3.0.0 5960 2022-03-02T05:20:15Z 2022-03-02T05:20:15Z House H HR 2012-06-19 112 From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. MARKEY:H.R. 5960.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:This bill addresses management of federal land.Accordingly, we turn to the following constitutionalauthority: Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2.The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make allneedful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory orother Property belonging to the United States; and nothing inthis Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice anyClaims of the United States, or of any particular State.Currently, the federal government possesses approximately1.8 billion acres of land. The land at issue in this bill isbut a small part of those holdings. The U.S. Constitutionspecifically addresses the relationship of the federalgovernment to lands. Article IV, Sec. 3, Clause 2--theProperty Clause--gives Congress plenary power and fullauthority over federal property. The U.S. Supreme Court hasdescribed Congress's power to legislate under this Clause as``without limitation.'' Because of this expressConstitutional authority, Congress has the right, if not theduty, to properly manage its public lands, includingestablishing forestation policies, and tree harvesting andtree salvaging. This bill falls squarely within the expressConstitutional power set forth in the Property Clause.[Page H3807]]]> hsii00 Natural Resources Committee House Standing hsii10 Federal Lands Subcommittee Hearings by 2012-07-20T14:49:51Z Referred to 2012-06-26T20:41:30Z Referred to 2012-06-19T14:01:25Z hsag00 Agriculture Committee House Standing hsag03 Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture Referred to 2012-06-27T14:35:57Z Referred to 2012-06-19T14:01:20Z 2012-07-20 hsii10 Federal Lands Subcommittee 1 House committee actions Subcommittee Hearings Held. Committee 2012-06-27 hsag03 Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture 1 House committee actions Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture . Committee 2012-06-26 hsii10 Federal Lands Subcommittee 1 House committee actions Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. Committee 2012-06-19 Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsii00 Natural Resources Committee 2012-06-19 Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsag00 Agriculture Committee 2012-06-19 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2012-06-19 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress M000133 Rep. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA-7] Edward Markey D MA J. 7 N G000551 Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] Raúl Grijalva D AZ M. 7 2012-06-19 True L000570 Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3] Ben Lujan D NM R. 3 2012-06-19 True N000179 Rep. Napolitano, Grace F. [D-CA-38] GRACE NAPOLITANO D CA F. 38 2012-06-26 False C001059 Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-20] Jim Costa D CA 20 2012-06-26 False P000598 Rep. Polis, Jared [D-CO-2] Jared Polis D CO 2 2012-06-27 False Public Lands and Natural Resources Agricultural conservation and pollution Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit Animal and plant health Arizona California Colorado Fires Forests, forestry, trees Idaho Insects Intergovernmental relations Montana Nevada New Mexico Oregon Parks, recreation areas, trails Pest management Public contracts and procurement Roads and highways Rural conditions and development South Dakota Water quality Watersheds Wildlife conservation and habitat protection Public Lands and Natural Resources 00 2012-06-19 Introduced in House 2012-07-11T14:17:38Z Depleting Risk from Insect Infestation, Soil Erosion, and Catastrophic Fire Act of 2012 - Amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to state findings concerning the threat to forests in the Western region of the United States posed by the mountain pine beetle.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, to designate as part of an insect and disease treatment and research pilot program at least one subwatershed in at least one national forest in each state that is experiencing an insect or disease epidemic and characterized by: (1) substantially increased tree mortality due to infestation; (2) the risk of substantially increased tree mortality over the next 15 years due to infestation; or (3) presence in an area in which the risk of hazard trees poses an imminent risk to public infrastructure, health, or safety.

Authorizes the Secretary to carry out priority projects on federal land in the designated subwatersheds to reduce the risk or extent of, or increase the resilience to, insect or disease infestation in the subwatersheds. Deems such projects to be authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects.

Extends the authorization of appropriations for the insect infestation and related diseases program through FY2017.

Allows the Secretary to use amounts appropriated to carry out the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act to cover the costs of technical assistance, management, and enforcement responsibilities for land enrolled in the healthy forests reserve program.

Authorizes the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enter into stewardship contracting projects to perform services to achieve land management goals for the national forests and the public lands that meet local and rural community needs. Replaces a similar program established by the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999.

Allows the Secretary to issue a task order for, or enter into a good neighbor agreement or a cooperative agreement or contract with, a governor for purposes of carrying out similar and complementary forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration services on adjacent federal and non-federal land (with exceptions).

Amends emergency runoff retardation and soil erosion preventive provisions of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority consideration to applications for assistance submitted by landowners and land users for measures needed to remediate the effects of catastrophic wildfire on federal land that is the source of drinking water for the landowners and land users.

]]> Depleting Risk from Insect Infestation, Soil Erosion, and Catastrophic Fire Act of 2012 Short Titles as Introduced Depleting Risk from Insect Infestation, Soil Erosion, and Catastrophic Fire Act of 2012 Display Title Depleting Risk from Insect Infestation, Soil Erosion, and Catastrophic Fire Act of 2012 Official Title as Introduced To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to improve the response to insect infestations and related diseases and to change the funding source for the Healthy Forests Reserve Program, to codify the stewardship end result contracting and good neighbor authorities, and to amend the emergency watershed protection program to improve post fire rehabilitation, and for other purposes. Introduced in House 2012-06-19T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-112hr5960ih/xml/BILLS-112hr5960ih.xml 2012-07-20 Subcommittee Hearings Held. text/xml 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. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.