H. R. 2389—16
preceding fiscal year that are unobligated at the end of a fiscal
year because the Secretary concerned has rejected one or more
proposed projects shall be available for use as part of the project
submissions in the next fiscal year.
(d) EFFECT OF COURT ORDERS.—If an approved project under
this Act is enjoined or prohibited by a Federal court, the Secretary
concerned shall return the unobligated project funds related to
that project to the participating county or counties that reserved
the funds. The returned funds shall be available for the county
to expend in the same manner as the funds reserved by the county
under section 102(d)(1)(B)(i) or 103(c)(1)(B)(i), whichever applies
to the funds involved.
SEC. 208. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.
The authority to initiate projects under this title shall terminate
on September 30, 2006. Any project funds not obligated by Sep-
tember 30, 2007, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United
States.
TITLE III—COUNTY PROJECTS
SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) 
PARTICIPATING
COUNTY.—The 
term 
‘‘participating
county’’ means an eligible county that elects under section
102(d)(1)(B)(ii) or 103(c)(1)(B)(ii) to expend a portion of the
Federal funds received under section 102 or 103 in accordance
with this title.
(2) COUNTY FUNDS.—The term ‘‘county funds’’ means all
funds an eligible county elects under sections 102(d)(1)(B)(ii)
and 103(c)(1)(B)(ii) to reserve for expenditure in accordance
with this title.
SEC. 302. USE OF COUNTY FUNDS.
(a) LIMITATION ON COUNTY FUND USE.—County funds shall
be expended solely on projects that meet the requirements of this
title. A project under this title shall be approved by the participating
county only following a 45-day public comment period, at the begin-
ning of which the county shall—
(1) publish a description of the proposed project in the
publications of local record; and
(2) send the proposed project to the appropriate resource
advisory committee established under section 205, if one exists
for the county.
(b) AUTHORIZED USES.—
(1) SEARCH, 
RESCUE, 
AND
EMERGENCY
SERVICES.—An
eligible county or applicable sheriff’s department may use these
funds as reimbursement for search and rescue and other emer-
gency services, including fire fighting, performed on Federal
lands and paid for by the county.
(2) COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK CAMPS.—An eligible county
may use these funds as reimbursement for all or part of the
costs incurred by the county to pay the salaries and benefits
of county employees who supervise adults or juveniles per-
forming mandatory community service on Federal lands.
(3) EASEMENT
PURCHASES.—An eligible county may use
these funds to acquire—
H. R. 2389—17
(A) easements, on a willing seller basis, to provide
for nonmotorized access to public lands for hunting, fishing,
and other recreational purposes;
(B) conservation easements; or
(C) both.
(4) FOREST
RELATED
EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES.—A
county may use these funds to establish and conduct forest-
related after school programs.
(5) FIRE PREVENTION AND COUNTY PLANNING.—A county
may use these funds for—
(A) efforts to educate homeowners in fire-sensitive eco-
systems about the consequences of wildfires and techniques
in home siting, home construction, and home landscaping
that can increase the protection of people and property
from wildfires; and
(B) planning efforts to reduce or mitigate the impact
of development on adjacent Federal lands and to increase
the protection of people and property from wildfires.
(6) COMMUNITY FORESTRY.—A county may use these funds
towards non-Federal cost-share requirements of section 9 of
the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C.
2105).
SEC. 303. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.
The authority to initiate projects under this title shall terminate
on September 30, 2006. Any county funds not obligated by Sep-
tember 30, 2007 shall be available to be expended by the county
for the uses identified in section 302(b).
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal years 2001
through 2006.
SEC. 402. TREATMENT OF FUNDS AND REVENUES.
(a) RELATION TO OTHER APPROPRIATIONS.—Funds appropriated
pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in section 401 and
funds made available to a Secretary concerned under section 206
shall be in addition to any other annual appropriations for the
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
(b) DEPOSIT OF REVENUES AND OTHER FUNDS.—All revenues
generated from projects pursuant to title II, any funds remitted
by counties pursuant to section 102(d)(1)(B)(iii) or section
103(c)(1)(B)(iii), and any interest accrued from such funds shall
be deposited in the Treasury of the United States.
SEC. 403. REGULATIONS.
The Secretaries concerned may jointly issue regulations to carry
out the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 404. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Sections 13982 and 13983 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–66; 16 U.S.C. 500 note; 43 U.S.C.
1181f note) are repealed.
H. R. 2389—18
TITLE V—MINERAL REVENUE
PAYMENTS CLARIFICATION
SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Mineral Revenue Payments
Clarification Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 502. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 10201 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–66; 107 Stat. 407) amended section
35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191) to change the
sharing of onshore mineral revenues and revenues from geo-
thermal steam from a 50:50 split between the Federal Govern-
ment and the States to a complicated formula that entailed
deducting from the State share of leasing revenues ‘‘50 percent
of the portion of the enacted appropriations of the Department
of the Interior and any other agency during the preceding
fiscal year allocable to the administration of all laws providing
for the leasing of any onshore lands or interest in land owned
by the United States for the production of the same types
of minerals leasable under this Act or of geothermal steam,
and to enforcement of such laws * * *’’.
(2) There is no legislative record to suggest a sound public
policy 
rationale 
for 
deducting 
prior-year 
administrative
expenses from the sharing of current-year receipts, indicating
that this change was made primarily for budget scoring reasons.
(3) The system put in place by this change in law has
proved difficult to administer and has given rise to disputes
between the Federal Government and the States as to the
nature of allocable expenses. Federal accounting systems have
proven to be poorly suited to breaking down administrative
costs in the manner required by the law. Different Federal
agencies implementing this law have used varying methodolo-
gies to identify allocable costs, resulting in an inequitable dis-
tribution of costs during fiscal years 1994 through 1996. In
November 1997, the Inspector General of the Department of
the Interior found that ‘‘the congressionally approved method
for cost sharing deductions effective in fiscal year 1997 may
not accurately compute the deductions’’.
(4) Given the lack of a substantive rationale for the 1993
change in law and the complexity and administrative burden
involved, a return to the sharing formula prior to the enactment
of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 is justified.
SEC. 503. AMENDMENT OF THE MINERAL LEASING ACT.
Section 35(b) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b))
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) In determining the amount of payments to the States
under this section, the amount of such payments shall not be
reduced by any administrative or other costs incurred by the United
States.’’.
H. R. 2389—19
TITLE VI—COMMUNITY FOREST
RESTORATION
SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Community Forest Restoration
Act’’.
SEC. 602. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) A century of fire suppression, logging, and livestock
grazing has altered the ecological balance of New Mexico’s
forests.
(2) Some forest lands in New Mexico contain an unnaturally
high number of small diameter trees that are subject to large,
high intensity wildfires that can endanger human lives, liveli-
hoods, and ecological stability.
(3) Forest lands that contain an unnaturally high number
of small diameter trees have reduced biodiversity and provide
fewer benefits to human communities, wildlife, and watersheds.
(4) Healthy and productive watersheds minimize the threat
of large, high intensity wildfires, provide abundant and diverse
wildlife habitat, and produce a variety of timber and non-
timber products including better quality water and increased
water flows.
(5) Restoration efforts are more successful when there is
involvement from neighboring communities and better steward-
ship will evolve from more diverse involvement.
(6) Designing demonstration restoration projects through
a collaborative approach may—
(A) lead to the development of cost effective restoration
activities;
(B) empower diverse organizations to implement activi-
ties which value local and traditional knowledge;
(C) build ownership and civic pride; and
(D) ensure healthy, diverse, and productive forests and
watersheds.
SEC. 603. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this title are—
(1) to promote healthy watersheds and reduce the threat
of large, high intensity wildfires, insect infestation, and disease
in the forests in New Mexico;
(2) to improve the functioning of forest ecosystems and
enhance plant and wildlife biodiversity by reducing the unnatu-
rally high number and density of small diameter trees on
Federal, Tribal, State, County, and Municipal forest lands;
(3) to improve communication and joint problem solving
among individuals and groups who are interested in restoring
the diversity and productivity of forested watersheds in New
Mexico;
(4) to improve the use of, or add value to, small diameter
trees;
(5) to encourage sustainable communities and sustainable
forests through collaborative partnerships, whose objectives are
forest restoration; and