16 U.S.C. § 6591c (CONSERVATION)
§ 6591c. Stewardship end result contracting projects
(a) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Chief
The term “Chief” means the Chief of the Forest Service.
(2) Director
The term “Director” means the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
(b) Projects
The Chief and the Director, via agreement or contract as appropriate, may enter into stewardship contracting projects with private persons or other public or private entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the national forests and the public lands that meet local and rural community needs.
(c) Land management goals
The land management goals of a project under subsection (b) may include any of the following:
(1) Road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality.
(2) Soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values.
(3) Setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat.
(4) Removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives.
(5) Watershed restoration and maintenance.
(6) Restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish.
(7) Control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species.
(d) Agreements or contracts
(1) Procurement procedure
A source for performance of an agreement or contract under subsection (b) shall be selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of source under other public and private agreements or contracts.
(2) Contract for sale of property
A contract entered into under this section may, at the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, be considered a contract for the sale of property under such terms as the Secretary may prescribe without regard to any other provision of law.
(3) Term
(A) In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Chief and the Director may enter into a contract under subsection (b) in accordance with section 3903 of title 41.
(B) Maximum
The period of the contract under subsection (b) may exceed 5 years but may not exceed 10 years.
(4) Offsets
(A) In general
The Chief and the Director may apply the value of timber or other forest products removed as an offset against the cost of services received under the agreement or contract described in subsection (b).
(B) Methods of appraisal
The value of timber or other forest products used as an offset under subparagraph (A)—
(i) shall be determined using appropriate methods of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products to be removed; and
(ii) may—
(I) be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the contracts; and
(II) may include valuing products on a per-acre basis.
(5) Relation to other laws
Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g) of section 472a of this title, the Chief may enter into an agreement or contract under subsection (b).
(6) Contracting officer
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior may determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into and administer an agreement or contract under subsection (b).
(7) Fire liability provisions
Not later than 90 days after February 7, 2014, the Chief and the Director shall issue for use in all contracts and agreements under this section fire liability provisions that are in substantially the same form as the fire liability provisions contained in—
(A) integrated resource timber contracts, as described in the Forest Service contract numbered 2400–13, part H, section H.4; and
(B) timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 472a of this title.
(e) Receipts
(1) In general
The Chief and the Director may collect monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b) if the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the contract that will best achieve the purposes of this section.
(2) Use
Monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b)—
(A) may be retained by the Chief and the Director; and
(B) shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation at the project site from which the monies are collected or at another project site.
(3) Relation to other laws
(A) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the value of services received by the Chief or the Director under a stewardship contract project conducted under this section, and any payments made or resources provided by the contractor, Chief, or Director shall not be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands.
(B) Knutson-Vanderberg 1 Act
The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the “Knutson-Vanderberg 1 Act”) (16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.) shall not apply to any agreement or contract under subsection (b).
(f) Costs of removal
Notwithstanding the fact that a contractor did not harvest the timber, the Chief may collect deposits from a contractor covering the costs of removal of timber or other forest products under—
(1) section 490 of this title; and
(2) section 498 of this title.
(g) Performance and payment guarantees
(1) In general
The Chief and the Director may require performance and payment bonds under sections 28.103–2 and 28.103–3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, in an amount that the contracting officer considers sufficient to protect the investment in receipts by the Federal Government generated by the contractor from the estimated value of the forest products to be removed under a contract under subsection (b).
(2) Excess offset value
If the offset value of the forest products exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Chief and the Director may—
(A) collect any residual receipts under the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the “Knutson-Vanderberg 1 Act”) (16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.); and
(B) apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects.
(h) Monitoring and evaluation
(1) In general
The Chief and the Director shall establish a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that accesses the stewardship contracting projects conducted under this section.
(2) Participants
Other than the Chief and Director, participants in the process described in paragraph (1) may include—
(A) any cooperating governmental agencies, including tribal governments; and
(B) any other interested groups or individuals.
(i) Reporting
Not later than 1 year after February 7, 2014, and annually thereafter, the Chief and the Director shall report to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives on—
(1) the status of development, execution, and administration of agreements or contracts under subsection (b);
(2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted; and
(3) the role of local communities in the development of agreements or contract plans.
(Pub. L. 108–148, title VI, § 604, as added Pub. L. 113–79, title VIII, § 8205(a), Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 918.)
heading: References in Text
text: The Act of June 9, 1930, referred to in subsecs. (e)(3)(B) and (g)(2)(A), is act June 9, 1930, ch. 416, 46 Stat. 527, popularly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act, which is classified generally to sections 576, 576a, and 576b of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 576 of this title and Tables.
Section 490 of this title, referred to in subsec. (f)(1), was in the original “the Act of August 11, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 490)”, and was translated as referring to the undesignated provisions appearing in act Aug. 11, 1916, ch. 313, 39 Stat. 462, as amended, which are classified to section 490 of this title.
Section 498 of this title, referred to in subsec. (f)(2), was in the original “the Act of June 30, 1914 (16 U.S.C. 498)”, and was translated as referring to the undesignated provisions appearing in act June 30, 1914, ch. 131, 38 Stat. 430, as amended, which are classified to section 498 of this title.