[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2886 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2886

                       One Hundred Fifth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  eight


                                 An Act


 
   To provide for a demonstration project in the Stanislaus National 
   Forest, California, under which a private contractor will perform 
 multiple resource management activities for that unit of the National 
                             Forest System.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Granite Watershed Enhancement and 
Protection Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROJECT, STANISLAUS NATIONAL 
              FOREST, CALIFORNIA, TO ENHANCE AND PROTECT THE GRANITE 
              WATERSHED.

    (a) Resource Management Contract Authorized.--The Secretary of 
Agriculture may enter into a contract with a single private contractor 
to perform multiple resource management activities on Federal lands 
within the Stanislaus National Forest in the State of California for 
the purpose of demonstrating enhanced ecosystem health and water 
quality, and significantly reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, 
in the Granite watershed at a reduced cost to the Government. The 
contract shall be for a term of 5 years.
    (b) Authorized Management Activities.--The types of resource 
management activities performed under the contract shall include the 
following:
        (1) Reduction of forest fuel loads through the use of 
    precommercial and commercial thinning and prescribed burns in the 
    Granite watershed.
        (2) Monitoring of ecosystem health and water quality in the 
    Granite watershed.
        (3) Monitoring of the presence of wildlife in the area in which 
    management activities are performed and the effect of the 
    activities on wildlife presence.
        (4) Such other resource management activities as the Secretary 
    considers appropriate to demonstrate enhanced ecosystem health and 
    water quality in the Granite watershed.
    (c) Compliance With Federal Law and Spotted Owl Guidelines.--All 
resource management activities performed under the contract shall be 
performed in a manner consistent with applicable Federal law and the 
standards and guidelines for the conservation of the California spotted 
owl (as set forth in the California Spotted Owl Sierran Province 
Interim Guidelines or the subsequently issued final guidelines, 
whichever is in effect).
    (d) Funding.--
        (1) Sources of funds.--To provide funds for the resource 
    management activities to be performed under the contract, the 
    Secretary may use--
            (A) funds appropriated to carry out this section;
            (B) funds specifically provided to the Forest Service to 
        implement projects to demonstrate enhanced water quality and 
        protect aquatic and upland resources;
            (C) excess funds that are allocated for the administration 
        and management of the Stanislaus National Forest, California;
            (D) hazardous fuels reduction funds allocated for Region 5 
        of the Forest Service; and
            (E) a contract provision allowing the cost of performing 
        authorized management activities described in subsection (b) to 
        be offset by the values owed to the United States for any 
        forest products removed by the contractor.
        (2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--Except as provided in 
    paragraph (1), the Secretary may not carry out the contract using 
    funds appropriated for any other unit of the National Forest 
    System.
        (3) Conditions on funds transfers.--Any transfer of funds under 
    paragraph (1) may be made only in accordance with the procedures 
    concerning notice to, and review by, the Committee on 
    Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
    Appropriations of the Senate that are applied by the Secretary in 
    the case of a transfer of funds between appropriations.
    (e) Acceptance and Use of State Funds.--The Secretary may accept 
and use funds provided by the State of California to assist in the 
implementation of the contract under this section.
    (f) Reporting Requirements.--Not later than February 28 of each 
year during the term of the contract, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report describing--
        (1) the resource management activities performed under the 
    contract during the period covered by the report;
        (2) the source and amount of funds used under subsection (d) to 
    carry out the contract; and
        (3) the resource management activities to be performed under 
    the contract during the calendar year in which the report is 
    submitted.
    (g) Relationship to Other Laws.--Nothing in this section exempts 
the contract, or resource management activities to be performed under 
the contract, from any Federal environmental law.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.