Permanent Stewardship Contracting Authority Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-849
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2013-04-25
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Agricultural conservation and pollution

Ecology

Environmental assessment, monitoring, research

Fires

Forests, forestry, trees

Land transfers

Land use and conservation

Pest management

Public contracts and procurement

Rural conditions and development

Water quality

Watersheds

Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Latest action: action_date: 2013-04-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2013-04-25
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>Permanent Stewardship Contracting Authority Act of 2013 - Amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to 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 public lands that meet local and rural community needs.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Repeals a section of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 that provides for forest health protection.</p>

tv_txt: II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 849 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 25, 2013 Mr. Bennet (for himself, Mr. Baucus , and Mr. Udall of Colorado ) 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 the conduct of stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Permanent Stewardship Contracting Authority Act of 2013 . 2. Stewardship end result contracting projects (a) In general Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 ( 16 U.S.C. 6591 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 602. 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 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— (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. (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, United States Code. (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 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 ( 16 U.S.C. 472a ), 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). (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 Act The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vanderberg 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) the Act of August 11, 1916 ( 16 U.S.C. 490 ); and (2) and the Act of June 30, 1914 ( 16 U.S.C. 498 ). (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 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 the date of enactment of this section, 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. . (b) Conforming amendment Section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 ( 16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) is repealed.