115 S1033 IS: To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for stewardship contracting projects, and for other purposes.
U.S. Senate
2017-05-03
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EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.Stewardship contracting projects
(a)The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 is amended— (1)by striking section 604 (16 U.S.C. 6591c);
(2)by redesignating sections 601, 602, and 603 (16 U.S.C. 6591, 6591a, 6591b) as sections 701, 702, and 703, respectively;
(3)by redesignating title VI (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) (as amended by paragraphs (1) and (2)) as title VII;
(4)in section 703(a) (as so redesignated), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking section 602(d)
and inserting section 702(d)
; and (5)by inserting after title V (16 U.S.C. 6571 et seq.) the following:
<enum>VI</enum><header>Stewardship Contracting</header>
<section id="HFDA52B6B5ED140B7B5E2FDF6AF88FA5E"><enum>601.</enum><header>Definitions</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">In this title:</text> <paragraph id="idCA74ECA09D9846D78AFFBBDFECD2C1F1"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Chief</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>Chief</term> means the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="idE93E361ACB23453E9817C12D3C5308E2"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Secretary</header><text>The term <term>Secretary</term> means the Secretary of Agriculture.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="id9B7F8491E7D24B8CB5A60D6D86C3A3B1"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Stewardship contract</header><text>The term <term>stewardship contract</term> means a contract or agreement entered into under section 602.</text>
</paragraph></section><section id="HD699EE2A992045B4BC813AD076874B9A"><enum>602.</enum><header>Projects</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Chief may enter into a stewardship contracting project contract or agreement, as appropriate, with a private person or another public entity to perform services to achieve land management goals described in section 603 for the National Forest System that meet local and rural community needs.</text>
</section><section id="idFEF2C5480AE645C1B90CB865CA22FB2A"><enum>603.</enum><header>Land management goals</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The land management goals of a project under section 602 may include any of the following:</text> <paragraph id="HA831A24287A14183A86CBF8BA9F49C51"><enum>(1)</enum><text>Road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HCADE7DF976984A4CB469781873E586F5"><enum>(2)</enum><text>Soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HD1692684D94F455C91B459AC19E2EA71"><enum>(3)</enum><text>Setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HF7C09FEB60064D0BAF411A0126AC861D"><enum>(4)</enum><text>Removing vegetation or other activities—</text> <subparagraph id="idA966EF7D803C447D9CDE95F564F5B0B4"><enum>(A)</enum><text>to promote healthy forest stands;</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="id39439F38402F4F6B8977DEE1904CAAE7"><enum>(B)</enum><text>to reduce fire hazards; or</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="id940D8E984A5642FA87A03BA0613BF1E0"><enum>(C)</enum><text>to achieve other land management objectives.</text>
</subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H433FA9471804407EB537AE18BB002EB8"><enum>(5)</enum><text>Watershed restoration and maintenance.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H676A40E2EE9E4E7280E69EE72D516252"><enum>(6)</enum><text>Restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H9CF2D8985A37444DB6452173B35E156C"><enum>(7)</enum><text>Control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species.</text> </paragraph></section><section id="H6A3361DE2C8D49D0BFAD6379BCD67C55"><enum>604.</enum><header>Agreements or contracts</header> <subsection id="H300E318594C74CA981E712D459C9051D"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Procurement procedure</header><text>A private person or public entity for the performance of services under a stewardship contract shall be selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of the private person or public entity under other public or private agreements or contracts.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H3EFAE651F53A44DC9E461A4B7F5A84E3"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Contract for sale of property</header><text>Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a contract entered into under section 602 may, at the discretion of the Secretary, be considered a contract for the sale of property under such terms as the Secretary may establish.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H83692CF22CB34EE580776E49A03B0E22"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Term</header>
<paragraph id="HEAFB6195E40C4EC698DF2A2B9C8384E2"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Chief may enter into a contract under section 602 in accordance with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H73DCC909EFE248F083B640C6C8FE194C"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Maximum</header><text>The period of a stewardship contract shall be not longer than 10 years.</text> </paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H6987A17834B84D1C96EF39B8B023497A"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Offsets</header> <paragraph id="H562E44A8239748AFA5531A5C6C6DA783"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Chief may apply the value of timber or other forest products removed as an offset against the cost of services received under a stewardship contract.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HF526FCDBA38D4BB9B6FB7090358D8AF1"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Methods of appraisal</header><text>The value of timber or other forest products used as an offset under paragraph (1)—</text> <subparagraph id="H9D99CD1E0B5A40E8B9BB9EE0EBB7C8D3"><enum>(A)</enum><text>shall be determined using appropriate methods of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products to be removed; and</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="HCC3B557C82ED49048F5D9A3361F82651"><enum>(B)</enum><text>may—</text> <clause id="H5D2CAAD3A0E645F2AA3602707A1B28FF"><enum>(i)</enum><text>be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the stewardship contracts; and</text>
</clause><clause id="HB9940C522EAD4453B50D0358113F80AF"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>include valuing products on a per-acre basis.</text> </clause></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HFB2AABE1EDD04F5CBE16BD0E314658A6"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Relation to other laws</header><text>Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/472a">16 U.S.C. 472a</external-xref>), the Chief may enter into a stewardship contract.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HA962109AF42A4F83BAFDB1DEC585E0B9"><enum>(f)</enum><header>Contracting officer</header><text>Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into and administer a stewardship contract.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HA129749A59074BF39CE77EBA287448F4"><enum>(g)</enum><header>Fire liability provisions</header><text>Not later than 90 days after February 7, 2014, the Chief shall issue for use in each stewardship contract fire liability provisions that are in substantially the same form as the fire liability provisions contained in—</text>
<paragraph id="H386EDB04D053417D98326AC5C47FD47E"><enum>(1)</enum><text>integrated resource timber contracts, as described in the Forest Service contract numbered 2400–13, part H, section H.4; and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H99AADE9068E840969683C627892C3850"><enum>(2)</enum><text>timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/472a">16 U.S.C. 472a</external-xref>).</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section id="H850C10B32D8C4A03B59D2153D64B7247"><enum>605.</enum><header>Receipts</header>
<subsection id="HD4CC895B5F5D4F6085F37F68D617BD18"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Chief may collect amounts from a stewardship contract if the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the stewardship contract that will best achieve the purposes of this title.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H668578305F474BC98ED18D78C822AB14"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Use</header><text>Amounts from a stewardship contract—</text> <paragraph id="H295FC539013649A897B5DB2660FBD6E2"><enum>(1)</enum><text>may be retained by the Chief; and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HBE0D2D2C5C6B45B1ACCD3DD6C09C33C0"><enum>(2)</enum><text>shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation—</text> <subparagraph id="idB514C8FF658949ED8993E4BB5703A4FF"><enum>(A)</enum><text>at the project site from which the amounts are collected; or</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="idC05DAB122F364CDB804A1797A3C8DE0E"><enum>(B)</enum><text>at another project site.</text> </subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H8693ADA241804D519626E1BAAC4CBC87"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Relation to other laws</header> <paragraph id="HCDF8C2C4F20943AEBCCFD1DC34C9DFDD"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the value of services received by the Chief under a stewardship contract, and any payments made or resources provided by the contractor or the Chief, shall not be considered amounts received from the National Forest System.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HF6FFB3744DF244A684BA21CD6944D8FC"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Knutson-Vandenberg Act</header><text>The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the <quote>Knutson-Vandenberg Act</quote>) (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/576">16 U.S.C. 576</external-xref> et seq.), shall not apply to a stewardship contract.</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section id="HDA6583BA6933440494D09BCDDEF3F64E"><enum>606.</enum><header>Costs of removal</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Chief may collect deposits from a contractor to cover the costs of removal of timber or other forest products (including timber that the contractor did not harvest) under—</text>
<paragraph id="HB6C9B80DD5AF4C679377BBE421364BDA"><enum>(1)</enum><text>the Act of August 11, 1916 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/490">16 U.S.C. 490</external-xref>); and</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H0567426592E44C7888B94C10AD733D23"><enum>(2)</enum><text>the Act of June 30, 1914 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/498">16 U.S.C. 498</external-xref>).</text>
</paragraph></section><section id="H2E546B5D3C174FA68D08EAF5CCBDE8DD"><enum>607.</enum><header>Performance and payment guarantees</header>
<subsection id="HDD22F879777F458EBE15DEEF331196C8"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Chief may require performance and payment bonds under sections 28.103–2 and 28.103–3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, in an amount that the contracting officer considers sufficient to protect the investment in receipts by the Federal Government generated by the contractor from the estimated value of the forest products to be removed under a stewardship contract.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H60DEBAE61E9A43BDA73CF7E2E1D82C37"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Excess offset value</header><text>If the offset value of the forest products described in subsection (a) exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Chief may—</text>
<paragraph id="H6AFCBF5599CF46D793299CC48B06987B"><enum>(1)</enum><text>collect any residual receipts under the Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the <quote>Knutson-Vandenberg Act</quote>) (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/16/576">16 U.S.C. 576</external-xref> et seq.); and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HEE8CA0424BF74BB797FEBCA06F5ED66C"><enum>(2)</enum><text>apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects.</text> </paragraph></subsection></section><section id="H9A015A4686584E05BD4478645E242478"><enum>608.</enum><header>Monitoring and evaluation</header> <subsection id="H873E50147D574F38ADA66DD26F45230A"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Chief shall establish and participate in a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that assesses the stewardship contracting projects conducted under this title.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HDED924A319D44339B7F04CFBBC87F3C2"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Participants</header><text>Participants in the process described in subsection (a) may include—</text>
<paragraph id="H948A444439A24F14A72892AAA5BE2634"><enum>(1)</enum><text>any cooperating governmental agency, including a tribal government; and</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H277B75D99CA840B2AAB4C5DA134F4F75"><enum>(2)</enum><text>any other interested group or individual.</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section id="HCAE0B1F79E3345D0B574EDA2EEAF68A8"><enum>609.</enum><header>Reporting</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Not later than 1 year after February 7, 2014, and annually thereafter, the Chief shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report on—</text>
<paragraph id="H7E272344F0CE467F805AA280A5AD7163"><enum>(1)</enum><text>the status of development, execution, and administration of stewardship contracts;</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H53A98F6217304A8583B5D09BB8802297"><enum>(2)</enum><text>the specific accomplishments that have resulted from stewardship contracts; and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H1E103EDCFD734C189B2005E05D5BE471"><enum>(3)</enum><text>the role of local communities in the development of stewardship contract plans.</text> </paragraph></section>. (b)The table of contents for the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 108–148) is amended by striking the items relating to title VI and inserting the following:
TITLE VI—Stewardship Contracting
Sec. 601. Definitions.
Sec. 602. Projects.
Sec. 603. Land management goals.
Sec. 604. Agreements or contracts.
Sec. 605. Receipts.
Sec. 606. Costs of removal.
Sec. 607. Performance and payment guarantees.
Sec. 608. Monitoring and evaluation.
Sec. 609. Reporting.TITLE VII—MiscellaneousSec. 701. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program to improve detection of and response to
environmental threats.Sec. 702. Designation of treatment areas.Sec. 703. Administrative review..