State National Forest Management Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.633 | Sponsor: Rep. Young, Don (R-AK)
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
State National Forest Management Act of 2021
This bill directs the Forest Service to convey to a state up to 2 million acres of eligible portions of the National Forest System (NFS) the state elects to acquire through enactment of a law meeting certain criteria.
Portions of the NFS conveyed to a state shall be administered and managed primarily for timber production.
The bill sets forth conditions on changing the management of young-growth stands.

To authorize States to select and acquire certain National Forest 
    System lands to be managed and operated by the State for timber 
production and for other purposes under the laws of the State, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``State National 
Forest Management Act of 2021''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. State selection of eligible portions of the National Forest 
                            System for acquisition and management.
Sec. 4. Transition provisions during the exchange-transition period.
Sec. 5. Transition provisions outside the transition period.
Sec. 6. Miscellaneous duties of the parties and other provisions 
                            relating to the transfer.
Sec. 7. Conditions on changes to land management plans regarding 
                            management of young-growth stands.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Commissioner'' means the head of the 
        Department of Natural Resources of a State or comparable State 
        agency.
            (2) The term ``eligible portions of the National Forest 
        System'' means all right, title, and interest of the United 
        States in and to the surface and subsurface lands and real 
        property (including structures and facilities owned by the 
        Forest Service) included as part of the National Forest System 
        in a State. The term does not include Conservation System Units 
        (as that term is defined in the Alaska National Interest Lands 
        Conservation Act) and areas or national memorials protected by 
        an Act of Congress.
            (3) The term ``Federal obligation''--
                    (A) means any obligation or duty of the Forest 
                Service arising out of any lease, permit, license, 
                contract, and other legal instruments issued by or with 
                the Forest Service relating to eligible portions of the 
                National Forest System; and
                    (B) does not include any obligation with respect to 
                a Federal law, regulation, or policy.
            (4) The term ``forest operations'' means the development of 
        forest operating plans for eligible portions of the National 
        Forest System acquired by a State, including the conduct of 
        inventories of timber resources and the engineering of 
        necessary access needed necessary for timber management and 
        related management activities.
            (5) The term ``patent date'' means the last day of the 
        selection-transition period.
            (6) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
            (7) The term ``selection date'' means the date on which a 
        State elects to acquire eligible portions of the National 
        Forest System and notifies the Secretary of such election under 
        section 3(a).
            (8) The term ``selection-transition period'' means the 
        period beginning on the selection date and ending no more than 
        one year thereafter, on the patent date.
            (9) The term ``State'' means each of the several States and 
        the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            (10) The term ``State forest practices law'' means a forest 
        practices law applicable to State or privately owned forest 
        land in a State, including established silvicultural best 
        management practices or other regulations for forest management 
        practices related to clean water, soil quality, wildlife or 
        forest health.
            (11) The term ``State obligation'' means any obligation or 
        duty of the State arising out of any lease, permit, license, 
        contract and other legal instruments issued by or with the 
        State relating to the selected lands under this Act.

SEC. 3. STATE SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE PORTIONS OF THE NATIONAL FOREST 
              SYSTEM FOR ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Selection Authorized; Conveyance Required.--During the 10-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, if a State 
elects pursuant to subsection (b) to select and acquire eligible 
portions of the National Forest System in that State under the terms 
and conditions of this Act and notifies the Secretary of such 
selection, then the Secretary shall convey the eligible portions of the 
National Forest System so selected to the State in accordance with 
subsection (d). All conveyances shall be subject to valid existing 
rights.
    (b) Form of Election.--The election by a State to select and 
acquire eligible portions of the National Forest System in that State 
pursuant to subsection (a) shall be executed in the form of a bill 
enacted into law by the legislature of that State. Such a law shall 
provide, at a minimum, the following:
            (1) That the State elects to acquire eligible portions of 
        the National Forest System in that State--
                    (A) pursuant to purchase for fair-market value;
                    (B) in exchange for State lands of equal value;
                    (C) in satisfaction of land selection rights 
                pursuant to the law by which the State was admitted to 
                the Union; or
                    (D) any combination of the preceding paragraphs.
            (2) Identifies the eligible portions of the National Forest 
        System to be acquired and the method by which the State will 
        acquire the land.
            (3) Acceptance by the State that acquisition of the 
        identified eligible portions of the National Forest System is 
        subject to valid existing rights.
            (4) Acceptance by the State of the procedures specified in 
        this Act and the transition provisions of this Act.
            (5) In the case of the State of Alaska, acceptance by the 
        State of the rights and obligations of the United States under 
        the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with respect to 
        acquired lands, rights in such lands, and use of lands acquired 
        by that State shall not be infringed by that State.
            (6) Specification that up to 50 percent of the annual 
        harvest of timber from eligible portions of the National Forest 
        System to be acquired shall be offered in at least 10-year 
        contracts, and timber sales shall, to the maximum extent 
        practicable, provide sufficient volume to meet the needs of all 
        wood processing operations existing in that State as of the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, and forest operations shall 
        be performed in compliance with the State forest practices law.
            (7) Acceptance by the State that eligible portions of the 
        National Forest System open to mineral entry under the general 
        mining laws of the United States shall remain open to mineral 
        entry under State law unless subsequently changed by a State 
        mineral closing order.
    (c) Multiple State Laws; Acreage Limitation.--During the selection 
period specified in subsection (a), a State may enact more than one law 
to select and acquire eligible portions of the National Forest System 
in that State, except that the total quantity of National Forest System 
land acquired by the State under this Act may not exceed 2,000,000 
acres.
    (d) Procedure.--Beginning on the selection date for a State's 
acquisition of eligible portions of the National Forest System in that 
State, the Secretary shall prepare patents conveying the National 
Forest System lands selected by the State and shall convey such patents 
to the State on the patent date. The duty of the Secretary to prepare 
and convey such patents under this Act shall be purely ministerial and 
conveyance of the patent on the patent date shall not be withheld or 
conditioned by any other provision of law except as provided herein. 
The United States Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to 
issue such writs and compel such actions as may be necessary to 
accomplish the conveyance made under this Act.
    (e) Other Property.--Beginning on the selection date for a State's 
acquisition of eligible portions of the National Forest System in that 
State, in addition to other conveyances made under this Act, the 
Secretary shall convey the right and title to and interest of the 
United States in all other types of property (including real and 
personal property) used for purposes of operating, administering, and 
managing the acquired National Forest System land in that State. Such 
property shall be transferred on the patent date and include only that 
property which is owned by the United States and used by the Forest 
Service primarily on the eligible portions of the National Forest 
System selected by the State.
    (f) Other Uses.--Beginning on the selection date and concurrent 
with the selection and conveyance of the National Forest System lands 
and property under this Act, the Secretary shall transfer all existing 
special use permits related to the acquired National Forest System 
lands and property to the State.

SEC. 4. TRANSITION PROVISIONS DURING THE EXCHANGE-TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Existing Obligations of the United States.--The United States 
shall remain obligated for all Federal obligations incurred prior to 
the patent date.
    (b) Employees.--During the selection-transition period, to the 
extent practicable, the State shall interview each person employed by 
the Forest Service on the date of the enactment of this Act whose 
employment is made redundant by this Act for purposes of reemployment 
by the State in a comparable job within the new State administrative 
system for the National Forest System lands acquired by the State under 
this Act. Employees who do not secure employment with the State shall 
have the option of placement in an equivalent position available within 
the Federal Government.
    (c) Management Pending Conveyance.--During the selection-transition 
period and until the patent date, except as provided otherwise under 
this Act, eligible portions of the National Forest System not yet 
patented to the State under this Act shall be administered and managed 
under applicable Federal law and land management plans.
    (d) Transfer of Certain Receipts.--Receipts from all rentals or 
sales occurring on eligible portions of the National Forest System 
selected by a State during the selection-transition period shall be 
kept in escrow and transferred to the State on the patent date.

SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Management of Selected Lands.--Beginning on the patent date, 
eligible portions of the National Forest System conveyed to a State 
under this Act shall be administered and managed primarily for timber 
production pursuant to the State forest practices law, except as 
otherwise provided in this Act for the period provided by this Act.
    (b) Land Designations.--Land use designations in effect on the date 
of the enactment of this Act for eligible portions of the National 
Forest System conveyed to a State under this Act under the applicable 
land management plan shall continue in effect until the patent date.
    (c) Subsistence Use After the Selection Date.--In the case of 
eligible portions of the National Forest System in the State of Alaska, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall retain continuing authority to 
manage subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on National Forest System 
lands conveyed under this Act until the patent date.
    (d) Access.--
            (1) Easements.--The Secretary, in accordance with the 
        applicable forest transportation plan for a unit of the 
        National Forest System and any transportation plan of the 
        State, shall provide access in the form of easements across 
        lands owned by the United States to and from eligible portions 
        of the National Forest System conveyed to the State. The duty 
        of the Secretary to deliver patents for such easements shall be 
        purely ministerial and shall not be withheld or conditioned by 
        any other provision of law. The Secretary shall enter into 
        agreements with the Commissioner for the purpose of sharing the 
        costs of common use roads.
            (2) State duty.--Following the patent date, a State shall 
        issue easements to the United States for reasonable access 
        across acquired eligible portions of the National Forest System 
        in the manner provided in paragraph (1).
    (e) Mining Claims.--
            (1) In general.--Federal mining claims located pursuant to 
        the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) on 
        eligible portions of the National Forest System before the 
        selection date shall remain subject to the laws, rules, 
        regulations, and policies of the United States, but such laws, 
        rules, regulations, and policies shall be administered by the 
        State. The right and ability of a claimholder to patent such a 
        mining claim and enjoy reasonable access to the claim shall not 
        be infringed. An application to patent a Federal mining claim 
        located on eligible portions of the National Forest System may 
        be made by the claimholder with the State and shall constitute 
        an election by the claim holder to be subject to Federal mining 
        claim patent procedures administered by the State.
            (2) Escrow and subsequent transfer.--During the selection-
        transition period, the Federal Government shall escrow all fees 
        and revenues, if any, due on Federal mining claims on eligible 
        portions of the National Forest System and on the patent date 
        transfer those receipts to the State on the patent date to the 
        account established by the State for purposes of the law 
        specified in section 3(b)(7).
            (3) State duty.--Any mining claims filed on eligible 
        portions of the National Forest System in a State after the 
        selection date shall be subject only to the laws of the State.
    (f) Transfer of Other Receipts.--Beginning with the fiscal year of 
a State after the patent date, escrowed fees and fees from all existing 
and future issued special use permits and all other land management 
receipts on eligible portions of the National Forest System conveyed to 
the State under this Act, net of reasonable cost of administration, 
shall be transferred to the State.
    (g) Existing Obligations After Patent Date.--On the patent date, a 
State shall assume all Federal obligations and duties and receive all 
rights of the Forest Service, except that the State shall assume no 
obligation for any claim for damages or specific performance relating 
to a contract or permit, if such claim arose before the patent date, 
unless the State receives the benefit from such an obligation.

SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF THE PARTIES AND OTHER PROVISIONS 
              RELATING TO THE TRANSFER.

    (a) Hazardous Materials.--As promptly as practicable after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available to a 
State for review and inspection, all pertinent records relating to 
hazardous materials, if any, on eligible portions of the National 
Forest System available for selection under this Act. The 
responsibility for costs of remedial action related to such materials 
shall be borne by those entities responsible under existing law. If no 
party responsible for the hazardous materials can be determined, 
remediation responsibility and all costs shall remain with the 
Secretary and remediation as agreed to by the Commissioner shall be 
initiated as soon as practical after the patent date.
    (b) Judicial Review.--Selection of land pursuant to this Act shall 
not be subject to judicial review in any court of the United States, 
except--
            (1) to the extent a right of judicial review is conferred 
        specifically by the United States Constitution;
            (2) otherwise conferred by this Act; or
            (3) when sought by the State on matters pertaining to 
        rights conferred by this Act.
    (c) Rulemaking.--No formal rules under section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, are required to implement this Act.
    (d) Survey.--The patent for and use of eligible portions of the 
National Forest System conveyed to a State pursuant to this Act shall 
not be subject to completion of a field survey and may be issued based 
on a protraction survey. However, the Secretary shall complete a field 
survey following patent.
    (e) Encumbrances.--For purposes of an orderly transfer of eligible 
portions of the National Forest System to State ownership and 
transition to State management, the Secretary shall provide a list of 
encumbrances and uses of record and otherwise known on the selected 
lands to the Commissioner during the selection-transition period. The 
lands selected under this Act shall be subject to all existing 
encumbrances.

SEC. 7. CONDITIONS ON CHANGES TO LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS REGARDING 
              MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG-GROWTH STANDS.

    (a) Changes Conditioned on Comprehensive Inventory of the Young-
Growth Stands.--Before any change to an applicable land management plan 
takes effect that will alter management of young-growth stands covered 
by the land management plan, the Secretary shall--
            (1) conduct a comprehensive inventory of the young-growth 
        stands;
            (2) provide public notice of the availability of the 
        comprehensive inventory; and
            (3) after such public notice, provide a period of not less 
        than 90 days for public comment on the comprehensive inventory.
    (b) Inventory Requirements.--At a minimum, the comprehensive 
inventory required by subsection (a) shall--
            (1) include stand-level field work with respect to all 
        462,000 acres of young-growth timber located within the Tongass 
        National Forest; and
            (2) assess all age classes of timber inventoried for the 
        purpose of refining inventory and growth data to properly 
        forecast yields from stands and future economic manufacturing 
        feasibility with respect to the timber inventoried.
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