106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1925

AN ACT

To promote environmental restoration around the Lake

Tahoe basin.

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 ‘‘Lake Tahoe Restora5 tion Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) Lake Tahoe, one of the largest, deepest,

4 and clearest lakes in the world, has a cobalt blue

5 color, a unique alpine setting, and remarkable water

6 clarity, and is recognized nationally and worldwide

7 as a natural resource of special significance;

8 (2) in addition to being a scenic and ecological

9 treasure, Lake Tahoe is one of the outstanding rec10 reational resources of the United States, offering

11 skiing, water sports, biking, camping, and hiking to

12 millions of visitors each year, and contributing sig13 nificantly to the economies of California, Nevada,

14 and the United States;

15 (3) the economy in the Lake Tahoe basin is de16 pendent on the protection and restoration of the nat17 ural beauty and recreation opportunities in the area;

18 (4) Lake Tahoe is in the midst of an environ19 mental crisis; the Lake’s water clarity has declined

20 from a visibility level of 105 feet in 1967 to only 70

21 feet in 1999, and scientific estimates indicate that if

22 the water quality at the Lake continues to degrade,

23 Lake Tahoe will lose its famous clarity in only 30

24 years;

25 (5) sediment and algae-nourishing phosphorous

26 and nitrogen continue to flow into the Lake from a
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1 variety of sources, including land erosion, fertilizers,

2 air pollution, urban runoff, highway drainage,

3 streamside erosion, land disturbance, and ground

4 water flow;

5 (6) methyl tertiary butyl ether—

6 (A) has contaminated and closed more

than 1 7 ⁄3 of the wells in South Tahoe; and

8 (B) is advancing on the Lake at a rate of

9 approximately 9 feet per day;

10 (7) destruction of wetlands, wet meadows, and

11 stream zone habitat has compromised the Lake’s

12 ability to cleanse itself of pollutants;

13 (8) approximately 40 percent of the trees in the

14 Lake Tahoe basin are either dead or dying, and the

15 increased quantity of combustible forest fuels has

16 significantly increased the risk of catastrophic forest

17 fire in the Lake Tahoe basin;

18 (9) as the largest land manager in the Lake

19 Tahoe basin, with 77 percent of the land, the Fed20 eral Government has a unique responsibility for re21 storing environmental health to Lake Tahoe;

22 (10) the Federal Government has a long history

23 of environmental preservation at Lake Tahoe,

24 including—
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1 (A) congressional consent to the establish2 ment of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in

3 1969 (Public Law 91–148; 83 Stat. 360) and

4 in 1980 (Public Law 96–551; 94 Stat. 3233);

5 (B) the establishment of the Lake Tahoe

6 Basin Management Unit in 1973; and

7 (C) the enactment of Public Law 96–586

8 (94 Stat. 3381) in 1980 to provide for the ac9 quisition of environmentally sensitive land and

10 erosion control grants;

11 (11) the President renewed the Federal Govern12 ment’s commitment to Lake Tahoe in 1997 at the

13 Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, when he committed

14 to increased Federal resources for environmental

15 restoration at Lake Tahoe and established the Fed16 eral Interagency Partnership and Federal Advisory

17 Committee to consult on natural resources issues

18 concerning the Lake Tahoe basin;

19 (12) the States of California and Nevada have

20 contributed proportionally to the effort to protect

21 and restore Lake Tahoe, including—

22 (A) expenditures—

23 (i) exceeding $200,000,000 by the

24 State of California since 1980 for land ac25 quisition, erosion control, and other envi-
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1 ronmental projects in the Lake Tahoe

2 basin; and

3 (ii) exceeding $30,000,000 by the

4 State of Nevada since 1980 for the pur5 poses described in clause (i); and

6 (B) the approval of a bond issue by voters

7 in the State of Nevada authorizing the expendi8 ture by the State of an additional $20,000,000;

9 and

10 (13) significant additional investment from

11 Federal, State, local, and private sources is needed

12 to stop the damage to Lake Tahoe and its forests,

13 and restore the Lake Tahoe basin to ecological

14 health.

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

16 (1) to enable the Forest Service to plan and im17 plement significant new environmental restoration

18 activities and forest management activities to ad19 dress the phenomena described in paragraphs (4)

20 through (8) of subsection (a) in the Lake Tahoe

21 basin;

22 (2) to ensure that Federal, State, local, re23 gional, tribal, and private entities continue to work

24 together to improve water quality and manage Fed-
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1 eral land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management

2 Unit; and

3 (3) to provide funding to local governments for

4 erosion and sediment control projects on non-Fed5 eral land if the projects benefit the Federal land.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL THRESHOLD CARRYING

9 CAPACITY.—The term ‘‘environmental threshold car10 rying capacity’’ has the meaning given the term in

11 article II of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact

12 set forth in the first section of Public Law 96–551

13 (94 Stat. 3235).

14 (2) FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘fire risk re16 duction activity’’ means an activity that is nec17 essary to reduce the risk of wildlife to promote

18 forest management and simultaneously achieve

19 and maintain the environmental threshold car20 rying capacities established by the Planning

21 Agency in a manner consistent, where applica22 ble, with chapter 71 of the Tahoe Regional

23 Planning Agency Code of Ordinances.

24 (B) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The term

25 ‘‘fire risk reduction activity’’ includes—
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1 (i) prescribed burning;

2 (ii) mechanical treatment;

3 (iii) road obliteration or reconstruc4 tion; and

5 (iv) such other activities consistent

6 with Forest Service practices as the Sec7 retary determines to be appropriate.

8 (3) PLANNING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Planning

9 Agency’’ means the Tahoe Regional Planning Agen10 cy established under Public Law 91–148 (83 Stat.

11 360) and Public Law 96–551 (94 Stat. 3233).

12 (4) PRIORITY LIST.—The term ‘‘priority list’’

13 means the environmental restoration priority list de14 veloped under section 6.

15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

16 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the

17 Chief of the Forest Service.

18 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN MAN19 AGEMENT UNIT.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Lake Tahoe Basin Manage21 ment Unit shall be administered by the Secretary in ac22 cordance with this Act and the laws applicable to the Na23 tional Forest System.

24 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—
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1 (1) PRIVATE OR NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Noth2 ing in this Act grants regulatory authority to the

3 Secretary over private or other non-Federal land.

4 (2) PLANNING AGENCY.—Nothing in this Act

5 affects or increases the authority of the Planning

6 Agency.

7 (3) ACQUISITION UNDER OTHER LAW.—Noth8 ing in this Act affects the authority of the Secretary

9 to acquire land from willing sellers in the Lake

10 Tahoe basin under any other law.

11 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH PLANNING AGENCY AND

12 OTHER ENTITIES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the duties de14 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with

15 and seek the advice and recommendations of—

16 (1) the Planning Agency;

17 (2) the Tahoe Federal Interagency Partnership

18 established by Executive Order No. 13057 (62 Fed.

19 Reg. 41249) or a successor Executive order;

20 (3) the Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory

21 Committee established by the Secretary on Decem22 ber 15, 1998 (64 Fed. Reg. 2876) (until the com23 mittee is terminated);
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1 (4) Federal representatives and all political sub2 divisions of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management

3 Unit; and

4 (5) the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water

5 Quality Coalition.

6 (b) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall consult with and

7 seek advice and recommendations from the entities de8 scribed in subsection (a) with respect to—

9 (1) the administration of the Lake Tahoe Basin

10 Management Unit;

11 (2) the development of the priority list;

12 (3) the promotion of consistent policies and

13 strategies to address the Lake Tahoe basin’s envi14 ronmental and recreational concerns;

15 (4) the coordination of the various programs,

16 projects, and activities relating to the environment

17 and recreation in the Lake Tahoe basin to avoid un18 necessary duplication and inefficiencies of Federal,

19 State, local, tribal, and private efforts; and

20 (5) the coordination of scientific resources and

21 data, for the purpose of obtaining the best available

22 science as a basis for decisionmaking on an ongoing

23 basis.
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1 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PRIORITY LIST.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop

4 a priority list of potential or proposed environmental res5 toration projects for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management

6 Unit.

7 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITY LIST.—In devel8 oping the priority list, the Secretary shall—

9 (1) use the best available science, including any

10 relevant findings and recommendations of the water11 shed assessment conducted by the Forest Service in

12 the Lake Tahoe basin; and

13 (2) include, in order of priority, potential or

14 proposed environmental restoration projects in the

15 Lake Tahoe basin that—

16 (A) are included in or are consistent with

17 the environmental improvement program adopt18 ed by the Planning Agency in February 1998

19 and amendments to the program;

20 (B) would help to achieve and maintain the

21 environmental threshold carrying capacities

22 for—

23 (i) air quality;

24 (ii) fisheries;

25 (iii) noise;

26 (iv) recreation;
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1 (v) scenic resources;

2 (vi) soil conservation;

3 (vii) forest health;

4 (viii) water quality; and

5 (ix) wildlife;

6 (3) in determining the order of priority of po7 tential and proposed environmental restoration

8 projects under paragraph (2), the focus shall ad9 dress projects (listed in no particular order)

10 involving—

11 (A) erosion and sediment control, including

12 the activities described in section 2(g) of Public

13 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) (as amended by

14 section 7 of this Act);

15 (B) the acquisition of environmentally sen16 sitive land from willing sellers under Public

17 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) or land acquisi18 tion under any other Federal law;

19 (C) fire risk reduction activities in urban

20 areas and urban-wildland interface areas, in21 cluding high recreational use areas and urban

22 lots acquired from willing sellers under Public

23 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381);

24 (D) cleaning up methyl tertiary butyl ether

25 contamination; and
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1 (E) the management of vehicular parking

2 and traffic in the Lake Tahoe Basin Manage3 ment Unit, especially—

4 (i) improvement of public access to

5 the Lake Tahoe basin, including the pro6 motion of alternatives to the private auto7 mobile;

8 (ii) the Highway 28 and 89 corridors

9 and parking problems in the area; and

10 (iii) cooperation with local public

11 transportation systems, including—

12 (I) the Coordinated Transit Sys13 tem; and

14 (II) public transit systems on the

15 north shore of Lake Tahoe.

16 (c) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall provide for

17 continuous scientific research on and monitoring of the

18 implementation of projects on the priority list, including

19 the status of the achievement and maintenance of environ20 mental threshold carrying capacities.

21 (d) CONSISTENCY WITH MEMORANDUM OF UNDER22 STANDING.—A project on the priority list shall be con23 ducted in accordance with the memorandum of under24 standing signed by the Forest Supervisor and the Plan25 ning Agency on November 10, 1989, including any amend-
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1 ments to the memorandum as long as the memorandum

2 remains in effect.

3 (e) REVIEW OF PRIORITY LIST.—Periodically, but

4 not less often than every 3 years, the Secretary shall—

5 (1) review the priority list;

6 (2) consult with—

7 (A) the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency;

8 (B) interested political subdivisions; and

9 (C) the Lake Tahoe Water Quality and

10 Transportation Coalition; and

11 (3) make any necessary changes with respect

12 to—

13 (A) the findings of scientific research and

14 monitoring in the Lake Tahoe basin;

15 (B) any change in an environmental

16 threshold as determined by the Planning Agen17 cy;

18 (C) any change in general environmental

19 conditions in the Lake Tahoe basin; and

20 (D) submit to Congress a report on any

21 changes made.

22 (f) CLEANUP OF HYDROCARBON CONTAMINATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, subject

24 to the availability of appropriations, make a pay25 ment of $1,000,000 to the Tahoe Regional Planning
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1 Agency and the South Tahoe Public Utility District

2 to develop and publish a plan, not later than 1 year

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, for the pre4 vention and cleanup of hydrocarbon contamination

5 (including contamination with MTBE) of the surface

6 water and ground water of the Lake Tahoe basin.

7 (2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan,

8 the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the South

9 Tahoe Public Utility District shall consult with the

10 States of California and Nevada and appropriate po11 litical subdivisions.

12 (3) WILLING SELLERS.—The plan shall not in13 clude any acquisition of land or an interest in land

14 except an acquisition from a willing seller.

15 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated, for the implementation of

17 projects on the priority list and the payment identified in

18 subsection (f), $20,000,000 for the first fiscal year that

19 begins after the date of enactment of this Act and for each

20 of the 9 fiscal years thereafter.

21 SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT PAYMENTS.

22 Section 2 of Public Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) is

23 amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the fol24 lowing:

25 ‘‘(g) PAYMENTS TO LOCALITIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri2 culture shall, subject to the availability of appropria3 tions, make annual payments to the governing bod4 ies of each of the political subdivisions (including

5 any public utility the service area of which includes

6 any part of the Lake Tahoe basin), any portion of

7 which is located in the area depicted on the final

8 map filed under section 3(a).

9 ‘‘(2) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments under this

10 subsection may be used—

11 ‘‘(A) first, for erosion control and water

12 quality projects; and

13 ‘‘(B) second, unless emergency projects

14 arise, for projects to address other threshold

15 categories after thresholds for water quality and

16 soil conservation have been achieved and main17 tained.

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a

20 payment under this subsection, a political sub21 division shall annually submit a priority list of

22 proposed projects to the Secretary of Agri23 culture.
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1 ‘‘(B) COMPONENTS OF LIST.—A priority

2 list under subparagraph (A) shall include, for

3 each proposed project listed—

4 ‘‘(i) a description of the need for the

5 project;

6 ‘‘(ii) all projected costs and benefits;

7 and

8 ‘‘(iii) a detailed budget.

9 ‘‘(C) USE OF PAYMENTS.—A payment

10 under this subsection shall be used only to

11 carry out a project or proposed project that is

12 part of the environmental improvement pro13 gram adopted by the Tahoe Regional Planning

14 Agency in February 1998 and amendments to

15 the program.

16 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL OBLIGATION.—All projects

17 funded under this subsection shall be part of

18 Federal obligation under the enviromental

19 improvment program.

20 ‘‘(4) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The total amounts ap22 propriated for payments under this subsection

23 shall be allocated by the Secretary of Agri24 culture based on the relative need for and mer-
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1 its of projects proposed for payment under this

2 section.

3 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM.—To the maximum extent

4 practicable, for each fiscal year, the Secretary

5 of Agriculture shall ensure that each political

6 subdivision in the Lake Tahoe basin receives

7 amounts appropriated for payments under this

8 subsection.

9 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

10 addition to the amounts authorized to be appro11 priated to carry out section 6 of the Lake Tahoe

12 Restoration Act, there is authorized to be appro13 priated for making payments under this subsection

14 $10,000,000 for the first fiscal year that begins

15 after the date of enactment of this paragraph and

16 for each of the 9 fiscal years thereafter.’’.

17 SEC. 8. FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—In conducting fire risk reduction

19 activities in the Lake Tahoe basin, the Secretary shall, as

20 appropriate, coordinate with State and local agencies and

21 organizations, including local fire departments and volun22 teer groups.

23 (b) GROUND DISTURBANCE.—The Secretary shall, to

24 the maximum extent practicable, minimize any ground dis25 turbances caused by fire risk reduction activities.
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1 SEC. 9. AVAILABILITY AND SOURCE OF FUNDS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds authorized under this Act

3 and the amendment made by this Act—

4 (1) shall be in addition to any other amounts

5 available to the Secretary for expenditure in the

6 Lake Tahoe basin; and

7 (2) shall not reduce allocations for other Re8 gions of the Forest Service.

9 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided

10 in subsection (c), funds for activities under section 6 and

11 section 7 of this Act shall be available for obligation on

12 a 1-to-1 basis with funding of restoration activities in the

13 Lake Tahoe basin by the States of California and Nevada.

14 (c) RELOCATION COSTS.—The Secretary shall provide 2 15 ⁄3 of necessary funding to local utility districts for

16 the costs of relocating facilities in connection with environ17 mental restoration projects under section 6 and erosion

18 control projects under section 2 of Public Law 96–586.

19 SEC. 10. AMENDMENT OF PUBLIC LAW 96–586.

20 Section 3(a) of Public Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3383)

21 is amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(5) WILLING SELLERS.—Land within the

23 Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit subject to ac24 quisition under this section that is owned by a pri25 vate person shall be acquired only from a willing

26 seller.’’.
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1 SEC. 11. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

2 Nothing in this Act exempts the Secretary from the

3 duty to comply with any applicable Federal law.

4 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

6 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest:

Secretary.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1925

AN ACT

To promote environmental restoration around the

Lake Tahoe basin.