II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2916 

To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to promote 

watershed health, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 

2009 to promote watershed health, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Restoring America’s 

5 Watersheds Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WATER SOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

7 Subtitle A of title III of the Omnibus Public Land 

8 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 

9 1126) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3002. WATER SOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service (referred 

4 to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall establish and 

5 maintain a Water Source Protection Program (referred to 

6 in this section as the ‘Program’) within the National For7 est System west of the 100th Meridian. 

8 ‘‘(b) WATER SOURCE INVESTMENT PARTNER9 SHIPS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro11 gram, the Secretary may enter into water source in12 vestment partnerships with end water users (includ13 ing States, political subdivisions, Indian tribes, utili14 ties, municipal water systems, irrigation districts, 

15 nonprofit organizations, and corporations) to protect 

16 and restore the condition of National Forest water17 sheds that provide water to the non-Federal part18 ners. 

19 ‘‘(2) FORM.—A partnership described in para20 graph (1) may take the form of memoranda of un21 derstanding, cost-share or collection agreements, 

22 long-term match funding commitments, or other ap23 propriate instruments. 

24 ‘‘(c) WATER SOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro26 gram, the Secretary may produce a water source 


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1 management plan in cooperation with the water 

2 source investment partnership participants and 

3 State, local, and tribal governments. 

4 ‘‘(2) FIREWOOD.—A water source management 

5 plan may give priority to projects that facilitate the 

6 gathering of firewood for personal use pursuant to 

7 section 223.5 of title 36, Code of Federal Regula8 tions (or successor regulations). 

9 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.—The Sec10 retary may conduct— 

11 ‘‘(A) a single environmental impact state12 ment or similar analysis required under the Na13 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for all or part of the res15 toration projects in the water source manage16 ment plan; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a statement or analysis described in 

18 subparagraph (A) as part of the development of 

19 the water source management plan or after the 

20 finalization of the plan. 

21 ‘‘(4) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—In carrying 

22 out the Program, the Secretary may use the Manual 

23 on Adaptive Management of the Department of the 

24 Interior, including any associated guidance, for pur25 poses of fulfilling any requirements under the EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Nov 13, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2916.IS S2916

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1 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

2 seq.). 

3 ‘‘(5) FUNDS AND SERVICES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

5 Program, the Secretary may accept and use 

6 funding, services, and other forms of investment 

7 and assistance from water source investment 

8 partnership participants to implement the water 

9 source management plan. 

10 ‘‘(B) MANNER OF USE.—The Secretary 

11 may accept and use investments described in 

12 subparagraph (A) directly or indirectly through 

13 the National Forest Foundation. 

14 ‘‘(C) WATER SOURCE PROTECTION

15 FUND.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the 

17 availability of appropriations, the Secretary 

18 may establish a Water Source Protection 

19 Fund to match funds or in-kind support 

20 contributed by water source investment 

21 partnership participants under subpara22 graph (A). 

23 ‘‘(ii) USE OF APPROPRIATED

24 FUNDS.—The Secretary may use funds ap25 propriated to carry out this subparagraph 


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1 to make multiyear commitments, if nec2 essary, to implement 1 or more water 

3 source investment partnership agree4 ments.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. FOREST SERVICE LEGACY ROADS AND TRAILS RE6 MEDIATION PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall 

8 establish and maintain a Forest Service Legacy Roads and 

9 Trails Remediation Program (referred to in this section 

10 as the ‘‘Program’’) within the National Forest System 

11 west of the 100th Meridian— 

12 (1) to carry out critical maintenance and urgent 

13 repairs and improvements on National Forest Sys14 tem roads, trails, and bridges; 

15 (2) to restore fish and other aquatic organism 

16 passage by removing or replacing unnatural barriers 

17 to the passage of fish and other aquatic organisms; 

18 (3) to decommission unneeded roads and trails; 

19 and 

20 (4) to carry out associated activities. 

21 (b) PRIORITY.—In implementing the Program, the 

22 Secretary shall give priority to projects that protect or re23 store— 

24 (1) water quality; 


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1 (2) watersheds that feed public drinking water 

2 systems; or 

3 (3) habitat for threatened, endangered, and 

4 sensitive fish and wildlife species. 

5 (c) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—Except as author6 ized under section 323 of title III of the Department of 

7 the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

8 1999 (16 U.S.C. 1011a), all projects carried out under 

9 the Program shall be on National Forest System roads. 

10 (d) NATIONAL PROGRAM STRATEGY.—Not later than 

11 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief 

12 of the Forest Service shall develop a national strategy for 

13 implementing the Program. 

14 SEC. 4. WATERSHED CONDITION FRAMEWORK. 

15 Subtitle A of title III of the Omnibus Public Land 

16 Management Act of 2009 (as amended by section 2) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 3003. WATERSHED CONDITION FRAMEWORK. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

20 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service (referred 

21 to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall establish and 

22 maintain a Watershed Condition Framework within the 

23 National Forest System west of the 100th Meridian— 

24 ‘‘(1) to evaluate and classify the condition of 

25 watersheds, taking into consideration— 


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1 ‘‘(A) water quality and quantity; 

2 ‘‘(B) aquatic habitat and biota; 

3 ‘‘(C) riparian and wetland vegetation; 

4 ‘‘(D) the presence of roads and trails; 

5 ‘‘(E) soil type and condition; 

6 ‘‘(F) groundwater-dependent ecosystems; 

7 ‘‘(G) relevant terrestrial indicators, such as 

8 fire regime, risk of catastrophic fire, forest and 

9 rangeland vegetation, invasive species, and in10 sects and disease; and 

11 ‘‘(H) other significant factors, as deter12 mined by the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(2) to identify for restoration up to 5 priority 

14 watersheds in each National Forest, and up to 2 pri15 ority watersheds in each national grassland, taking 

16 into consideration the impact of the condition of the 

17 watershed condition on— 

18 ‘‘(A) wildfire behavior; 

19 ‘‘(B) flood risk; 

20 ‘‘(C) fish and wildlife; 

21 ‘‘(D) drinking water supplies; 

22 ‘‘(E) irrigation water supplies; 

23 ‘‘(F) forest-dependent communities; and 

24 ‘‘(G) other significant impacts, as deter25 mined by the Secretary; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to develop a watershed restoration action 

2 plan for each priority watershed that— 

3 ‘‘(A) takes into account existing restora4 tion activities being implemented in the water5 shed; and 

6 ‘‘(B) includes, at a minimum— 

7 ‘‘(i) the major stressors responsible 

8 for the impaired condition of the water9 shed; 

10 ‘‘(ii) a set of essential projects that, 

11 once completed, will address the identified 

12 stressors and improve watershed condi13 tions; 

14 ‘‘(iii) a proposed implementation 

15 schedule; 

16 ‘‘(iv) potential partners and funding 

17 sources; and 

18 ‘‘(v) a monitoring and evaluation pro19 gram; 

20 ‘‘(4) to prioritize restoration activities for each 

21 watershed restoration action plan; 

22 ‘‘(5) to implement each watershed restoration 

23 action plan; and 

24 ‘‘(6) to monitor the effectiveness of restoration 

25 actions and indicators of watershed health. 


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1 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—Throughout the process de2 scribed in subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) coordinate with interested non-Federal 

4 landowners and with State, tribal, and local govern5 ments within the relevant watershed; and 

6 ‘‘(2) provide for an active and ongoing public 

7 engagement process. 

8 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—Notwithstanding 

9 subsection (a)(2), the Secretary may identify a watershed 

10 as a priority for rehabilitation in the Watershed Condition 

11 Framework without using the process described in sub12 section (a), if a Forest Supervisor determines that— 

13 ‘‘(1) a wildfire has significantly diminished the 

14 condition of the watershed; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the emergency stabilization activities of the 

16 Burned Area Emergency Response Team are insuffi17 cient to return the watershed to proper function.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE COLLABORATIVE FOR19 EST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION FUND. 

20 Section 4003(f)(6) of the Omnibus Public Land Man21 agement Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303(f)(6)) is amended 

22 by striking ‘‘2019, to remain available until expended’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘2014, and $80,000,000 for each of fiscal 


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1 years 2015 through 2024, to remain available until ex2 pended’’. 

Æ 


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