I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1494

To save taxpayers money, reduce the deficit, cut corporate welfare, protect

communities from wildfires, and protect and restore America’s natural

heritage by eliminating the fiscally wasteful and ecologically destructive

commercial logging program on Federal public lands, restoring native

biodiversity in our Federal public forests, and facilitating the economic

recovery and diversification of communities affected by the Federal logging program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Ms. MCKINNEY (for herself, Mr. LEACH, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. OLVER, Mrs.

LOWEY, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.

SANDERS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. FILNER, Mr. WEINER, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs.

MEEK of Florida, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. FATTAH,

Mr. SCOTT, Mr. OWENS, Mr. CLAY, Mr. STARK, Ms. RIVERS, Ms.

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. HOLT, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. MCCARTHY of

New York, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. PAYNE,

Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. HOEFFEL,

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. WYNN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr.

BORSKI, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr.

CAPUANO, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. LEE, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. BERKLEY,

Mr. KLECZKA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, and Mr. BECERRA) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and

in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Education and the

Workforce, 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
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A BILL

To save taxpayers money, reduce the deficit, cut corporate

welfare, protect communities from wildfires, and protect

and restore America’s natural heritage by eliminating

the fiscally wasteful and ecologically destructive commercial logging program on Federal public lands, restoring

native biodiversity in our Federal public forests, and

facilitating the economic recovery and diversification of

communities affected by the Federal logging program.

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 ‘‘National Forest Protection and Restoration Act of

6 2001’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Findings.

Sec. 4. Prohibition on timber sales to protect Federal public lands.

Sec. 5. Effect of prohibition on existing timber sale contracts.

Sec. 6. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 7. Natural heritage restoration.

Sec. 8. Worker retraining.

Sec. 9. Allocation of funds.

Sec. 10. Continuation of payments for States and counties containing Federal

public lands under Public Law 106–393.

Sec. 11. Enforcement by citizens.

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

10 For purposes of this Act:

11 (1) AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘agencies’’ means

12 the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the
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1 Bureau of Land Management, and the United

2 States Fish and Wildlife Service.

3 (2) COMMERCIAL LOGGING.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘commercial

5 logging’’ means—

6 (i) the sale of timber;

7 (ii) the execution of a timber sale; or

8 (iii) any other transfer of timber or

9 biomass to an individual, company, cor10 poration, or other entity, which then offers

11 the transferred timber or biomass, or any

12 product produced from that timber or bio13 mass, for sale or uses the transferred tim14 ber or biomass for other commercial pur15 poses.

16 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘commercial

17 logging’’ includes a sale, execution, or other

18 transfer specified in subparagraph (A) regard19 less of—

20 (i) the stated reason for the sale, exe21 cution, or transfer; or

22 (ii) whether the timber is standing,

23 fallen, living, or dead.

24 (3) FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘Fed25 eral public lands’’ means—
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1 (A) all lands in the United States included

2 in the National Forest System;

3 (B) all lands in the United States included

4 in the National Wildlife Refuge System;

5 (C) all lands in the United States included

6 in the National Park System; and

7 (D) all lands under the jurisdiction of the

8 Bureau of Land Management.

9 (4) NATIVE BIODIVERSITY.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘native bio11 diversity’’ means—

12 (i) the full range of variety and varia13 bility within and among living organisms;

14 and

15 (ii) the ecological complexes in which

16 the living organisms would have occurred

17 in the absence of significant human im18 pact.

19 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘native bio20 diversity’’ includes diversity—

21 (i) within a species (including genetic

22 diversity, species diversity, and age diver23 sity);

24 (ii) within a community of species;

25 (iii) between communities of species;
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1 (iv) within a total area, such as a wa2 tershed;

3 (v) along a vertical plane from ground

4 to sky, including application of the plane

5 to all the other types of diversity; and

6 (vi) along the horizontal plane of the

7 earth-surface, including application of the

8 plane to all the other types of diversity.

9 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘native bio10 diversity’’ excludes genetically modified or engi11 neered organisms.

12 (5) OLD GROWTH FOREST.—The term ‘‘old

13 growth forest’’ refers to any stand of forest within

14 the boundaries of a timber sale that may contain

15 trees that exceed 150 years in age.

16 (6) ROADLESS AREA.—The term ‘‘roadless

17 area’’ means each of the following:

18 (A) Any inventoried roadless area.

19 (B) Any area of at least 1,000 contiguous

20 acres meeting Forest Service road density

21 guidelines.

22 (C) Any area of less than 1,000 contiguous

23 acres meeting Forest Service road density

24 guidelines, if the area is adjacent to a unit of

25 the National Wilderness Preservation System, a
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1 unit of the National Park System, an inven2 tories roadless area, or a designated Wilderness

3 Study Area.

4 (7) TIMBER SALE.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘timber sale’’

6 means—

7 (i) the sale of timber;

8 (ii) the offering of timber for sale or

9 consideration; or

10 (iii) any other transfer of timber or

11 biomass to an individual, company, cor12 poration, or other entity, which then offers

13 the transferred timber or biomass, or any

14 product produced from that timber or bio15 mass, for sale or uses the transferred tim16 ber or biomass for other commercial pur17 poses.

18 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘timber sale’’

19 includes a sale, offer, or other transfer specified

20 in subparagraph (A) regardless of—

21 (i) the stated reason for the sale,

22 offer, or transfer; or

23 (ii) whether the timber is standing,

24 fallen, living, or dead.
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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Polls conducted by the Forest Service show

4 that a strong majority of the American people think

5 that natural resources on Federal public lands

6 should not be made available to produce consumer

7 goods.

8 (2) The 1995 Forest Service draft report enti9 tled ‘‘Forest Service Program for Forest and Range10 land Resources: A Long-Term Strategic Plan’’ shows

11 that recreation and tourism in the National Forest

12 System creates over 30 times more jobs, and gen13 erates over 30 times more income, than commercial

14 logging on national forests.

15 (3) According to Forest Service figures, timber

16 cut from Federal public lands comprises less than

17 five percent of the annual timber consumption of the

18 United States.

19 (4) The vast majority of America’s original

20 pristine forests have been logged, and what little pri21 mary forest that remains exists almost entirely on

22 public lands.

23 (5) The ecological crisis resulting from this se24 vere habitat loss and fragmentation of American for25 ests requires bold action to protect this Nation’s

26 natural heritage so that pristine forests may remain
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1 pristine, and damaged forests may have an oppor2 tunity to recover.

3 (6) It is in the interests of the American people

4 and the international community to protect and re5 store native biodiversity in our Federal public lands

6 for its inherent benefits, the resulting economic ben7 efits, and for the protection of this natural heritage

8 for current and future generations.

9 (7) The 1995 report of the Comptroller General

10 regarding distribution of Forest Service timber sales

11 receipts (GAO/RCED–95–237FS) and the 1998 fol12 low-up report (GAO/RCED–99–24) reveal that, of

13 the hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer

14 money that is annually expended on the Forest Serv15 ice timber sales program, only a small fraction finds

16 its way back to the Federal Treasury, resulting in

17 an enormous net loss to taxpayers.

18 (8) Forests absorb rainfall, retard stream run19 off, reduce floods, increase slope stability, and retain

20 topsoil, and retard soil erosion and siltation in

21 streams, irrigation ditches, and reservoirs.

22 (9) Commercial logging has many indirect costs

23 which are very significant, but not easily measured,

24 such as flooding damage and relief of flooding dam25 age through Federal funds, damage to the salmon
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1 fishing industry; and harm to the recreation and

2 tourism industries.

3 (10) A congressionally commissioned scientific

4 study of the Sierra Nevada forests found that more

5 than any other human activity, commercial logging

6 has increased the risk and severity of fires by remov7 ing the cooling shade of trees and leaving flammable

8 debris (see Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Final

9 Report to Congress, Vol. 1, Assessment Summaries

10 and Management Strategies, 1996).

11 (11) Forest Service studies have confirmed the

12 finding that logging, including both thinning and

13 clearcutting, increases fire severity (United States

14 Forest Service, Historical and Current Forest Land15 scapes in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Part II:

16 Linking Vegetation Characteristics to Potential Fire

17 Behavior and Related Smoke Production, PNW–

18 GTR–355, p. 22 (1995); United States Forest Serv19 ice, Integrated Scientific Assessment for Ecosystem

20 Management in Interior Columbia Basin, PNW–

21 GTR–382, p. 61 (1996)).

22 (12) The Forest Service’s chief fire specialist

23 has stated that the material that needs to be re24 duced to prevent unnaturally severe forest fires is

25 underbrush that is less than two or three inches in
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1 diameter, not mature trees (Washington Journal, C2 SPAN, Aug. 10, 2000).

3 (13) The Forest Service’s own fire research sta4 tion found that the only effective way to protect

5 homes in the urban/wildland interface from forest

6 fires is to reduce the flammability of the home itself

7 and its immediate surroundings within 40 meters,

8 not engage in logging activities on Federal public

9 lands (Jack Cohen, Reducing the Wildland Fire

10 Threat to Homes: where and how much?, United

11 States Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory,

12 Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Mon13 tana, report presented at the Fire Economics, Policy

14 and Planning: Bottom Line Symposium, April 5–9,

15 1999, San Diego, California).

16 (14) It is in the interests of the American peo17 ple to protect watersheds on Federal public lands in

18 order to prevent potentially damaging and deadly

19 floods.

20 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON TIMBER SALES TO PROTECT FED21 ERAL PUBLIC LANDS.

22 (a) PROHIBITION ON NEW TIMBER SALES.—Not23 withstanding any other provision of law, effective as of the

24 date of the enactment of this Act, no timber sales shall

25 be prepared, advertised, offered, or awarded on Federal
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1 public lands and, except as provided in section 5, no com2 mercial logging shall occur on Federal public lands.

3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The use of forest materials for

4 noncommercial use, including personal-use permits under

5 the personal use component of the forest management pro6 gram of the Forest Service or an equivalent program of

7 the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Serv8 ice, or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to the

9 extent allowed under existing law, is not prohibited by sub10 section (a), but any such use of forest materials for non11 commercial use must be consistent with section 7, includ12 ing subsection (k) of such section.

13 (c) NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES.—Nothing contained

14 in this Act shall be construed to modify, amend, or breach

15 any treaty in existence on the date of enactment of this

16 Act with any Native American tribe.

17 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF PROHIBITION ON EXISTING TIMBER

18 SALE CONTRACTS.

19 (a) REMAINING SALVAGE RIDER SALES.—Notwith20 standing any outstanding judicial order or administrative

21 proceeding interpreting section 2001 of Public Law 104–

22 19 (109 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C. 1611 note), the Secretary

23 of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall im24 mediately suspend each timber sale or activity that was
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1 being undertaken in whole or in part under the authority

2 provided in such section.

3 (b) ROADLESS AREAS AND OLD GROWTH FOR4 ESTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

5 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior

6 shall immediately suspend each timber sale in any roadless

7 area or old growth forest on Federal public lands.

8 (c) PHASE-OUT PERIOD AUTHORIZED.—There shall

9 be a 2-year period to phase out those timber sale contracts

10 in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

11 The phase-out period shall begin on the date of the enact12 ment of this Act. Any remaining timber sales on Federal

13 public lands shall be automatically suspended upon the ex14 piration of the phase-out period. Notwithstanding any

15 other provision of law, no commercial logging shall occur

16 anywhere on Federal public lands after the end of the

17 phase-out period.

18 (d) EARLY TERMINATION.—For all timber sales sus19 pended under subsection (a), subsection (b), and sub20 section (c) of this subsection, the Secretary concerned

21 shall—

22 (1) exercise any provision of the original con23 tract that authorizes termination and payment of

24 specified damages; or
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1 (2) terminate the contract to avoid adverse ef2 fects on the environment or natural resources.

3 (e) PAYMENT FOR TIMBER SALE CONTRACTS RELIN4 QUISHED.—Any claim, whether as a result of a judgment

5 or an agreement against the Federal Government, arising

6 from termination of any timber sale contract under sub7 section (d) of this subsection, may be—

8 (1) paid from funds made available under sec9 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code, and shall

10 not require reimbursement under section 13(c) of

11 the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C.

12 612(c));

13 (2) offset by forgiveness of a Federal Govern14 ment loan or loan guarantee;

15 (3) paid through funds appropriated for the

16 purpose; or

17 (4) paid through the transfer of funds from

18 Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management ac19 counts for forest management, road construction, or

20 general administration for such purposes.

21 (f) DISPUTES.—Any claim by a purchaser against the

22 Federal Government relating to a contract terminated

23 under this section shall be subject to the Contract Dis24 putes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 (a) CALCULATION OF TAXPAYER LOSSES FROM LOG3 GING.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with

4 the Secretary of the Interior, shall determine the average

5 amount of Federal funds appropriated annually from the

6 General Fund of the Treasury over the five fiscal years

7 immediately preceding the date of the enactment of this

8 Act for commercial logging and commercial logging-re9 lated activities on Federal public lands. In making this

10 determination, the Secretary shall include amounts ex11 pended for the following, using estimates when necessary:

12 (1) Timber sales management.

13 (2) Forest-land vegetation management.

14 (3) Land management planning, inventory, and

15 monitoring related to commercial logging.

16 (4) Research related to commercial logging.

17 (5) The portion of the forest roads and road

18 maintenance program related to commercial logging.

19 (6) General administration expenses related to

20 commercial logging.

21 (7) Landline location related to commercial log22 ging.

23 (8) Law enforcement related to commercial log24 ging.

25 (9) The portion of the forest fire fighting and

26 prevention program related to commercial logging.
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1 (10) The portion of any other activities related

2 to commercial logging.

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap4 propriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out

5 this Act in the fiscal years beginning after the date of the

6 enactment of this Act, but not to exceed for any fiscal

7 year two-thirds of the amount calculated in subsection (a)

8 as the taxpayer losses from logging.

9 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than

10 ten percent of the funds appropriated or allocated to carry

11 out sections 7 and 8 may be reserved for the administra12 tion of activities authorized under those sections.

13 SEC. 7. NATURAL HERITAGE RESTORATION.

14 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding any

15 other provision of law, agency projects or programs to re16 store biological diversity and ecological processes on Fed17 eral public lands shall be carried out in a manner con18 sistent with this section and shall be integrated into the

19 program established by this section.

20 (b) PURPOSES, FINDINGS, AND BASIC MANAGEMENT

21 REQUIREMENTS.—(1) The purpose of this section is to

22 protect and restore the natural heritage of the Federal

23 public lands through the restoration of native biodiversity

24 and natural ecological complexes and processes. In most

25 circumstances, natural processes will heal damaged areas
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1 without assistance, but, in many circumstances, where ex2 tensive damage from logging and road-building is evident,

3 it is necessary to take immediate action to stop soil erosion

4 and pervasive resource damage. The primary emphasis of

5 this section is to change circumstances that effectively act

6 as barriers to natural restoration processes. This section

7 does not envision the broad application of largely experi8 mental techniques or tactics for which there is no solid

9 scientific support or concrete evidence of effectiveness.

10 (2) It is also the purpose of this section to provide

11 guidance and limitations for the protection and restoration

12 of native biological diversity. The inherent guiding prin13 ciple or basic approach that managers shall use to imple14 ment the ecological restoration provisions of this section

15 is to ‘‘do no harm’’ to ecosystems when implementing ac16 tive management projects and programs.

17 (3) Scientific uncertainty about complex ecosystems

18 requires a precautionary approach to active management.

19 Therefore, proposed projects that are intended to restore

20 ecological processes must have short- and long-term bene21 fits that significantly outweigh any short- or long-term

22 risks.

23 (4) In most cases ecosystems are inherently resilient

24 if left to function without interference from man, but in

25 some cases action is necessary to stop immediate resource
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1 damage. Therefore, ecological restoration projects shall

2 emphasize the removal of barriers that prevent ecosystems

3 from restoring themselves. Some examples of such barriers

4 are roads, erosion, landslides, nonnative invasive species,

5 fire suppression, certain types of hazardous fuels, dams

6 or man-made barriers in streams, and other significant

7 man-made damage and developments that interfere with

8 natural ecological processes.

9 (5) In other cases ecosystems require the reintroduc10 tion of native species that once contributed to natural eco11 logical processes. Therefore, each ecological restoration

12 project shall include an evaluation of which native species

13 may be missing from the ecosystem and shall ensure the

14 presence of adequate habitat and forage or prey for the

15 native species, to be followed by a scheduled reintroduction

16 of the native species in coordination with State natural

17 heritage and wildlife agencies and the United States Fish

18 and Wildlife Service.

19 (c) NATURAL HERITAGE RESTORATION CORPS.—

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the In21 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each es22 tablish a special unit (to be known as the ‘‘Natural

23 Heritage Restoration Corps’’) for the purposes of—

24 (A) conducting ecological restoration of na25 tive biodiversity in areas of Federal public lands
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1 where the integrity of natural ecosystems has

2 been degraded;

3 (B) assisting in the monitoring of forest

4 resources, including effectiveness monitoring of

5 ecological restoration projects; and

6 (C) in cooperation with each agency’s law

7 enforcement programs, monitoring and pro8 tecting public resources from various illegal ac9 tivities, including timber theft and poaching.

10 (2) USE OF PERSONNEL FROM EXISTING PRO11 GRAMS.—The Natural Heritage Restoration Corps

12 may be created using personnel in existing programs

13 in the agencies.

14 (3) OTHER PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT.—In

15 addition to the personnel selected under paragraph

16 (2), the Natural Heritage Restoration Corps may

17 hire other personnel, which may include private con18 tractors, and purchase or lease the necessary equip19 ment to implement the Natural Heritage Restoration

20 Plans to achieve the goals and objectives as set forth

21 by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of

22 the Interior under this section. There shall be a hir23 ing preference for dislocated workers who have been

24 terminated or laid off, or have received a notice of
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1 termination or lay off, as a consequence of the en2 actment of this Act.

3 (4) TRAINING.—Personnel of the Natural Her4 itage Restoration Corps shall be properly trained so

5 that they are able to carry out the activities specified

6 in paragraph (1) consistent with this section.

7 (d) NATURAL HERITAGE RESTORATION PLAN8 NING.—

9 (1) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—For

10 lands in the National Forest System, the Secretary

11 of Agriculture shall develop Natural Heritage Res12 toration Plans at the regional level to carry out an

13 ecological restoration program in each region con14 sistent with this section and incorporating the stand15 ards, guidelines, and procedures developed in sub16 section (e). Such Plans shall be completed no later

17 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this

18 Act and shall be revised at least every 10 years.

19 (2) BLM, NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, AND

20 NATIONAL PARK LANDS.—For lands under the juris21 diction of the Bureau of Land Management, and, as

22 necessary for National Wildlife Refuges and units of

23 the National Park System, the Secretary of the Inte24 rior shall develop Natural Heritage Restoration

25 Plans at the regional level to carry out an ecological
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1 restoration program in each region consistent with

2 this section and incorporating the standards, guide3 lines, and procedures developed in subsection (e).

4 Such Plans shall be completed no later than 18

5 months after the date of enactment of this Act and

6 shall be revised at least every 10 years.

7 (3) MONITORING.—The Secretary of the Inte8 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall include in

9 the Natural Heritage Restoration Plans—

10 (A) monitoring provisions to ensure the ef11 fectiveness of each ecological restoration

12 project; and

13 (B) provisions to gauge each Plan’s

14 progress in achieving any restoration goals and

15 objectives that are developed in accordance with

16 subsection (g).

17 (4) FOLLOW-UP EVALUATIONS AND CORREC18 TIONS.—The Secretary of Interior and the Secretary

19 of Agriculture shall provide for appropriate follow-up

20 evaluations and actions to ensure the long-term suc21 cess of ecological restoration projects. The failure of

22 any restoration project shall be evaluated and re23 ported to the appropriate Secretary, who shall take

24 prompt action to provide new solutions to correct the

25 failed restoration projects.
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1 (e) DEVELOPING STANDARDS, GUIDELINES, AND

2 PROCEDURES FOR RESTORATION.—

3 (1) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARIES.—

4 (A) The Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of

5 the Interior shall develop regional standards, guide6 lines, and procedures for restoration, consistent with

7 this section, as soon as practicable after the date

8 of the enactment of this Act, and shall incorporate

9 these regional standards, guidelines, and procedures,

10 as well as regional Natural Heritage Restoration

11 Plans, into land management plans for each unit of

12 Federal public lands in accordance with existing

13 land management planning regulations, by no later

14 than two years after the date of enactment of this

15 Act.

16 (B) The Secretaries shall report to the Con17 gress on the progress of implementing this section in

18 the annual report required by section 8(c) of the

19 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan20 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1606(c)) and section

21 311 of the Federal Land Policy and Management

22 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1741).

23 (2) COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.—(A) In car24 rying out the purposes of this subsection, the Sec25 retary of the Interior, in consultation with the Sec-
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1 retary of Agriculture, shall appoint a committee of

2 scientists, for each of the various administrative re3 gions in the United States who are not officers or

4 employees of the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land

5 Management, or the timber industry, and who are

6 not contractors for the timber industry.

7 (B) The committee shall provide scientific and

8 technical advice and counsel on the proposed stand9 ards, guidelines, and procedures of this subsection to

10 assure that an effective interdisciplinary approach is

11 proposed and adopted for the development of Nat12 ural Heritage Restoration Plans in each region.

13 (C) The committee shall terminate upon pro14 mulgation of the standards, guidelines, and proce15 dures, but the Secretary shall appoint similar com16 mittees, at least every 10 years, to consider revisions

17 of regional standards, guidelines, and procedures

18 based on new scientific information and the knowl19 edge gained from implementing ecological restora20 tion projects. Standards, guidelines, and procedures

21 for developing Natural Heritage Restoration Plans

22 or their revisions for each region shall be completed

23 no later than one year after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act or the initiation of the revision

25 process. The views of the committees shall be in-
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1 cluded in the public information supplied when the

2 standards and guidelines are proposed for adoption.

3 (3) CLERICAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

4 Clerical and technical assistance, as may be nec5 essary to discharge the duties of the committee of

6 scientists established under paragraph (2), shall be

7 provided from the personnel of the Department of

8 Agriculture or the Department of Interior, as appro9 priate.

10 (4) COMPENSATION.—While attending meetings

11 of the committee, the members shall be entitled to

12 receive compensation at a rate of $200 per diem, in13 cluding travel time, and while away from their

14 homes or regular places of business they may be al15 lowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

16 subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5,

17 United States Code, for persons in the Government

18 service employed intermittently.

19 (5) REGIONAL BOUNDARIES.—The Secretary of

20 the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of

21 Agriculture, shall determine each region’s bound22 aries for which the standards, guidelines, and proce23 dures are to be developed under this subsection.

24 (f) INTERIM NEEDS FOR RESTORATION.—During the

25 interim period while regional standards, guidelines, and
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1 procedures, as well as regional Natural Heritage Restora2 tion Plans, are being developed and incorporated into land

3 management plans, the Secretary of Agriculture and Sec4 retary of the Interior shall identify interim needs for eco5 logical restoration and shall take prompt action to begin

6 this restoration work with available personnel. Interim

7 needs for restoration under this section shall be limited

8 to the following:

9 (1) Prescribed or managed fire or manual pre10 treatments to reduce severe fire incidence and haz11 ardous fuels pursuant to subsection (j).

12 (2) Stabilization of slopes and soils so as to

13 prevent or reduce further erosion and land sliding.

14 (3) Decommissioning and obliteration of roads.

15 (4) Removal of nonnative invasive species.

16 (5) Removal of manmade developments that

17 interfere with natural ecological processes.

18 (g) RESTORATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.—Within

19 two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

20 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior

21 shall develop specific restoration goals and objectives for

22 each unit of Federal public lands, and shall, within the

23 same time period, develop a specific schedule to accom24 plish those goals and objectives with any funds made avail-
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1 able to the Secretaries, including those funds authorized

2 to be appropriated in section 6.

3 (h) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Any program or

4 project provided in this section shall be carried out in com5 pliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of

6 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regu7 lations, and any other public involvement processes pro8 vided by law, regulation, or agency policy.

9 (i) PROHIBITIONS.—Road construction or re-con10 struction shall be prohibited when conducting projects or

11 programs provided by this section. This prohibition in12 cludes any projects to reduce the incidence of severe fire

13 and hazardous fuels pursuant to subsection (j).

14 (j) SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR REDUCING THE INCI15 DENCE OF SEVERE FIRE AND HAZARDOUS FUELS.—

16 (1) PRESCRIBED OR MANAGED FIRES WITHOUT

17 MANUAL PRE-TREATMENTS.—The use of prescribed

18 or managed fires without manual pre-treatments—

19 (A) shall be the primary tool for reducing

20 severe fire incidence and hazardous fuels;

21 (B) shall only be prescribed in areas that

22 have been scientifically identified as fire-adapt23 ed ecosystems;

24 (C) shall be carried out in a manner de25 signed to maintain habitat quality for any pro-
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1 posed, threatened, endangered, or sensitive spe2 cies, or their prey; and

3 (D) shall be carried out during a time of

4 year and with a frequency that is most eco5 logically appropriate, while also minimizing ad6 verse effects on air quality.

7 (2) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING MANUAL PRE8 TREATMENTS.—Manual pre-treatments to reduce se9 vere fire incidence and hazardous fuels—

10 (A) must include use of prescribed or man11 aged fire as the primary treatment of the

12 project in accordance with paragraph (1);

13 (B) may only be implemented in areas

14 which have a moderate to high risk of severe

15 fire incidence;

16 (C) shall be prioritized for urban-wildland

17 intermix areas;

18 (D) shall not reduce the overstory canopy

19 component of the pre-treatment area;

20 (E) shall maintain habitat quality for any

21 proposed, threatened, endangered, or sensitive

22 species, or their prey;

23 (F) may remove hazardous fuels to mini24 mize occurrences of prescribed fires reaching

25 the forest canopy; and
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1 (G) shall only be prescribed in areas that

2 have been scientifically identified as fire-adapt3 ed ecosystems.

4 (3) APPLICATION TO OTHER PROJECTS.—Not5 withstanding any other provision of law, any treat6 ments or manual pre-treatments to reduce severe

7 fire incidence and hazardous fuels as part of any

8 agency projects or programs to reduce the incidence

9 of severe fire and hazardous fuels on Federal public

10 lands shall be performed in a manner consistent

11 with this subsection, this section, and section 4.

12 (k) USES OF FOREST MATERIALS THAT RESULT

13 FROM ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OR PRE-TREATMENTS

14 TO REDUCE SEVERE FIRE INCIDENCE AND HAZARDOUS

15 FUELS.—A hierarchy of use of forest materials that result

16 from manual pre-treatments in fire-adapted ecosystems or

17 ecological restoration (such as saplings, bushes, fine sur18 face fuels, and materials from plantations that are being

19 restored back to native forests) is established in the fol20 lowing order:

21 (1) Forest materials shall be left as biomass on

22 the forest floor, lopped, scattered, and burned, if

23 prescribed, or shall be left as species habitat in the

24 form of downed woody debris in the project area.
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1 (2) If removal of forest material is necessary

2 for ecological restoration or because the area is pre3 treated in accordance with subsection (j), that mate4 rial shall be used for recreation or maintenance

5 projects in the same unit of Federal public land,

6 such as trails, bridges or facilities, or for restoration

7 projects such as woody debris in streams, woody de8 bris to provide species habitat, or for biomass to

9 build soil in other areas of the same unit of Federal

10 public land.

11 (3) Any excess material not used as described

12 in paragraph (2) may only be used for public pur13 poses, and not for private or public commercial gain.

14 This material may be provided for personal non15 commercial uses, such as firewood or other subsist16 ence uses, or for other public noncommercial pur17 poses. Other public purposes may include, but are

18 not limited to, the processing of these forest mate19 rials for uses such as fuel for low-income households,

20 or, in limited circumstances, timber for low-income

21 housing provided by a not for profit venture reg22 istered by the Department of Housing and Urban

23 Development.

24 (l) RELATION TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Any ac25 tivities undertaken pursuant to subsection (k) or the rest
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1 of this section must be undertaken in strict compliance

2 with section 4.

3 SEC. 8. WORKER RETRAINING.

4 (a) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—For the pur5 poses of this section, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means

6 an individual who—

7 (1) is a dislocated worker, as that term is de8 fined in section 101 of the Workforce Investment

9 Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–220; 112 Stat. 939;

10 29 U.S.C. 2801); and

11 (2) has been terminated or laid off, or has re12 ceived a notice of termination or lay off, as a con13 sequence of the enactment of this Act, or as a con14 sequence of management decisions on Federal public

15 lands prior to the enactment of this Act.

16 (b) DETERMINATIONS OF ELIGIBILITY.—The deter17 mination of whether an individual is an eligible individual

18 shall be made by the Secretary of Labor, pursuant to cri19 teria established by the Secretary of Labor, in consultation

20 with the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior.

21 (c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Labor

22 may make grants to States, employers, employer associa23 tions, and representatives of employees—

24 (1) to provide training, adjustment assistance,

25 and employment services to eligible individuals; and
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1 (2) to make needs-related payments to eligible

2 individuals in accordance with subsection (h).

3 (d) PRIORITY AND APPROVAL.—

4 (1) PRIORITY.—In reviewing applications for

5 grants under subsection (c), the Secretary of Labor

6 shall give priority to applications proposing to pro7 vide training, adjustment assistance, and services in

8 areas which have the greatest number or percentage

9 of eligible individuals.

10 (2) NEEDS-RELATED PAYMENTS REQUIRED.—

11 The Secretary of Labor shall not approve an appli12 cation for a grant under subsection (c) unless the

13 application contains assurances that the applicant

14 will use grant funds to provide needs-related pay15 ments in accordance with subsection (h).

16 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Subject to the requirements of

17 subsections (f), (g), and (h), grants under subsection (c)

18 may be used for any purpose for which funds may be used

19 under section 134 of the Workforce Investment Act of

20 1998 (Public Law 105–220; 112 Stat. 990; 29 U.S.C.

21 2864).

22 (f) JOB SEARCH ALLOWANCE.—

23 (1) ALLOWANCE AUTHORIZED.—Grants under

24 subsection (c) for adjustment assistance may be

25 used to provide job search allowances to eligible indi-
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1 viduals. Such allowance, if granted, shall provide re2 imbursement to the individual of not more than 90

3 percent of the cost of necessary job search expenses,

4 as prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of

5 Labor, but may not exceed $1,200 unless the need

6 for a greater amount is justified in the application

7 and approved by the Secretary of Labor.

8 (2) CRITERIA FOR GRANTING JOB SEARCH AL9 LOWANCES.—A job search allowance may be granted

10 only—

11 (A) to assist an eligible individual who has

12 been totally separated in securing a job within

13 the United States; and

14 (B) where the Secretary of Labor deter15 mines that such employee cannot reasonably be

16 expected to secure suitable employment in the

17 commuting area in which the worker resides.

18 (g) RELOCATION ALLOWANCE.—

19 (1) ALLOWANCE AUTHORIZED.—Grants under

20 subsection (c) for adjustment assistance may be

21 used to provide relocation allowances to eligible indi22 viduals. Such an allowance may only be granted to

23 assist an eligible individual in relocating within the

24 United States and only if the Secretary of Labor de25 termines that such employee;
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1 (A) cannot reasonably be expected to se2 cure suitable employment in the commuting

3 area in which the employee resides;

4 (B) has obtained suitable employment af5 fording a reasonable expectation of long-term

6 duration in the area in which the employee

7 wishes to relocate, or has obtained a bona fide

8 offer of such employment, and

9 (C) is totally separated from employment

10 at the time relocation commences.

11 (2) AMOUNT OF RELOCATION ALLOWANCE.—

12 The amount of any relocation allowance for any eli13 gible individual may not exceed the amount which is

14 equal to the sum of—

15 (A) 90 percent of the reasonable and nec16 essary expenses, specified in regulations pre17 scribed by the Secretary, incurred in trans18 porting an individual and the individual’s fam19 ily, if any, and household effects; and

20 (B) a lump sum equivalent to 3 times the

21 employee’s average weekly wage, up to a max22 imum payment of $1,200, unless the need for

23 a greater amount is justified in the application

24 and approved by the Secretary of Labor.
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1 (h) NEEDS-RELATED PAYMENTS.—The Secretary of

2 Labor shall prescribe regulations with respect to the use

3 of funds from grants under subsection (c) for needs-re4 lated payments in order to enable eligible individuals to

5 complete training or education programs under this sec6 tion. Such regulations shall—

7 (1) require that such payments shall be pro8 vided to an eligible individual only if such

9 individual—

10 (A) does not qualify or has ceased to qual11 ify for unemployment compensation;

12 (B) has been enrolled in training by the

13 end of the 13th week of the individual’s initial

14 unemployment compensation benefit period, or,

15 if later, the end of the 8th week after an indi16 vidual is informed that a short-term layoff will

17 in fact exceed six months; and

18 (C) is participating in training or edu19 cation programs under this section, except that

20 such regulations shall protect an individual

21 from being disqualified pursuant to this clause

22 for a failure to participate that is not the fault

23 of the individual;

24 (2) provide that to qualify for such payments

25 the individual currently receives, or is a member of
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1 a family which currently receives, a total family in2 come (exclusive of unemployment compensation,

3 child support payments, and welfare payments)

4 which, in relation to family size, is not in excess of

5 the lower living standard income level;

6 (3) provide that the levels of such payments

7 shall be equal to the higher of—

8 (A) the applicable level of unemployment

9 compensation; or

10 (B) the poverty level determined in accord11 ance with criteria established by the Director of

12 the Office of Management and Budget;

13 (4) provide for the adjustment of payments to

14 reflect changes in total family income; and

15 (5) provide that the grantee shall obtain infor16 mation with respect to such income, and changes

17 therein, from the eligible individual.

18 (i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor shall

19 prescribe regulations to carry out this section not later

20 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 9. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

22 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN ACCOUNTS.—Not23 withstanding any other provision of law, from the date of

24 the enactment of this Act through the duration of the two25 year phase-out period provided in section 5 plus two years
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1 thereafter, all funds in each of the following Forest Service

2 and Bureau of Land Management accounts, including any

3 funds deposited into these accounts during the two-year

4 phase-out period, shall be used only to carry out this Act:

5 (1) Timber salvage funds (including the Salvage

6 Sale Fund established under section 14(h) of the

7 National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16

8 U.S.C. 472a(h))).

9 (2) The fund established under section 3 of the

10 Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the

11 Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C 576b).

12 (3) The fund containing moneys associated with

13 the Purchaser-Elect Roads Program under section 6

14 of Public Law 88–657 (commonly known as the For15 est Roads And Trails Act; 16 U.S.C. 537).

16 (b) ALLOCATION OF TIMBER SALES REVENUES DUR17 ING PHASE-OUT PERIOD.—Notwithstanding any other

18 provision of law, from the date of the enactment of this

19 Act through the duration of the two-year phase-out period,

20 all timber sale revenues from Federal public lands shall

21 be deposited in the fund established under section 3 of

22 the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the

23 Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C 576b).

24 (c) ABOLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—Notwithstanding

25 any other provision of law, the funds referred to in sub-
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1 section (a) shall be used to carry out this section until

2 no funds remain in such accounts, after which these ac3 counts shall be abolished.

4 (d) WORKER RETRAINING.—Monies shall be distrib5 uted from the funds referred to in subsection (a) to carry

6 out section 8. Such distributions shall be made in amounts

7 up to $80,000,000 in the first year of the phase-out pe8 riod, and $80,000,000 and $120,000,000, respectively, in

9 the subsequent two years.

10 (e) NATURAL HERITAGE RESTORATION PLAN11 NING.—From the funds referred to in subsection (a), up

12 to a sum of $100,000,000 shall be made available to the

13 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture

14 to carry out subsections (d) and (e) of section 7 until such

15 time as the Natural Heritage Restoration Plans required

16 by subsection (d) of such section have been incorporated

17 into the management plans for each unit of Federal public

18 lands.

19 (f) ALTERNATIVES TO WOOD.—From the funds re20 ferred to in subsection (a), at least $1,000,000 and up

21 to $3,000,000 shall be distributed to the Environmental

22 Protection Agency to fund an investigation into wood-free

23 alternative products for paper and construction. Within

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

25 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
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1 shall make recommendations for grants to entities involved

2 in the development and production of the most environ3 mentally sound nonwood alternatives for paper and con4 struction products, including entities involved in using ag5 ricultural residues to produce paper. Up to $100,000,000

6 from the funds referred to in subsection (a) shall be made

7 available to the Environmental Protection Agency for such

8 grants, which shall be made within three years after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (g) PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE TO RE11 DUCE STRUCTURE FLAMABILITY IN URBAN-WILDLAND

12 INTERMIX AREAS.—From the funds referred to in sub13 section (a), up to $15,000,000 shall be used annually to

14 educate owners of structures on non-Federal land adjacent

15 to Federal public lands about ways in which these struc16 tures can be protected from forest fires by reducing the

17 flammability of a structure and the area within 40 meters

18 of a structure. Both technical support and financial assist19 ance, in coordination or collaboration with existing State

20 and local programs, to the extent possible, shall be pro21 vided where, and to the extent, appropriate.

22 (h) ALLOCATION OF REMAINING FUNDS.—Any funds

23 remaining in the accounts referred to in subsection (a) in

24 the fourth year after the date of the enactment of this
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1 Act shall be deposited into the general fund of the United

2 States Treasury.

3 SEC. 10. CONTINUATION OF PAYMENTS FOR STATES AND

4 COUNTIES CONTAINING FEDERAL PUBLIC

5 LANDS UNDER PUBLIC LAW 106–393.

6 (a) CONTINUATION OF PAYMENTS AFTER FISCAL

7 YEAR 2006.—The Secure Rural Schools and Community

8 Self-Determination Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16

9 U.S.C. 500 note) is amended—

10 (1) in section 101(a), by striking ‘‘years 2001

11 through 2006,’’ both places it appears and inserting

12 ‘‘year 2001 and thereafter,’’;

13 (2) in section 102(b)(2), by striking ‘‘through

14 fiscal year 2006’’; and

15 (3) in section 103(b)(1), by striking ‘‘through

16 fiscal year 2006’’.

17 (b) TERMINATION OF REQUIREMENT TO RESERVE

18 FUNDS FOR FOREST PROJECTS.—(1) Section 102(d) of

19 such Act is amended by adding at the end the following

20 new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF ALLOCATION AND ELEC22 TION REQUIREMENTS.—This subsection shall not

23 apply in the case of payments made under sub24 section (a) for fiscal year 2007 and thereafter.’’.
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1 (2) Section 103(c) of such Act is amended by adding

2 at the end the following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF ALLOCATION AND ELEC4 TION REQUIREMENTS.—This subsection shall not

5 apply in the case of payments made under sub6 section (a) for fiscal year 2007 and thereafter. The

7 entire payment amount shall be expended as re8 quired by the laws referred to in subsection (a)(1).’’.

9 SEC. 11. ENFORCEMENT BY CITIZENS.

10 (a) PURPOSE AND FINDING.— The purpose of this

11 section is to foster the widest possible enforcement of this

12 Act. Congress finds that all people of the United States

13 are injured by any action that violates the provisions of

14 this Act on all lands to which this Act applies.

15 (b) CITIZEN SUITS AUTHORIZED.—Any person may

16 commence a civil action against any person, including the

17 United States, who is alleged to be in violation of this Act.

18 The action shall be brought in the district court for the

19 district in which the alleged violation occurred or the

20 United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

21 When the United States is a defendant, venue may also

22 be in the district court for the district in which the office

23 of any officer or employee of the United States who is

24 alleged to be involved in the violation is located. The dis-
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1 trict court shall have jurisdiction without regard to the

2 amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties.

3 (c) RELIEF.—If the court determines that a violation

4 of this Act has occurred, the court may issue an injunction

5 and provide other appropriate equitable relief as the court

6 considers necessary. If the plaintiff is the prevailing or

7 substantially prevailing party, the court may award to the

8 plaintiff reasonable costs of the litigation, including attor9 ney fees, witness fees, and other necessary expenses. When

10 the United States is a defendant, any award of costs of

11 litigation against the United States shall be paid by the

12 United States within 40 days after judgment.

13 (d) STANDARD OF PROOF.—The standard of proof

14 in all actions brought under this section shall be the pre15 ponderance of the evidence and the trial shall be de novo.

16 (e) WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—The United

17 States, including its agencies, agents, and employees,

18 waives its sovereign immunity in all respects in all actions

19 under this section. No notice is required to enforce this

20 section.

Æ