II

Calendar No. 790

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1925

[Report No. 106–400]

To promote environmental restoration around the Lake Tahoe basin.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 16, 1999

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. REID, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. BRYAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 7, 2000

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

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

A BILL

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) President Clinton renewed the Federal

12 Government’s commitment to Lake Tahoe in 1997

13 at the Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, when he

14 committed to increased Federal resources for envi15 ronmental restoration at Lake Tahoe and estab16 lished the Federal Interagency Partnership and Fed17 eral Advisory Committee to consult on natural re18 sources issues 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 that State of an additional

9 $20,000,000; 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 agencies 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.

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 wildfire 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.

6 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITY LIST.—In devel7 oping the priority list, the Secretary shall—

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

9 relevant findings and recommendations of the water10 shed assessment conducted by the Forest Service in

11 the Lake Tahoe basin; and

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

13 proposed environmental restoration projects in the

14 Lake Tahoe basin that—

15 (A) are included in or are consistent with

16 the environmental improvement program adopt17 ed by the Planning Agency in February 1998

18 and amendments to the program;

19 (B) would help to achieve and maintain the

20 environmental threshold carrying capacities

21 for—

22 (i) air quality;

23 (ii) fisheries;

24 (iii) noise;

25 (iv) recreation;

26 (v) scenic resources;
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1 (vi) soil conservation;

2 (vii) forest health;

3 (viii) water quality; and

4 (ix) wildlife;

5 (3) in determining the order of priority of po6 tential and proposed environmental restoration

7 projects under paragraph (2), the focus shall ad8 dress projects (listed in no particular order)

9 involving—

10 (A) erosion and sediment control, including

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

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

13 section 7);

14 (B) the acquisition of environmentally sen15 sitive land from willing sellers under Public

16 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) or land acquisi17 tion under any other Federal law;

18 (C) fire risk reduction activities in urban

19 areas and urban-wildland interface areas, in20 cluding high recreational use areas and urban

21 lots acquired from willing sellers under Public

22 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381);

23 (D) cleaning up methyl tertiary butyl ether

24 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 make a

24 payment of $1,000,000 to the Tahoe Regional Plan25 ning Agency and the South Tahoe Public Utility
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1 District to develop and publish a plan, not later than

2 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, for

3 the prevention and cleanup of hydrocarbon contami4 nation (including contamination with MTBE) of the

5 surface water and ground water of the Lake Tahoe

6 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, $20,000,000 for the first fis18 cal year that begins after the date of enactment of this

19 Act and for each of the 9 fiscal years thereafter.

20 SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT PAYMENTS.

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

22 amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(g) PAYMENTS TO LOCALITIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri2 culture shall make annual payments to the gov3 erning bodies of each of the political subdivisions

4 (including any public utility the service area of

5 which includes any part of the Lake Tahoe basin),

6 any portion of which is located in the area depicted

7 on the final map filed under section 3(a).

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

9 subsection may be used—

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

11 quality projects; and

12 ‘‘(B) second, unless emergency projects

13 arise, for projects to address other threshold

14 categories after thresholds for water quality and

15 soil conservation have been achieved and main16 tained.

17 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—

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

19 payment under this subsection, a political sub20 division shall annually submit a priority list of

21 proposed projects to the Secretary of Agri22 culture.

23 ‘‘(B) COMPONENTS OF LIST.—A priority

24 list under subparagraph (A) shall include, for

25 each proposed project listed—
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1 ‘‘(i) a description of the need for the

2 project;

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

4 and

5 ‘‘(iii) a detailed budget.

6 ‘‘(C) USE OF PAYMENTS.—A payment

7 under this subsection shall be used only to

8 carry out a project or proposed project that is

9 part of the environmental improvement pro10 gram adopted by the Tahoe Regional Planning

11 Agency in February 1998 and amendments to

12 the program.

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

14 funded under this subsection shall be part of

15 Federal obligation under the environmental im16 provement program.

17 ‘‘(4) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The total amounts ap19 propriated for payments under this subsection

20 shall be allocated by the Secretary of Agri21 culture based on the relative need for and mer22 its of projects proposed for payment under this

23 section.

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

25 practicable, for each fiscal year, the Secretary
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1 of Agriculture shall ensure that each political

2 subdivision in the Lake Tahoe basin receives

3 amounts appropriated for payments under this

4 subsection.

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

6 addition to the amounts authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out section 6 of the Lake Tahoe

8 Restoration Act, there is authorized to be appro9 priated for making payments under this subsection

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

11 after the date of enactment of this paragraph and

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

13 SEC. 8. FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES.

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

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

16 appropriate, coordinate with State and local agencies and

17 organizations, including local fire departments and volun18 teer groups.

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

20 the maximum extent practicable, minimize any ground dis21 turbances caused by fire risk reduction activities.

22 SEC. 9. AVAILABILITY AND SOURCE OF FUNDS.

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

24 and the amendment made by this Act—
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1 (1) shall be in addition to any other amounts

2 available to the Secretary for expenditure in the

3 Lake Tahoe basin; and

4 (2) shall not be drawn from an appropriation

5 for any other unit of the National Forest System.

6 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided

7 in subsection (c), funds for activities under section 6 of

8 this Act and section 2(g) of Public Law 96–586 (94 Stat.

9 3381) shall be available for obligation on a 1-to-1 basis

10 with funding of restoration activities in the Lake Tahoe

11 basin by the States of California and Nevada.

12 (c) RELOCATION COSTS.—The Secretary shall provide 2 13 ⁄3 of necessary funding to local utility districts for

14 the costs of relocating facilities in connection with environ15 mental restoration projects under section 6 and erosion

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

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

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

19 is amended by adding at the end the following:

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

21 Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit subject to ac22 quisition under this section that is owned by a pri23 vate person shall be acquired only from a willing

24 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.

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Tahoe Restoration

9 Act’’.

10 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

11 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

12 (1) Lake Tahoe, one of the largest, deepest, and

13 clearest lakes in the world, has a cobalt blue color, a

14 unique alpine setting, and remarkable water clarity,

15 and is recognized nationally and worldwide as a nat16 ural resource of special significance;

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

18 treasure, Lake Tahoe is one of the outstanding rec19 reational resources of the United States, offering ski20 ing, water sports, biking, camping, and hiking to mil21 lions of visitors each year, and contributing signifi22 cantly to the economies of California, Nevada, and the

23 United States;

24 (3) the economy in the Lake Tahoe basin is de25 pendent on the protection and restoration of the nat26 ural beauty and recreation opportunities in the area;
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1 (4) Lake Tahoe is in the midst of an environ2 mental crisis; the Lake’s water clarity has declined

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

4 feet in 1999, and scientific estimates indicate that if

5 the water quality at the Lake continues to degrade,

6 Lake Tahoe will lose its famous clarity in only 30

7 years;

8 (5) sediment and algae-nourishing phosphorous

9 and nitrogen continue to flow into the Lake from a

10 variety of sources, including land erosion, fertilizers,

11 air pollution, urban runoff, highway drainage,

12 streamside erosion, land disturbance, and ground

13 water flow;

14 (6) methyl tertiary butyl ether—

15 (A) has contaminated and closed more than

1 16 ⁄3 of the wells in South Tahoe; and

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

18 approximately 9 feet per day;

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

20 stream zone habitat has compromised the Lake’s abil21 ity to cleanse itself of pollutants;

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

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

24 increased quantity of combustible forest fuels has sig-
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1 nificantly increased the risk of catastrophic forest fire

2 in the Lake Tahoe basin;

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

4 Tahoe basin, with 77 percent of the land, the Federal

5 Government has a unique responsibility for restoring

6 environmental health to Lake Tahoe;

7 (10) the Federal Government has a long history

8 of environmental preservation at Lake Tahoe,

9 including—

10 (A) congressional consent to the establish11 ment of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in

12 1969 (Public Law 91–148; 83 Stat. 360) and in

13 1980 (Public Law 96–551; 94 Stat. 3233);

14 (B) the establishment of the Lake Tahoe

15 Basin Management Unit in 1973; and

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

17 (94 Stat. 3381) in 1980 to provide for the acqui18 sition of environmentally sensitive land and ero19 sion control grants;

20 (11) the President renewed the Federal Govern21 ment’s commitment to Lake Tahoe in 1997 at the

22 Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, when he committed

23 to increased Federal resources for environmental res24 toration at Lake Tahoe and established the Federal

25 Interagency Partnership and Federal Advisory Com-
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1 mittee to consult on natural resources issues con2 cerning the Lake Tahoe basin;

3 (12) the States of California and Nevada have

4 contributed proportionally to the effort to protect and

5 restore Lake Tahoe, including—

6 (A) expenditures—

7 (i) exceeding $200,000,000 by the State

8 of California since 1980 for land acquisi9 tion, erosion control, and other environ10 mental projects in the Lake Tahoe basin;

11 and

12 (ii) exceeding $30,000,000 by the State

13 of Nevada since 1980 for the purposes de14 scribed in clause (i); and

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

16 in the State of Nevada authorizing the expendi17 ture by the State of an additional $20,000,000;

18 and

19 (13) significant additional investment from Fed20 eral, State, local, and private sources is needed to

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

22 restore the Lake Tahoe basin to ecological health.

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

24 (1) to enable the Forest Service to plan and im25 plement significant new environmental restoration
23

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1 activities and forest management activities to address

2 the phenomena described in paragraphs (4) through

3 (8) of subsection (a) in the Lake Tahoe basin;

4 (2) to ensure that Federal, State, local, regional,

5 tribal, and private entities continue to work together

6 to improve water quality and manage Federal land

7 in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit; and

8 (3) to provide funding to local governments for

9 erosion and sediment control projects on non-Federal

10 land if the projects benefit the Federal land.

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

12 In this Act:

13 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL THRESHOLD CARRYING CA14 PACITY.—The term ‘‘environmental threshold carrying

15 capacity’’ has the meaning given the term in article

16 II of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact set forth

17 in the first section of Public Law 96–551 (94 Stat.

18 3235).

19 (2) FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘fire risk re21 duction activity’’ means an activity that is nec22 essary to reduce the risk of wildlife to promote

23 forest management and simultaneously achieve

24 and maintain the environmental threshold car25 rying capacities established by the Planning
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1 Agency in a manner consistent, where applica2 ble, with chapter 71 of the Tahoe Regional Plan3 ning Agency Code of Ordinances.

4 (B) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘fire

5 risk reduction activity’’ includes—

6 (i) prescribed burning;

7 (ii) mechanical treatment;

8 (iii) road obliteration or reconstruc9 tion; and

10 (iv) such other activities consistent

11 with Forest Service practices as the Sec12 retary determines to be appropriate.

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

14 Agency’’ means the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

15 established under Public Law 91–148 (83 Stat. 360)

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

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

18 means the environmental restoration priority list de19 veloped under section 6.

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

21 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief

22 of the Forest Service.
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1 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN MAN2 AGEMENT UNIT.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Lake Tahoe Basin Manage4 ment Unit shall be administered by the Secretary in accord5 ance with this Act and the laws applicable to the National

6 Forest System.

7 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—

8 (1) PRIVATE OR NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Nothing

9 in this Act grants regulatory authority to the Sec10 retary over private or other non-Federal land.

11 (2) PLANNING AGENCY.—Nothing in this Act af12 fects or increases the authority of the Planning Agen13 cy.

14 (3) ACQUISITION UNDER OTHER LAW.—Nothing

15 in this Act affects the authority of the Secretary to ac16 quire land from willing sellers in the Lake Tahoe

17 basin under any other law.

18 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH PLANNING AGENCY AND

19 OTHER ENTITIES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the duties described

21 in subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with and seek

22 the advice and recommendations of—

23 (1) the Planning Agency;

24 (2) the Tahoe Federal Interagency Partnership

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

26 Reg. 41249) or a successor Executive order;
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1 (3) the Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory

2 Committee established by the Secretary on December

3 15, 1998 (64 Fed. Reg. 2876) (until the committee is

4 terminated);

5 (4) Federal representatives and all political sub6 divisions of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit;

7 and

8 (5) the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water

9 Quality Coalition.

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

11 seek advice and recommendations from the entities described

12 in subsection (a) with respect to—

13 (1) the administration of the Lake Tahoe Basin

14 Management Unit;

15 (2) the development of the priority list;

16 (3) the promotion of consistent policies and

17 strategies to address the Lake Tahoe basin’s environ18 mental and recreational concerns;

19 (4) the coordination of the various programs,

20 projects, and activities relating to the environment

21 and recreation in the Lake Tahoe basin to avoid un22 necessary duplication and inefficiencies of Federal,

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

24 (5) the coordination of scientific resources and

25 data, for the purpose of obtaining the best available
27

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1 science as a basis for decisionmaking on an ongoing

2 basis.

3 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PRIORITY LIST.

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

5 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a pri6 ority list of potential or proposed environmental restoration

7 projects for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

8 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITY LIST.—In developing

9 the priority list, the Secretary shall—

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

11 relevant findings and recommendations of the water12 shed assessment conducted by the Forest Service in the

13 Lake Tahoe basin; and

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

15 proposed environmental restoration projects in the

16 Lake Tahoe basin that—

17 (A) are included in or are consistent with

18 the environmental improvement program adopt19 ed by the Planning Agency in February 1998

20 and amendments to the program;

21 (B) would help to achieve and maintain the

22 environmental threshold carrying capacities

23 for—

24 (i) air quality;

25 (ii) fisheries;
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1 (iii) noise;

2 (iv) recreation;

3 (v) scenic resources;

4 (vi) soil conservation;

5 (vii) forest health;

6 (viii) water quality; and

7 (ix) wildlife;

8 (3) in determining the order of priority of poten9 tial and proposed environmental restoration projects

10 under paragraph (2), the focus shall address projects

11 (listed in no particular order) involving—

12 (A) erosion and sediment control, including

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

14 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) (as amended by sec15 tion 7 of this Act);

16 (B) the acquisition of environmentally sen17 sitive land from willing sellers under Public Law

18 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) or land acquisition

19 under any other Federal law;

20 (C) fire risk reduction activities in urban

21 areas and urban-wildland interface areas, in22 cluding high recreational use areas and urban

23 lots acquired from willing sellers under Public

24 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381);
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1 (D) cleaning up methyl tertiary butyl ether

2 contamination; and

3 (E) the management of vehicular parking

4 and traffic in the Lake Tahoe Basin Manage5 ment Unit, especially—

6 (i) improvement of public access to the

7 Lake Tahoe basin, including the promotion

8 of alternatives to the private automobile;

9 (ii) the Highway 28 and 89 corridors

10 and parking problems in the area; and

11 (iii) cooperation with local public

12 transportation systems, including—

13 (I) the Coordinated Transit Sys14 tem; and

15 (II) public transit systems on the

16 north shore of Lake Tahoe.

17 (c) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall provide for con18 tinuous scientific research on and monitoring of the imple19 mentation of projects on the priority list, including the sta20 tus of the achievement and maintenance of environmental

21 threshold carrying capacities.

22 (d) CONSISTENCY WITH MEMORANDUM OF UNDER23 STANDING.—A project on the priority list shall be conducted

24 in accordance with the memorandum of understanding

25 signed by the Forest Supervisor and the Planning Agency
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1 on November 10, 1989, including any amendments to the

2 memorandum as long as the memorandum remains in ef3 fect.

4 (e) REVIEW OF PRIORITY LIST.—Periodically, but not

5 less often than every 3 years, the Secretary shall—

6 (1) review the priority list;

7 (2) consult with—

8 (A) the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency;

9 (B) interested political subdivisions; and

10 (C) the Lake Tahoe Water Quality and

11 Transportation Coalition; and

12 (3) make any necessary changes with respect

13 to—

14 (A) the findings of scientific research and

15 monitoring in the Lake Tahoe basin;

16 (B) any change in an environmental thresh17 old as determined by the Planning Agency;

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 to

24 the availability of appropriations, make a payment of

25 $1,000,000 to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
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1 and the South Tahoe Public Utility District to de2 velop and publish a plan, not later than 1 year after

3 the date of enactment of this Act, for the prevention

4 and cleanup of hydrocarbon contamination (includ5 ing contamination with MTBE) of the surface water

6 and ground water of the Lake Tahoe basin.

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

8 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 be19 gins 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 Agriculture

2 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations,

3 make annual payments to the governing bodies of

4 each of the political subdivisions (including any pub5 lic utility the service area of which includes any part

6 of the Lake Tahoe basin), any portion of which is lo7 cated in the area depicted on the final map filed

8 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 cat15 egories after thresholds for water quality and soil

16 conservation have been achieved and maintained.

17 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—

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

19 payment under this subsection, a political sub20 division shall annually submit a priority list of

21 proposed projects to the Secretary of Agriculture.

22 ‘‘(B) COMPONENTS OF LIST.—A priority

23 list under subparagraph (A) shall include, for

24 each proposed project listed—
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1 ‘‘(i) a description of the need for the

2 project;

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

4 and

5 ‘‘(iii) a detailed budget.

6 ‘‘(C) USE OF PAYMENTS.—A payment

7 under this subsection shall be used only to carry

8 out a project or proposed project that is part of

9 the environmental improvement program adopt10 ed by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in

11 February 1998 and amendments to the program.

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

13 funded under this subsection shall be part of

14 Federal obligation under the enviromental

15 improvment program.

16 ‘‘(4) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The total amounts ap18 propriated for payments under this subsection

19 shall be allocated by the Secretary of Agriculture

20 based on the relative need for and merits of

21 projects proposed for payment under this section.

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

23 practicable, for each fiscal year, the Secretary of

24 Agriculture shall ensure that each political sub25 division in the Lake Tahoe basin receives
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1 amounts appropriated for payments under this

2 subsection.

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

4 addition to the amounts authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out section 6 of the Lake Tahoe Res6 toration Act, there is authorized to be appropriated

7 for making payments under this subsection

8 $10,000,000 for the first fiscal year that begins after

9 the date of enactment of this paragraph and for each

10 of the 9 fiscal years thereafter.’’.

11 SEC. 8. FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES.

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

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

14 appropriate, coordinate with State and local agencies and

15 organizations, including local fire departments and volun16 teer groups.

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

18 the maximum extent practicable, minimize any ground dis19 turbances caused by fire risk reduction activities.

20 SEC. 9. AVAILABILITY AND SOURCE OF FUNDS.

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

22 and the amendment made by this Act—

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

24 available to the Secretary for expenditure in the Lake

25 Tahoe basin; and
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1 (2) shall not reduce allocations for other Regions

2 of the Forest Service.

3 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in

4 subsection (c), funds for activities under section 6 and sec5 tion 7 of this Act shall be available for obligation on a 1-

6 to-1 basis with funding of restoration activities in the Lake

7 Tahoe basin by the States of California and Nevada.

8 (c) RELOCATION COSTS.—The Secretary shall provide

2 9 ⁄3 of necessary funding to local utility districts for the costs

10 of relocating facilities in connection with environmental

11 restoration projects under section 6 and erosion control

12 projects under section 2 of Public Law 96–586.

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

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

15 is amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(5) WILLING SELLERS.—Land within the Lake

17 Tahoe Basin Management Unit subject to acquisition

18 under this section that is owned by a private person

19 shall be acquired only from a willing seller.’’.

20 SEC. 11. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

21 Nothing in this Act exempts the Secretary from the

22 duty to comply with any applicable Federal law.

23 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

25 are necessary to carry out this Act.
Calendar No. 790

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1925

[Report No. 106–400]

A BILL

To promote environmental restoration around the

Lake Tahoe basin.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2000

Reported with an amendment