H. R. 2107—67
(3) The Board shall be comprised of the following representa-
tives or their designees—
(A) the Secretary of Commerce, who shall be a co-chair
of the Board;
(B) the Secretary of State;
(C) the Secretary of the Interior;
(D) the Commandant of the Coast Guard;
(E) the Director of the Office of Naval Research;
(F) the Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game, who shall
also be a co-chair of the Board;
(G) the Chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council;
(H) the Chairman of the Arctic Research Commission;
(I) the Director of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute;
(J) the Director of the Alaska SeaLife Center;
(K) five members nominated by the Governor of Alaska
and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, one of whom
shall represent fishing interests, one of whom shall represent
Alaska Natives, one of whom shall represent environmental
interests, one of whom shall represent academia, and one of
whom shall represent oil and gas interests;
(L) three members nominated by the Governor of Washing-
ton and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce; and
(M) one member nominated by the Governor of Oregon
and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce.
The members of the Board shall be individuals knowledgeable by
education, training, or experience regarding fisheries or marine
ecosystems in the north Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, or Arctic Ocean.
Three nominations shall be submitted for each member to be
appointed under subparagraphs (K), (L), and (M). Board members
appointed under subparagraphs (K), (L), and (M) shall serve for
three-year terms, and may be reappointed.
(4)(A) The Secretary of Commerce shall review and administer
grants recommended by the Board. If the Secretary does not approve
a grant recommended by the Board, the Secretary shall explain
in writing the reasons for not approving such grant, and the amount
recommended to be used for such grant shall be available only
for other grants recommended by the Board.
(B) Grant recommendations and other decisions of the Board
shall be by majority vote, with each member having one vote.
The Board shall establish written criteria for the submission of
grant requests through a competitive process and for deciding upon
the award of grants. Grants shall be recommended by the Board
on the basis of merit in accordance with the priorities established
by the Board. The Secretary shall provide the Board such adminis-
trative and technical support as is necessary for the effective func-
tioning of the Board. The Board shall be considered an advisory
panel established under section 302(g) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq.) for the purposes of section 302(i)(1) of such Act, and the
other procedural matters applicable to advisory panels under section
302(i) of such Act shall apply to the Board to the extent practicable.
Members of the Board may be reimbursed for actual expenses
incurred in performance of their duties for the Board. Not more
than 5 percent of the funds provided to the Secretary of Commerce
under paragraph (1) may be used to provide support for the Board
and administer grants under this subsection.
H. R. 2107—68
(f) SUNSET.—If amounts are not assumed by the concurrent
budget resolution and appropriated from the Fund by December
15, 1998, the Fund shall terminate and the amounts in the Fund
including the accrued interest shall be applied to reduce the Federal
deficit.
TITLE V—PRIORITY LAND ACQUISITIONS, LAND
EXCHANGES, AND MAINTENANCE
For priority land acquisitions, land exchange agreements, other
activities consistent with the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Act of 1965, as amended, and critical maintenance to be conducted
by the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the Forest Service,
$699,000,000, to be derived from the Land and Water Conservation
Fund notwithstanding any other provision of law, to remain avail-
able until September 30, 2001, of which $167,000,000 is available
to the Secretary of Agriculture and $532,000,000 is available to
the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That of the funds made
available to the Secretary of Agriculture, not to exceed $65,000,000
may be used to acquire interests to protect and preserve Yellowstone
National Park, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth
in sections 502 and 504 of this title, and $12,000,000 may be
used for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the Beartooth High-
way pursuant to section 502 of this title: Provided further, That
of the funds made available to the Secretary of the Interior, not
to exceed $250,000,000 may be used to acquire interests to protect
and preserve the Headwaters Forest, pursuant to the terms and
conditions set forth in sections 501 and 504 of this title, and
$10,000,000 may be used for a direct payment to Humboldt County,
California pursuant to section 501 of this title: Provided further,
That the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture,
after consultation with the heads of the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National
Park Service and the Forest Service, shall, in fiscal year 1998
and each of the succeeding three fiscal years, jointly submit to
Congress a report listing the lands and interests in land that
the Secretaries propose to acquire or exchange and the maintenance
requirements they propose to address using funds provided under
this heading for purposes other than the purposes of sections 501
and 502 of this title: Provided further, That none of the funds
appropriated under this title for purposes other than the purposes
of sections 501 and 502 of this title shall be available until the
House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee
on Appropriations approve, in writing, a list of projects to be under-
taken with such funds: Provided further, That moneys provided
in this title, when combined with moneys provided by other titles
in this Act, shall, for the purposes of section 205(a) of H. Con.
Res. 84 (105th Congress), be considered to provide $700,000,000
in budget authority for fiscal year 1998 for Federal land acquisitions
and to finalize priority land exchanges.
SEC. 501. HEADWATERS FOREST
AND ELK RIVER PROPERTY
ACQUISITION. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the terms and condi-
tions of this section, up to $250,000,000 from the Land and Water
Conservation Fund is authorized to be appropriated to acquire
lands referenced in the Agreement of September 28, 1996, which
consist of approximately 4,500 acres commonly referred to as the
H. R. 2107—69
‘‘Headwaters Forest’’, approximately 1,125 acres referred to as the
‘‘Elk Head Forest’’, and approximately 9,600 acres referred to as
the ‘‘Elk River Property’’, which are located in Humboldt County,
California. This section is the sole authorization for the acquisition
of such property, which is the subject of the Agreement dated
September 28, 1996 between the United States of America (herein-
after ‘‘United States’’), the State of California, MAXXAM, Inc.,
and the Pacific Lumber Company. Of the entire Elk River Property,
the United States and the State of California are to retain approxi-
mately 1,845 acres and transfer the remaining approximately 7,755
acres of Elk River Property to the Pacific Lumber Company. The
property to be acquired and retained by the United States and
the State of California is that property that is the subject of the
Agreement of September 28, 1996 as generally depicted on maps
labeled as sheets 1 through 7 of Township 3 and 4 North, Ranges
1 East and 1 West, of the Humboldt Meridian, California, titled
‘‘Dependent Resurvey and Tract Survey’’, as approved by Lance
J. Bishop, Chief Cadastral Surveyor—California, on August 29,
1997. Such maps shall be on file in the Office of the Chief Cadastral
Surveyor, Bureau of Land Management, Sacramento, California.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make such typo-
graphical and other corrections to this description as are mutually
agreed upon by the parties to the Agreement of September 28,
1996. The land retained by the United States and the State of
California (approximately 7,470 acres) shall hereafter be the ‘‘Head-
waters Forest’’. Any funds appropriated by the Federal Government
to acquire lands or interests in lands that enlarge the Headwaters
Forest by more than five acres per each acquisition shall be subject
to specific authorization enacted subsequent to this Act, except
that such funds may be used pursuant to existing authorities to
acquire such lands up to five acres per each acquisition or interests
in lands that may be necessary for roadways to provide access
to the Headwaters Forest.
(b) EFFECTIVE PERIOD OF AUTHORIZATION.—The authorization
in subsection (a) expires March 1, 1999 and shall become effective
only—
(1) when the State of California provides a $130,000,000
contribution for the transaction;
(2) when the State of California approves a Sustained
Yield Plan covering Pacific Lumber Company timber property;
(3) when the Pacific Lumber Company dismisses the follow-
ing legal actions as evidenced by instruments in form and
substance satisfactory to each of the parties to such legal
actions: Pacific Lumber Co. v. United States, No. 96–257L
(Fed. Cls.) and Salmon Creek Corp. v. California Board of
Forestry, No. 96–CS–1057 (Cal. Super. Ct.);
(4) when the incidental take permit under section 10(a)
of the Endangered Species Act (based upon a multispecies
Habitat Conservation Plan covering Pacific Lumber Company
timber property, including applicable portions of the Elk River
Property) is issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service;
(5) after an appraisal of all lands and interests therein
to be acquired by the United States has been undertaken,
such appraisal has been reviewed for a period not to exceed
30 days by the Comptroller General of the United States,
and such appraisal has been provided to the Committee on
H. R. 2107—70
Resources of the House of Representatives, the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the Commit-
tees on Appropriations of the House and Senate;
(6) after the Secretary of the Interior issues an opinion
of value to the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of the
House and Senate for the land and property to be acquired
by the Federal Government. Such opinion of value shall also
include the total value of all compensation (including tax bene-
fits) proposed to be provided for the acquisition;
(7) after an Environmental Impact Statement for the pro-
posed Habitat Conservation Plan has been prepared and com-
pleted in accordance with the applicable provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; and
(8) when adequate provision has been made for public
access to the property.
(c) ACQUISITION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the amount paid by the United States to acquire identified lands
and interests in lands referred to in section 501(a) may differ
from the value contained in the appraisal required by section
501(b)(5) if the Secretary of the Interior certifies, in writing, to
Congress that such action is in the best interest of the United
States.
(d) HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN.—
(1) APPLICABLE
STANDARDS.—Within 60 days after the
enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior and
the Secretary of Commerce shall report to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee
on Resources of the House of Representatives on the scientific
and legal standards and criteria for threatened, endangered,
and candidate species under the Endangered Species Act and
any other species used to develop the habitat conservation
plan (hereinafter ‘‘HCP’’) and the section 10(a) incidental take
permit for the Pacific Lumber Company land.
(2) REPORT.—If the Pacific Lumber Company submits an
application for an incidental take permit under section 10(a)
of the Endangered Species Act for the transaction authorized
by subsection (a), and the permit is not issued, then the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fish-
eries Service shall set forth the substantive rationale or ration-
ales for why the measures proposed by the applicant for such
permit did not meet the issuance criteria for the species at
issue. Such report shall be submitted to the Congress within
60 days of the decision not to issue such permit or by May
1, 1999, whichever is earlier.
(3) HCP STANDARDS.—If a section 10(a) permit for the
Pacific Lumber Company HCP is issued, it shall be deemed
to be unique to the circumstances associated with the acquisi-
tion authorized by this section and shall not establish a higher
or lesser standard for any other multispecies HCPs than would
otherwise be established under existing law.
(e) PAYMENT TO HUMBOLDT COUNTY.—Within 30 days of the
acquisition of the Headwaters Forest, the Secretary of the Interior
shall provide a $10,000,000 direct payment to Humboldt County,
California.