I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1523
To establish mandatory procedures to be followed by the Forest Service
and the Bureau of Land Management in advance of the permanent
closure of any forest road so as to ensure local public participation
in the decisionmaking process.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 22, 1999
Mrs. CHENOWETH (for herself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr.
SCHAFFER, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. RADANOVICH,
Mr. HERGER, Mr. POMBO, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WALDEN
of Oregon, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SIMPSON,
and Mr. NETHERCUTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ag-
riculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish mandatory procedures to be followed by the
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
in advance of the permanent closure of any forest road
so as to ensure local public participation in the decision-
making process.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Roads-Commu-
nity Right-To-Know Act’’.
SECTION 2. FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MAN-
AGEMENT PROCEDURES FOR PERMANENT
CLOSURE OF FOREST ROADS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) PERMANENT CLOSURE.—The term ‘‘perma-
nent closure’’, with respect to a forest road, means
the closure of the road to vehicular traffic for a con-
tinuous period of more than one year. The term in-
cludes a road closure of one year or less, or of an
unspecified duration, unless the Secretary concerned
certifies at the time of the closure that the closure
will not extend beyond one year.
(2) FOREST
ROAD.—The term ‘‘forest road’’
means any road on Federal lands.
(3) FEDERAL
LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal
lands’’ means—
(A) lands administered by the Bureau of
Land Management; and
(B) lands within units of the National For-
est System.
(4) STATE
AND
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
OFFI-
CIALS.—The term ‘‘State and local government offi-
cials’’ means elected officials of States and counties
within which Federal lands are located.
(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) with respect to the Federal lands de-
scribed in paragraph (3)(A), the Secretary of
the Interior; and
(B) with respect to the Federal lands de-
scribed in paragraph (3)(B), the Secretary of
Agriculture.
(b) ADVANCE NOTICE OF PERMANENT ROAD CLO-
SURES
TO
STATE
AND
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
OFFI-
CIALS.—
(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection
is to ensure that the Secretary concerned involves
State and local government officials in the process
by which the Secretary concerned considers and
plans for the potential permanent closure of forest
roads on Federal lands.
(2) ANNUAL
MEETINGS
REQUIRED.—At least
once each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall
meet with appropriate State and local government
officials to describe all agency plans or proposals
that, within the next two fiscal years, will or may re-
sult in the permanent closure of forest roads on
Federal lands. Such agency plans or proposals in-
clude project proposals, land management plan
amendments or revisions, resource management plan
amendments or revisions, and regional or sub-
regional plans or proposals
(3) ELEMENTS
OF
NOTICE.—At a meeting
under paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall
provide information, using maps and other means,
that at a minimum—
(A) shows forest roads selected or proposed
for permanent closure;
(B) shows traffic patterns and volumes on
the roads over the previous five years; and
(C) explains how users of the roads will be
adversely affected with longer travel times or
adverse travel conditions by the permanent clo-
sure of the roads.
(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST MEETING.—At
the first meeting conducted under paragraph (2) for
a State or local government, the Secretary concerned
shall also provide information on all forest roads
that have been subject to permanent closure in that
State during the previous five years. The informa-
tion shall include a map showing the location of the
forest roads and a description of the methods and
costs of the permanent closure of the forest roads.
(c) PUBLIC
NOTICE
AND
COMMENT
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
(1) LOCAL
NOTICE.—Before proceeding with
the permanent closure of a forest road, the Sec-
retary concerned shall publish an announcement de-
scribing the proposed closure in the local newspaper
of record for the area likely to be affected by the
permanent closure of the road. The announcement
shall include a description and map of the forest
road selected or proposed for permanent closure and
a description of any comments generated regarding
the closure in meetings with State and local govern-
ment officials under subsection (b).
(2) COMMENT PERIOD.—The permanent closure
of a forest road may not take effect until after the
end of the 90-day period beginning on the date that
the announcement under paragraph (1) was pub-
lished regarding that road so as to permit the public
to submit comments regarding the decision to select
or propose the forest road for permanent closure.
(d) PROHIBITION
ON
PERMANENT
ROAD
CLO-
SURES.—The permanent closure of a forest road is prohib-
ited unless—
(1) advance notice of the permanent closure of
the road is provided to the appropriate State and
local government officials in the manner provided in
subsection (b); and
(2) the Secretary complies with the public no-
tice and comment requirements under subsection (c).
(e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—The require-
ments of this section shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act, except that the prohibition con-
tained in subsection (d)(1) shall not apply to prohibit the
permanent closure of any forest road implemented during
the fiscal year in which this section is enacted.
(f) EFFECT ON VALID AND EXISTING RIGHTS.—
Nothing in this section shall invalidate rights-of-way des-
ignated under section 2477 of the Revised Statutes of
1878 (43 U.S.C. 932) or other valid and existing rights,
including rights of ingress and egress.
(g) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAWS.—In carrying
out this section with respect to a forest road, the Secretary
concerned shall comply with the applicable laws of the
State in which the forest road is located.
Æ