I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1523

To establish mandatory procedures to be followed by the Forest Service

and the Bureau of Land Management in advance of the permanent

closure of any forest road so as to ensure local public participation

in the decisionmaking process.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mrs. CHENOWETH (for herself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr.

SCHAFFER, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. RADANOVICH,

Mr. HERGER, Mr. POMBO, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WALDEN

of Oregon, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SIMPSON,

and Mr. NETHERCUTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To establish mandatory procedures to be followed by the

Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management

in advance of the permanent closure of any forest road

so as to ensure local public participation in the decisionmaking process.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Roads-Commu3 nity Right-To-Know Act’’.

4 SECTION 2. FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MAN5 AGEMENT PROCEDURES FOR PERMANENT

6 CLOSURE OF FOREST ROADS.

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

8 (1) PERMANENT CLOSURE.—The term ‘‘perma9 nent closure’’, with respect to a forest road, means

10 the closure of the road to vehicular traffic for a con11 tinuous period of more than one year. The term in12 cludes a road closure of one year or less, or of an

13 unspecified duration, unless the Secretary concerned

14 certifies at the time of the closure that the closure

15 will not extend beyond one year.

16 (2) FOREST ROAD.—The term ‘‘forest road’’

17 means any road on Federal lands.

18 (3) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal

19 lands’’ means—

20 (A) lands administered by the Bureau of

21 Land Management; and

22 (B) lands within units of the National For23 est System.

24 (4) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFI25 CIALS.—The term ‘‘State and local government offi-
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1 cials’’ means elected officials of States and counties

2 within which Federal lands are located.

3 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec4 retary concerned’’ means—

5 (A) with respect to the Federal lands de6 scribed in paragraph (3)(A), the Secretary of

7 the Interior; and

8 (B) with respect to the Federal lands de9 scribed in paragraph (3)(B), the Secretary of

10 Agriculture.

11 (b) ADVANCE NOTICE OF PERMANENT ROAD CLO12 SURES TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFI13 CIALS.—

14 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection

15 is to ensure that the Secretary concerned involves

16 State and local government officials in the process

17 by which the Secretary concerned considers and

18 plans for the potential permanent closure of forest

19 roads on Federal lands.

20 (2) ANNUAL MEETINGS REQUIRED.—At least

21 once each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall

22 meet with appropriate State and local government

23 officials to describe all agency plans or proposals

24 that, within the next two fiscal years, will or may re25 sult in the permanent closure of forest roads on
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1 Federal lands. Such agency plans or proposals in2 clude project proposals, land management plan

3 amendments or revisions, resource management plan

4 amendments or revisions, and regional or sub5 regional plans or proposals

6 (3) ELEMENTS OF NOTICE.—At a meeting

7 under paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall

8 provide information, using maps and other means,

9 that at a minimum—

10 (A) shows forest roads selected or proposed

11 for permanent closure;

12 (B) shows traffic patterns and volumes on

13 the roads over the previous five years; and

14 (C) explains how users of the roads will be

15 adversely affected with longer travel times or

16 adverse travel conditions by the permanent clo17 sure of the roads.

18 (4) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST MEETING.—At

19 the first meeting conducted under paragraph (2) for

20 a State or local government, the Secretary concerned

21 shall also provide information on all forest roads

22 that have been subject to permanent closure in that

23 State during the previous five years. The informa24 tion shall include a map showing the location of the
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1 forest roads and a description of the methods and

2 costs of the permanent closure of the forest roads.

3 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIRE4 MENTS.—

5 (1) LOCAL NOTICE.—Before proceeding with

6 the permanent closure of a forest road, the Sec7 retary concerned shall publish an announcement de8 scribing the proposed closure in the local newspaper

9 of record for the area likely to be affected by the

10 permanent closure of the road. The announcement

11 shall include a description and map of the forest

12 road selected or proposed for permanent closure and

13 a description of any comments generated regarding

14 the closure in meetings with State and local govern15 ment officials under subsection (b).

16 (2) COMMENT PERIOD.—The permanent closure

17 of a forest road may not take effect until after the

18 end of the 90-day period beginning on the date that

19 the announcement under paragraph (1) was pub20 lished regarding that road so as to permit the public

21 to submit comments regarding the decision to select

22 or propose the forest road for permanent closure.

23 (d) PROHIBITION ON PERMANENT ROAD CLO24 SURES.—The permanent closure of a forest road is prohib25 ited unless—
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1 (1) advance notice of the permanent closure of

2 the road is provided to the appropriate State and

3 local government officials in the manner provided in

4 subsection (b); and

5 (2) the Secretary complies with the public no6 tice and comment requirements under subsection (c).

7 (e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—The require8 ments of this section shall take effect on the date of the

9 enactment of this Act, except that the prohibition con10 tained in subsection (d)(1) shall not apply to prohibit the

11 permanent closure of any forest road implemented during

12 the fiscal year in which this section is enacted.

13 (f) EFFECT ON VALID AND EXISTING RIGHTS.—

14 Nothing in this section shall invalidate rights-of-way des15 ignated under section 2477 of the Revised Statutes of

16 1878 (43 U.S.C. 932) or other valid and existing rights,

17 including rights of ingress and egress.

18 (g) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAWS.—In carrying

19 out this section with respect to a forest road, the Secretary

20 concerned shall comply with the applicable laws of the

21 State in which the forest road is located.

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