Title: A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
This bill amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service to enter into stewardship contracting projects with private persons or other public entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the National Forest System that meet local and rural community needs.
The bill states that the land management goals of a project may include: (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; or (7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species.
The Forest Service shall establish and participate in a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the projects conducted pursuant to this bill.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1033 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1033

  To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for 
       stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 3, 2017

  Mr. Roberts introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for 
       stewardship contracting projects, 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. STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 is 
amended--
            (1) by striking section 604 (16 U.S.C. 6591c);
            (2) by redesignating sections 601, 602, and 603 (16 U.S.C. 
        6591, 6591a, 6591b) as sections 701, 702, and 703, 
        respectively;
            (3) by redesignating title VI (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) (as 
        amended by paragraphs (1) and (2)) as title VII;
            (4) in section 703(a) (as so redesignated), in the matter 
        preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``section 602(d)'' and 
        inserting ``section 702(d)''; and
            (5) by inserting after title V (16 U.S.C. 6571 et seq.) the 
        following:

                  ``TITLE VI--STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING

``SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this title:
            ``(1) Chief.--The term `Chief' means the Secretary, acting 
        through the Chief of the Forest Service.
            ``(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            ``(3) Stewardship contract.--The term `stewardship 
        contract' means a contract or agreement entered into under 
        section 602.

``SEC. 602. PROJECTS.

    ``The Chief may enter into a stewardship contracting project 
contract or agreement, as appropriate, with a private person or another 
public entity to perform services to achieve land management goals 
described in section 603 for the National Forest System that meet local 
and rural community needs.

``SEC. 603. LAND MANAGEMENT GOALS.

    ``The land management goals of a project under section 602 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--
                    ``(A) to promote healthy forest stands;
                    ``(B) to reduce fire hazards; or
                    ``(C) to 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.

``SEC. 604. AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) Procurement Procedure.--A private person or public entity for 
the performance of services under a stewardship contract shall be 
selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of the private 
person or public entity under other public or private agreements or 
contracts.
    ``(b) Contract for Sale of Property.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, a contract entered into under section 602 may, at the 
discretion of the Secretary, be considered a contract for the sale of 
property under such terms as the Secretary may establish.
    ``(c) Term.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Chief may enter into a contract under section 602 in accordance 
        with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code.
            ``(2) Maximum.--The period of a stewardship contract shall 
        be not longer than 10 years.
    ``(d) Offsets.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Chief may apply the value of timber 
        or other forest products removed as an offset against the cost 
        of services received under a stewardship contract.
            ``(2) Methods of appraisal.--The value of timber or other 
        forest products used as an offset under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) shall be determined using appropriate methods 
                of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products 
                to be removed; and
                    ``(B) may--
                            ``(i) be determined using a unit of measure 
                        appropriate to the stewardship contracts; and
                            ``(ii) include valuing products on a per-
                        acre basis.
    ``(e) Relation to Other Laws.--Notwithstanding subsections (d) and 
(g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 
U.S.C. 472a), the Chief may enter into a stewardship contract.
    ``(f) Contracting Officer.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the Secretary may determine the appropriate contracting officer to 
enter into and administer a stewardship contract.
    ``(g) Fire Liability Provisions.--Not later than 90 days after 
February 7, 2014, the Chief shall issue for use in each stewardship 
contract fire liability provisions that are in substantially the same 
form as the fire liability provisions contained in--
            ``(1) integrated resource timber contracts, as described in 
        the Forest Service contract numbered 2400-13, part H, section 
        H.4; and
            ``(2) timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 
        14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 
        472a).

``SEC. 605. RECEIPTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Chief may collect amounts from a stewardship 
contract if the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the 
stewardship contract that will best achieve the purposes of this title.
    ``(b) Use.--Amounts from a stewardship contract--
            ``(1) may be retained by the Chief; and
            ``(2) shall be available for expenditure without further 
        appropriation--
                    ``(A) at the project site from which the amounts 
                are collected; or
                    ``(B) at another project site.
    ``(c) Relation to Other Laws.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the value of services received by the Chief under a 
        stewardship contract, and any payments made or resources 
        provided by the contractor or the Chief, shall not be 
        considered amounts received from the National Forest System.
            ``(2) Knutson-vandenberg act.--The Act of June 9, 1930 
        (commonly known as the `Knutson-Vandenberg Act') (16 U.S.C. 576 
        et seq.), shall not apply to a stewardship contract.

``SEC. 606. COSTS OF REMOVAL.

    ``The Chief may collect deposits from a contractor to cover the 
costs of removal of timber or other forest products (including timber 
that the contractor did not harvest) under--
            ``(1) the Act of August 11, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 490); and
            ``(2) the Act of June 30, 1914 (16 U.S.C. 498).

``SEC. 607. PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT GUARANTEES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Chief 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 stewardship contract.
    ``(b) Excess Offset Value.--If the offset value of the forest 
products described in subsection (a) exceeds the value of the resource 
improvement treatments, the Chief may--
            ``(1) collect any residual receipts under the Act of June 
        9, 1930 (commonly known as the `Knutson-Vandenberg Act') (16 
        U.S.C. 576 et seq.); and
            ``(2) apply the excess to other authorized stewardship 
        projects.

``SEC. 608. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

    ``(a) In General.--The Chief shall establish and participate in a 
multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the 
stewardship contracting projects conducted under this title.
    ``(b) Participants.--Participants in the process described in 
subsection (a) may include--
            ``(1) any cooperating governmental agency, including a 
        tribal government; and
            ``(2) any other interested group or individual.

``SEC. 609. REPORTING.

    ``Not later than 1 year after February 7, 2014, and annually 
thereafter, the Chief shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture 
of the House of Representatives a report on--
            ``(1) the status of development, execution, and 
        administration of stewardship contracts;
            ``(2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted from 
        stewardship contracts; and
            ``(3) the role of local communities in the development of 
        stewardship contract plans.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--The table of contents for the Healthy 
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 108-
148) is amended by striking the items relating to title VI and 
inserting the following:

                  ``TITLE VI--STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING

``Sec. 601. Definitions.
``Sec. 602. Projects.
``Sec. 603. Land management goals.
``Sec. 604. Agreements or contracts.
``Sec. 605. Receipts.
``Sec. 606. Costs of removal.
``Sec. 607. Performance and payment guarantees.
``Sec. 608. Monitoring and evaluation.
``Sec. 609. Reporting.
                       ``TITLE VII--MISCELLANEOUS

``Sec. 701. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program to improve 
                            detection of and response to environmental 
                            threats.
``Sec. 702. Designation of treatment areas.
``Sec. 703. Administrative review.''.
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