jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-06-27 00:00:00

Colorado Wilderness Act of 2013 - Amends the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add specified lands in Colorado managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (proposed as the Powderhorn Wilderness Addition) to the Powderhorn Wilderness.

Designates specified lands in Colorado managed by the BLM or the U.S. Forest Service as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Designates specified lands in Colorado administered by the BLM, Forest Service, and Bureau of Reclamation as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Incorporates such lands into the West Elk Wilderness.

Allows the Secretary of the Interior to continue authorizing competitive running events currently permitted in the Redcloud Peak Wilderness and Handies Peak Wilderness Areas.

Authorizes the Colorado Army National Guard, through the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, to conduct aerial navigation training maneuver exercises over the wilderness areas designated by this Act.

Designates specified lands managed by the BLM as: (1) potential wilderness areas, and (2) as the Deep Creek Wilderness and the Pisgah Mountain Wilderness upon publication by the Secretary of a notice in the Federal Register that all nonconforming uses of such lands authorized by this Act for the conduct of such exercises and overflights of military helicopters in violation of the Wilderness Act have ceased.

Provides for the securing, adjudication, and use of U.S. water rights for certain of the wilderness areas designated by this Act.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-06-28 00:00:00

Fulfilling Our Responsibility for Efficient and Sustainable Timber Supply Act of 2013 or the FORESTS Act of 2013 - Extends through FY2023 the authority for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enter into stewardship end result contracting projects with private persons or other public or private entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for national forests and public lands that meet local and rural community needs.

Prohibits a multiyear stewardship contract from exceeding a 20-year period (under current law, a 10-year period).

Bars the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) and the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretaries) from being required to obligate funds to cover the costs of cancelling or terminating multiyear stewardship contracts or agreements until they are cancelled or terminated. Specifies the funding sources from which the costs of cancelling or terminating a multiyear stewardship contract may be paid.

Requires 25% of timber sale receipts from a multiyear stewardship contract or agreement to be paid to the county within whose boundaries the receipts are derived.

Authorizes the Secretaries to enter into cooperative agreements and contracts with state foresters to provide forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration and protection services. Permits state foresters to enter into subcontracts to provide such restoration and protection services. Prohibits the extension of such an agreement or contract beyond a 20-year period.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Energy
Date: 2013-07-08 00:00:00

Caring for Coal Miners Act - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to revise the formula for determining transfers from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan.

Requires the formula to be calculated by taking into account only: (1) those beneficiaries actually enrolled in the Plan as of the enactment of this Act (currently, enrolled as of December 31, 2006), who are eligible to receive health benefits on the first day of the calendar year for which the transfer is made; and in addition to these beneficiaries (2) those who would be denied health benefits payable directly by an employer in the bituminous coal industry under a coal wage agreement as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012.

Considers the latter beneficiaries to be eligible to receive such health benefits under the Plan.

Requires reduction of the amount made available to a beneficiary as a result of this Act, however, by the amount of any benefits actually paid by a Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (VEBA) to or on behalf of a covered beneficiary, so that no covered beneficiary receives a greater benefit than would have been payable before the VEBA was established.

Defines "Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association" as one established pursuant to the order entered May 29, 2013, by the Court in the case In re: Patriot Coal Corporation (Case No. 12-51502, Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri).
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Native Americans
Date: 2013-07-10 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on December 3, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 Authorizes the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of its interest in any real property that is not held in trust by the United States for the Band's benefit.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-07-11 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to offer for disposal by competitive sale certain federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, previously identified as suitable for disposal in the report submitted to Congress on May 27, 1997, pursuant to the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996.

Requires the Secretary to offer such lands for at least fair market value as determined by an independent appraiser.

Requires the net proceeds from the sale to be deposited directly into the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress: (1) a list of any identified federal lands that have not been sold and the reasons why they were not sold; and (2) an update of a specified report, including a current inventory of the federal lands under the Secretary's administrative jurisdiction that are suitable for disposal.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-07-24 00:00:00

Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act - Designates specified federal lands in the vicinity of the Lone Peak Wilderness and the Mount Olympus Wilderness, and specified federal lands comprising the Wayne Owens Grandeur Peaks/Mount Aire Wilderness within the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests in Salt Lake County, Utah, as wilderness and as either a new component or as an addition to an existing component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Establishes specified federal lands within the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests as the Mt. Aire, Mt. Olympus, Twin Peaks, and Lone Peak Special Management Areas.

Requires the Special Management Areas to be managed to maintain their presently existing wilderness character and potential for inclusion in the System.

 Allows the commercial helicopter-assisted skiing and snowboarding activities (known as heliskiing) that have been authorized on the federal lands included within the Special Management Areas to continue. Permits the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), except as provided below, upon the expiration of such an authorization that was in effect for heliskiing, to reissue such authorizations in accordance with Forest Service procedures.

Requires the Secretary of Agriculture, within one year from the time in which all heliskiing activities within any special management area are no longer authorized or have otherwise been terminated, to publish a notice in the Federal Register to that effect. Designates the federal lands included within such an Area for which such a notice has been published as wilderness and adds them to the System as described in this Act. 

Requires a land exchange involving certain federal and non-federal lands concerning the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-07-25 00:00:00

Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to require state programs for regulation of surface coal mining to incorporate the necessary rule concerning excess spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 12, 2008.

Requires the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) publish notice of a determination when all states that wish to assume exclusive jurisdiction of such mining regulation have incorporated the rule in their programs; (2) assess the effectiveness of the rule's implementation during the five-year period following such notice; (3) carry out all required consultation on the benefits and other impacts of the implementation of the rule to any threatened or endangered species, with the participation of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Geological Survey (USGS); and (4) report to Congress an evaluation of the rule's effectiveness, any ways in which it inhibits energy production, and any proposed changes to the rule. Prohibits issuance of any regulations regarding stream buffer zones or protection before publication of the report, other than a rule necessary to implement incorporation of the December 2008 rule described in this Act. Requires each state with an approved program for regulation of surface coal mining to submit program amendments incorporating such rule within two years of enactment of this Act.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2013-07-30 00:00:00

Wildland Firefighters Protection Act - Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in cooperation with federal land management agencies, to develop a separate and distinct occupational series for firefighters who are engaged in the prevention, control, suppression, and management of wildfires (wildland firefighters) that more accurately reflects the variety of duties performed by such firefighters.

Establishes a three-year compensation pilot program for full- and part-time wildland firefighters to provide such firefighters with enhanced compensation (portal-to-portal compensation) while assigned to an emergency incident. Provides for the treatment of differential pay for hazardous duty as part of the base pay of wildland firefighters for retirement purposes.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-08-01 00:00:00

Good Samaritan Cleanup of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2013 - Encourages the partial or complete remediation of inactive and abandoned mine sites for the public good by good samaritans (defined as individuals or entities who had no role in the creation of the historic mine residue or any resulting environmental pollution and are not legally responsible for the remediation of the historic mine residue). Defines "inactive or abandoned mine site" as a mine site located in the United States that is no longer actively mined and that was used for the production of a mineral other than coal and has historic mine residue.

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize a permitting authority (i.e., the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] or a state or Indian tribe with an approved good samaritan program) to issue good samaritan discharge permits. Sets forth requirements for the issuance of such permits, including the applicant's submission of a detailed remediation plan and a determination by a permitting authority that such plan preserves water quality. Grants a release from liability under such Act to good samaritans who comply with a discharge permit approved under the terms of this Act.

Terminates the authority to issue good samaritan discharge permits ten years after enactment of this Act.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-08-02 00:00:00

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to River Bottom Farms of La Paz County, Arizona, approximately 80 acres of specified Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Riverside County, California, in exchange for two specified parcels of non-federal land in the county from River Bottoms Farms that are contiguous to the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge.

Subjects the conveyed federal land to valid existing rights, including easements, rights-of-way, utility lines, and any other valid encumbrances on the land as of the date of conveyance.

Requires the values of the federal and non-federal lands to be exchanged to be equal, or equalized, by a cash payment to the Secretary or River Bottom Farms, as appropriate.

Requires the acquired non-federal land to become a part of the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-08-02 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on December 16, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), if the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California, offers to convey to the Secretary a parcel of non-federal land that is acceptable to the Secretary and the Secretary accepts the offer, to convey approximately five acres of certain identified National Forest System land in Santa Barbara County to the Foundation.

Subjects the land exchange to provisions under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 related to exchanges of public lands and interests therein within the National Forest System.

Expresses the intent of Congress that the land exchange be completed within two years of enactment of this Act. Allows the Secretary to offer to sell to the White Lotus Foundation the federal land for fair market value if such exchange is not completed by such time.

Makes the land exchange and any such sale subject to specified additional terms and conditions, including to valid existing rights and the White Lotus Foundation paying the reasonable costs of surveys, appraisals, and other administrative costs associated with the exchange or sale.

Requires land conveyed by exchange or sale under this Act to be appraised by an independent appraiser selected by the Secretary and such an appraisal to be conducted in accordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-08-02 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Approves the conveyance by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to the state of Mississippi of the federally-owned Yellow Creek Port properties in the custody of the TVA at Iuka, Mississippi.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-09-26 00:00:00

Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to affected Stanislaus National Forest lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to affected Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, as part of the restoration and rehabilitation activities undertaken on the lands within the Forest and the BLM lands adversely impacted by the 2013 Rim Fire in California, to promptly plan and implement salvage timber sales of dead, damaged, or downed timber resulting from the wildfire.

Requires such salvage timber sales to proceed immediately and to completion.

Declares that such sales shall not be subject to administrative or judicial review in any U.S. court.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Water resources development
Date: 2013-09-26 00:00:00

Water Rights Protection Act - Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) from: (1) conditioning the issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy agreement on the transfer of any water right (including joint or sole ownership) directly to the United States, or any impairment in title, in whole or in part, granted or recognized under state law, by federal or state adjudication, decree, or other judgment, or pursuant to any interstate water compact; and (2) requiring any water user (including any federally recognized Indian tribe) to apply for a water right in the name of the United States under state law as a condition of such a land use or occupancy agreement.

States that nothing in this Act shall: (1) limit or expand any existing authority of the Secretaries to condition any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy agreement on federal lands subject to their respective jurisdictions; (2) interfere with existing or future Bureau of Reclamation contracts; (3) affect the implementation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973; (4) limit or expand any existing federal reserved water rights on lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture; (5) limit or expand certain authorities under the Federal Power Act; and (6) limit or expand any existing reserved water right or treaty right of any federally recognized Indian tribe.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-10-15 00:00:00

State-Run Federal Lands Act - Authorizes a state to petition the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to National Park Service (NPS) or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service land, or to the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to Forest Service land, to enter into a cooperative agreement for state management of such federal land located in the state.

Sets forth requirements for the approval or denial of petitions.

Prescribes the contents of such cooperative agreements.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-10-23 00:00:00

Trinity County Land Exchange Act of 2014 - Provides for the exchange of approximately 47 acres of land known as the Sky Ranch Parcel and owned by the Trinity Public Utilities District of Trinity County, California, for approximately 100 acres of land in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near the Weaverville Airport in Trinity County.

Intends for such land exchange to be an equal value exchange. Provides for cash equalization if the parcels are not of equal value. Requires any cash equalization payment received under this Act to be deposited into the fund established under the Sisk Act and the deposited amounts to be used for the improvement, maintenance, reconstruction, or construction of a facility or improvement for the National Forest System.

Requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to administer the Sky Ranch parcel as public land, except that public recreation and public access to and for recreation shall be the highest and best use of such parcel.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-10-29 00:00:00

Hermiston Reversionary Interest Release Act - Releases without consideration any reservation or reversionary interest retained by the United States in connection with the conveyance of certain land by the United States to Oregon depicted as "Reversionary Interest Area" on the map entitled "Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center" dated April 7, 2014.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to Oregon without consideration all U.S. right, title, and interest to and in certain land identified on such map as "Bureau of Land Management Administered Land."
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-10-30 00:00:00

New Mexico Wildland Fire Emergency Salvage Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to affected National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to affected Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, as part of the restoration and rehabilitation activities undertaken on lands within the Gila National Forest and Lincoln National Forest and on BLM lands adversely impacted by the 2012 Little Bear and Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fires and the 2013 Silver Fire in New Mexico, to promptly plan and implement salvage timber sales of dead, damaged, or downed timber resulting from such wildfires.

Requires such salvage timber sales to proceed immediately and to completion.

Declares the such sales shall not be subject to administrative or judicial review in any U.S. court.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2013-11-12 00:00:00

Education and Energy Act of 2013 - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to require a portion of the revenue deposited into the general fund of the Treasury from new mineral and geothermal leases to be provided to the states to supplement the education of students in kindergarten through grade 12 and to supplement public support of institutions of higher education.

Restricts the revenue from which that portion is to be derived to the revenue from new leases that is in excess of the Congressional Budget Office's previous estimate of the revenue that those leases would yield in a fiscal year.
Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Native Americans
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Sandia Pueblo Settlement Technical Amendment Act - Amends the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary), at the request of the Sandia Pueblo of New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior, to transfer certain National Forest land to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for the Pueblo, if a land exchange with the Pueblo required by that Act is not completed within 30 days of this Act's enactment.

Identifies that land as National Forest land generally depicted as "Land to be Held in Trust" on the map entitled "Sandia Pueblo Settlement Technical Amendment Act" and dated October 18, 2013.

Requires such National Forest land to remain undeveloped in its natural state.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the consent of the Pueblo and after the transfer of the National Forest land is complete, to: (1) transfer to the Secretary the Pueblo's La Luz tract and a conservation easement on its Piedra Lisa tract, and (2) grant to the Secretary a right-of-way for the Piedra Lisa Trail within the Piedra Lisa tract.