A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes. 1. Stewardship contracting projects (a) In general The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 is amended— (1) by striking section 604 ( 16 U.S.C. 6591c (2) by redesignating sections 601, 602, and 603 ( 16 U.S.C. 6591 (3) by redesignating title VI ( 16 U.S.C. 6591 (4) in section 703(a) (as so redesignated), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking section 602(d) section 702(d) (5) by inserting after title V ( 16 U.S.C. 6571 VI Stewardship Contracting 601. Definitions In this title: (1) Chief The term Chief (2) Secretary The term Secretary (3) Stewardship contract The term stewardship contract 602. Projects The Chief may enter into a stewardship contracting project contract or agreement, as appropriate, with a private person or another public entity to perform services to achieve land management goals described in section 603 for the National Forest System that meet local and rural community needs. 603. Land management goals The land management goals of a project under section 602 may include any of the following: (1) Road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality. (2) Soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values. (3) Setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat. (4) Removing vegetation or other activities— (A) to promote healthy forest stands; (B) to reduce fire hazards; or (C) to achieve other land management objectives. (5) Watershed restoration and maintenance. (6) Restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish. (7) Control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species. 604. Agreements or contracts (a) Procurement procedure A private person or public entity for the performance of services under a stewardship contract shall be selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of the private person or public entity under other public or private agreements or contracts. (b) Contract for sale of property Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a contract entered into under section 602 may, at the discretion of the Secretary, be considered a contract for the sale of property under such terms as the Secretary may establish. (c) Term (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Chief may enter into a contract under section 602 in accordance with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code. (2) Maximum The period of a stewardship contract shall be not longer than 10 years. (d) Offsets (1) In general The Chief may apply the value of timber or other forest products removed as an offset against the cost of services received under a stewardship contract. (2) Methods of appraisal The value of timber or other forest products used as an offset under paragraph (1)— (A) shall be determined using appropriate methods of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products to be removed; and (B) may— (i) be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the stewardship contracts; and (ii) include valuing products on a per-acre basis. (e) Relation to other laws Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 ( 16 U.S.C. 472a (f) Contracting officer Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into and administer a stewardship contract. (g) Fire liability provisions Not later than 90 days after February 7, 2014, the Chief shall issue for use in each stewardship contract fire liability provisions that are in substantially the same form as the fire liability provisions contained in— (1) integrated resource timber contracts, as described in the Forest Service contract numbered 2400–13, part H, section H.4; and (2) timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 ( 16 U.S.C. 472a 605. Receipts (a) In general The Chief may collect amounts from a stewardship contract if the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the stewardship contract that will best achieve the purposes of this title. (b) Use Amounts from a stewardship contract— (1) may be retained by the Chief; and (2) shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation— (A) at the project site from which the amounts are collected; or (B) at another project site. (c) Relation to other laws (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the value of services received by the Chief under a stewardship contract, and any payments made or resources provided by the contractor or the Chief, shall not be considered amounts received from the National Forest System. (2) Knutson-Vandenberg Act The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act 16 U.S.C. 576 606. Costs of removal The Chief may collect deposits from a contractor to cover the costs of removal of timber or other forest products (including timber that the contractor did not harvest) under— (1) the Act of August 11, 1916 ( 16 U.S.C. 490 (2) the Act of June 30, 1914 ( 16 U.S.C. 498 607. Performance and payment guarantees (a) In general The Chief may require performance and payment bonds under sections 28.103–2 and 28.103–3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, in an amount that the contracting officer considers sufficient to protect the investment in receipts by the Federal Government generated by the contractor from the estimated value of the forest products to be removed under a stewardship contract. (b) Excess offset value If the offset value of the forest products described in subsection (a) exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Chief may— (1) collect any residual receipts under the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act 16 U.S.C. 576 (2) apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects. 608. Monitoring and evaluation (a) In general The Chief shall establish and participate in a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the stewardship contracting projects conducted under this title. (b) Participants Participants in the process described in subsection (a) may include— (1) any cooperating governmental agency, including a tribal government; and (2) any other interested group or individual. 609. Reporting Not later than 1 year after February 7, 2014, and annually thereafter, the Chief shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report on— (1) the status of development, execution, and administration of stewardship contracts; (2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted from stewardship contracts; and (3) the role of local communities in the development of stewardship contract plans. . (b) Conforming amendments The table of contents for the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 ( 16 U.S.C. 6501 Public Law 108–148 TITLE VI—Stewardship Contracting Sec. 601. Definitions. Sec. 602. Projects. Sec. 603. Land management goals. Sec. 604. Agreements or contracts. Sec. 605. Receipts. Sec. 606. Costs of removal. Sec. 607. Performance and payment guarantees. Sec. 608. Monitoring and evaluation. Sec. 609. Reporting. TITLE VII—Miscellaneous Sec. 701. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program to improve detection of and response to environmental threats. Sec. 702. Designation of treatment areas. Sec. 703. Administrative review. .

Summary: This bill amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service to enter into stewardship contracting projects with private persons or other public entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the National Forest System that meet local and rural community needs. The bill states that the land management goals of a project may include: (1) road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality; (2) soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values; (3) setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat; (4) removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives; (5) watershed restoration and maintenance; (6) restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish; or (7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species. The Forest Service shall establish and participate in a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the projects conducted pursuant to this bill.