H. R. 2886
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To provide for a demonstration project in the Stanislaus National Forest, California,
under which a private contractor will perform multiple resource management
activities for that unit of the National Forest System.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Granite Watershed Enhancement
and Protection Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 
2. 
DEMONSTRATION 
RESOURCE 
MANAGEMENT 
PROJECT,
STANISLAUS 
NATIONAL 
FOREST, 
CALIFORNIA, 
TO
ENHANCE AND PROTECT THE GRANITE WATERSHED.
(a) RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
CONTRACT
AUTHORIZED.—The
Secretary of Agriculture may enter into a contract with a single
private contractor to perform multiple resource management activi-
ties on Federal lands within the Stanislaus National Forest in
the State of California for the purpose of demonstrating enhanced
ecosystem health and water quality, and significantly reducing the
risk of catastrophic wildfire, in the Granite watershed at a reduced
cost to the Government. The contract shall be for a term of 5
years.
(b) AUTHORIZED
MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITIES.—The types of
resource management activities performed under the contract shall
include the following:
(1) Reduction of forest fuel loads through the use of
precommercial and commercial thinning and prescribed burns
in the Granite watershed.
(2) Monitoring of ecosystem health and water quality in
the Granite watershed.
(3) Monitoring of the presence of wildlife in the area in
which management activities are performed and the effect of
the activities on wildlife presence.
(4) Such other resource management activities as the
Secretary considers appropriate to demonstrate enhanced eco-
system health and water quality in the Granite watershed.
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW AND SPOTTED OWL GUIDE-
LINES.—All resource management activities performed under the
contract shall be performed in a manner consistent with applicable
Federal law and the standards and guidelines for the conservation
of the California spotted owl (as set forth in the California Spotted
Owl Sierran Province Interim Guidelines or the subsequently issued
final guidelines, whichever is in effect).
(d) FUNDING.—
H. R. 2886—2
(1) SOURCES OF FUNDS.—To provide funds for the resource
management activities to be performed under the contract,
the Secretary may use—
(A) funds appropriated to carry out this section;
(B) funds specifically provided to the Forest Service
to implement projects to demonstrate enhanced water qual-
ity and protect aquatic and upland resources;
(C) excess funds that are allocated for the administra-
tion and management of the Stanislaus National Forest,
California;
(D) hazardous fuels reduction funds allocated for
Region 5 of the Forest Service; and
(E) a contract provision allowing the cost of performing
authorized management activities described in subsection
(b) to be offset by the values owed to the United States
for any forest products removed by the contractor.
(2) PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—Except as
provided in paragraph (1), the Secretary may not carry out
the contract using funds appropriated for any other unit of
the National Forest System.
(3) CONDITIONS
ON
FUNDS
TRANSFERS.—Any transfer of
funds under paragraph (1) may be made only in accordance
with the procedures concerning notice to, and review by, the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate that are
applied by the Secretary in the case of a transfer of funds
between appropriations.
(e) ACCEPTANCE
AND USE
OF STATE FUNDS.—The Secretary
may accept and use funds provided by the State of California
to assist in the implementation of the contract under this section.
(f ) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than February 28
of each year during the term of the contract, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report describing—
(1) the resource management activities performed under
the contract during the period covered by the report;
(2) the source and amount of funds used under subsection
(d) to carry out the contract; and
(3) the resource management activities to be performed
under the contract during the calendar year in which the report
is submitted.
H. R. 2886—3
(g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this section
exempts the contract, or resource management activities to be per-
formed under the contract, from any Federal environmental law.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.