IB

Union Calendar No. 330

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1523

[Report No. 106–604, Part I]

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

MAY 3, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. METCALF, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SHOWS,

Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. STUMP, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mrs. EMERSON,

Mr. THUNE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. RILEY, Mr.

HUNTER, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. CANNON, and Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota

MAY 3, 2000

Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

MAY 3, 2000

Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a period ending not

later than May 3, 2000
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MAY 3, 2000

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 22, 1999]

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Roads-Commu5 nity Right-To-Know Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE7 MENT PROCEDURES FOR PERMANENT CLO8 SURE OF FOREST ROADS.

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

10 (1) PERMANENT CLOSURE.—The term ‘‘perma11 nent closure’’, with respect to a forest road, means the

12 closure of the road to vehicular traffic for a contin13 uous period of more than one year. The term includes

14 a road closure of one year or less, or of an unspecified

15 duration, unless the Secretary concerned certifies at
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1 the time of the closure that the closure will not extend

2 beyond one year.

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

4 means any road on Federal lands.

5 (3) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal lands’’

6 means—

7 (A) lands administered by the Bureau of

8 Land Management; and

9 (B) lands within units of the National For10 est System.

11 (4) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFI12 CIALS.—The term ‘‘State and local government offi13 cials’’ means elected officials of States and counties

14 within which Federal lands are located.

15 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec16 retary concerned’’ means—

17 (A) with respect to the Federal lands de18 scribed in paragraph (3)(A), the Secretary of the

19 Interior; and

20 (B) with respect to the Federal lands de21 scribed in paragraph (3)(B), the Secretary of

22 Agriculture.

23 (b) ADVANCE NOTICE OF PERMANENT ROAD CLO24 SURES TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.—
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1 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection is

2 to ensure that the Secretary concerned involves State

3 and local government officials in the process by which

4 the Secretary concerned considers and plans for the

5 potential permanent closure of forest roads on Federal

6 lands.

7 (2) ANNUAL MEETINGS REQUIRED.—At least

8 once each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall

9 meet with appropriate State and local government of10 ficials to describe all agency plans or proposals that,

11 within the next two fiscal years, will or may result

12 in the permanent closure of forest roads on Federal

13 lands. Such agency plans or proposals include project

14 proposals, land management plan amendments or re15 visions, resource management plan amendments or

16 revisions, and regional or subregional plans or pro17 posals

18 (3) ELEMENTS OF NOTICE.—At a meeting under

19 paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall provide

20 information, using maps and other means, that at a

21 minimum—

22 (A) shows forest roads selected or proposed

23 for permanent closure;

24 (B) shows traffic patterns and volumes on

25 the roads over the previous five years; and
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1 (C) explains how users of the roads will be

2 adversely affected with longer travel times or ad3 verse travel conditions by the permanent closure

4 of the roads.

5 (4) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST MEETING.—At the

6 first meeting conducted under paragraph (2) for a

7 State or local government, the Secretary concerned

8 shall also provide information on all forest roads that

9 have been subject to permanent closure in that State

10 during the previous five years. The information shall

11 include a map showing the location of the forest roads

12 and a description of the methods and costs of the per13 manent closure of the forest roads.

14 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIREMENTS.—

15 (1) LOCAL NOTICE.—Before proceeding with the

16 permanent closure of a forest road, the Secretary con17 cerned shall publish an announcement describing the

18 proposed closure in the local newspaper of record for

19 the area likely to be affected by the permanent closure

20 of the road. The announcement shall include a de21 scription and map of the forest road selected or pro22 posed for permanent closure and a description of any

23 comments generated regarding the closure in meetings

24 with State and local government officials under sub25 section (b).
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1 (2) COMMENT PERIOD.—The permanent closure

2 of a forest road may not take effect until after the end

3 of the 90-day period beginning on the date that the

4 announcement under paragraph (1) was published re5 garding that road so as to permit the public to sub6 mit comments regarding the decision to select or pro7 pose the forest road for permanent closure.

8 (d) PROHIBITION ON PERMANENT ROAD CLOSURES.—

9 The permanent closure of a forest road is prohibited

10 unless—

11 (1) advance notice of the permanent closure of

12 the road is provided to the appropriate State and

13 local government officials in the manner provided in

14 subsection (b); and

15 (2) the Secretary complies with the public notice

16 and comment requirements under subsection (c).

17 (e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—The require18 ments of this section shall take effect on the date of the en19 actment of this Act, except that the prohibition contained

20 in subsection (d)(1) shall not apply to prohibit the perma21 nent closure of any forest road implemented during the fis22 cal year in which this section is enacted.

23 (f) EFFECT ON VALID AND EXISTING RIGHTS.—Noth24 ing in this section shall invalidate rights-of-way designated

25 under section 2477 of the Revised Statutes of 1878 (43
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1 U.S.C. 932) or other valid and existing rights, including

2 rights of ingress and egress.

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

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

5 concerned shall comply with the applicable laws of the State

6 in which the forest road is located.

7 SEC. 3. EMERGENCIES.

8 (a) EMERGENCY ROAD CLOSURES.—Subject to sub9 section (b), the requirements of section 2 shall not apply

10 to emergency road closures where life or property would be

11 endangered or threatened in the absence of the road closure.

12 (b) LENGTH OF CLOSURE.—If an emergency road clo13 sure will extend beyond one year, the Secretary concerned

14 shall comply with the requirements of section 2 within three

15 months after the date on which the emergency road closure

16 commenced.
Union Calendar No. 330

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1523

[Report No. 106–604, Part I]

A BILL

To establish mandatory procedures to be followed

by the Forest Service and the Bureau of LandManagement in advance of the permanent closureof any forest road so as to ensure local publicparticipation in the decisionmaking process.

MAY 3, 2000

Reported from the Committee on Resource with an

amendment

MAY 3, 2000

Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a

period ending not later than May 3, 2000

MAY 3, 2000

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the

Committee of the Whole House on the State of theUnion and ordered to be printed.