H. R. 2691—65
SEC. 314. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none
of the funds in this Act may be used for GSA Telecommunication
Centers.
SEC. 315. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for fiscal
year 2004 the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior are author-
ized to limit competition for watershed restoration project contracts
as part of the ‘‘Jobs in the Woods’’ Program established in Region
10 of the Forest Service to individuals and entities in historically
timber-dependent areas in the States of Washington, Oregon,
northern California, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska that have been
affected by reduced timber harvesting on Federal lands. The Secre-
taries shall consider the benefits to the local economy in evaluating
bids and designing procurements which create economic opportuni-
ties for local contractors.
SEC. 316. Amounts deposited during fiscal year 2003 in the
roads and trails fund provided for in the 14th paragraph under
the heading ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ of the Act of March 4, 1913
(37 Stat. 843; 16 U.S.C. 501), shall be used by the Secretary of
Agriculture, without regard to the State in which the amounts
were derived, to repair or reconstruct roads, bridges, and trails
on National Forest System lands or to carry out and administer
projects to improve forest health conditions, which may include
the repair or reconstruction of roads, bridges, and trails on National
Forest System lands in the wildland-community interface where
there is an abnormally high risk of fire. The projects shall empha-
size reducing risks to human safety and public health and property
and enhancing ecological functions, long-term forest productivity,
and biological integrity. The projects may be completed in a subse-
quent fiscal year. Funds shall not be expended under this section
to replace funds which would otherwise appropriately be expended
from the timber salvage sale fund. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to exempt any project from any environmental law.
SEC. 317. Other than in emergency situations, none of the
funds in this Act may be used to operate telephone answering
machines during core business hours unless such answering
machines include an option that enables callers to reach promptly
an individual on-duty with the agency being contacted.
SEC. 318. No timber sale in Region 10 shall be advertised
if the indicated rate is deficit when appraised using a residual
value approach that assigns domestic Alaska values for western
redcedar. Program accomplishments shall be based on volume sold.
Should Region 10 sell, in fiscal year 2004, the annual average
portion of the decadal allowable sale quantity called for in the
current Tongass Land Management Plan in sales which are not
deficit when appraised using a residual value approach that assigns
domestic Alaska values for western redcedar, all of the western
redcedar timber from those sales which is surplus to the needs
of domestic processors in Alaska, shall be made available to
domestic processors in the contiguous 48 United States at prevailing
domestic prices. Should Region 10 sell, in fiscal year 2003, less
than the annual average portion of the decadal allowable sale
quantity called for in the Tongass Land Management Plan in sales
which are not deficit when appraised using a residual value
approach that assigns domestic Alaska values for western redcedar,
the volume of western redcedar timber available to domestic proc-
essors at prevailing domestic prices in the contiguous 48 United
States shall be that volume: (i) which is surplus to the needs
H. R. 2691—66
of domestic processors in Alaska; and (ii) is that percent of the
surplus western redcedar volume determined by calculating the
ratio of the total timber volume which has been sold on the Tongass
to the annual average portion of the decadal allowable sale quantity
called for in the current Tongass Land Management Plan. The
percentage shall be calculated by Region 10 on a rolling basis
as each sale is sold (for purposes of this amendment, a ‘‘rolling
basis’’ shall mean that the determination of how much western
redcedar is eligible for sale to various markets shall be made
at the time each sale is awarded). Western redcedar shall be deemed
‘‘surplus to the needs of domestic processors in Alaska’’ when the
timber sale holder has presented to the Forest Service documenta-
tion of the inability to sell western redcedar logs from a given
sale to domestic Alaska processors at a price equal to or greater
than the log selling value stated in the contract. All additional
western redcedar volume not sold to Alaska or contiguous 48 United
States domestic processors may be exported to foreign markets
at the election of the timber sale holder. All Alaska yellow cedar
may be sold at prevailing export prices at the election of the
timber sale holder.
SEC. 319. A project undertaken by the Forest Service under
the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program as authorized by section
315 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appro-
priations Act for Fiscal Year 1996, as amended, shall not result
in—
(1) displacement of the holder of an authorization to provide
commercial recreation services on Federal lands. Prior to initi-
ating any project, the Secretary shall consult with potentially
affected holders to determine what impacts the project may
have on the holders. Any modifications to the authorization
shall be made within the terms and conditions of the authoriza-
tion and authorities of the impacted agency; and
(2) the return of a commercial recreation service to the
Secretary for operation when such services have been provided
in the past by a private sector provider, except when—
(A) the private sector provider fails to bid on such
opportunities;
(B) the private sector provider terminates its relation-
ship with the agency; or
(C) the agency revokes the permit for non-compliance
with the terms and conditions of the authorization.
In such cases, the agency may use the Recreation Fee Demonstra-
tion Program to provide for operations until a subsequent operator
can be found through the offering of a new prospectus.
SEC. 320. Prior to October 1, 2004, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall not be considered to be in violation of subparagraph 6(f)(5)(A)
of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(f)(5)(A)) solely because more than 15 years
have passed without revision of the plan for a unit of the National
Forest System. Nothing in this section exempts the Secretary from
any other requirement of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) or any other
law: Provided, That if the Secretary is not acting expeditiously
and in good faith, within the funding available, to revise a plan
for a unit of the National Forest System, this section shall be
void with respect to such plan and a court of proper jurisdiction
may order completion of the plan on an accelerated basis.
H. R. 2691—67
SEC. 321. No funds provided in this Act may be expended
to conduct preleasing, leasing and related activities under either
the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) within the
boundaries of a National Monument established pursuant to the
Act of June 8, 1906 (16 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) as such boundary
existed on January 20, 2001, except where such activities are
allowed under the Presidential proclamation establishing such
monument.
SEC. 322. EXTENSION OF FOREST SERVICE CONVEYANCES PILOT
PROGRAM.—Section 329 of the Department of the Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (16 U.S.C. 580d note;
Public Law 107–63) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘20’’ and inserting ‘‘30’’;
(2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘8’’; and
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting
‘‘2007’’.
SEC. 323. Employees of the foundations established by Acts
of Congress to solicit private sector funds on behalf of Federal
land management agencies shall, in fiscal year 2005, qualify for
General Service Administration contract airfares.
SEC. 324. In entering into agreements with foreign countries
pursuant to the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
1856m) the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior are authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements in which
the individuals furnished under said agreements to provide wildfire
services are considered, for purposes of tort liability, employees
of the country receiving said services when the individuals are
engaged in fire suppression: Provided, That the Secretary of Agri-
culture or the Secretary of the Interior shall not enter into any
agreement under this provision unless the foreign country (either
directly or through its fire organization) agrees to assume any
and all liability for the acts or omissions of American firefighters
engaged in firefighting in a foreign country: Provided further, That
when an agreement is reached for furnishing fire fighting services,
the only remedies for acts or omissions committed while fighting
fires shall be those provided under the laws of the host country,
and those remedies shall be the exclusive remedies for any claim
arising out of fighting fires in a foreign country: Provided further,
That neither the sending country nor any legal organization associ-
ated with the firefighter shall be subject to any legal action whatso-
ever pertaining to or arising out of the firefighter’s role in fire
suppression.
SEC. 325. A grazing permit or lease issued by the Secretary
of the Interior or a grazing permit issued by the Secretary of
Agriculture where National Forest System lands are involved that
expires, is transferred, or waived during fiscal years 2004–2008
shall be renewed under section 402 of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1752), section
19 of the Granger-Thye Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 5801), title
III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et
seq.), or, if applicable, section 510 of the California Desert Protection
Act (16 U.S.C. 410aaa–50). The terms and conditions contained
in the expired, transferred, or waived permit or lease shall continue
in effect under the renewed permit or lease until such time as
the Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Agriculture as appro-
priate completes processing of such permit or lease in compliance
H. R. 2691—68
with all applicable laws and regulations, at which time such permit
or lease may be canceled, suspended or modified, in whole or
in part, to meet the requirements of such applicable laws and
regulations. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to alter the
statutory authority of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary
of Agriculture: Provided, That where National Forest System lands
are involved and the Secretary of Agriculture has renewed an
expired or waived grazing permit prior to fiscal year 2004, the
terms and conditions of the renewed grazing permit shall remain
in effect until such time as the Secretary of Agriculture completes
processing of the renewed permit in compliance with all applicable
laws and regulations or until the expiration of the renewed permit,
whichever comes first. Upon completion of the processing, the
permit may be canceled, suspended or modified, in whole or in
part, to meet the requirements of applicable laws and regulations:
Provided further, That beginning in November 2004, and every
year thereafter, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture
shall report to Congress the extent to which they are completing
analysis required under applicable laws prior to the expiration
of grazing permits, and beginning in May 2004, and every two
years thereafter, the Secretaries shall provide Congress rec-
ommendations for legislative provisions necessary to ensure all
permit renewals are completed in a timely manner. The legislative
recommendations provided shall be consistent with the funding
levels requested in the Secretaries’ budget proposals: Provided fur-
ther, That notwithstanding section 504 of the Rescissions Act (109
Stat. 212), the Secretaries in their sole discretion determine the
priority and timing for completing required environmental analysis
of grazing allotments based on the environmental significance of
the allotments and funding available to the Secretaries for this
purpose: Provided further, That any Federal lands included within
the boundary of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, as des-
ignated by the Secretary of the Interior on April 5, 1990 (Lake
Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement), that were utilized
as of March 31, 1997, for grazing purposes pursuant to a permit
issued by the National Park Service, the person or persons so
utilizing such lands as of March 31, 1997, shall be entitled to
renew said permit under such terms and conditions as the Secretary
may prescribe, for the lifetime of the permittee or 20 years, which-
ever is less.
SEC. 326. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regula-
tion, to promote the more efficient use of the health care funding
allocation for fiscal year 2004, the Eagle Butte Service Unit of
the Indian Health Service, at the request of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe, may pay base salary rates to health professionals
up to the highest grade and step available to a physician, phar-
macist, or other health professional and may pay a recruitment
or retention bonus of up to 25 percent above the base pay rate.
SEC. 327. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality of
the United States Government except pursuant to a transfer made
by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appro-
priations Act.
SEC. 328. None of the funds in this Act may be used to prepare
or issue a permit or lease for oil or gas drilling in the Finger
Lakes National Forest, New York, during fiscal year 2004.