SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Tahoe Restora-
tion Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) Lake Tahoe, one of the largest, deepest,
and clearest lakes in the world, has a cobalt blue
color, a unique alpine setting, and remarkable water
clarity, and is recognized nationally and worldwide
as a natural resource of special significance;
(2) in addition to being a scenic and ecological
treasure, Lake Tahoe is one of the outstanding rec-
reational resources of the United States, offering
skiing, water sports, biking, camping, and hiking to
millions of visitors each year, and contributing sig-
nificantly to the economies of California, Nevada,
and the United States;
(3) the economy in the Lake Tahoe basin is de-
pendent on the protection and restoration of the nat-
ural beauty and recreation opportunities in the area;
(4) Lake Tahoe is in the midst of an environ-
mental crisis; the Lake’s water clarity has declined
from a visibility level of 105 feet in 1967 to only 70
feet in 1999, and scientific estimates indicate that if
the water quality at the Lake continues to degrade,
Lake Tahoe will lose its famous clarity in only 30
years;
(5) sediment and algae-nourishing phosphorous
and nitrogen continue to flow into the Lake from a
variety of sources, including land erosion, fertilizers,
air pollution, urban runoff, highway drainage,
streamside erosion, land disturbance, and ground
water flow;
(6) methyl tertiary butyl ether—
(A) has contaminated and closed more
than 1⁄3 of the wells in South Tahoe; and
(B) is advancing on the Lake at a rate of
approximately 9 feet per day;
(7) destruction of wetlands, wet meadows, and
stream zone habitat has compromised the Lake’s
ability to cleanse itself of pollutants;
(8) approximately 40 percent of the trees in the
Lake Tahoe basin are either dead or dying, and the
increased quantity of combustible forest fuels has
significantly increased the risk of catastrophic forest
fire in the Lake Tahoe basin;
(9) as the largest land manager in the Lake
Tahoe basin, with 77 percent of the land, the Fed-
eral Government has a unique responsibility for re-
storing environmental health to Lake Tahoe;
(10) the Federal Government has a long history
of environmental preservation at Lake Tahoe,
including—
(A) congressional consent to the establish-
ment of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in
1969 (Public Law 91–148; 83 Stat. 360) and
in 1980 (Public Law 96–551; 94 Stat. 3233);
(B) the establishment of the Lake Tahoe
Basin Management Unit in 1973; and
(C) the enactment of Public Law 96–586
(94 Stat. 3381) in 1980 to provide for the ac-
quisition of environmentally sensitive land and
erosion control grants;
(11) the President renewed the Federal Govern-
ment’s commitment to Lake Tahoe in 1997 at the
Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, when he committed
to increased Federal resources for environmental
restoration at Lake Tahoe and established the Fed-
eral Interagency Partnership and Federal Advisory
Committee to consult on natural resources issues
concerning the Lake Tahoe basin;
(12) the States of California and Nevada have
contributed proportionally to the effort to protect
and restore Lake Tahoe, including—
(A) expenditures—
(i) exceeding $200,000,000 by the
State of California since 1980 for land ac-
quisition, erosion control, and other envi-
ronmental projects in the Lake Tahoe
basin; and
(ii) exceeding $30,000,000 by the
State of Nevada since 1980 for the pur-
poses described in clause (i); and
(B) the approval of a bond issue by voters
in the State of Nevada authorizing the expendi-
ture by the State of an additional $20,000,000;
and
(13) significant additional investment from
Federal, State, local, and private sources is needed
to stop the damage to Lake Tahoe and its forests,
and restore the Lake Tahoe basin to ecological
health.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to enable the Forest Service to plan and im-
plement significant new environmental restoration
activities and forest management activities to ad-
dress the phenomena described in paragraphs (4)
through (8) of subsection (a) in the Lake Tahoe
basin;
(2) to ensure that Federal, State, local, re-
gional, tribal, and private entities continue to work
together to improve water quality and manage Fed-
eral land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management
Unit; and
(3) to provide funding to local governments for
erosion and sediment control projects on non-Fed-
eral land if the projects benefit the Federal land.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ENVIRONMENTAL
THRESHOLD
CARRYING
CAPACITY.—The term ‘‘environmental threshold car-
rying capacity’’ has the meaning given the term in
article II of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact
set forth in the first section of Public Law 96–551
(94 Stat. 3235).
(2) FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘fire risk re-
duction activity’’ means an activity that is nec-
essary to reduce the risk of wildlife to promote
forest management and simultaneously achieve
and maintain the environmental threshold car-
rying capacities established by the Planning
Agency in a manner consistent, where applica-
ble, with chapter 71 of the Tahoe Regional
Planning Agency Code of Ordinances.
(B) INCLUDED
ACTIVITIES.—The term
‘‘fire risk reduction activity’’ includes—
(i) prescribed burning;
(ii) mechanical treatment;
(iii) road obliteration or reconstruc-
tion; and
(iv) such other activities consistent
with Forest Service practices as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate.
(3) PLANNING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Planning
Agency’’ means the Tahoe Regional Planning Agen-
cy established under Public Law 91–148 (83 Stat.
360) and Public Law 96–551 (94 Stat. 3233).
(4) PRIORITY LIST.—The term ‘‘priority list’’
means the environmental restoration priority list de-
veloped under section 6.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the
Chief of the Forest Service.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN MAN-
AGEMENT UNIT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Lake Tahoe Basin Manage-
ment Unit shall be administered by the Secretary in ac-