Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2009

Bill: 111-hr-4001
Sponsor: Rep. Heller, Dean [R-NV-2]
Introduced: 2009-11-03 in the House
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Air quality
Aquatic ecology
California
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fishes
Forests, forestry, trees
Lakes and rivers
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Nevada
Water quality
Water resources funding
Watersheds
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: 
Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2009 - Amends the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, to: (1) conduct forest management activities in the Lake Tahoe Basin in a manner that helps achieve and maintain the environmental threshold carrying capacities established by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (Agency) and attains multiple ecosystem benefits, unless the attainment of such benefits would excessively increase the project's cost in relation to the additional benefits gained; (2) establish post-project ground condition criteria for ground disturbance caused by forest management activities; and (3) provide for monitoring to ascertain the attainment of such conditions.
 
Requires the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to: (1) manage vehicular parking and traffic in the Unit; and (2) support the attainment of the environmental threshold carrying capacities.
 
Withdraws federal land located in the Unit from: (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.
 
Requires the Chair of the Lake Tahoe Federal Interagency Partnership to submit to Congress a prioritized list of all Environmental Improvement Program projects for the Basin. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement specified projects and projects included in the prioritized list that have been subject to environmental review and approval under federal and state law and the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact; and (2) funding for such projects.
 
Requires the Director to deploy strategies that meet or exceed specified criteria for preventing the introduction of aquatic invasive species into the Lake Tahoe Basin and that apply to all watercraft to be launched on water within the Basin.
 
Requires the Administrator to implement a Lake Tahoe Science Program that includes: (1) developing and updating an integrated multiagency programmatic assessment and monitoring plan and evaluating the effectiveness of the Agency's Environmental Improvement Program; and (2) providing support to governments in reducing pollutants that contribute to the loss of lake clarity.
 
Provides for the establishment of a grant to develop a Basin watershed strategy.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-06-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
action_date: 2010-06-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research.
action_date: 2009-11-05
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife.
action_date: 2009-11-05
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
action_date: 2009-11-04
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Referred to House Agriculture
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Referred to House Transportation and Infrastructure
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Referred to House Natural Resources
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2009-11-03
text: Introduced in House