H. R. 2466—65
(2) SECURITY.—The Secretary may require a person
assessed a fee under this subsection to provide security to
ensure that the Secretary receives the fees imposed under
this subsection from the person.
(d) SUSTAINABLE HARVEST LEVELS
FOR FOREST BOTANICAL
PRODUCTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct appropriate
analyses to determine whether and how the harvest of forest botan-
ical products on National Forest System lands can be conducted
on a sustainable basis. The Secretary may not permit under the
pilot program the harvest of forest botanical products at levels
in excess of sustainable harvest levels, as defined pursuant to
the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 528 et
seq.). The Secretary shall establish procedures and timeframes to
monitor and revise the harvest levels established for forest botanical
products.
(e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—
(1) PERSONAL
USE.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
establish a personal use harvest level for each forest botanical
product, and the harvest of a forest botanical product below
that level by a person for personal use shall not be subject
to charges and fees under subsections (b) and (c).
(2) OTHER EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary may also waive the
application of subsection (b) or (c) pursuant to such regulations
as the Secretary may prescribe.
(f ) DEPOSIT AND USE OF FUNDS.—
(1) DEPOSIT.—Funds collected under the pilot program in
accordance with subsections (b) and (c) shall be deposited into
a special account in the Treasury of the United States.
(2) FUNDS AVAILABLE.—Funds deposited into the special
account in accordance with paragraph (1) in excess of the
amounts collected for forest botanical products during fiscal
year 1999 shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary
of Agriculture under paragraph (3) without further appropria-
tion, and shall remain available for expenditure until the date
specified in subsection (h)(2).
(3) AUTHORIZED USES.—The funds made available under
paragraph (2) shall be expended at units of the National Forest
System in proportion to the charges and fees collected at that
unit under the pilot program to pay for—
(A) in the case of funds collected under subsection
(b), the costs of conducting inventories of forest botanical
products, determining sustainable levels of harvest, moni-
toring and assessing the impacts of harvest levels and
methods, and for restoration activities, including any nec-
essary vegetation; and
(B) in the case of fees collected under subsection (c),
the costs described in paragraph (1) of such subsection.
(4) TREATMENT
OF
FEES.—Funds collected under sub-
sections (b) and (c) shall not be taken into account for the
purposes of the following laws:
(A) The sixth paragraph under the heading ‘‘FOREST
SERVICE’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500) and
section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known
as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C. 500).
(B) The fourteenth paragraph under the heading
‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ in the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C.
501).
H. R. 2466—66
(C) Section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant
Act (7 U.S.C. 1012).
(D) The Act of August 8, 1937, and the Act of May
24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181a et seq.).
(E) Section 6 of the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly
known as the Recreation and Public Purposes Act; 43
U.S.C. 869–4).
(F) Chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code.
(G) Section 401 of the Act of June 15, 1935 (16 U.S.C.
715s).
(H) Section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a).
(I) Any other provision of law relating to revenue
allocation.
(g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—As soon as practicable after
the end of each fiscal year in which the Secretary of Agriculture
collects charges and fees under subsections (b) and (c) or expends
funds from the special account under subsection (f ), the Secretary
shall submit to the Congress a report summarizing the activities
of the Secretary under the pilot program, including the funds gen-
erated under subsections (b) and (c), the expenses incurred to carry
out the pilot program, and the expenditures made from the special
account during that fiscal year.
(h) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—
(1) CHARGES AND FEES.—The Secretary of Agriculture may
collect charges and fees under the authority of subsections
(b) and (c) only during fiscal years 2000 through 2004.
(2) USE OF SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—The Secretary may make
expenditures from the special account under subsection (f ) until
September 30 of the fiscal year following the last fiscal year
specified in paragraph (1). After that date, amounts remaining
in the special account shall be transferred to the general fund
of the Treasury.
SEC. 340. Title III, section 3001 of Public Law 106–31 is
amended by inserting after ‘‘Alabama,’’ the following: ‘‘in fiscal
year 1999 or 2000’’.
SEC. 341. (a) The authority to enter into stewardship con-
tracting demonstration pilot projects provided to the Forest Service
in accordance with section 347 of title III of section 101(e) of
division A of Public Law 105–277 is hereby expanded to authorize
the Forest Service to enter into an additional nine projects in
Region One.
(b) Section 347 of title III of section 101(e) of division A of
Public Law 105–277 is hereby amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘, via agreement or contract as appro-
priate,’’ before ‘‘may enter into’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘(28) contracts with private persons
and’’ and inserting ‘‘(28) stewardship contracting dem-
onstration pilot projects with private persons or other
public or private’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘contract’’ and inserting
‘‘project’’;
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘Agreements or’’ before
‘‘Contracts’’;
(B) in paragraph (1)—
H. R. 2466—67
(i) by striking ‘‘a contract’’ and inserting ‘‘an agree-
ment or contract’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘private contracts’’ and inserting
‘‘private agreements or contracts’’;
(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘agreement or’’ before
‘‘contracts’’; and
(D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘agreement or’’ before
‘‘contracts’’;
(4) in subsection (d)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a contract’’ and
inserting ‘‘an agreement or contract’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a contract’’ and
inserting ‘‘an agreement or contract’’; and
(5) in subsection (g)—
(A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘contract’’ and
inserting ‘‘pilot project’’; and
(B) in the last sentence—
(i) by inserting ‘‘agreements or’’ before ‘‘contracts’’;
and
(ii) by inserting ‘‘agreements or’’ before ‘‘contract’’.
SEC. 342. Notwithstanding section 343 of Public Law 105–
83, increases in recreation residence fees shall be implemented
in fiscal year 2000 only to the extent that the fiscal year 2000
fees do not exceed the fiscal year 1999 fee by more than $2,000.
SEC. 343. Federal monies appropriated for the purchase of
land or interests in land by the United States Forest Service
(‘‘Forest Service’’) in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic
Area (‘‘CRGNSA’’) shall be used by the Forest Service in compliance
with the acquisition protocol set out in this section.
(a)(1) ACQUISITIONS.—The Secretary of Agriculture (‘‘the
Secretary’’) is directed to make every reasonable effort to
acquire on or before March 15, 2000, pursuant to his existing
authority, land acquisition projects which the Forest Service
has determined to have been delayed for a significant time
or which have not yet been completed despite past direction
through report language from either the House or Senate
Appropriations Committee (‘‘the Committees’’).
(2) For the purposes of appraising the value of the lands
or interests in land the Forest Service may, at its discretion,
apply the standard found in A–10 of the Uniform Standards
of Appraisal for Federal Land Acquisitions as required by Public
Law 91–646, as amended, even if the lands or interests in
land were purchased by the current title holder subsequent
to the enactment of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic
Area Act (Public Law 99–663) and before the effective date
of this Act.
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—On or before February 15, 2000,
the Secretary shall submit to the Senate and House Appropria-
tions Committees a report detailing the status of the potential
land acquisitions referenced above as well as any other pending
purchases of land or interests in land in the CRGNSA. If
any of the lands or interests in land referenced above have
not been acquired by February 15, 2000, the report should
detail the specific issue or issues preventing the acquisition
or acquisitions from being completed.
(c) MEDIATION.—If the Secretary’s report, as described in
subsection (b) details issues other than disagreement over fair
H. R. 2466—68
market value which are preventing acquisitions from occurring,
the Secretary is directed to immediately make available to
the prospective seller or sellers non-binding mediation in an
attempt to resolve these non-fair market value issues. The
Secretary shall submit to the Committees a report on the
status of any mediation on or before April 15, 2000. The Sec-
retary and prospective seller may mediate any disagreement
over fair market value if both the Secretary and prospective
seller agree mediation has the potential to resolve the fair
market value disagreement.
(d) ARBITRATION REQUIREMENT.—Any issues concerning dif-
ferences between the Secretary and the owners of the land
or interest in land referenced in subsection (a)(1) over the
fair market value of these lands or interests in land not resolved
before April 15, 2000, shall be resolved using the arbitration
process set out in subsections (e) through (g) of this section.
(e) SELECTION OF ARBITRATION PANEL.—On or before April
15, 2000, the Secretary and the prospective seller each shall
designate one arbitrator, and instruct these two arbitrator des-
ignees to appoint before May 1, 2000, a third arbitrator upon
whom the arbitrator designees mutually agree. At least two
of the three arbitrators shall be State certified appraisers pos-
sessing qualifications consistent with State regulatory require-
ments that meet the intent of title XI, Financial Institutions
Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, shall not be
employed by the United States of America, the prospective
seller, or the prospective seller’s current or former legal counsel.
The third arbitrator shall be a member in good standing of
either the bars of Washington or Oregon and shall not be
employed by the United States of America, the prospective
seller, or the prospective seller’s current or former legal counsel.
Total compensation for the arbitration panel shall not exceed
$15,000.
(f ) WRITTEN MATERIAL.—The Secretary and prospective
seller each may submit a maximum of 20 pages of argument
to the arbitration panel, in a format consistent with the format
for submitting written arguments established by the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals. Exhibits, affidavit, or declarations
shall not be submitted. No other written material may be
submitted to the arbitration panel except a copy of this legisla-
tion and copies of qualified appraisals. The term ‘‘qualified
appraisals’’ shall be limited to appraisals prepared by State-
certified appraisers possessing qualifications consistent with
the State regulatory requirements that meet the intent of title
XI, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement
Act of 1989, and complying with the Uniform Appraisal Stand-
ards for Federal Land Acquisitions, which were submitted to
the Secretary or prepared at the direction of the Secretary
either prior to the effective date of this legislation or between
the effective date and February 15, 2000. The Secretary and
the prospective seller may submit no more than one qualified
appraisal each to the arbitration panel. Neither the Secretary
nor the prospective seller may submit to the arbitration panel
any qualified appraisal not provided to the Secretary or the
prospective seller on or before February 15, 2000. All written
materials must be submitted to the arbitration panel on or
before May 15, 2000.