Union Calendar No. 271
115th CONGRESS 1st Session |
[Report No. 115–370, Parts I and II]
To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes.
June 20, 2017
Mr. Westerman (for himself, Mr. Nolan, Mr. Tipton, Mr. Labrador, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Peterson, and Mrs. McMorris Rodgers) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, Education and the Workforce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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
October 25, 2017
Additional sponsors: Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Walden, Mr. Gianforte, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. LaMalfa, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Abraham, and Mr. Sessions
October 25, 2017
Reported from the Committee on Agriculture with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
October 25, 2017
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman]
October 25, 2017
The Committees on Education and the Workforce and Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 20, 2017]
To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
(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. Rule of application for National Forest System lands and public lands.
Sec. 101. Analysis of only two alternatives (action versus no action) in proposed collaborative forest management activities.
Sec. 111. Categorical exclusion to expedite certain critical response actions.
Sec. 112. Categorical exclusion to expedite salvage operations in response to catastrophic events.
Sec. 113. Categorical exclusion to meet forest plan goals for early successional forests.
Sec. 114. Categorical exclusion for road side projects.
Sec. 115. Categorical exclusion to improve or restore National Forest System Lands or public land or reduce the risk of wildfire.
Sec. 121. Compliance with forest plans.
Sec. 122. Consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Sec. 123. Consultation under the Endangered Species Act.
Sec. 124. Forest management activities considered non-discretionary actions.
Sec. 201. Expedited salvage operations and reforestation activities following large-scale catastrophic events.
Sec. 202. Compliance with forest plan.
Sec. 203. Prohibition on restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and injunctions pending appeal.
Sec. 301. No attorney fees for forest management activity challenges.
Sec. 302. Injunctive relief.
Sec. 311. Use of arbitration instead of litigation to address challenges to forest management activities.
Sec. 401. Use of reserved funds for title II projects on Federal land and certain non-Federal land.
Sec. 402. Resource advisory committees.
Sec. 403. Program for title II self-sustaining resource advisory committee projects.
Sec. 404. Additional authorized use of reserved funds for title III county projects.
Sec. 405. Treatment as supplemental funding.
Sec. 501. Cancellation ceilings for stewardship end result contracting projects.
Sec. 502. Excess offset value.
Sec. 503. Payment of portion of stewardship project revenues to county in which stewardship project occurs.
Sec. 504. Submission of existing annual report.
Sec. 505. Fire liability provision.
Sec. 506. Extension of stewardship contracting maximum term limits.
Sec. 601. Definitions.
Sec. 602. Availability of stewardship project revenues and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund to cover forest management activity planning costs.
Sec. 603. State-supported planning of forest management activities.
Sec. 701. Protection of Tribal forest assets through use of stewardship end result contracting and other authorities.
Sec. 702. Management of Indian forest land authorized to include related National Forest System lands and public lands.
Sec. 703. Tribal forest management demonstration project.
Sec. 704. Rule of application.
Sec. 801. Forest plans not considered major Federal actions.
Sec. 811. Consultation under Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.
Sec. 812. Consultation under Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
Sec. 901. Clarification of existing categorical exclusion authority related to insect and disease infestation.
Sec. 902. Revision of alternate consultation agreement regulations.
Sec. 903. Revision of extraordinary circumstances regulations.
Sec. 904. Conditions on Forest Service road decommissioning.
Sec. 905. Prohibition on application of Eastside Screens requirements on National Forest System lands.
Sec. 906. Use of site-specific forest plan amendments for certain projects and activities.
Sec. 907. Knutson-Vandenberg Act modifications.
Sec. 908. Application of Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standard and Guidelines.
Sec. 909. Reconstruction and repair included in good neighbor agreements.
Sec. 910. Logging and mechanized operations.
Sec. 911. Amendments to the Act of August 28, 1937.
Sec. 912. Oregon and California Railroad Grant Lands and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands permanent rights of access.
Sec. 913. Management of Bureau of Land Management lands in Western Oregon.
Sec. 921. Definitions.
Sec. 922. Clarification of research and development program for wood building construction.
Sec. 1001. Wildfire on Federal lands.
Sec. 1002. Declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands.
Sec. 1003. Prohibition on transfers.
In titles I through IX:
(1) CATASTROPHIC EVENT.—The term “catastrophic event” means any natural disaster (such as hurricane, tornado, windstorm, snow or ice storm, rain storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, drought, or insect or disease outbreak) or any fire, flood, or explosion, regardless of cause.
(2) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term “collaborative process” refers to a process relating to the management of National Forest System lands or public lands by which a project or forest management activity is developed and implemented by the Secretary concerned through collaboration with interested persons, as described in section 603(b)(1)(C) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(b)(1)(C)).
(3) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN.—The term “community wildfire protection plan” has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
(4) COOS BAY WAGON ROAD GRANT LANDS.—The term “Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands” means the lands reconveyed to the United States pursuant to the first section of the Act of February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179).
(5) FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY.—The term “forest management activity” means a project or activity carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands consistent with the forest plan covering the lands.
(6) FOREST PLAN.—The term “forest plan” means—
(A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau of Land Management for public lands pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712); or
(B) a land and resource management plan prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the National Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604).
(7) LARGE-SCALE CATASTROPHIC EVENT.—The term “large-scale catastrophic event” means a catastrophic event that adversely impacts at least 5,000 acres of reasonably contiguous National Forest System lands or public lands, as determined by the Secretary concerned.
(8) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term “National Forest System” has the meaning given that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
(9) OREGON AND CALIFORNIA RAILROAD GRANT LANDS.—The term “Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands” means the following lands:
(A) All lands in the State of Oregon revested in the United States under the Act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218), that are administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to the first section of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181a).
(B) All lands in that State obtained by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the land exchanges authorized and directed by section 2 of the Act of June 24, 1954 (43 U.S.C. 1181h).
(C) All lands in that State acquired by the United States at any time and made subject to the provisions of title II of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181f).
(10) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term “public lands” has the meaning given that term in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term includes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands.
(11) REFORESTATION ACTIVITY.—The term “reforestation activity” means a project or forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned whose primary purpose is the reforestation of impacted lands following a large-scale catastrophic event. The term includes planting, evaluating and enhancing natural regeneration, clearing competing vegetation, and other activities related to reestablishment of forest species on the impacted lands.
(12) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term “resource advisory committee” has the meaning given that term in section 201 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121).
(13) SALVAGE OPERATION.—The term “salvage operation” means a forest management activity and restoration activities carried out in response to a catastrophic event where the primary purpose is—
(A) to prevent wildfire as a result of the catastrophic event, or, if the catastrophic event was wildfire, to prevent a re-burn of the fire-impacted area;
Unless specifically provided by a provision of titles I through IX, the authorities provided by such titles do not apply with respect to any National Forest System lands or public lands—
(a) Application to certain Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements.—This section shall apply whenever the Secretary concerned prepares an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) for a forest management activity that—
(4) will occur on lands designated by the Secretary (or designee thereof) pursuant to section 602(b) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591a(b)), notwithstanding whether such forest management activity is initiated prior to September 30, 2018; or
(b) Consideration of Alternatives.—In an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement described in subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall study, develop, and describe only the following two alternatives:
(c) Elements of No Action Alternative.—In the case of the alternative of no action, the Secretary concerned shall consider whether to evaluate—
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is—
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Acreage limitations.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of a forest management activity described in paragraph (2), a forest management activity covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not contain treatment units exceeding a total of 10,000 acres.
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Salvage operations carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(c) Acreage limitation.—A salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not contain treatment units exceeding a total of 10,000 acres.
(d) Additional requirements.—
(1) STREAM BUFFERS.—A salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) shall comply with the standards and guidelines for stream buffers contained in the applicable forest plan unless waived by the Regional Forester, in the case of National Forest System lands, or the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, in the case of public lands.
(2) REFORESTATION PLAN.—A reforestation plan shall be developed under section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b), as part of a salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a).
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is to modify, improve, enhance, or create early successional forests for wildlife habitat improvement and other purposes, consistent with the applicable forest plan.
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Project goals.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary concerned shall design a forest management activity under this section to meet early successional forest goals in such a manner so as to maximize production and regeneration of priority species, as identified in the forest plan and consistent with the capability of the activity site.
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Projects carried out by the Secretary concerned to remove hazard trees or to salvage timber for purposes of the protection of public health or safety, water supply, or public infrastructure are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(c) Healthy Forests Restoration Act requirements.—
(1) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—A project that is categorically excluded under this section shall be subject to the requirements of subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 603 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591).
(2) HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND.—A project that is categorically excluded under this section shall be subject to the requirements of sections 102, 104, 105, and 106 of title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511 et seq.).
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—
(1) DESIGNATION.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities described in paragraph (2) that are carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System Lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is to improve or restore such lands or reduce the risk of wildfire on those lands.
(2) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—The follow activities may be carried out pursuant to the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a):
(A) Removal of juniper trees, medusahead rye, conifer trees, piñon pine trees, cheatgrass, and other noxious or invasive weeds specified on Federal or State noxious weeds lists through late-season livestock grazing, targeted livestock grazing, prescribed burns, and mechanical treatments.
(D) Modification of existing fences in order to distribute livestock and help improve wildlife habitat.
(F) Construction of new and maintenance of permanent infrastructure, including stock ponds, water catchments, and water spring boxes used to benefit livestock and improve wildlife habitat.
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Acreage limitations.—A forest management activity covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not exceed 10,000 acres.
(e) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) HAZARDOUS FUELS MANAGEMENT.—The term “hazardous fuels management” means any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire.
A forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the forest plan applicable to the National Forest System land or public lands covered by the forest management activity.
(a) Effect of undertaking on historic property.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, in taking into account the effect of a Federal undertaking on any historic property under section 306108 of title 54, United States Code, the Secretary concerned may, without consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, or any other entity—
(b) Expedited consultation.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act that is not the subject of a phased identification and evaluation under subsection (a), consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108) shall be concluded within the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such consultation was requested by the Secretary concerned.
(2) NO CONCLUSION.—In the case of a consultation described in paragraph (1) that is not concluded within the 90-day period, the forest management activity for which such consultation was initiated—
(A) shall be considered to have not violated section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108); and
(a) No consultation if action not likely To adversely affect a listed species or designated critical habitat.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) shall not be required if the Secretary concerned determines that the such forest management activity is not likely to adversely affect a listed species or designated critical habitat.
(b) Expedited consultation.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, consultation required under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) shall be concluded within the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such consultation was requested by the Secretary concerned.
(2) NO CONCLUSION.—In the case of a consultation described in paragraph (1) that is not concluded within the 90-day period, the forest management activity for which such consultation was initiated—
(A) shall be considered to have not violated section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)); and
For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.
(a) Expedited environmental assessment.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an environmental assessment prepared by the Secretary concerned pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) for a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event shall be completed within 60 days after the conclusion of the catastrophic event.
(b) Expedited implementation and completion.—In the case of reforestation activities conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event, the Secretary concerned shall, to the maximum extent practicable, achieve reforestation of at least 75 percent of the impacted lands during the 5-year period following the conclusion of the catastrophic event.
(c) Availability of Knutson-Vandenberg funds.—Amounts in the special fund established pursuant to section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b) shall be available to the Secretary of Agriculture for reforestation activities authorized by this title.
(d) Timeline for Public Input Process.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event, the Secretary concerned shall allow 30 days for public scoping and comment, 15 days for filing an objection, and 15 days for the agency response to the filing of an objection. Upon completion of this process and expiration of the period specified in subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall implement the project immediately.
A salvage operation or reforestation activity authorized by this title shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the forest plan applicable to the National Forest System lands or public lands covered by the salvage operation or reforestation activity.
No restraining order, preliminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued by any court of the United States with respect to any decision to prepare or conduct a salvage operation or reforestation activity in response to a large-scale catastrophic event. Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any challenge to the salvage operation or reforestation activity.
Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no award may be made under section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or expended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses under such sections to any plaintiff related to an action challenging a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act.
(a) Balancing short- and long-Term effects of forest management activities in considering injunctive relief.—As part of its weighing the equities while considering any request for an injunction that applies to any agency action as part of a forest management activity under titles I through IX, the court reviewing the agency action shall balance the impact to the ecosystem likely affected by the forest management activity of—
(b) Time limitations for injunctive relief.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) the length of any preliminary injunctive relief and stays pending appeal that applies to any agency action as part of a forest management activity under titles I through IX, shall not exceed 60 days.
(a) Discretionary arbitration process pilot program.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands, shall each establish a discretionary arbitration pilot program as an alternative dispute resolution process in lieu of judicial review for the activities described in paragraph (2).
(2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The Secretary concerned, at the sole discretion of the Secretary, may designate objections or protests to forest management activities for arbitration under the arbitration pilot program established under paragraph (1).
(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ARBITRATIONS.—Under the arbitration pilot program, the Secretary concerned may not arbitrate more than 10 objections or protests to forest management activities in a fiscal year in—
(4) DETERMINING AMOUNT OF ARBITRATIONS.—An objection or protest to a forest management activity shall not be counted towards the limitation on number of arbitrations under paragraph (3) unless—
(b) Intervening parties.—
(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Any person that submitted a public comment on the forest management activity that is subject to arbitration may intervene in the arbitration—
(2) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—With respect to an objection or protest that is designated for arbitration under this subsection (a), a request to intervene in an arbitration must be submitted not later than the date that is 30 days after the date on which such objection or protest was designated for arbitration.
(c) Appointment of arbitrator.—
(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly develop and publish a list of not fewer than 20 individuals eligible to serve as arbitrators for the pilot programs under this section.
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—In order to be eligible to serve as an arbitrator under this subsection, an individual shall be, on the date of the appointment of such arbitrator—
(3) SELECTION OF ARBITRATOR.—
(d) Selection of proposals.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The arbitrator appointed under subsection (c)—
(a) Repeal of Merchantable timber contracting pilot program.—Section 204(e) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7124(e)) is amended by striking paragraph (3).
(b) Requirements for project funds.—Section 204(f) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7124(f)) is amended to read as follows:
“(f) Requirements for project funds.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall ensure that at least 50 percent of the project funds reserved by a participating county under section 102(d) shall be available only for projects that—
“(2) APPLICABILITY.—The requirement in paragraph (1) shall apply only to project funds reserved by a participating county whose boundaries include Federal land that the Secretary concerned determines has been subject to a timber or other forest products program within 5 fiscal years before the fiscal year in which the funds are reserved.”.
(a) Recognition of resource advisory committees.—Section 205(a)(4) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(a)(4)) is amended by striking “2012” each place it appears and inserting “2022”.
(b) Reduction in composition of committees.—Section 205(d) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(d)) is amended—
(c) Expanding local participation on committees.—Section 205(d) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(d)) is amended—
(d) Appointment of resource advisory committees by applicable designee.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125) is further amended—
(C) in subsection (c)—
(ii) in paragraph (1), by inserting “(or applicable designee)” after “The Secretary concerned” both places it appears;
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 201(3) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121(3)) is amended by inserting “(or applicable designee (as defined in section 205(c)(6)))” after “Secretary concerned” both places it appears.
(a) Self-Sustaining resource advisory committee projects.—Title II of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“SEC. 209. Program for self-sustaining resource advisory committee projects.
“(a) RAC program.—The Chief of the Forest Service shall conduct a program (to be known as the ‘self-sustaining resource advisory committee program’ or ‘RAC program’) under which 10 resource advisory committees will propose projects authorized by subsection (c) to be carried out using project funds reserved by a participating county under section 102(d).
“(b) Selection of participating resource advisory committees.—The selection of resource advisory committees to participate in the RAC program is in the sole discretion of the Chief of the Forest Service.
“(c) Authorized projects.—Notwithstanding the project purposes specified in sections 202(b), 203(c), and 204(a)(5), projects under the RAC program are intended to—
“(d) Deposit and availability of revenues.—Any revenue generated by a project conducted under the RAC program, including any interest accrued from the revenues, shall be—
(b) Exception to general rule regarding treatment of receipts.—Section 403(b) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7153(b)) is amended by striking “All revenues” and inserting “Except as provided in section 209, all revenues”.
Section 302(a) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7142(a)) is amended—
(a) In general.—Section 102 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7112) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(b) Continuation of direct payments.—Payments to States made under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) and 25-percent payments made to States and Territories under the Acts of May 23, 1908, and March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 500), shall continue to be made as direct payments.
(a) Cancellation ceilings.—Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended—
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection (h):
“(h) Cancellation ceilings.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 3903(b)(1) of title 41, United States Code, the Chief and the Director may obligate funds in stages that are economically or programmatically viable to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs for an agreement or contract under subsection (b) in stages that are economically or programmatically viable.
“(2) ADVANCE NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF CANCELLATION CEILING IN EXCESS OF $25 MILLION.—Not later than 30 days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract under subsection (b) that includes a cancellation ceiling in excess of $25 million, but does not include proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to such cancellation ceiling, the Chief or the Director, as the case may be, shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a written notice that includes—
“(3) TRANSMITTAL OF NOTICE TO OMB.—Not later than 14 days after the date on which written notice is provided under paragraph (2) with respect to an agreement or contract under subsection (b), the Chief or the Director, as the case may be, shall transmit a copy of the notice to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.”.
(b) Relation to other laws.—Section 604(d)(5) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)(5)) is amended—
(1) by striking “, the Chief may” and inserting “and section 2(a)(1) of the Act of July 31, 1947 (commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947; 30 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)), the Chief and the Director may”; and
Section 604(g)(2) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(g)(2)) is amended by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following new subparagraphs:
Section 604(e) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(e)) is amended—
(2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking “services received by the Chief or the Director” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “services and in-kind resources received by the Chief or the Director under a stewardship contract project conducted under this section shall not be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands, but any payments made by the contractor to the Chief or Director under the project shall be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands.”.
Subsection (j) of section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c), as redesignated by section 501(a)(1), is amended by striking “report to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives” and inserting “submit to the congressional committees specified in subsection (h)(2) a report”.
Section 604(d) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(a) Health Forests Restoration Act.—Section 604(d)(3)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)(3)(B)) is amended by striking “10 years” and inserting “20 years”.
(b) National Forest Management Act.—Section 14(c) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(c)) is amended by striking “ten years” and inserting “20 years”.
In this title:
(a) Availability of stewardship project revenues.—Section 604(e)(2)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(e)(2)(B)), as amended by section 503, is further amended by striking “appropriation at the project site from which the monies are collected or at another project site.” and inserting the following:“appropriation—
(b) Availability of Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund.—Section 4003(f)(1) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303(f)(1)) is amended by striking “carrying out and” and inserting “planning, carrying out, and”.
(a) State-Supported forest management fund.—There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the “State-Supported Forest Management Fund”, to cover the cost of planning (especially related to compliance with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332)), carrying out, and monitoring certain forest management activities on National Forest System lands or public lands.
(c) Geographical and use limitations.—In making a contribution under subsection (b)(1), an eligible entity may—
(d) Authorized forest management activities.—In such amounts as may be provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Secretary concerned may use the Fund to plan, carry out, and monitor a forest management activity that—
(e) Implementation methods.—A forest management activity carried out using amounts in the Fund may be carried out using a contract or agreement under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c), the good neighbor authority provided by section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a), a contract under section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a), or other authority available to the Secretary concerned, but revenues generated by the forest management activity shall be used to reimburse the Fund for planning costs covered using amounts in the Fund.
(f) Relation to other laws.—
(1) REVENUE SHARING.—Subject to subsection (e), revenues generated by a forest management activity carried out using amounts from the Fund shall be considered monies received from the National Forest System.
(2) KNUTSON-VANDERBERG ACT.—The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vanderberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.), shall apply to any forest management activity carried out using amounts in the Fund.
(a) Prompt consideration of tribal requests.—Section 2(b) of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “Not later than 120 days after the date on which an Indian tribe submits to the Secretary” and inserting “In response to the submission by an Indian Tribe of ”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) TIME PERIODS FOR CONSIDERATION.—
“(A) INITIAL RESPONSE.—Not later than 120 days after the date on which the Secretary receives a Tribal request under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide an initial response to the Indian Tribe regarding—
“(B) NOTICE OF DENIAL.—Notice under subsection (d) of the denial of a Tribal request under paragraph (1) shall be provided not later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary received the request.
“(C) COMPLETION.—Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Secretary receives a Tribal request under paragraph (1), other than a Tribal request denied under subsection (d), the Secretary shall—
(b) Conforming and technical amendments.—Section 2 of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) is amended—
(1) in subsections (b)(1) and (f)(1), by striking “section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) (as amended by section 323 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 (117 Stat. 275))” and inserting “section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c)”; and
Section 305 of the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3104) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(c) Inclusion of certain national forest system land and public land.—
“(1) AUTHORITY.—At the request of an Indian Tribe, the Secretary concerned may agree to treat Federal forest land as Indian forest land for purposes of planning and conducting forest land management activities under this section if the Federal forest land is located within, or mostly within, a geographic area that presents a feature or involves circumstances principally relevant to that Indian Tribe, such as Federal forest land ceded to the United States by treaty, Federal forest land within the boundaries of a current or former reservation, or Federal forest land adjudicated to be Tribal homelands.
“(2) REQUIREMENTS.—As part of the agreement to treat Federal forest land as Indian forest land under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned and the Indian Tribe making the request shall—
“(A) provide for continued public access applicable to the Federal forest land prior to the agreement, except that the Secretary concerned may limit or prohibit such access as needed;
“(B) continue sharing revenue generated by the Federal forest land with State and local governments either—
“(C) comply with applicable prohibitions on the export of unprocessed logs harvested from the Federal forest land;
“(D) recognize all right-of-way agreements in place on Federal forest land prior to commencement of Tribal management activities;
“(3) LIMITATION.—Treating Federal forest land as Indian forest land for purposes of planning and conducting management activities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be construed to designate the Federal forest land as Indian forest lands for any other purpose.
“(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
“(A) FEDERAL FOREST LAND.—The term ‘Federal forest land’ means—
“(ii) public lands (as defined in section 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e))), including Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands reconveyed to the United States pursuant to the first section of the Act of February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179), and Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands.
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may carry out demonstration projects by which federally recognized Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations may contract to perform administrative, management, and other functions of programs of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a et seq.) through contracts entered into under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304 et seq.).
Nothing in this title, or the amendments made by this title, shall be construed as interfering with, diminishing, or conflicting with the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of any State to exercise primary management, control, or regulation of fish and wildlife on land or water within the State (including on public land) under State law.
The development, maintenance, amendment, and revision of a forest plan shall not be considered a major Federal action for purposes of section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(a) In general.—Section 6(d) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(d)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) NO ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION REQUIRED AFTER APPROVAL OF LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to engage in consultation under this subsection or any other provision of law (including section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and section 402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) with respect to—
“(i) if a land management plan approved by the Secretary—
“(I) the listing of a species as threatened or endangered, or a designation of critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
“(II) whether the amount or extent of taking specified in the incidental take statement is exceeded;
“(B) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.—Nothing in this paragraph affects any applicable requirement of the Secretary to consult with the head of any other Federal department or agency—
“(i) regarding any project, including a project carried out, or proposed to be carried out, in an area designated as critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or
“(3) LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN CONSIDERED A NON-DISCRETIONARY ACTION.—For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.”.
(b) Definition of secretary; conforming amendments.—
(1) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.—Section 3(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)) is amended, in the first sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting “(referred to in this Act as the ‘Secretary’)” after “Secretary of Agriculture”.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) is amended, in sections 4 through 9, 12, 13, and 15, by striking “Secretary of Agriculture” each place it appears and inserting “Secretary”.
Section 202(f) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(f)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) NO ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION REQUIRED AFTER APPROVAL OF LAND USE PLANS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to engage in consultation under this subsection or any other provision of law (including section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and section 402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)), with respect to—
“(i) the listing of a species as threatened or endangered, or a designation of critical habitat, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), if a land use plan has been adopted by the Secretary as of the date of listing or designation; or
“(B) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.—
“(i) DEFINITION OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGE.—In this subparagraph, the term ‘significant change’ means a significant change within the meaning of section 219.13(b)(3) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this subparagraph), except that—
“(I) any reference contained in that section to a land management plan shall be deemed to be a reference to a land use plan;
“(ii) EFFECT.—Nothing in this paragraph affects any applicable requirement of the Secretary to consult with the head of any other Federal department or agency—
“(I) regarding a project carried out, or proposed to be carried out, with respect to a species listed as threatened or endangered, or in an area designated as critical habitat, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or
“(3) LAND USE PLAN CONSIDERED NON-DISCRETIONARY ACTION.—For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.”.
Section 603(c)(2)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(c)(2)(B)) is amended by striking “Fire Regime Groups I, II, or III” and inserting “Fire Regime I, Fire Regime II, Fire Regime III, Fire Regime IV, or Fire Regime V”.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall revise section 402.13 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to—
(1) authorize Federal agencies to enter into alternative consultation agreements under which the Federal agency may determine if an action such agency authorizes is likely to adversely affect listed species or critical habitat; and
(2) if an agency determines such action will not likely adversely affect listed species or critical habitat pursuant to paragraph (1), not require such agency to complete a formal consultation, informal consultation, or written concurrence of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service with respect to such action.
(a) Determinations of extraordinary circumstances.—In determining whether extraordinary circumstances related to a proposed action preclude use of a categorical exclusion, the Forest Service shall not be required to—
(3) conduct an analysis under section 220.4(f) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, of the proposed action’s cumulative impact (as the term is defined in section 1508.7 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations);
(4) consider a determination under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) that a proposed action may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect, threatened, endangered, or candidate species, or designated critical habitats; or
(5) consider a determination under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) that a proposed action may affect, and is likely to adversely affect threatened, endangered, candidate species, or designated critical habitat if the agency is in compliance with the applicable provisions of the biological opinion.
(b) Proposed rulemaking.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise section 220.6(b) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations to conform such section with subsection (a).
(c) Additional revision.—As part of the proposed rulemaking described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture shall revise section 220.5(a)(2) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide that the Forest Service shall not be required to consider proposals that would substantially alter a potential wilderness area as a class of actions normally requiring environmental impact statements.
(a) Consultation with affected county.—Whenever any Forest Service defined maintenance level one- or two-system road within a designated high-fire prone area of a unit of the National Forest System is considered for decommissioning, the Forest Supervisor of that unit of the National Forest System shall—
(a) Repeal of Eastside Screens requirements.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall immediately withdraw the Interim Management Direction Establishing Riparian, Ecosystem, and Wildlife Standards for Timber Sales (commonly known as the Eastside Screens requirements), including all preceding or associated versions of these amendments.
If the Secretary concerned determines that, in order to conduct a project or carry out an activity implementing a forest plan, an amendment to the forest plan is required, the Secretary concerned shall execute such amendment as a nonsignificant plan amendment through the record of decision or decision notice for the project or activity.
(a) Deposits of funds from national forest timber purchasers required.—Section 3(a) of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b(a)), is amended by striking “The Secretary” and all that follows through “any purchaser” and inserting the following: “The Secretary of Agriculture shall require each purchaser”.
(b) Conditions on use of deposits.—Section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b), is amended—
The Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standard and Guidelines shall not apply to any National Forest System lands or public lands.
Section 8206(a)(3) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)(3)) is amended—
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 203)—
(A) in subsection (l), by striking “well-being.” and inserting “well-being, and that employment of employees ages sixteen or seventeen years in a logging or mechanized operation in an occupation that the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous for the employment of individuals of such ages shall not be deemed to constitute oppressive child labor if such employee is employed by his parent or by a person standing in the place of his parent in a logging or mechanized operation owned or operated by such parent or person.”; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(A) means—
“(i) the felling, skidding, yarding, loading and processing of timber by equipment other than manually operated chainsaws and cable skidders;
“(iii) the bucking or converting of timber into logs, poles, ties, bolts, pulpwood, chemical wood, excelsior wood, cordwood, fence posts, or similar products;
“(iv) the collecting, skidding, yarding, loading, transporting and unloading of such products in connection with logging;
“(B) does not include the manual use of chain saws to fell and process timber and the use of cable skidders to bring the timber to the landing.
“(2) ‘Mechanized operation’—
“(A) means the felling, skidding, yarding, loading and processing of timber by equipment other than manually operated chainsaws and cable skidders; and
“(B) includes whole tree processors, cut-to-length processors, stroke boom delimbers, wheeled and track feller-bunchers, pull thru delimbers, wheeled and track forwarders, chippers, grinders, mechanical debarkers, wheeled and track grapple skidders, yarders, bulldozers, excavators, and log loaders.”; and
(2) in section 13(c) (29 U.S.C. 211(c)), by adding at the end the following:
“(8) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall apply to an employee who is 16 or 17 years old employed in a logging or mechanized operation in an occupation that the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children ages 16 or 17, except where such employee is employed by his parent or by a person standing in the place of his parent in a logging or mechanized operation owned or operated by such parent or person.”.
The first section of the Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874; 43 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), is amended—
(a) Creation of permanent rights of access required.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on the date of the enactment of this section, reciprocal road right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements issued to a private landowner by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to subpart 2812 of part 2810 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, or its predecessor regulation shall become permanent rights of access that are recordable and that shall run with the land.
(b) Records updated.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the reciprocal road right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements described in subsection (a) shall be amended to reflect the permanent rights of access required under subsection (a) and recorded by the Secretary of the Interior in each county where the lands are located. No other amendments shall be made to such right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements.
(a) In general.—All of the public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the Northwest District, Roseburg District, Coos Bay District, Medford District, and the Klamath Resource Area of the Lakeview District in the State of Oregon shall hereafter be managed pursuant to title I of the of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181a through 1181e). Except as provided in subsection (b), all of the revenue produced from such land shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States in the Oregon and California land-grant fund and be subject to the provisions of title II of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181f).
(b) Certain lands excluded.—Subsection (a) does not apply to any revenue that is required to be deposited in the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant fund pursuant to sections 1 through 4 of the Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181f et seq.).
In this subtitle:
(1) INNOVATIVE WOOD PRODUCT.—The term “innovative wood product” means a type of building component or system that uses large panelized wood construction, including mass timber.
(a) In general.—The Secretary shall conduct performance-driven research and development, education, and technical assistance for the purpose of facilitating the use of innovative wood products in wood building construction in the United States.
(b) Activities.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
(1) after receipt of input and guidance from, and collaboration with, the wood products industry, conservation organizations, and institutions of higher education, conduct research and development, education, and technical assistance at the Forest Products Laboratory or through the State and Private Forestry deputy area that meets measurable performance goals for the achievement of the priorities described in subsection (c); and
(2) after coordination and collaboration with the wood products industry and conservation organizations, make competitive grants to institutions of higher education to conduct research and development, education, and technical assistance that meets measurable performance goals for the achievement of the priorities described in subsection (c).
(c) Priorities.—The research and development, education, and technical assistance conducted under subsection (a) shall give priority to—
(3) calculations by the Forest Products Laboratory of the life cycle environmental footprint, from extraction of raw materials through the manufacturing process, of tall wood building construction;
(4) analyzing methods to reduce the life cycle environmental footprint of tall wood building construction;
Section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(B) MAJOR DISASTER FOR WILDFIRE ON FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands’ means any wildfire or wildfires, which in the determination of the President under section 802 warrants assistance under section 803 to supplement the efforts and resources of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture—
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“As used in this title—
“(3) WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION OPERATIONS.—The term ‘wildfire suppression operations’ means the emergency and unpredictable aspects of wildland firefighting, including support, response, emergency stabilization activities, and other emergency management activities of wildland firefighting on Federal lands (or on non-Federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement) by the Federal land management agencies covered by the wildfire suppression subactivity of the Wildland Fire Management account or the FLAME Wildfire Suppression Reserve Fund account of the Federal land management agencies.
“SEC. 802. Procedure for declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands.
“(a) In general.—The Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture may submit a request to the President consistent with the requirements of this title for a declaration by the President that a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands exists.
“(b) Requirements.—A request for a declaration by the President that a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands exists shall—
“(2) certify that the amount appropriated in the current fiscal year for wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary, net of any concurrently enacted rescissions of wildfire suppression funds, increases the total unobligated balance of amounts available for wildfire suppression by an amount equal to or greater than the average total costs incurred by the Federal land management agencies per year for wildfire suppression operations, including the suppression costs in excess of appropriated amounts, over the previous ten fiscal years;
“(3) certify that the amount available for wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary will be obligated not later than 30 days after such Secretary notifies the President that wildfire suppression funds will be exhausted to fund ongoing and anticipated wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which the request for the declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands pursuant to this title is based; and
“SEC. 803. Wildfire on Federal lands assistance.
“(a) In general.—In a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands, the President may transfer funds, only from the account established pursuant to subsection (b), to the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct wildfire suppression operations on Federal lands (and non-Federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement).
“(b) Wildfire suppression operations account.—The President shall establish a specific account for the assistance available pursuant to a declaration under section 802. Such account may only be used to fund assistance pursuant to this title.
“(c) Limitation.—
“(1) LIMITATION OF TRANSFER.—The assistance available pursuant to a declaration under section 802 is limited to the transfer of the amount requested pursuant to section 802(b)(4). The assistance available for transfer shall not exceed the amount contained in the wildfire suppression operations account established pursuant to subsection (b).
“(d) Prohibition of other transfers.—Except as provided in this section, no funds may be transferred to or from the account established pursuant to subsection (b) to or from any other fund or account.
“(e) Reimbursement for Wildfire suppression operations on non-Federal land.—If amounts transferred under subsection (c) are used to conduct wildfire suppression operations on non-Federal land, the respective Secretary shall—
“(f) Annual Accounting and reporting requirements.—Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year for which assistance is received pursuant to this section, the respective Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Agriculture, Appropriations, the Budget, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Appropriations, the Budget, Energy and Natural Resources, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Indian Affairs of the Senate, and make available to the public, a report that includes the following:
“(1) The risk-based factors that influenced management decisions regarding wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned.
“(2) Specific discussion of a statistically significant sample of large fires, in which each fire is analyzed for cost drivers, effectiveness of risk management techniques, resulting positive or negative impacts of fire on the landscape, impact of investments in preparedness, suggested corrective actions, and such other factors as the respective Secretary considers appropriate.
No funds may be transferred to or from the Federal land management agencies’ wildfire suppression operations accounts referred to in section 801(3) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to or from any account or subactivity of the Federal land management agencies, as defined in section 801(2) of such Act, that is not used to cover the cost of wildfire suppression operations.
(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. Rule of application for National Forest System lands and public lands.
Sec. 101. Analysis of only two alternatives (action versus no action) in proposed collaborative forest management activities.
Sec. 111. Categorical exclusion to expedite certain critical response actions.
Sec. 112. Categorical exclusion to expedite salvage operations in response to catastrophic events.
Sec. 113. Categorical exclusion to meet forest plan goals for early successional forests.
Sec. 114. Categorical exclusion for road side projects.
Sec. 115. Categorical exclusion to improve or restore National Forest System Lands or public land or reduce the risk of wildfire.
Sec. 121. Compliance with forest plans.
Sec. 122. Consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Sec. 123. Consultation under the Endangered Species Act.
Sec. 124. Forest management activities considered non-discretionary actions.
Sec. 201. Expedited salvage operations and reforestation activities following large-scale catastrophic events.
Sec. 202. Compliance with forest plan.
Sec. 203. Prohibition on restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and injunctions pending appeal.
Sec. 301. No attorney fees for forest management activity challenges.
Sec. 302. Injunctive relief.
Sec. 311. Use of arbitration instead of litigation to address challenges to forest management activities.
Sec. 401. Use of reserved funds for title II projects on Federal land and certain non-Federal land.
Sec. 402. Resource advisory committees.
Sec. 403. Program for title II self-sustaining resource advisory committee projects.
Sec. 404. Additional authorized use of reserved funds for title III county projects.
Sec. 405. Treatment as supplemental funding.
Sec. 501. Cancellation ceilings for stewardship end result contracting projects.
Sec. 502. Excess offset value.
Sec. 503. Payment of portion of stewardship project revenues to county in which stewardship project occurs.
Sec. 504. Submission of existing annual report.
Sec. 505. Fire liability provision.
Sec. 506. Extension of stewardship contracting maximum term limits.
Sec. 601. Definitions.
Sec. 602. Availability of stewardship project revenues and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund to cover forest management activity planning costs.
Sec. 603. State-supported planning of forest management activities.
Sec. 701. Protection of Tribal forest assets through use of stewardship end result contracting and other authorities.
Sec. 702. Management of Indian forest land authorized to include related National Forest System lands and public lands.
Sec. 703. Tribal forest management demonstration project.
Sec. 704. Rule of application.
Sec. 801. Forest plans not considered major Federal actions.
Sec. 811. Consultation under Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.
Sec. 812. Consultation under Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
Sec. 901. Clarification of existing categorical exclusion authority related to insect and disease infestation.
Sec. 902. Revision of alternate consultation agreement regulations.
Sec. 903. Revision of extraordinary circumstances regulations.
Sec. 904. Conditions on Forest Service road decommissioning.
Sec. 905. Prohibition on application of Eastside Screens requirements on National Forest System lands.
Sec. 906. Use of site-specific forest plan amendments for certain projects and activities.
Sec. 907. Knutson-Vandenberg Act modifications.
Sec. 908. Application of Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standard and Guidelines.
Sec. 909. Reconstruction and repair included in good neighbor agreements.
Sec. 910. Logging and mechanized operations.
Sec. 911. Amendments to the Act of August 28, 1937.
Sec. 912. Oregon and California Railroad Grant Lands and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands permanent rights of access.
Sec. 913. Management of Bureau of Land Management lands in Western Oregon.
Sec. 1001. Wildfire on Federal lands.
Sec. 1002. Declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands.
Sec. 1003. Prohibition on transfers.
In titles I through IX:
(1) Catastrophic event.—The term “catastrophic event” means any natural disaster (such as hurricane, tornado, windstorm, snow or ice storm, rain storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, drought, or insect or disease outbreak) or any fire, flood, or explosion, regardless of cause.
(2) Collaborative process.—The term “collaborative process” refers to a process relating to the management of National Forest System lands or public lands by which a project or forest management activity is developed and implemented by the Secretary concerned through collaboration with interested persons, as described in section 603(b)(1)(C) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(b)(1)(C)).
(3) Community wildfire protection plan.—The term “community wildfire protection plan” has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
(4) Coos bay wagon road grant lands.—The term “Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands” means the lands reconveyed to the United States pursuant to the first section of the Act of February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179).
(5) Forest management activity.—The term “forest management activity” means a project or activity carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands consistent with the forest plan covering the lands.
(6) Forest plan.—The term “forest plan” means—
(A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau of Land Management for public lands pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712); or
(B) a land and resource management plan prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the National Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604).
(7) Large-scale catastrophic event.—The term “large-scale catastrophic event” means a catastrophic event that adversely impacts at least 5,000 acres of reasonably contiguous National Forest System lands or public lands, as determined by the Secretary concerned.
(8) National Forest System.—The term “National Forest System” has the meaning given that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
(9) Oregon and California railroad grant lands.—The term “Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands” means the following lands:
(A) All lands in the State of Oregon revested in the United States under the Act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218), that are administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to the first section of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181a).
(B) All lands in that State obtained by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the land exchanges authorized and directed by section 2 of the Act of June 24, 1954 (43 U.S.C. 1181h).
(C) All lands in that State acquired by the United States at any time and made subject to the provisions of title II of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181f).
(10) Public lands.—The term “public lands” has the meaning given that term in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term includes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands.
(11) Reforestation activity.—The term “reforestation activity” means a project or forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned whose primary purpose is the reforestation of impacted lands following a large-scale catastrophic event. The term includes planting, evaluating and enhancing natural regeneration, clearing competing vegetation, and other activities related to reestablishment of forest species on the impacted lands.
(12) Resource advisory committee.—The term “resource advisory committee” has the meaning given that term in section 201 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121).
(13) Salvage operation.—The term “salvage operation” means a forest management activity and restoration activities carried out in response to a catastrophic event where the primary purpose is—
(A) to prevent wildfire as a result of the catastrophic event, or, if the catastrophic event was wildfire, to prevent a re-burn of the fire-impacted area;
Unless specifically provided by a provision of titles I through IX, the authorities provided by such titles do not apply with respect to any National Forest System lands or public lands—
(a) Application to certain Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements.—This section shall apply whenever the Secretary concerned prepares an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) for a forest management activity that—
(4) will occur on lands designated by the Secretary (or designee thereof) pursuant to section 602(b) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591a(b)), notwithstanding whether such forest management activity is initiated prior to September 30, 2018; or
(b) Consideration of Alternatives.—In an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement described in subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall study, develop, and describe only the following two alternatives:
(c) Elements of No Action Alternative.—In the case of the alternative of no action, the Secretary concerned shall consider whether to evaluate—
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is—
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Acreage limitations.—
(1) In general.—Except in the case of a forest management activity described in paragraph (2), a forest management activity covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not contain treatment units exceeding a total of 10,000 acres.
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Salvage operations carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(c) Acreage limitation.—A salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not contain treatment units exceeding a total of 10,000 acres.
(d) Additional requirements.—
(1) Stream buffers.—A salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) shall comply with the standards and guidelines for stream buffers contained in the applicable forest plan unless waived by the Regional Forester, in the case of National Forest System lands, or the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, in the case of public lands.
(2) Reforestation plan.—A reforestation plan shall be developed under section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b), as part of a salvage operation covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a).
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is to modify, improve, enhance, or create early successional forests for wildlife habitat improvement and other purposes, consistent with the applicable forest plan.
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Project goals.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary concerned shall design a forest management activity under this section to meet early successional forest goals in such a manner so as to maximize production and regeneration of priority species, as identified in the forest plan and consistent with the capability of the activity site.
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Projects carried out by the Secretary concerned to remove hazard trees or to salvage timber for purposes of the protection of public health or safety, water supply, or public infrastructure are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(c) Healthy Forests Restoration Act requirements.—
(1) Administrative review.—A project that is categorically excluded under this section shall be subject to the requirements of subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 603 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591).
(2) Hazardous fuel reduction on Federal land.—A project that is categorically excluded under this section shall be subject to the requirements of sections 102, 104, 105, and 106 of title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511 et seq.).
(a) Categorical exclusion established.—Forest management activities described in subsection (b) are a category of actions hereby designated as being categorically excluded from the preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(b) Forest management activities designated for categorical exclusion.—
(1) Designation.—The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion are forest management activities described in paragraph (2) that are carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System Lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is to improve or restore such lands or reduce the risk of wildfire on those lands.
(2) Activities authorized.—The follow activities may be carried out pursuant to the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a):
(A) Removal of juniper trees, medusahead rye, conifer trees, piñon pine trees, cheatgrass, and other noxious or invasive weeds specified on Federal or State noxious weeds lists through late-season livestock grazing, targeted livestock grazing, prescribed burns, and mechanical treatments.
(D) Modification of existing fences in order to distribute livestock and help improve wildlife habitat.
(F) Construction of new and maintenance of permanent infrastructure, including stock ponds, water catchments, and water spring boxes used to benefit livestock and improve wildlife habitat.
(c) Availability of categorical exclusion.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned may use the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) in accordance with this section.
(d) Acreage limitations.—A forest management activity covered by the categorical exclusion established under subsection (a) may not exceed 10,000 acres.
(e) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Hazardous fuels management.—The term “hazardous fuels management” means any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire.
A forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the forest plan applicable to the National Forest System land or public lands covered by the forest management activity.
(a) Effect of undertaking on historic property.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, in taking into account the effect of a Federal undertaking on any historic property under section 306108 of title 54, United States Code, the Secretary concerned may, without consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, or any other entity—
(b) Expedited consultation.—
(1) In general.—In the case of a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act that is not the subject of a phased identification and evaluation under subsection (a), consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108) shall be concluded within the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such consultation was requested by the Secretary concerned.
(2) No conclusion.—In the case of a consultation described in paragraph (1) that is not concluded within the 90-day period, the forest management activity for which such consultation was initiated—
(A) shall be considered to have not violated section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108); and
(a) No consultation if action not likely To adversely affect a listed species or designated critical habitat.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) shall not be required if the Secretary concerned determines that the such forest management activity is not likely to adversely affect a listed species or designated critical habitat.
(b) Expedited consultation.—
(1) In general.—With respect to a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act, consultation required under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) shall be concluded within the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such consultation was requested by the Secretary concerned.
(2) No conclusion.—In the case of a consultation described in paragraph (1) that is not concluded within the 90-day period, the forest management activity for which such consultation was initiated—
(A) shall be considered to have not violated section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)); and
For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.
(a) Expedited environmental assessment.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an environmental assessment prepared by the Secretary concerned pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) for a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event shall be completed within 60 days after the conclusion of the catastrophic event.
(b) Expedited implementation and completion.—In the case of reforestation activities conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event, the Secretary concerned shall achieve reforestation of at least 75 percent of the impacted lands during the 5-year period following the conclusion of the catastrophic event.
(c) Availability of Knutson-Vandenberg funds.—Amounts in the special fund established pursuant to section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b) shall be available to the Secretary of Agriculture for reforestation activities authorized by this title.
(d) Timeline for Public Input Process.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands adversely impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event, the Secretary concerned shall allow 30 days for public scoping and comment, 15 days for filing an objection, and 15 days for the agency response to the filing of an objection. Upon completion of this process and expiration of the period specified in subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall implement the project immediately.
A salvage operation or reforestation activity authorized by this title shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the forest plan applicable to the National Forest System lands or public lands covered by the salvage operation or reforestation activity.
No restraining order, preliminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued by any court of the United States with respect to any decision to prepare or conduct a salvage operation or reforestation activity in response to a large-scale catastrophic event. Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any challenge to the salvage operation or reforestation activity.
Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no award may be made under section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or expended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses under such sections to any plaintiff related to an action challenging a forest management activity carried out pursuant to this Act.
(a) Balancing short- and long-Term effects of forest management activities in considering injunctive relief.—As part of its weighing the equities while considering any request for an injunction that applies to any agency action as part of a forest management activity under titles I through IX, the court reviewing the agency action shall balance the impact to the ecosystem likely affected by the forest management activity of—
(b) Time limitations for injunctive relief.—
(1) In general.—Subject to paragraph (2) the length of any preliminary injunctive relief and stays pending appeal that applies to any agency action as part of a forest management activity under titles I through IX, shall not exceed 60 days.
(a) Discretionary arbitration process pilot program.—
(1) In general.—The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands, shall each establish a discretionary arbitration pilot program as an alternative dispute resolution process in lieu of judicial review for the activities described in paragraph (2).
(2) Activities described.—The Secretary concerned, at the sole discretion of the Secretary, may designate objections or protests to forest management activities for arbitration under the arbitration pilot program established under paragraph (1).
(3) Maximum amount of arbitrations.—Under the arbitration pilot program, the Secretary concerned may not arbitrate more than 10 objections or protests to forest management activities in a fiscal year in—
(4) Determining amount of arbitrations.—An objection or protest to a forest management activity shall not be counted towards the limitation on number of arbitrations under paragraph (3) unless—
(b) Intervening parties.—
(1) Requirements.—Any person that submitted a public comment on the forest management activity that is subject to arbitration may intervene in the arbitration—
(2) Deadline for submission.—With respect to an objection or protest that is designated for arbitration under this subsection (a), a request to intervene in an arbitration must be submitted not later than the date that is 30 days after the date on which such objection or protest was designated for arbitration.
(c) Appointment of arbitrator.—
(1) Appointment.—The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly develop and publish a list of not fewer than 20 individuals eligible to serve as arbitrators for the pilot programs under this section.
(2) Qualifications.—In order to be eligible to serve as an arbitrator under this subsection, an individual shall be, on the date of the appointment of such arbitrator—
(3) Selection of arbitrator.—
(d) Selection of proposals.—
(1) In general.—The arbitrator appointed under subsection (c)—
(a) Repeal of Merchantable timber contracting pilot program.—Section 204(e) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7124(e)) is amended by striking paragraph (3).
(b) Requirements for project funds.—Section 204(f) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7124(f)) is amended to read as follows:
“(f) Requirements for project funds.—
“(1) In general.—Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall ensure that at least 50 percent of the project funds reserved by a participating county under section 102(d) shall be available only for projects that—
“(2) Applicability.—The requirement in paragraph (1) shall apply only to project funds reserved by a participating county whose boundaries include Federal land that the Secretary concerned determines has been subject to a timber or other forest products program within 5 fiscal years before the fiscal year in which the funds are reserved.”.
(a) Recognition of resource advisory committees.—Section 205(a)(4) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(a)(4)) is amended by striking “2012” each place it appears and inserting “2022”.
(b) Reduction in composition of committees.—Section 205(d) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(d)) is amended—
(c) Expanding local participation on committees.—Section 205(d) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125(d)) is amended—
(d) Appointment of resource advisory committees by applicable designee.—
(1) In general.—Section 205 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125) is further amended—
(C) in subsection (c)—
(ii) in paragraph (1), by inserting “(or applicable designee)” after “The Secretary concerned” both places it appears;
(2) Conforming amendment.—Section 201(3) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121(3)) is amended by inserting “(or applicable designee (as defined in section 205(c)(6)))” after “Secretary concerned” both places it appears.
(a) Self-Sustaining resource advisory committee projects.—Title II of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“SEC. 209. PROGRAM FOR SELF-SUSTAINING RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROJECTS.
“(a) RAC program.—The Chief of the Forest Service shall conduct a program (to be known as the ‘self-sustaining resource advisory committee program’ or ‘RAC program’) under which 10 resource advisory committees will propose projects authorized by subsection (c) to be carried out using project funds reserved by a participating county under section 102(d).
“(b) Selection of participating resource advisory committees.—The selection of resource advisory committees to participate in the RAC program is in the sole discretion of the Chief of the Forest Service.
“(c) Authorized projects.—Notwithstanding the project purposes specified in sections 202(b), 203(c), and 204(a)(5), projects under the RAC program are intended to—
“(d) Deposit and availability of revenues.—Any revenue generated by a project conducted under the RAC program, including any interest accrued from the revenues, shall be—
(b) Exception to general rule regarding treatment of receipts.—Section 403(b) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7153(b)) is amended by striking “All revenues” and inserting “Except as provided in section 209, all revenues”.
Section 302(a) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7142(a)) is amended—
(a) In general.—Section 102 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7112) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(b) Continuation of direct payments.—Payments to States made under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) and 25-percent payments made to States and Territories under the Acts of May 23, 1908, and March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 500), shall continue to be made as direct payments.
(a) Cancellation ceilings.—Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended—
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection (h):
“(h) Cancellation ceilings.—
“(1) In general.—Notwithstanding section 3903(b)(1) of title 41, United States Code, the Chief and the Director may obligate funds in stages that are economically or programmatically viable to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs for an agreement or contract under subsection (b) in stages that are economically or programmatically viable.
“(2) Advance notice to congress of cancellation ceiling in excess of $25 million.—Not later than 30 days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract under subsection (b) that includes a cancellation ceiling in excess of $25 million, but does not include proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to such cancellation ceiling, the Chief or the Director, as the case may be, shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a written notice that includes—
“(3) Transmittal of notice to OMB.—Not later than 14 days after the date on which written notice is provided under paragraph (2) with respect to an agreement or contract under subsection (b), the Chief or the Director, as the case may be, shall transmit a copy of the notice to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.”.
(b) Relation to other laws.—Section 604(d)(5) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)(5)) is amended—
(1) by striking “, the Chief may” and inserting “and section 2(a)(1) of the Act of July 31, 1947 (commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947; 30 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)), the Chief and the Director may”; and
Section 604(g)(2) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(g)(2)) is amended by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following new subparagraphs:
Section 604(e) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(e)) is amended—
(2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking “services received by the Chief or the Director” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “services and in-kind resources received by the Chief or the Director under a stewardship contract project conducted under this section shall not be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands, but any payments made by the contractor to the Chief or Director under the project shall be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands.”.
Subsection (j) of section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c), as redesignated by section 501(a)(1), is amended by striking “report to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives” and inserting “submit to the congressional committees specified in subsection (h)(2) a report”.
Section 604(d) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(a) Health Forests Restoration Act.—Section 604(d)(3)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(d)(3)(B)) is amended by striking “10 years” and inserting “20 years”.
(b) National Forest Management Act.—Section 14(c) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(c)) is amended by striking “ten years” and inserting “20 years”.
In this title:
(a) Availability of stewardship project revenues.—Section 604(e)(2)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(e)(2)(B)), as amended by section 503, is further amended by striking “appropriation at the project site from which the monies are collected or at another project site.” and inserting the following:“appropriation—
(b) Availability of Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund.—Section 4003(f)(1) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303(f)(1)) is amended by striking “carrying out and” and inserting “planning, carrying out, and”.
(a) State-Supported forest management fund.—There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the “State-Supported Forest Management Fund”, to cover the cost of planning (especially related to compliance with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332)), carrying out, and monitoring certain forest management activities on National Forest System lands or public lands.
(c) Geographical and use limitations.—In making a contribution under subsection (b)(1), an eligible entity may—
(d) Authorized forest management activities.—In such amounts as may be provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Secretary concerned may use the Fund to plan, carry out, and monitor a forest management activity that—
(e) Implementation methods.—A forest management activity carried out using amounts in the Fund may be carried out using a contract or agreement under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c), the good neighbor authority provided by section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a), a contract under section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a), or other authority available to the Secretary concerned, but revenues generated by the forest management activity shall be used to reimburse the Fund for planning costs covered using amounts in the Fund.
(f) Relation to other laws.—
(1) Revenue sharing.—Subject to subsection (e), revenues generated by a forest management activity carried out using amounts from the Fund shall be considered monies received from the National Forest System.
(2) Knutson-vanderberg Act.—The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vanderberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.), shall apply to any forest management activity carried out using amounts in the Fund.
(a) Prompt consideration of tribal requests.—Section 2(b) of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “Not later than 120 days after the date on which an Indian tribe submits to the Secretary” and inserting “In response to the submission by an Indian Tribe of ”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) Time periods for consideration.—
“(A) INITIAL RESPONSE.—Not later than 120 days after the date on which the Secretary receives a Tribal request under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide an initial response to the Indian Tribe regarding—
“(B) NOTICE OF DENIAL.—Notice under subsection (d) of the denial of a Tribal request under paragraph (1) shall be provided not later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary received the request.
“(C) COMPLETION.—Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Secretary receives a Tribal request under paragraph (1), other than a Tribal request denied under subsection (d), the Secretary shall—
(b) Conforming and technical amendments.—Section 2 of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) is amended—
(1) in subsections (b)(1) and (f)(1), by striking “section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) (as amended by section 323 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 (117 Stat. 275))” and inserting “section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c)”; and
Section 305 of the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3104) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(c) Inclusion of certain national forest system land and public land.—
“(1) Authority.—At the request of an Indian Tribe, the Secretary concerned may agree to treat Federal forest land as Indian forest land for purposes of planning and conducting forest land management activities under this section if the Federal forest land is located within, or mostly within, a geographic area that presents a feature or involves circumstances principally relevant to that Indian Tribe, such as Federal forest land ceded to the United States by treaty, Federal forest land within the boundaries of a current or former reservation, or Federal forest land adjudicated to be Tribal homelands.
“(2) Requirements.—As part of the agreement to treat Federal forest land as Indian forest land under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned and the Indian Tribe making the request shall—
“(A) provide for continued public access applicable to the Federal forest land prior to the agreement, except that the Secretary concerned may limit or prohibit such access as needed;
“(B) continue sharing revenue generated by the Federal forest land with State and local governments either—
“(C) comply with applicable prohibitions on the export of unprocessed logs harvested from the Federal forest land;
“(D) recognize all right-of-way agreements in place on Federal forest land prior to commencement of Tribal management activities;
“(3) Limitation.—Treating Federal forest land as Indian forest land for purposes of planning and conducting management activities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be construed to designate the Federal forest land as Indian forest lands for any other purpose.
“(4) Definitions.—In this subsection:
“(A) FEDERAL FOREST LAND.—The term ‘Federal forest land’ means—
“(ii) public lands (as defined in section 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e))), including Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands reconveyed to the United States pursuant to the first section of the Act of February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179), and Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands.
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may carry out demonstration projects by which federally recognized Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations may contract to perform administrative, management, and other functions of programs of the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a et seq.) through contracts entered into under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304 et seq.).
Nothing in this title, or the amendments made by this title, shall be construed as interfering with, diminishing, or conflicting with the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of any State to exercise primary management, control, or regulation of fish and wildlife on land or water within the State (including on public land) under State law.
The development, maintenance, amendment, and revision of a forest plan shall not be considered a major Federal action for purposes of section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
(a) In general.—Section 6(d) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(d)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) No additional consultation required after approval of land management plans.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to engage in consultation under this subsection or any other provision of law (including section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and section 402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) with respect to—
“(i) if a land management plan approved by the Secretary—
“(I) the listing of a species as threatened or endangered, or a designation of critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
“(II) whether the amount or extent of taking specified in the incidental take statement is exceeded;
“(B) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.—Nothing in this paragraph affects any applicable requirement of the Secretary to consult with the head of any other Federal department or agency—
“(i) regarding any project, including a project carried out, or proposed to be carried out, in an area designated as critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or
“(3) Land management plan considered a non-discretionary action.—For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.”.
(b) Definition of secretary; conforming amendments.—
(1) Definition of Secretary.—Section 3(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)) is amended, in the first sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting “(referred to in this Act as the ‘Secretary’)” after “Secretary of Agriculture”.
(2) Conforming amendments.—The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) is amended, in sections 4 through 9, 12, 13, and 15, by striking “Secretary of Agriculture” each place it appears and inserting “Secretary”.
Section 202(f) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(f)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) No additional consultation required after approval of land use plans.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to engage in consultation under this subsection or any other provision of law (including section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and section 402.16 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)), with respect to—
“(i) the listing of a species as threatened or endangered, or a designation of critical habitat, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), if a land use plan has been adopted by the Secretary as of the date of listing or designation; or
“(B) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.—
“(i) DEFINITION OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGE.—In this subparagraph, the term ‘significant change’ means a significant change within the meaning of section 219.13(b)(3) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this subparagraph), except that—
“(I) any reference contained in that section to a land management plan shall be deemed to be a reference to a land use plan;
“(ii) EFFECT.—Nothing in this paragraph affects any applicable requirement of the Secretary to consult with the head of any other Federal department or agency—
“(I) regarding a project carried out, or proposed to be carried out, with respect to a species listed as threatened or endangered, or in an area designated as critical habitat, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or
“(3) Land use plan considered non-discretionary action.—For purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a forest management activity carried out by the Secretary concerned pursuant to this Act shall be considered a non-discretionary action.”.
Section 603(c)(2)(B) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(c)(2)(B)) is amended by striking “Fire Regime Groups I, II, or III” and inserting “Fire Regime I, Fire Regime II, Fire Regime III, Fire Regime IV, or Fire Regime V”.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall revise section 402.13 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to—
(1) authorize Federal agencies to enter into alternative consultation agreements under which the Federal agency may determine if an action such agency authorizes is likely to adversely affect listed species or critical habitat; and
(2) if an agency determines such action will not likely adversely affect listed species or critical habitat pursuant to paragraph (1), not require such agency to complete a formal consultation, informal consultation, or written concurrence of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service with respect to such action.
(a) Determinations of extraordinary circumstances.—In determining whether extraordinary circumstances related to a proposed action preclude use of a categorical exclusion, the Forest Service shall not be required to—
(3) conduct an analysis under section 220.4(f) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, of the proposed action’s cumulative impact (as the term is defined in section 1508.7 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations);
(4) consider a determination under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) that a proposed action may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect, threatened, endangered, or candidate species, or designated critical habitats; or
(5) consider a determination under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) that a proposed action may affect, and is likely to adversely affect threatened, endangered, candidate species, or designated critical habitat if the agency is in compliance with the applicable provisions of the biological opinion.
(b) Proposed rulemaking.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise section 220.6(b) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations to conform such section with subsection (a).
(c) Additional revision.—As part of the proposed rulemaking described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture shall revise section 220.5(a)(2) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide that the Forest Service shall not be required to consider proposals that would substantially alter a potential wilderness area as a class of actions normally requiring environmental impact statements.
(a) Consultation with affected county.—Whenever any Forest Service defined maintenance level one- or two-system road within a designated high-fire prone area of a unit of the National Forest System is considered for decommissioning, the Forest Supervisor of that unit of the National Forest System shall—
(a) Repeal of Eastside Screens requirements.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall immediately withdraw the Interim Management Direction Establishing Riparian, Ecosystem, and Wildlife Standards for Timber Sales (commonly known as the Eastside Screens requirements), including all preceding or associated versions of these amendments.
If the Secretary concerned determines that, in order to conduct a project or carry out an activity implementing a forest plan, an amendment to the forest plan is required, the Secretary concerned shall execute such amendment as a nonsignificant plan amendment through the record of decision or decision notice for the project or activity.
(a) Deposits of funds from national forest timber purchasers required.—Section 3(a) of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b(a)), is amended by striking “The Secretary” and all that follows through “any purchaser” and inserting the following: “The Secretary of Agriculture shall require each purchaser”.
(b) Conditions on use of deposits.—Section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vandenberg Act; 16 U.S.C. 576b), is amended—
The Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standard and Guidelines shall not apply to any National Forest System lands or public lands.
Section 8206(a)(3) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)(3)) is amended—
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 203)—
(A) in subsection (l), by striking “well-being.” and inserting “well-being, and that employment of employees ages sixteen or seventeen years in a logging or mechanized operation in an occupation that the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous for the employment of individuals of such ages shall not be deemed to constitute oppressive child labor if such employee is employed by his parent or by a person standing in the place of his parent in a logging or mechanized operation owned or operated by such parent or person.”; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(A) means—
“(i) the felling, skidding, yarding, loading and processing of timber by equipment other than manually operated chainsaws and cable skidders;
“(iii) the bucking or converting of timber into logs, poles, ties, bolts, pulpwood, chemical wood, excelsior wood, cordwood, fence posts, or similar products;
“(iv) the collecting, skidding, yarding, loading, transporting and unloading of such products in connection with logging;
“(B) does not include the manual use of chain saws to fell and process timber and the use of cable skidders to bring the timber to the landing.
“(2) ‘Mechanized operation’—
“(A) means the felling, skidding, yarding, loading and processing of timber by equipment other than manually operated chainsaws and cable skidders; and
“(B) includes whole tree processors, cut-to-length processors, stroke boom delimbers, wheeled and track feller-bunchers, pull thru delimbers, wheeled and track forwarders, chippers, grinders, mechanical debarkers, wheeled and track grapple skidders, yarders, bulldozers, excavators, and log loaders.”; and
(2) in section 13(c) (29 U.S.C. 211(c)), by adding at the end the following:
“(8) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall apply to an employee who is 16 or 17 years old employed in a logging or mechanized operation in an occupation that the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children ages 16 or 17, except where such employee is employed by his parent or by a person standing in the place of his parent in a logging or mechanized operation owned or operated by such parent or person.”.
The first section of the Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874; 43 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), is amended—
(a) Creation of permanent rights of access required.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on the date of the enactment of this section, reciprocal road right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements issued to a private landowner by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to subpart 2812 of part 2810 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, or its predecessor regulation shall become permanent rights of access that are recordable and that shall run with the land.
(b) Records updated.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the reciprocal road right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements described in subsection (a) shall be amended to reflect the permanent rights of access required under subsection (a) and recorded by the Secretary of the Interior in each county where the lands are located. No other amendments shall be made to such right-of-way permits, grants, and agreements.
(a) In general.—All of the public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the Northwest District, Roseburg District, Coos Bay District, Medford District, and the Klamath Resource Area of the Lakeview District in the State of Oregon shall hereafter be managed pursuant to title I of the of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181a through 1181e). Except as provided in subsection (b), all of the revenue produced from such land shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States in the Oregon and California land-grant fund and be subject to the provisions of title II of the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181f).
(b) Certain lands excluded.—Subsection (a) does not apply to any revenue that is required to be deposited in the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant fund pursuant to sections 1 through 4 of the Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181f et seq.).
Section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(B) MAJOR DISASTER FOR WILDFIRE ON FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands’ means any wildfire or wildfires, which in the determination of the President under section 802 warrants assistance under section 803 to supplement the efforts and resources of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture—
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“As used in this title—
“(3) Wildfire suppression operations.—The term ‘wildfire suppression operations’ means the emergency and unpredictable aspects of wildland firefighting, including support, response, emergency stabilization activities, and other emergency management activities of wildland firefighting on Federal lands (or on non-Federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement) by the Federal land management agencies covered by the wildfire suppression subactivity of the Wildland Fire Management account or the FLAME Wildfire Suppression Reserve Fund account of the Federal land management agencies.
“SEC. 802. PROCEDURE FOR DECLARATION OF A MAJOR DISASTER FOR WILDFIRE ON FEDERAL LANDS.
“(a) In general.—The Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture may submit a request to the President consistent with the requirements of this title for a declaration by the President that a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands exists.
“(b) Requirements.—A request for a declaration by the President that a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands exists shall—
“(2) certify that the amount appropriated in the current fiscal year for wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary, net of any concurrently enacted rescissions of wildfire suppression funds, increases the total unobligated balance of amounts available for wildfire suppression by an amount equal to or greater than the average total costs incurred by the Federal land management agencies per year for wildfire suppression operations, including the suppression costs in excess of appropriated amounts, over the previous ten fiscal years;
“(3) certify that the amount available for wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary will be obligated not later than 30 days after such Secretary notifies the President that wildfire suppression funds will be exhausted to fund ongoing and anticipated wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which the request for the declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands pursuant to this title is based; and
“SEC. 803. WILDFIRE ON FEDERAL LANDS ASSISTANCE.
“(a) In general.—In a major disaster for wildfire on Federal lands, the President may transfer funds, only from the account established pursuant to subsection (b), to the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct wildfire suppression operations on Federal lands (and non-Federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement).
“(b) Wildfire suppression operations account.—The President shall establish a specific account for the assistance available pursuant to a declaration under section 802. Such account may only be used to fund assistance pursuant to this title.
“(c) Limitation.—
“(1) Limitation of transfer.—The assistance available pursuant to a declaration under section 802 is limited to the transfer of the amount requested pursuant to section 802(b)(4). The assistance available for transfer shall not exceed the amount contained in the wildfire suppression operations account established pursuant to subsection (b).
“(d) Prohibition of other transfers.—Except as provided in this section, no funds may be transferred to or from the account established pursuant to subsection (b) to or from any other fund or account.
“(e) Reimbursement for Wildfire suppression operations on non-Federal land.—If amounts transferred under subsection (c) are used to conduct wildfire suppression operations on non-Federal land, the respective Secretary shall—
“(f) Annual Accounting and reporting requirements.—Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year for which assistance is received pursuant to this section, the respective Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Agriculture, Appropriations, the Budget, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Appropriations, the Budget, Energy and Natural Resources, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Indian Affairs of the Senate, and make available to the public, a report that includes the following:
“(1) The risk-based factors that influenced management decisions regarding wildfire suppression operations of the Federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned.
“(2) Specific discussion of a statistically significant sample of large fires, in which each fire is analyzed for cost drivers, effectiveness of risk management techniques, resulting positive or negative impacts of fire on the landscape, impact of investments in preparedness, suggested corrective actions, and such other factors as the respective Secretary considers appropriate.
No funds may be transferred to or from the Federal land management agencies’ wildfire suppression operations accounts referred to in section 801(3) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to or from any account or subactivity of the Federal land management agencies, as defined in section 801(2) of such Act, that is not used to cover the cost of wildfire suppression operations.
Union Calendar No. 271 | |||||
| |||||
[Report No. 115–370, Parts I and II] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management
activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the
jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on Tribal lands to
return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other
purposes. | |||||
October 25, 2017 | |||||
Reported from the Committee on Agriculture with an amendment | |||||
October 25, 2017 | |||||
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment | |||||
October 25, 2017 | |||||
The Committees on Education and the Workforce and Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed |