I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2996
To provide incentives for the Forest Service to improve its accounting and
financial reporting systems by temporarily capping discretionary appro-
priations for the Forest Service until improvements are made.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 1, 1999
Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. GOODE, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. STENHOLM,
Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. CHAMBLISS) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To provide incentives for the Forest Service to improve its
accounting and financial reporting systems by tempo-
rarily capping discretionary appropriations for the Forest
Service until improvements are made.
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 Service Finan-
cial Accountability Restoration Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. USE OF INCENTIVES TO RESTORE FOREST SERVICE
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 3521(e) of title 31, United States
Code, requires the Inspector General of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture to audit the annual financial
statements required to be prepared by the Forest
Service. As a result of the inability of the Forest
Service to produce reliable financial statements, the
agency has received four successive adverse opinions
or disclaimers from the Inspector General.
(2) In January 1999, the Comptroller General
submitted a report to Congress that identified the
Forest Service as an agency at ‘‘high risk’’ of waste,
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement due to the per-
sistent and severe weaknesses in the Forest Service’s
accounting and financial reporting systems.
(3) The Comptroller General has stated that
the Forest Service will maintain its high risk status
until the agency, at a minimum—
(A) receives two consecutive unqualified
audit opinions from the Inspector General; and
(B) corrects the material internal control
weaknesses, identified in the Inspector Gen-
eral’s audit reports of the financial statements
of the Forest Service, which adversely affect the
ability of the Forest Service to maintain ac-
countability over its assets on an ongoing basis.
(4) Despite initial efforts on the part of the
Forest Service to correct deficiencies in its financial
management systems, the Comptroller General and
the Inspector General of the Department of Agri-
culture have indicated that the Forest Service may
still be years away from producing reliable financial
statements or changing its high risk status.
(5) Performance incentives are necessary to ul-
timately restore financial accountability to the For-
est Service, and such incentives must be structured
so as to preserve the ability of the Forest Service to
perform its core missions, particularly a sustained
reduction of the natural resources restoration and
maintenance backlog within the National Forest
System, while safeguarding further investments of
taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, abuse, and mis-
management.
(b) CONDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON FOREST SERVICE
APPROPRIATIONS.—Subject to subsections (c) and (d), for
fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the total amount appropriated for the Forest
Service to carry out discretionary programs and activities
for a fiscal year shall not exceed the sum of the amounts
appropriated under the heading ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ in
title II of the Department of the Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (as contained in sec-
tion 101(e) of division A of Public Law 105–277; 112
Stat. 2681–268).
(c) REMOVAL OF CONDITION.—The limitations on
the level of Forest Service appropriations or obligations
specified in subsection (b) shall terminate on the earlier
of the following:
(1) The date on which the Forest Service is no
longer an agency at high risk of waste, fraud, abuse,
and mismanagement due to weaknesses in its ac-
counting and financial reporting systems, as deter-
mined under subsection (d).
(2) The end of the fifth fiscal year subject to
the limitations.
(d) CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL OF HIGH RISK STA-
TUS.—The Forest Service shall no longer be an agency
at high risk under subsection (c)(1) if the Comptroller
General certifies in writing to Congress that Forest Serv-
ice financial management is no longer at high risk. The
Comptroller General may make that certification only if—
(1) the Forest Service receives two consecutive
unqualified audit opinions from the Inspector Gen-
eral of the Department of Agriculture under section
3521(e) of title 31, United States Code; and
(2) the Forest Service corrects the material
weaknesses identified in the audit reports of the In-
spector General regarding the Forest Service’s fiscal
year 1995 financial statements and all subsequent
audit reports of the Inspector General regarding the
Forest Service’s financial statements published be-
fore the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) BACKLOG REDUCTION OUTPUTS.—During each
fiscal year identified in subsection (c)(2), the Forest Serv-
ice shall maintain or increase outputs, relative to the levels
achieved during fiscal year 1999, from programs that di-
rectly reduce the natural resources restoration and main-
tenance backlog within the National Forest System. Such
outputs shall include the following:
(1) Acres of forested land treated for reduction
of wildfire risk.
(2) Acres of forested land treated for reduction
of mortality risk from insect and disease infestation.
(3) Miles of roads and trails reconstructed or
maintained.
(4) Number of recreational facilities recon-
structed or maintained.
(5) Acres of terrestrial habitat restored or en-
hanced.
(6) Miles of riparian areas restored or en-
hanced.
(7) Other priority outputs identified by the Sec-
retary.
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