To amend the Sikes Act to make certain improvements to the administration of cooperative agreements for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities, and for other purposes.

To amend the Sikes Act to make certain improvements to the administration of cooperative agreements for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities, and for other purposes. 1. Cooperative agreements under Sikes Act for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities (a) Multiyear agreements to fund long-term management Subsection (b) of section 103A of the Sikes Act ( 16 U.S.C. 670c–1 (1) by inserting (1) Funds (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) In the case of a cooperative agreement under subsection (a)(2), funds referred to in paragraph (1)— (A) may be paid in a lump sum and include an amount intended to cover the future costs of the natural resource maintenance and improvement activities provided for under the agreement; (B) may be invested by the recipient in accordance with the recipient’s own guidelines for the management and investment of financial assets, and any interest or income derived from such investment may be applied for the same purposes as the principal; and (C) may be used only for payment of— (i) direct costs of maintenance and improvement of natural resources on the lands within the scope of the agreement and only pursuant to an approved Department of Defense Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan; and (ii) indirect and administrative costs, as determined in accordance with official guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget, but not to exceed 10 percent of the total cost of the project. . (b) Availability of funds and relation to other laws Subsection (c) of such section is amended to read as follows: (c) Availability of funds and relation to other laws (1) Cooperative agreements and interagency agreements entered into under this section shall be subject to the availability of funds. (2) Notwithstanding chapter 63 (3) Amounts available to the Department of Defense may not be used under this Act to acquire fee title interest in real property for natural resources projects that are not on a military installation. . (c) Audit The Inspector General of the Department of Defense shall conduct an audit of the natural resources projects funded with amounts available to the Department of Defense under the Sikes Act, as amended by this section, that is not on a military installation. Not later than October 1, 2018, the Inspector General shall submit to Congress a report on the audit conducted under this subsection. (d) Sunset This section and the provisions of law enacted by the amendments made by this section shall expire on October 1, 2019, except that any cooperative agreement referred to in such provisions that is entered into on or before September 30, 2019, shall continue according to its terms and conditions as if this section has not expired. December 8, 2014 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources December 8, 2014 The Committee on Armed Services

Summary: Amends the Sikes Act (conservation programs on federal lands) to allow funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) that are obligated to cooperative agreements with states, local governments, Indian tribes, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals for maintenance and improvement of natural resources located off of military or state-owned National Guard installations (but that are related to current or anticipated military activities) to be: paid in a lump sum and include an amount intended to cover the future costs of the activities under the agreement; invested by the recipient in accordance with the recipient's own investment management guidelines, with any investment interest or income permitted to be applied for the same purposes as the principal; and used only for the direct costs of maintaining and improving the natural resources pursuant to an approved DOD Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan and for certain indirect and administrative costs that do not exceed 10% of the total cost of the project. Allows such cooperative agreements to be used to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the U.S. government. Prohibits amounts available to DOD from being used under such Act to acquire fee title interest in real property for such natural resources projects that are not on a military installation. Requires the Inspector General of DOD to: (1) conduct an audit of the natural resources projects funded with amounts available to DOD under the Sikes Act that are not on a military installation, and (2) report to Congress on the audit by October 1, 2018. Terminates this Act on October 1, 2019, except that any cooperative agreement entered into under this Act on or before September 30, 2019, shall continue.