for an amendment or

16 revision of the affected plan in accordance with such

17 section;

18 (4) establish deadlines after the final decisions

19 to adopt a plan, amendment, or revision, or to ap20 prove, disapprove, or take final action on an activity,

21 by which any administrative appeal, other than a pe22 tition pursuant to section 113, must be filed: Pro23 vided, That such deadlines shall be not more than

24 120 days after a plan or revision decision, 90 days
37

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1 after an amendment decision, and 45 days after an

2 activity decision;

3 (5) establish deadlines after the filing of admin4 istrative appeals pursuant to paragraph (4) by which

5 final decision on the appeals must be rendered: Pro6 vided, That such deadlines shall be not more than

7 120 days after the date of filing of an appeal of a

8 plan or a revision, 90 days after the date of filing

9 of an appeal of an amendment, and 45 days after

10 the date of filing of an appeal of an activity: Pro11 vided further, That the Secretary may extend the

12 deadline for a specific appeal for more than 15 days

13 by a written statement which provides the reasons

14 for such extension;

15 (6) provide that, in the event of a failure to

16 render a final decision on an administrative appeal

17 by the deadline established pursuant to paragraph

18 (5), the decision on which the appeal is based is

19 deemed to be a final agency action for the purpose

20 of chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code;

21 (7) provide that the Secretary shall consider

22 and balance the environmental and/or economic in23 jury to any affected persons in determining whether

24 to issue a stay pending the appeal or petition;
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1 (8) provide that no administrative stay shall ex2 tend beyond, or be imposed after—

3 (A) the conclusion of the applicable period

4 for filing an administrative appeal established

5 pursuant to paragraph (4) if no appeal is timely

6 filed;

7 (B) 30 days from the date of, or deadline

8 established pursuant to paragraph (4) for a

9 final decision on an appeal of a resource man10 agement plan or an amendment to or revision

11 of such a plan;

12 (C) 30 days from the date of, or deadline

13 established pursuant to paragraph (5); and

14 (D) 15 days from the date of, or deadline

15 established pursuant to paragraph (5) for, a

16 final decision on an appeal of a management

17 activity; and

18 (9) establish categories of or criteria for man19 agement activities which, because of emergency,

20 time-sensitive, or other exigent circumstances, shall

21 not be eligible for administrative appeals and for

22 which lawsuits may be filed immediately after the

23 decisions to authorize such activities.

24 (c) REPEALER.—The regulations required of the For25 est Service by this section shall replace any regulations
39

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1 promulgated pursuant to section 322 of Public Law 102–

2 381 (106 Stat. 1419–1420). Upon the effective date of

3 the regulations of the Forest Service required by this sec4 tion, such section 322 is repealed.

5 SEC. 117. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

6 (a) VENUES.—(1) Any suit to challenge a resource

7 management plan, or an amendment of or a revision to

8 such a plan, shall be filed in the United States Circuit

9 Court of Appeals for the circuit in which are located the

10 Federal lands to which the plan applies: Provided, That

11 if the Federal lands to which a plan applies are located

12 in more than one circuit, the suit shall be filed in the

13 Court of Appeals for the circuit which contains the largest

14 portion of such lands.

15 (2) Any suit filed to challenge a management activity

16 or decision to deny a petition for amendment or revision

17 of a resource management plan shall be filed in the United

18 States district court for the district in which are located

19 the Federal lands on which the activity would occur or

20 to which the plan applies: Provided, That if the Federal

21 lands to which the plan applies are located in more than

22 one district, the suit shall be filed in the district court

23 for the district which contains the largest portion of such

24 lands.
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1 (b) STANDING.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), any

2 person (including a person that sustains economic injury

3 as a direct or indirect result of the implementation of, or

4 a violation of, this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Man5 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.), or the

6 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act

7 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. § 1600 et seq.), or a regulation issued

8 under any such Act by the United States or any agency

9 or official of the United States) may—

10 (A) To the full extent permitted by the Con11 stitution without regard to any prudential limita12 tions, commence a civil suit to—

13 (i) remedy any violation of any such Act or

14 a regulation issued under any such Act by the

15 United States or any agency or official of the

16 United States; or

17 (ii) challenge any such Act or a regulation

18 issued under any such Act or the implementa19 tion of the Act or the regulation; and

20 (B) intervene as a matter of right in any suit

21 brought under any such Act that threatens to cause

22 injury to the person or relates to any injury sus23 tained by the person, which intervenor shall have the

24 same right to present argument and to accept or re-
41

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1 ject potential settlements as do the parties to the

2 suit.

3 (2) Standing to obtain judicial review of a resource

4 management plan, an amendment of or a revision to such

5 a plan, or a management activity shall be available only

6 to persons who have—

7 (A) participated in the preparation of such

8 plan, amendment, revision, or activity through the

9 submission of written comments on the issue or is10 sues for which judicial review is sought, unless an

11 opportunity to submit such comments was not pro12 vided to the public;

13 (B) raised such issue or issues in seeking ad14 ministrative review pursuant to section 116 of such

15 plan, amendment, revision, or activity, other than an

16 activity subject to section 116(b)(9); and

17 (C) exhausted the opportunities for administra18 tive review pursuant to section 116, except for an

19 activity subject to section 116(b)(9).

20 (c) DEADLINES.—(1) Any suit brought pursuant to

21 this section must be filed not more than 90 days after

22 the final decision on the administrative appeal of a re23 source management plan, or an amendment or a revision

24 of such plan, and not more than 30 days after the decision

25 to deny a petition for amendment or revision of a resource
42

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1 management plan, the final decision on an administrative

2 appeal of a management activity not subject to section

3 116(b)(9), or the decision to approve or disapprove a man4 agement activity subject to section 116(b)(9): Provided,

5 That, for any suit based on a law which requires advanced

6 notice of suit, the notice must be filed by the applicable

7 deadline and the suit must be filed within 7 days after

8 the conclusion of the notice period.

9 (2) Except as provided in subsection (d), the plan,

10 amendment, revision, activity, or petition shall not be

11 reviewable either directly or indirectly as part of any other

12 decision concerning the Federal lands for compliance with

13 any provision of law or regulation in existence at the con14 clusion of the applicable period established by paragraph

15 (1).

16 (d) SUITS BASED ON NEW INFORMATION, LAW, OR

17 REGULATION.—A suit brought pursuant to this section

18 shall not allege or rely upon new information, law, or regu19 lation as defined in section 113(d) unless the party has

20 petitioned the Secretary pursuant to such section and the

21 Secretary has denied such petition or approved such peti22 tion and completed the amendment or revision process.

23 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD.—The record before

24 the court in any suit brought pursuant to this section shall
43

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1 be limited to the administrative record and such additional

2 written evidence as the court shall permit.

3 TITLE II—COORDINATION AND

4 COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER

5 ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

6 SEC. 201. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this title are to coordinate, and elimi8 nate conflicting, procedures of the Federal land manage9 ment and other environmental laws; to assign clear re10 sponsibility for meeting the standards and requirements

11 of such laws, and securing protection of the environment

12 and resources, on the Federal lands; and to reduce the

13 time and cost, and thereby improve the efficiency and ef14 fectiveness, in achieving such protection.

15 SEC. 202. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.

16 (a) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN ANALYSIS.—(1)

17 In developing a resource management plan or a revision

18 to such a plan, the Secretary shall prepare an environ19 mental impact statement pursuant to section 102(2)(C)

20 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

21 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C)).

22 (2) The environmental impact statement required by

23 paragraph (1) shall analyze all matters in the resource

24 management plan, including those assigned to resource

25 management plans by subsections (a) and (c)(1), and by
44

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1 regulation pursuant to subsection (b), of section 103 of

2 this Act, and contain all other analyses required to be in3 cluded in environmental impact statements by this Act

4 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

5 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq.).

6 (3) In developing an amendment to a resource man7 agement plan, the Secretary shall prepare either an envi8 ronmental impact statement or an environmental assess9 ment as may be required by section 102(2) of the National

10 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)).

11 The statement or assessment shall contain all analyses re12 quired by this Act and the National Environmental Policy

13 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq.).

14 (b) MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY ANALYSIS.—(1) In plan15 ning a management activity on the Federal lands, other

16 than an activity which the Secretary determines to be cat17 egorically excluded from the requirements of section

18 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

19 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)), the Secretary shall prepare an en20 vironmental assessment pursuant to section 102(2)(E) of

21 such Act (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(E)) which shall be tiered

22 to, and incorporate by reference the relevant analysis in,

23 the environmental impact statement on the applicable re24 source management plan: Provided, That, if the Secretary,

25 in the discretion of, and in accordance with regulations
45

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1 promulgated by, the Secretary, determines that the nature

2 or scope of potential environmental consequences of a

3 management activity is substantially different from or

4 greater than the nature or scope of the consequences con5 sidered in the environmental impact statement on the ap6 plicable resource management plan, the environmental

7 analysis document for the activity shall be an environ8 mental impact statement pursuant to section 102(2)(C)

9 of such Act.

10 (2) The environmental assessment or environmental

11 impact statement required by paragraph (1) shall analyze

12 the matters associated with the management activity

13 which are assigned to management activities by subsection

14 (c)(2), and by regulation pursuant to subsection (b), of

15 section 105.

16 SEC. 203. WILDLIFE PROTECTION.

17 (a) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ANALYSIS.—(1) In

18 developing a resource management plan, an amendment

19 to or revision of such a plan, or a management activity

20 on the Federal lands, the Agency, on the basis of the best

21 scientific and commercial data available, shall ensure, pur22 suant to section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973

23 (16 U.S.C. § 1536), that the plan, amendment, revision,

24 or activity is not likely to jeopardize the continued exist25 ence of any species determined to be endangered or threat-
46

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1 ened, or result in the destruction or adverse modification

2 of habitat of such species designated as critical, pursuant

3 to section 4 of such Act, except that the Agency, upon

4 certification pursuant to paragraph (2), shall perform all

5 functions in the processes established in subsections (a)

6 through (c) of such section 7 (16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)–(c))

7 which are assigned by such subsections or implementing

8 regulations to the Secretary of the Interior (other than

9 functions to be performed by the Bureau of Land Manage10 ment) or the Secretary of Commerce, or their designees.

11 (2)(A) Each Agency may apply to the Director, U.S.

12 Fish and Wildlife Service, to be certified to perform, pur13 suant to paragraph (1), all functions in the processes es14 tablished in subsection (a) through (c) of section 7 of the

15 Endangered Species Act of 1973. The application shall

16 contain a detailed summary of the personnel and funds

17 available to, and the procedures adopted by, the Agency

18 to perform such functions.

19 (B) The Director shall have 30 days from the date

20 of submission to notify the Agency of any further informa21 tion required by the Director to consider the application

22 submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A).

23 (C) The Director, in consultation with the Director

24 of the National Marine Fisheries Service, shall render a

25 decision on an application submitted pursuant to subpara-
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1 graph (A) within 90 days of the receipt thereof or of the

2 submission by the Agency of further information pursuant

3 to subparagraph (B), whichever is later: Provided, That

4 if the Director fails to render a decision by such date, the

5 Agency shall be deemed certified to perform the functions

6 described in subparagraph (A).

7 (D) The decision of the Director on an application

8 submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall provide a

9 detailed explanation of the reasons therefor and be pub10 lished in the Federal Register.

11 (E) The decision of the Director on an application

12 submitted pursuant to paragraph (A) shall not be subject

13 to subsections (a) through (c) of section 7 of the Endan14 gered Species Act of 1973 and section 102(2) of the Na15 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

16 § 4332(2)).

17 (F) If an application of an Agency to be certified pur18 suant to this paragraph is denied, the Agency may file

19 a subsequent application or applications pursuant to sub20 paragraph (B) until such time as it receives certification.

21 (b) EFFECT ON MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—(1)

22 Whenever a species is determined to be an endangered

23 species or threatened species, or critical habitat is des24 ignated, pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species

25 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1533) and the species or habitat
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1 is located on Federal lands, the Agency with jurisdiction

2 over such lands shall determine whether the procedure es3 tablished by section 7(a)(2) of such Act (16 U.S.C.

4 § 1536(a)(2)) and subsection (a) of this section is required

5 on each resource management plan applicable to such

6 lands within 90 days of the date of the determination or

7 designation. Any amendment to or revision of a resource

8 management plan resulting from the determination or des9 ignation which requires such procedure shall be completed

10 within 12 months or 18 months, respectively, from the

11 date of the determination or designation.

12 (2) If the procedure prescribed by section 7(a)(2) of

13 such Act and subsection (a) of this section is required on

14 a resource management plan (or an amendment to or revi15 sion of the plan), the Agency implementing the plan may

16 authorize, fund, or carry out any agency action that is

17 consistent with the plan prior to completion of the proce18 dure on the plan if the procedure prescribed by such sec19 tion 7(a)(2) and subsection (a) of this section concerning

20 the same species or critical habitat is conducted on the

21 action or if such procedure is not required on the action.

22 SEC. 204. WATER QUALITY PROTECTION.

23 Any management activity on the Federal lands which

24 constitutes a nonpoint source of water pollution, including,

25 but not limited to, any activity associated with the harvest-
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1 ing and transporting of forest products, which is certified

2 by the State in which such Federal lands are located to

3 meet best management practices or the functional equiva4 lent thereof shall be deemed to be in compliance with any

5 applicable requirements arising from any area wide waste

6 treatment management plan under section 208, and any

7 management program under section 319(b), of the Clean

8 Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1288 and 1329(b)): Provided,

9 That the Agency is not required to seek such certification

10 for any management activity.

11 SEC. 205. AIR QUALITY PROTECTION.

12 Notwithstanding the provisions of section 118(a) of

13 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7418), upon a finding

14 by a forest supervisor of the Forest Service or a district

15 manager of the Bureau of Land Management that a pre16 scribed use of fire on Federal lands within the jurisdiction

17 of such official would reduce the risk of greater emissions

18 from a wildfire and will be conducted in a manner that

19 minimizes impacts on air quality to the extent practicable,

20 such use shall be deemed to be in compliance with any

21 applicable requirements of any State implementation plan

22 under section 110 of such Act (42 U.S.C. § 7410), and

23 any requirements imposed by the U.S. Environmental

24 Protection Agency under such Act.
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1 SEC. 206. MEETINGS WITH USERS OF THE FEDERAL LANDS.

2 To improve and coordinate the management of Fed3 eral lands, the Secretary may, in his discretion, meet to

4 discuss matters of mutual concern with one or more: hold5 ers of or applicants for permits, leases, contracts, or other

6 authorizations for use of the Federal lands; other persons

7 who conduct activities on the Federal lands; persons who

8 own or manage lands adjacent to the Federal lands; or

9 representatives thereof. The Federal Advisory Committee

10 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to meetings with any

11 such individuals under this section: Provided, That noth12 ing in this section shall be deemed to affect the exemption

13 from the Federal Advisory Committee Act provided for

14 meetings with elected officers of State, local and tribal

15 governments by section 204(b) of the Unfunded Mandates

16 Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. § 1534(b)).

17 TITLE III—DEVELOPMENT OF

18 ECOREGION ASSESSMENTS

19 SEC. 301. PURPOSE.

20 The purpose of this title is to authorize the develop21 ment, and prescribe the use, of assessments of manage22 ment issues that transcend the boundaries of Federal land

23 planning units established pursuant to section 102 and

24 land ownerships in order to inform resource management

25 planning and the planning of management activities on the

26 Federal lands.
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1 SEC. 302. AUTHORIZATION AND NOTICE OF ASSESSMENTS.

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Each Secretary is authorized

3 to prepare or participate in the preparation of ecoregion

4 assessments, which, in the Secretary’s discretion, may en5 compass all Federal lands and lands of other ownership

6 within a region specified by the Secretary: Provided, That

7 non-Federal lands may be included in an assessment only

8 upon the written concurrence of the Governor or Gov9 ernors in whose States the lands are located.

10 (b) CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.—

11 (1) Ninety days prior to initiating any ecoregion assess12 ment pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary or Sec13 retaries shall submit to the Committees of Congress as

14 defined in section 3(2) and publish in the Federal Register

15 a notice of intention to prepare the assessment.

16 (2) The notice required by paragraph (1) shall in17 clude a description of the region and lands to be included

18 in the assessment; the officials to be responsible for the

19 ecoregion assessment; the estimated cost of, and deadlines

20 for, the assessment; the charter for, or other instructions

21 concerning, the conduct and substance of the assessment;

22 the procedures for ensuring participation of the affected

23 States, local governments, and tribes and the public in the

24 preparation of the assessment; a thorough explanation of

25 how the ecoregion was identified and the attributes which
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1 establish the ecoregion; and the detailed reasons for the

2 decision to initiate the assessment.

3 SEC. 303. STATUS, EFFECT, AND APPLICATION OF ASSESS4 MENTS.

5 (a) NON-DECISIONAL STATUS.—The assessments

6 prepared pursuant to section 302 shall not contain any

7 decisions concerning resource management planning or

8 management activities on the Federal lands. Any decision

9 concerning resource management planning or manage10 ment activities which reflects or employs information or

11 analyses contained in an assessment prepared pursuant to

12 section 302 shall be made in accordance with section

13 104(c) and this section.

14 (b) APPLICATION OF ASSESSMENTS.—(1) Within 180

15 days of the completion of an assessment pursuant to sec16 tion 302, each Forest Supervisor of the Forest Service and

17 State Director of the Bureau of Land Management with

18 jurisdiction over Federal lands to which the assessment

19 applies shall review the assessment and determine whether

20 the information contained therein warrants an amendment

21 to or revision of any resource management plan applicable

22 to such lands as required by section 104(c).

23 (2) If an amendment or revision is determined war24 ranted pursuant to paragraph (1), such amendment or re25 vision shall be completed within the applicable deadline es-
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1 tablished by section 106 and otherwise comply with the

2 requirements of this Act and other applicable law.

3 (3) Until an amendment of or revision to a resource

4 management plan based on an assessment is completed

5 pursuant to paragraph (2), no management activity on

6 Federal lands to which the plan applies shall be delayed

7 or altered on the basis of the assessment.

8 (4) No Federal official shall use an assessment, or

9 any documents prepared pursuant to this title, to regulate,

10 or otherwise apply the assessment or documents to, non11 Federal lands.

12 SEC. 304. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.

13 In accordance with the limited status provided in sec14 tion 303(a) for an assessment prepared pursuant to this

15 title, each such assessment shall not be subject to section

16 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

17 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)), and subsections (a) through (d) of

18 section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

19 U.S.C. § 1536(a)–(d)).

20 SEC. 305. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

21 Each Secretary shall submit a report to the Commit22 tees of Congress as defined in section 3(a)(2) on or before

23 January 1, 1998, and January 1 of each second year

24 thereafter, on any assessments prepared pursuant to sec25 tion 302, any implications for Federal land management
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1 derived from such assessments, and any amendments of

2 or revisions to resource management plans based on such

3 assessments. Each report also shall contain an analysis

4 by the Secretary of the benefits and detriments of such

5 assessments and any recommendations of the Secretary

6 for improving the content and application of such assess7 ments.

8 SEC. 306. PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN REVIEW.

9 (a) REVIEW.—With funds appropriated pursuant to

10 subsection (d) or other Act, the Consortium of Regional

11 Forest Assessment Centers, through the University of

12 Washington, (hereinafter in this section referred to as the

13 ‘‘Consortium’’) is authorized to conduct a review of the

14 Pacific Northwest Forest Plan, and supporting docu15 mentation, including the April 13, 1994, ‘‘Record of Deci16 sion for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of

17 Land Management Planning Documents Within the

18 Range of the Northern Spotted Owl’’; February 1994

19 ‘‘Final Environmental Impact Statement on Management

20 of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest

21 Related Species Within the Range of the Northern Spotted

22 Owl’’; and the July 1993 Report of the Forest Ecosystem

23 Management Assessment Team, entitled ‘‘Forest Eco24 system Management: An Ecological, Economic, and Social
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1 Assessment’’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the

2 ‘‘Plan’’).

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The review authorized by subsection

4 (a) shall include assessments of the following—

5 (1) the significance, validity, and appropriate6 ness of the scientific information, assumptions, and

7 modelling employed in the decision to adopt the

8 Plan;

9 (2) the significance, validity, and appropriate10 ness of any pertinent information, assumptions, and

11 modelling not employed in the decision to adopt the

12 Plan;

13 (3) whether the Plan will achieve the resource

14 protection purposes, goals, or objectives established

15 in, or underlying, it;

16 (4) whether the Plan is achieving and will

17 achieve the resource production purposes, goals, or

18 objectives established in, or underlying, it;

19 (5) the operational and cost efficiencies to be

20 effected by the Plan and whether other methods or

21 alternative approaches would be more efficient; and

22 (6) any recommendations for changes in the

23 Plan, including any suggestions for administrative or

24 legislative action.
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1 (c) COMPLETION AND SUBMISSION.—(1) The review

2 authorized by subsection (a) shall be completed not later

3 than 180 days after receipt of the funds appropriated pur4 suant to subsection (d).

5 (2) The review authorized by subsection (a) shall be

6 submitted by the Consortium to the Committees of Con7 gress.

8 (3) The Consortium shall not submit, nor shall any

9 officer or agency of the United States have any authority

10 to require the Consortium to submit, the review authorized

11 by subsection (a), or any testimony concerning the review,

12 to any officer or agency of the United States for approval,

13 comments, or review prior to the submission of the review

14 or testimony to the Committees of Congress.

15 (d) APPROPRIATION AUTHORIZATION.—There are

16 authorized to be appropriated for use by the Consortium

17 to conduct the review authorized by subsection (a) such

18 sums as are necessary, but not more than $5,000,000.

19 Such sums shall be disbursed to the Consortium by the

20 Secretary of the Treasury.

21 (e) AGENCY COOPERATION.—Each department,

22 agency, or instrumentality of the executive branch of the

23 Federal government shall respond promptly and fully to

24 any request for information or documents pertaining to

25 the Plan submitted to it by the Consortium.
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1 TITLE IV—DEVELOPMENT OF A

2 GLOBAL RENEWABLE RE3 SOURCES ASSESSMENT

4 SEC. 401. PURPOSES.

5 The purposes of this title are to eliminate a level of

6 Forest Service planning in accordance with section 104(a);

7 to repeal the provisions of the Forest and Rangeland Re8 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 concerning the

9 Renewable Resources Assessment and Renewable Re10 source Program, which continually have been altered by

11 other agencies and political appointees within the Execu12 tive Branch and routinely have been ignored by the Forest

13 Service as a guide to the development of resource manage14 ment plans and management activities; to provide for the

15 preparation of a Global Renewable Resources Assessment;

16 and to establish an independent National Council on Re17 newable Resources Policy to be responsible for the Assess18 ment.

19 SEC. 402. GLOBAL RENEWABLE RESOURCES ASSESSMENT.

20 (a) ASSESSMENT.—(1) In recognition of the vital im21 portance of renewable resources of the forest, range, and

22 other associated lands to national and international social,

23 economic, and environmental well-being, and of the neces24 sity for a long term perspective in the use and conserva25 tion of such resources and lands, the National Council on
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1 Renewable Resources Policy established under section 403

2 shall prepare a Global Renewable Resources Assessment

3 (hereinafter in this title referred to as the ‘‘Assessment’’).

4 (2) The Assessment shall be prepared and submitted

5 to the Committees of Congress not later than five years

6 from the date of enactment of this Act and within each

7 successive five year period thereafter.

8 (b) ASSESSMENT CONTENTS.—The Assessment shall

9 include but not be limited to—

10 (1) an analysis of present and anticipated na11 tional and international uses, demand for, and sup12 ply of the renewable resources, with an emphasis on

13 pertinent supply and demand and price relationship

14 trends;

15 (2) an inventory of present and potential na16 tional and international renewable resources, and an

17 evaluation of opportunities for improving their yield

18 of tangible and intangible goods and services, to19 gether with estimates of investment costs and direct

20 and indirect returns the various governments;

21 (3) an analysis of the environmental con22 straints, and the effects thereof, on production of

23 the renewable resources in the United States and in

24 other countries;
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1 (4) an analysis of the extent to which the pro2 grams of other countries for management of renew3 able resources ensure sustainable use and production

4 of such resources;

5 (5) a description of national and international

6 programs and responsibilities in research on renew7 able resources and management of public and pri8 vate forest, range, and other associated lands;

9 (6) a discussion of important policy consider10 ations, laws, regulations, and other factors expected

11 to influence and affect significantly the use, owner12 ship, and management of public and private forest,

13 range, and other associated lands; and

14 (7) recommendations for administrative or leg15 islative changes or initiatives to be undertaken by

16 the Agencies or Congress.

17 SEC. 403. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE RESOURCES

18 POLICY.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

20 National Council on Renewable Resources Policy (herein21 after in this title referred to as the ‘‘Council’’) to perform

22 the functions authorized in subsection (b).

23 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Council shall

24 be—
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1 (1) to prepare and submit to the Committees of

2 Congress of the Global Renewable Resources Assess3 ment required by section 402;

4 (2) from time to time during the five year peri5 ods between each Assessment, as it deems appro6 priate, to submit recommendations for administra7 tive changes or initiatives to the Agencies or legisla8 tive changes or initiatives to the Committees of Con9 gress; and

10 (3) to conduct such analyses as requested by

11 the Committees of Congress or the Agencies.

12 (c) MEMBERSHIP; CHAIR.—(1) The Council shall be

13 composed of fifteen members, including five members ap14 pointed by the President, five members appointed by the

15 President pro tempore of the Senate, and five members

16 appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

17 (2) The Chair of the Council shall be selected from

18 among its members.

19 (d) TERMS; VACANCIES.—(1) Except as provided in

20 paragraphs (2) and (3), each member of the Council shall

21 hold office for a term of seven years and until a successor

22 is appointed.

23 (2) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring

24 prior to the expiration of the term for which the member’s
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1 predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the re2 mainder of such term.

3 (3) The terms of the five members appointed by each

4 official which first take office after the enactment of this

5 Act shall expire as designated by the official at the time

6 of the appointment, one at the end of three years, one

7 at the end of four years, one at the end of five years, one

8 at the end of six years, and one at the end of seven years.

9 (4) A vacancy in the Council shall not impair the

10 right of the remaining members to perform the functions

11 authorized in subsection (b).

12 (e) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—(1) The Council shall

13 have an Executive Director, who shall be appointed (with14 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code,

15 governing appointments in the competitive service) by the

16 Council and serve at the pleasure of the Council.

17 (2) The Executive Director shall report to the Council

18 and assume such duties as the Council may assign.

19 (f) COMPENSATION.—(1) The members of the Coun20 cil who are not officers or employees of the United States,

21 while attending conferences, hearings, or meetings of the

22 Council or while otherwise serving at the request of the

23 Chair shall each be entitled to receive compensation at a

24 rate not in excess of the maximum rate of pay for grade

25 GS–18, as provided in the General Schedule under section
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1 5332 of title 5, United States Code, including travel time,

2 and while away from their homes or regular places of busi3 ness shall each be reimbursed for travel expenses, includ4 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence as authorized by section

5 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for persons in Govern6 ment service employed intermittently.

7 (2) The Executive Director shall be paid at a rate

8 of pay not in excess of the rate of pay for grade GS–18,

9 as provided in the General Schedule under section 5332

10 of title 5, United States Code.

11 (g) CONTRACT AUTHORITY; FEDERAL AGENCY CO12 OPERATION.—(1) In the performance of its functions, the

13 Council is authorized to contract with the National Acad14 emy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering

15 (acting through the National Research Council), the Con16 sortium of Regional Forest Assessment Centers, and other

17 nongovernmental entities, for the investigation of matters

18 within their competence.

19 (2) The heads of the departments, agencies, and in20 strumentalities of the executive branch of the Federal

21 Government shall cooperate with the Council in the per22 formance of its functions, and shall furnish to the Council

23 such information as the Council deems necessary to carry

24 out its functions. To the maximum extent feasible, the

25 Council shall avoid undertaking, and shall incorporate in
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1 the Assessment as warranted, survey, inventory, or data

2 collection activities otherwise conducted or capable of

3 being conducted by agencies of the executive branch of the

4 Federal Government, including the Forest Inventory and

5 Analysis prepared by the Forest Service.

6 (h) APPOINTMENT OF PERSONNEL.—In addition to

7 authority to appoint personnel subject to the provisions

8 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

9 the competitive service, and to pay such personnel in ac10 cordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

11 III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and

12 General Schedule pay rates, the Council shall have author13 ity to enter into contracts with private or public organiza14 tions who may furnish the Council with such administra15 tive and technical personnel as may be necessary to carry

16 out the purposes of this title. Personnel furnished by such

17 organizations under this subsection are not, and shall not

18 be considered to be, Federal employees for any purposes,

19 but in the performance of their duties shall be guided by

20 the standards which apply to employees of the legislative

21 branches under rules 41 and 43 of the Senate and House

22 of Representatives, respectively.

23 (i) RULES AND POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.—(1) The

24 Council is authorized to establish such procedural and ad-
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1 ministrative rules as are necessary for the performance of

2 its functions.

3 (2) The Council, by one or more of its members or

4 by such agents as it may designate, may conduct any hear5 ing or other inquiry necessary or appropriate to its func6 tions.

7 (j) TRANSMITTALS OF THE ASSESSMENT, BUDGET

8 REQUESTS, AND LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1)

9 Whenever the Council submits any budget estimate or re10 quest to the President or the Office of Management and

11 Budget, it shall transmit concurrently copies of that esti12 mate or request to the Appropriations Committees of the

13 Senate and House of Representatives.

14 (2) Whenever the Council transmits the Assessment,

15 analyses, or recommendations referred to in subsection (b)

16 or any testimony or any comments on legislation to the

17 Agencies, the President, or the Office of Management and

18 Budget, it shall transmit concurrently copies thereof to the

19 Committees of Congress. No officer or agency of the Unit20 ed States shall have any authority to require the Council

21 to submit its Assessment, analyses, recommendations re22 ferred to in subsection (b), or any testimony or any com23 ments on legislation, to any officer or agency of the United

24 States for approval, comments, or review prior to the sub25 mission of the Assessment, analyses, recommendations,
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1 testimony or comments to the Committees of Congress.

2 In instances where the Council voluntarily seeks to obtain

3 such comments or review of any officer or agency of the

4 United States, the Council shall include a description of

5 such actions in the Assessment, analyses, recommenda6 tions, testimony, or comments which it transmits to the

7 Congress.

8 SEC. 404. REPEAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE FOR9 EST AND RANGELAND RENEWABLE RE10 SOURCES PLANNING ACT.

11 The following sections of the Forest and Rangeland

12 Renewable Resources Planning Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et

13 seq.) (as redesignated by section 2 of, and otherwise

14 amended by, the National Forest Management Act of

15 1976 (90 Stat. 2949) are amended—

16 (1) in section 3—

17 (A) by deleting subsections (a), (b), and

18 (c);

19 (B) in subsection (d)—

20 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1),

21 (2), and (3) as subsections (a), (b), (c), re22 spectively;

23 (ii) in paragraph (1), redesignated as

24 subsection (a) by clause (i), by deleting

25 ‘‘budget together with the annual report
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1 provided for under section 8(c) of this

2 Act,’’ and inserting ‘‘budget,’’; and

3 (iii) in paragraph (3), redesignated as

4 subsection (c) by clause (i), by deleting

5 ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’;

6 and

7 (C) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub8 section (d);

9 (2) by deleting section 4 in its entirety;

10 (3) in section 5, by deleting ‘‘As a part of the

11 Assessment, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’;

12 (4) in section 6—

13 (A) in subsection (a), by deleting ‘‘As a

14 part of the Program provided for by section 3

15 of this Act, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and

16 (B) in subsection (g)(3), by deleting ‘‘de17 veloped to achieve the goals of the Program’’;

18 (5) in section 7, by deleting ‘‘Assessment, re19 source surveys, and Program’’ and inserting ‘‘re20 source surveys’’; and

21 (6) by deleting section 8 in its entirety.
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1 TITLE V—ADMINISTRATION

2 PART A—IN GENERAL

3 SEC 501. CONFIRMATION OF THE CHIEF OF THE FOREST

4 SERVICE.

5 (a) CONFIRMATION.—The Forest Service, Depart6 ment of Agriculture, shall be headed by the Chief who

7 shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice

8 and consent of the Senate. As an exercise of the rule9 making power of the Senate, any nomination of the Chief

10 submitted to the Senate for confirmation, and referred to

11 a committee, shall be referred to the Committee on Agri12 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on

13 Energy and Natural Resources. No person may undertake

14 the functions or exercise the authority of a Chief for more

15 than 180 days without the advice and consent of the Sen16 ate.

17 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—In nominating a Chief for ap18 pointment pursuant to paragraph (1), the President shall

19 select a person who is exceptionally qualified for such posi20 tion by virtue of:

21 (1) Possession of a degree in a scientific or en22 gineering discipline that is relevant to decisions con23 cerning management of the Federal lands;

24 (2) for a period of not less than 5 years, having

25 had direct responsibility for, and possessed and exer-
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1 cised authority to make decisions concerning, the

2 management, or research pertaining to the manage3 ment, of Federal lands or other lands administered

4 for purposes that are not dissimilar to the purposes

5 for which Federal lands are managed; and

6 (3) for a period of not less than 5 years, having

7 administered a program or office which has or had

8 a number of employees equal to or greater than the

9 average number of full-time equivalent employees in

10 national forest supervisors’ offices of the Forest

11 Service on or about the date of the appointment.

12 SEC. 502. MONITORING FUNDS.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary of

14 the Interior shall establish a Public Lands Monitoring

15 Fund and the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a

16 Forest Lands Monitoring Fund.

17 (b) PAYMENT INTO FUNDS.—(1) Any revenues from

18 Federal lands described in section 3(a)(4)(A) received by

19 the Secretary of the Interior in any fiscal year in excess

20 of revenues from such lands projected for the Bureau of

21 Land Management in the baseline budget of the President

22 for such fiscal year, minus the funds necessary to make

23 payments to States or local governments under other laws

24 concerning the distribution of revenues derived from such
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1 lands, shall be deposited into the Public Lands Monitoring

2 Fund.

3 (2) Any revenues from Federal lands described in sec4 tion 3(a)(4)(B) received by the Secretary of Agriculture

5 in any fiscal year in excess of revenues from such lands

6 projected for the Forest Service in the baseline budget of

7 the President for such fiscal year, minus the funds nec8 essary to make payments to States or local governments

9 under other laws concerning the distribution of revenues

10 derived from such lands, shall be deposited in the Forest

11 Lands Monitoring Fund.

12 (c) USE OF FUND MONIES.—(1) Funds deposited

13 into the Public Lands Monitoring Fund shall be available,

14 without fiscal year limitation or further appropriation, to

15 the Secretary of the Interior to conduct the monitoring

16 required by section 115(b) or pursuant to section

17 110(a)(3) or 110(b)(4)(B).

18 (2) Funds deposited in the Forest Lands Monitoring

19 Fund shall be available, without fiscal year limitation or

20 further appropriation, to the Secretary of Agriculture to

21 conduct the monitoring required by section 115(b) or pur22 suant to section 110(a)(3) or 110(b)(4)(B).
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1 SEC. 503. INTERAGENCY TRANSFER AND INTERCHANGE AU2 THORITY.

3 (a) TRANSFER AND INTERCHANGE AUTHORITY.—To

4 facilitate land management or achieve other authorized

5 public purposes, the Secretary of the Interior, with respect

6 to Federal lands described in section 3(a)(4)(A) which are

7 within or adjacent to Federal lands described in section

8 3(a)(4)(B), and the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect

9 to Federal lands described in section 3(a)(4)(B) which are

10 within or adjacent to Federal lands described in section

11 3(a)(4)(A), are authorized to transfer to the other Sec12 retary jurisdiction over lands not exceeding 5,000 acres

13 in size or to interchange jurisdiction over lands not exceed14 ing an aggregate of 10,000 acres per transaction.

15 (b) CONDITIONS.—(1) Transfers or interchanges

16 made pursuant to this section shall be without reimburse17 ment or transfer of funds.

18 (2) Lands transferred or interchanged pursuant to

19 this section shall become a part of the unit and managed

20 in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations of the

21 agency and administrative unit to which jurisdiction has

22 been transferred.

23 (3) A transfer or interchange pursuant to this section

24 shall not alter, amend, or modify any legislative designa25 tion or provisions applicable to the affected lands prior

26 to the transaction.
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1 (4) The transfer of lands under this section shall be

2 subject to valid existing rights.

3 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretaries shall publish

4 in the Federal Register at least 30 days prior to any trans5 fer or interchange to be made pursuant to this section a

6 notice of such transaction, together with a description of

7 the resource management objectives or public interest to

8 be served by such transaction.

9 SEC. 504. FEES FOR PROCESSING RECORDS REQUESTS.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec11 retaries may not waive or reduce any fee applicable to the

12 processing of a request that exceeds $1,000, or of multiple

13 requests from the same company, organization, or other

14 entity, including any affiliates or members of the same

15 company, organization or other entity, that exceed $1,000

16 within a 6-month period, for records under section 1 of

17 the Act of September 6, 1996, as amended (5 U.S.C.

18 § 552).

19 SEC. 505. OFF-BUDGET STUDY.

20 Within twelve months from the date of enactment of

21 this Act, the United States General Accounting Office

22 shall conduct, and report to the Committees of Congress

23 the results of, a study of the feasibility and likely effects

24 of prohibiting any appropriations of funds to the Forest

25 Service and Bureau of Land Management, except for ac-
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1 tivities of such agencies conducted on or related to non2 Federal lands, and permitting such agencies to retain for

3 their use, without further approval of, or appropriation by,

4 Congress and without fiscal year limitation, all revenues

5 collected from the Federal lands, with revenues from min6 eral activities on Federal lands identified in section

7 3(a)(4)(B) retained by the Forest Service, minus the

8 funds necessary to make payments to State and local gov9 ernments under other laws concerning the distribution of

10 revenues from the Federal lands.

11 PART B—NON-FEDERAL LANDS

12 SEC. 506. ACCESS TO ADJACENT OR INTERMINGLED NON13 FEDERAL LANDS.

14 (a) DEADLINES.—(1) Each Secretary shall process

15 any application for access over, upon, under, or through

16 Federal lands within the jurisdiction of the Secretary to

17 nonFederal land pursuant to section 1323 of the Alaska

18 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C.

19 § 3210) within 180 days of receipt of a complete applica20 tion.

21 (2)(A) Each Secretary shall notify in writing an ap22 plicant for access in accordance with this section whether

23 an application is complete within 15 days of receipt there24 of.
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1 (B) If a Secretary finds an application for access in

2 accordance with this section to be incomplete, the Sec3 retary shall describe in detail in the notice required by

4 subparagraph (A) what additional information is nec5 essary to render the application complete.

6 (3)(A) If an application for access in accordance with

7 this section has not been fully processed by the deadline

8 established in paragraph (1), it shall be deemed approved

9 as described in the application.

10 (B) If the Secretary fails to notify an applicant for

11 access in accordance with this section by the deadline es12 tablished in paragraph (2)(A), the application shall be

13 deemed complete.

14 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND REQUIRE15 MENTS.—(1) The environmental analysis documents re16 quired by section 102(2) of the National Environmental

17 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)) and section 7

18 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1536)

19 shall consider the environmental effects of the construc20 tion, maintenance and use of the access across the Federal

21 lands and shall not consider the use of the non-Federal

22 lands to be accessed.

23 (2) Any limitation or condition on the access which

24 the Secretary is permitted to impose pursuant to section

25 1323 of the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation
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1 Act shall limit or condition solely the construction, mainte2 nance, or use of the access across the Federal lands and

3 not the use of the non-Federal lands to be accessed.

4 SEC. 507. EXCHANGES OF FEDERAL LANDS FOR NON5 FEDERAL LANDS.

6 Section 206 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage7 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. § 1716) is amended:

8 (1) In subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after

9 ‘‘(b)’’ and adding at the end thereof the following

10 paragraphs:

11 ‘‘(2)(A) An environmental assessment shall be

12 the document prepared for any exchange under this

13 Act pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Envi14 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)).

15 Such document shall not include any assessment of

16 the future use or development of the Federal land

17 after it is conveyed by exchange, except for consider18 ation of any plans or proposals for such land avail19 able to the Secretary concerned prior to publication

20 of the environmental assessment.

21 ‘‘(B) For any land exchange required by an Act

22 of Congress in which the specific lands or interests

23 in lands to be exchanged are described, unless other24 wise required by such Act, no documentation pursu25 ant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental
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1 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)) shall be

2 required.

3 ‘‘(C) Any procedure required for an exchange

4 under this Act pursuant to section 7(a) of the En5 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1536(a))

6 shall be completed within 45 days after the date on

7 which the procedure is initiated.

8 ‘‘(D) After completion of an exchange under

9 this Act, the Secretary concerned shall not, except as

10 otherwise provided by law or regulation, undertake

11 or authorize any action on the non-Federal land or

12 interest in land acquired in the exchange until the

13 Secretary has complied with section 102(2) of the

14 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and sec15 tion 7(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973

16 concerning such action, and completed any necessary

17 amendment to or revision of the land management

18 plan applicable to such land.

19 ‘‘(3) The Secretary concerned shall complete

20 processing, and make a final decision, on any ex21 change under this Act within one year from the date

22 of submission of the application for the exchange.

23 ‘‘(4) The non-Federal land or interest in land

24 to be included in any exchange under this Act shall

25 be valued without the application of any Federal or
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1 State restriction concerning an environmental value

2 or resource the protection of which is considered by

3 the Secretary concerned as a public benefit to be ob4 tained by the exchange.

5 ‘‘(5) The Secretary concerned may employ com6 petitive methods to dispose by exchange of Federal

7 lands or interests in lands which are unique in char8 acter, which have values atypical of the general mar9 ket, for which market data is limited, or for which

10 competitive interest is demonstrated. The Secretary

11 concerned is not obligated to select the highest value

12 property offered in exchange for such Federal lands

13 or interests and may reject any and all proposals for

14 exchange.

15 ‘‘(6) The Secretary concerned may prequalify

16 Federal lands or interests in lands for exchange as

17 a means of preliminary identification of lands or in18 terests suitable for disposal. For the purposes of this

19 paragraph, the term ‘‘prequalify’’ means conducting

20 the necessary assessments and inventories for lands

21 or interests with the recognition that such assess22 ments and inventories may need to be updated or

23 completed in greater detail to reflect changes occur24 ring after the date on which the Secretary

25 prequalified the lands or interests.
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1 ‘‘(7) For Federal lands or interests in lands ac2 quired by a State in exchange for school trust lands

3 held by the State, the Secretary concerned, in lieu

4 of conducting a cultural assessment under section

5 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16

6 U.S.C. 470f ) on such lands or interests prior to

7 their transfer, may enter into an agreement with the

8 State which provides for protection of archaeological

9 resources and sites known or later discovered on

10 such lands or interests to the maximum extent prac11 ticable under State law.

12 ‘‘(8) Existing exchange authorities of the Sec13 retary of Agriculture may be used to exchange feder14 ally owned subsurface rights underlying non-Federal

15 surface lands located within the boundaries of a unit

16 of the National Forest System, or where the Federal

17 subsurface rights were acquired under the

18 Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 (7

19 U.S.C. 1010–1012) which are administered as part

20 of the National Forest System. Any such exchange

21 shall not conflict with any prior Federal sale or lease

22 of subsurface resources as determined through con23 sultation between the Secretary of Agriculture and

24 the Secretary of the Interior prior to any such ex25 change.
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1 ‘‘(9)(A) Amounts received by the Secretary con2 cerned under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in

3 special funds established in the Treasury of the

4 United States for the Bureau of Land Management

5 and Forest Service, subject to subparagraph (B).

6 Amounts in each fund, subject to appropriations,

7 shall be available to the Secretary concerned for

8 processing land exchanges, including cash equali9 zation.

10 ‘‘(B) Amounts in each fund referred to in sub11 paragraph (A) may not exceed $12,000,000 at any

12 time. Amounts received by the Secretary concerned

13 under this section which, but for this subparagraph,

14 would be added to each fund shall instead be covered

15 into the Treasury of the United States as mis16 cellaneous receipts.’’.

17 (2) In subsection (h), by striking out ‘‘$150,000’’

18 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$500,000’’.

19 PART C—THE FOREST RESOURCE

20 SEC. 508. FOREST HEALTH CREDITS IN SALES OF FOREST

21 PRODUCTS.

22 (a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE FOREST HEALTH CRED23 ITS.—(1) The Secretaries are authorized to require, as a

24 condition of any specific salvage sale of forest products

25 from the Federal lands or any sale of forest products con-
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1 stituting a forest health enhancement project pursuant to

2 section 509, that the purchaser undertake a forest health

3 management activity or activities as defined in subsection

4 ( j) which address effects of the operation of the sale or

5 past sales of forest products or involve vegetation manage6 ment within the area of the sale or the area in which such

7 effects are located.

8 (2) A condition described in paragraph (1) may be

9 included in a contract of sale only when the Secretary de10 termines that—

11 (A) the land management objectives of the for12 est health management activity or activities can be

13 accomplished most efficiently when performed as

14 part of the sale contract; and

15 (B) it is unlikely that the forest health manage16 ment activity or activities will be performed except

17 under the authority of this section.

18 (3) The original term of any sale contract with a con19 dition described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed three

20 years.

21 (b) FINANCING AND SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING.—(1)

22 Financing of the forest health management activity or ac23 tivities in a contract for a sale under the authority of sub24 section (a) shall be accomplished by including provisions

25 in the contract for amortization of the cost of such activity
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1 or activities through issuance of forest health credits to

2 the purchaser which offset such cost against the pur3 chaser’s payment for the forest products materials.

4 (2)(A) Appropriated funds may be used to assist the

5 forest health management activity or activities in a con6 tract for sale under the authority of subsection (a) if such

7 funds are provided by the resource function or functions

8 that directly benefit from the performance of the activity

9 or activities and are available from the annual appropria10 tion of such function or functions during the fiscal year

11 in which the sale is offered.

12 (B) The amount to be paid from appropriated funds

13 for each forest health management activity shall be in14 cluded in the prospectus, and published in the advertise15 ment, for the sale.

16 (c) DETERMINING FOREST HEALTH CREDITS.—(1)

17 Prior to the advertisement of a sale under the authority

18 of subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine the

19 amount of forest health credits to be allocated to each for20 est health management activity to be performed by the

21 purchaser under the contract.

22 (2) A description of the forest health management ac23 tivity or activities to be performed by the purchaser, and

24 the amount of forest health credits allocated to each activ-
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1 ity, shall be included in the prospectus, and published in

2 the advertisement, for the sale.

3 (d) CHANGED CONDITIONS.—The Secretary, with the

4 concurrence of the purchaser of a sale under the authority

5 of subsection (a), may alter the scope of work of a forest

6 health management activity or activities, and the amount

7 of forest health credits for the activity or activities, in the

8 sale after award of the sale and prior to operation of the

9 sale when warranted by a change in conditions.

10 (e) TRANSFER OF FOREST HEALTH CREDITS.—

11 Each Secretary may permit the transfer of unused forest

12 health credits from one sale under the authority of sub13 section (a) to another such sale held by the same pur14 chaser if such other sale applies to Federal lands that are

15 under the jurisdiction of such Secretary and located in the

16 same State as the original sale.

17 (f) EXISTING PROCEDURES.—To the extent feasible,

18 in preparing, awarding, and administering sales under the

19 authority of subsection (a), each Secretary shall adhere

20 to the procedures and requirements developed by the For21 est Service for sales of forest products requiring road con22 struction by sale purchasers pursuant to section 4(2) of

23 the National Forest Roads and Trails Act (16 U.S.C.

24 § 535(2)): Provided, That nothing in this section shall be

25 deemed to require or authorize any alteration in the proce-
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1 dures or requirements for sales of forest products under

2 section 4(2) including the applicable provisions of the

3 small business set-aside program and procedures for cal4 culating payments to counties of a portion of sale receipts.

5 (g) COST CONSIDERATIONS.—Sales under the au6 thority of subsection (a) shall not be precluded because

7 the costs of such sales are likely to exceed the revenues

8 derived from such sales nor shall such sales be considered

9 in any calculations concerning the revenue effects of forest

10 products sales programs for the Federal lands or units

11 thereof.

12 (h) MONITORING AND REPORT.—The Secretaries

13 shall monitor the performance of contracts for sales issued

14 under the authority of subsection (a) and submit a joint

15 report to the committees of Congress no later than the

16 date four years from the date of enactment of this Act

17 which assesses the effectiveness of such contracts, dis18 cusses whether continued use of such contracts is advis19 able, and offers any changes in the law or regulations gov20 erning, or in the administration of, such contracts which

21 the Secretaries deem appropriate.

22 (i) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—(1) The author23 ity to offer sales of forest products pursuant to this section

24 shall terminate five years after the date of enactment of

25 this Act.
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1 (2) Any contract for sale under the authority of sub2 section (a) that is issued prior to, and is in effect at, the

3 end of such five year period shall remain in effect under

4 its terms thereafter.

5 ( j) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

6 term ‘‘forest health management activity’’ means any

7 thinning, salvage, forest stand improvement, reforestation,

8 prescribed burning (including natural ignition) or other

9 fuels management, insect or disease control, riparian or

10 other habitat improvement, or other activity, the purpose

11 of which is to—

12 (1) arrest the decline in forest health and re13 store forest health in the area in which the activity

14 is to be undertaken to a condition capable of sup15 porting and sustaining the uses of the area within

16 the historic range of variability of such area or as

17 determined in the land management plan or plans

18 applicable to such area;

19 (2) safeguard human life, property, and com20 munities on and near the Federal lands, particularly

21 in wildland/urban interface areas;

22 (3) protect the various forest resources of the

23 Federal lands placed at risk by adverse forest health

24 conditions, including air and water quality, wildlife,

25 and recreation and visual values;
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1 (4) restore, maintain, or enhance the integrity

2 of ecosystems, watersheds, and habitats damaged or

3 placed at risk by adverse forest health conditions; or

4 (5) protect existing Federal investments in the

5 forest resources of the Federal lands, and future

6 Federal, State, and local revenues that otherwise

7 would be foregone.

8 SEC. 509. SPECIAL FUNDS.

9 (a) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.—The Sec10 retary of the Interior shall maintain a special fund estab11 lished pursuant to Public Law 102–381, which shall be

12 derived from the Federal shall of all monies received from

13 the salvage sales of forest products from all lands adminis14 tered by the Bureau of Land Management, Department

15 of the Interior, and which shall be available, without fur16 ther appropriation, for the purposes of planning and pre17 paring salvage sales of forest products, the administration

18 of salvage sales, and subsequent site preparation and re19 forestation, and forest health enhancement projects, in20 cluding, but not limited to, prescribed burning (including

21 natural ignition) or other fuels management, site prepara22 tion, tree planting, protection of seedlings from animals

23 and other environmental elements, release from competing

24 vegetation, and stand thinning. The Federal share of any

25 revenues received from forest health enhancement projects
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1 shall be returned to the special fund and be made available

2 for the purposes provided in this subsection.

3 (b) FOREST SERVICE.—The Federal share of all

4 monies received from the salvage sales of forest products

5 from, and any other activities funded pursuant to this sub6 section on, lands within the National Forest System may

7 be credited to the Forest Service Permanent Appropria8 tions to the expended for: salvage sales of forest products

9 from any national forest; preparation of sales of forest

10 products to replace sales lost to fire or other causes; prep11 aration of sales of forest products to replace sales inven12 tory on the shelf for any national forest to a level sufficient

13 to maintain new sales availability equal to a rolling 5-year

14 average of the total sales offering; design, engineering, and

15 supervision of construction of roads lost to fire or other

16 causes associated with the sales programs described in this

17 subsection; watershed assessment activities; and forest

18 health enhancement projects, including, but not limited to

19 prescribed burning (including natural ignition or other

20 fuels management, site preparation, tree planting, protec21 tion of seedlings from animals and other environmental

22 elements, release from competing vegetation, and stand

23 thinning.

24 (c) PAYMENTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Moneys

25 received from the salvage sales of forest products, and
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1 other activities funded, pursuant to this section shall be

2 considered as money received for purposes of computing

3 and distributing payments to State and local governments

4 under other law concerning the distribution of revenues

5 derived from forest resources from the affected lands.

6 SEC. 510. PRIVATE CONTRACTORS.

7 To preserve budgetary and personnel resources, each

8 Secretary shall use to the maximum extent feasible private

9 contractors to prepare sales for forest products: Provided,

10 That—

11 (1) any work conducted by a contractor on a

12 sale shall be reviewed and approved by the Secretary

13 before any decision on the design of, conditions for,

14 or approval or disapproval of the sale may be made

15 by the Secretary;

16 (2) a contractor who worked on a sale may not

17 submit comments on, or otherwise participate in,

18 any decision by the Secretary on the design, condi19 tions for, or approval or disapproval of the sale; and

20 (3) a contractor who conducted work on a sale,

21 any entity owned or controlled by the contractor, or

22 any member of the family of the contractor, may not

23 bid on the sale or provide any information to poten24 tial bidders and bidders on the sale prior to award

25 of the sale.
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1 SEC. 511. NON-HARVESTED FOREST PRODUCTS SALES.

2 (a) QUALIFYING SALES.—Notwithstanding any other

3 provision of law, a purchaser of a sale of forest products

4 from the Federal lands, other than a sale pursuant to sec5 tion 508(a) or section 509 or a sale which has its primary

6 purpose vegetative management or land management

7 other than the disposal of forest products, may elect not

8 to harvest the stand or stands of trees subject to the sale

9 (hereinafter referred to in this section as ‘‘an election

10 sale’’).

11 (b) CONTRACT TERM.—Any election sale shall have

12 a term the length of which corresponds to the expected

13 silvicultural rotation in a sale designed to regenerate even14 aged stands or the period prior to the next scheduled entry

15 for a sale designed to develop and maintain uneven-aged

16 stands.

17 (c) CONTRACT TERMINATION.—If, during the con18 tract term of an election sale, the stand or stands of trees

19 subject to the sale are substantially damaged by fire,

20 windthrow, disease, insect infestation, or other natural

21 event, and the Secretary determines, after an opportunity

22 for public hearing, that harvesting of the stand or stands

23 is necessary to avoid damage to adjacent forested areas,

24 the Secretary may terminate the contract and return a

25 pro-rata share of the purchase price, together with interest

26 thereon, to the purchaser. The decision to terminate a con-
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1 tract pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to

2 section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)) or section 7 of the Endan4 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1536): Provided,

5 That any new sale of the stand or stands of trees subject

6 to the contract shall comply with such provisions of law.

7 (d) SALE ANNOUNCEMENT.—The notice of sale for

8 each sale of forest products from the Federal lands shall

9 disclose if the sale is offered pursuant to section 508(a)

10 or section 509 or for the primary purpose of land manage11 ment or treatment. If the sale is qualified to be an election

12 sale, the notice shall also state the term of the contract

13 for any purchaser who intends not to harvest the stand

14 or stands of trees subject to the sale.

15 (e) NOTICE OF INTENT.—A prospective purchaser of

16 a sale of forest products from the Federal lands qualified

17 to be an election sale which intends not to harvest the

18 stand or stands subject to the sale shall provide written

19 notice of such intention to the Agency with the submission

20 of its bid for the sale.

21 (f) WINNING BID DETERMINATION.—In determining

22 the winning bidder for an election sale that has specifica23 tions for road construction or reconstruction, the Sec24 retary shall deduct from the bid of any prospective pur25 chaser which has provided notice of intent not to harvest
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1 pursuant to subsection (e) the estimated cost of such con2 struction or reconstruction.

3 (g) DEFINITION.—Within 90 days of enactment of

4 this Act, each Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg5 ister a definition of the term ‘‘vegetative management or

6 land management other than disposal of forest products’’

7 in subsection (a) and guidance concerning the determina8 tion of whether a sale of forest products from the Federal

9 lands meets such definition.

10 SEC. 512. EXEMPTION FROM STRICT LIABILITY FOR THE

11 RECOVERY OF FIRE SUPPRESSION COSTS.

12 Section 504(h) of the Federal Land Policy and Man13 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. § 1764(h)) is amended

14 by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(3) No regulation shall impose liability without

16 fault for fire suppression costs with respect to a

17 right-of-way granted, issued, or renewed under this

18 Act to or for a non-profit entity, including a non19 profit entity that uses such right-of-way for the de20 livery of electricity to parties having an equity inter21 est in such entity.’’.

22 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

23 SEC. 601. REGULATIONS.

24 Not later than eighteen months from the date of en25 actment of this Act, each Secretary shall promulgate any
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1 regulations necessary to carry out the purposes and provi2 sions of this Act.

3 SEC. 602. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated in the fiscal

5 year in which this Act is enacted and each fiscal year for

6 ten fiscal years thereafter such sums as may be necessary

7 to carry out the provisions of this Act. Notwithstanding

8 any other provision of law, all other authorizations for ap9 propriations for the management of Federal lands shall

10 expire on the same date as the expiration of the appropria11 tions authority of this section.

12 SEC. 603. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on the

14 date of enactment of this Act. No decision or action re15 quired or authorized by this Act shall be delayed pending

16 promulgation of any regulation to carry out the provisions

17 of this Act.

18 SEC. 604. SAVINGS CLAUSES.

19 (a) O & C LANDS ACT.—Notwithstanding any provi20 sion of this Act, except title VI, in the event of conflict

21 with or inconsistency between this Act and the Acts of

22 August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874; 43 U.S.C. §§ 1181a–

23 1181j) and May 24, 1939 (53 Stat. 753), the latter Acts

24 shall prevail.
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1 (b) LAND USE RIGHTS AND AUTHORIZATIONS.—

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as terminating any

3 valid lease, permit, patent, right-of-way, or other right of,

4 or authorization for, use of the Federal lands, including

5 any Native American treaty right, existing on the date of

6 enactment of this Act.

7 (c) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—All actions taken by

8 the Secretaries under this Act shall be subject to valid ex9 isting rights.

10 SEC. 605. SEVERABILITY.

11 If any provision of this Act or the application thereof

12 is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, or any other ap13 plication thereof, shall not be affected thereby.

Æ