[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 858 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 858

 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project on 
 designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in 
    the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of the 
resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group and 
to amend current land and resource management plans for these national 
  forests to consider the incorporation of these resource management 
                              activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 1997

Mr. HERGER (for himself, Mr. Fazio of California, Mr. Smith of Oregon, 
and Mr. Faleomavaega) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
  to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project on 
 designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests in 
    the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of the 
resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group and 
to amend current land and resource management plans for these national 
  forests to consider the incorporation of these resource management 
                              activities.

    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 ``Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery 
and Economic Stability Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECT FOR PLUMAS, LASSEN, AND TAHOE NATIONAL FORESTS TO 
              IMPLEMENT QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PROPOSAL.

    (a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Quincy 
Library Group Proposal of 1993'' means the agreement reached in 1993 by 
a coalition of representatives of the timber industry, environmental 
organizations, citizens, and local communities that formed in northern 
California to develop a resource management program for Federal lands 
in the Sierra Nevada.
    (b) Pilot Project Required.--
            (1) Implementation and purpose.--The Secretary of 
        Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, shall conduct a 
        pilot project on the Federal lands described in paragraph (2) 
        to implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of the resource 
        management activities described in subsection (d), as 
        recommended in the Quincy Library Group Proposal of 1993.
            (2) Pilot project area.--The Secretary shall conduct the 
        pilot project on the Federal lands within Plumas National 
        Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger 
        District of Tahoe National Forest in the State of California 
        designated as ``Available for Group Selection'' on the map 
        entitled ``Quincy Library Group Community Stability Proposal'', 
        dated June 1993. The map shall be on file and available for 
        inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Service.
    (c) Exclusion of Certain Lands; Exception.--
            (1) Exclusion.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), all 
        spotted owl habitat areas and protected activity centers 
        located within the pilot project area designated under 
        subsection (b)(2) will be deferred from timber harvesting 
        during the term of the pilot project.
            (2) Exception for designated catastrophic event areas.--The 
        Secretary may designate an area within the pilot project area 
        that is otherwise precluded from timber harvesting pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) and subsection (b)(2) as a catastrophic event 
        area in which the resource management activities described in 
        subsection (d) may be applied if the Secretary, upon completion 
        of an environmental impact statement, finds that--
                    (A) the area proposed for designation has 
                experienced catastrophic disturbances from wildfires, 
                insect infestations, disease, drought, or other natural 
                causes and will suffer further environmental 
                degradation, such as soil erosion, stream damage, or 
habitat loss, in the absence of the resource management activities; and
                    (B) implementation of one or more resource 
                management activities described in subsection (d) in 
                the area proposed for designation is likely to reduce 
                or prevent continued environmental degradation.
            (3) Notice of proposed designation.--Immediately upon 
        publication of the draft environmental impact statement 
        required under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall publish in 
        the Federal Register notice of any prospective decision to 
        designate a catastrophic event area under such paragraph on the 
        basis of the environmental impact statement. The notice shall--
                    (A) set forth the location of the affected area;
                    (B) describe the forest health conditions in such 
                area;
                    (C) provide the reasons for proposing to designate 
                the area as a catastrophic event area; and
                    (D) contain a brief description of the resource 
                management activity or activities that the Secretary 
                proposes to select for the area.
            (4) Public comment.--The Secretary shall provide a 45-day 
        period for the submission of public comments regarding a draft 
        environmental impact statement prepared under paragraph (2) and 
        any prospective decision to designate, on the basis of the 
        environmental impact statement, a catastrophic event area. The 
        comment period shall begin on the date of the publication of 
        the draft environmental impact statement or the date notice is 
        published under paragraph (3) of the prospective decision to 
        designate the catastrophic event area, whichever is later. 
        During the comment period, the Secretary shall hold a hearing 
        on the decision in a community near the area proposed for 
        designation.
    (d) Resource Management Activities.--During the term of the pilot 
project, the Secretary shall implement and carry out the following 
resource management activities on the Federal lands included within the 
pilot project area designated under subsection (b)(2):
            (1) Construction of a strategic system of defensible, 
        shaded fuelbreaks, consistent with Quincy Library Group 
        Proposal of 1993, on not less than 40,000, but not more than 
        60,000, acres per year.
            (2) Implementation, on an acreage rather than volume basis, 
        of uneven-aged forest management prescriptions utilizing 
        individual tree selection and group selection, as described in 
        the Quincy Library Group Proposal of 1993, to achieve a desired 
        future condition of an all-age, multi-story, fire resistant 
        forest.
    (e) Cost-Effectiveness.--In conducting the pilot project, Secretary 
shall use the most cost-effective means available, as determined by the 
Secretary, to implement resource management activities described in 
subsection (d).
    (f) Effect on Multiple Use Activities.--The Secretary shall not 
rely on the resource management activities described in subsection (d) 
as a basis for administrative action limiting other multiple use 
activities on Federal lands included within the pilot project area 
designated under subsection (b)(2).
    (g) Funding.--
            (1) Source of funds.--In conducting the pilot project, the 
        Secretary shall use--
                    (A) those funds specifically provided to the Forest 
                Service by the Secretary to begin implementing resource 
                management activities according to the Quincy Library 
                Group Proposal of 1993; and
                    (B) other funds as are appropriated for the 
                administration of Plumas National Forest, Lassen 
                National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger District of 
                Tahoe National Forest.
            (2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--The Secretary may 
        not conduct the pilot project using funds appropriated for any 
        other unit of the National Forest System.
            (3) Flexibility.--During the term of the pilot project, the 
        forest supervisors of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National 
        Forest, and Tahoe National Forest may allocate and use all 
        accounts available for the administration of Plumas National 
        Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger 
        District of Tahoe National Forest to perform the resource 
        management activities described in subsection (d).
    (h) Term of Pilot Project.--The Secretary shall conduct the pilot 
project during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act and ending on the later of the following:
            (1) The date on which the Secretary completes amendment of 
        the land and resource management plans for Plumas National 
        Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Tahoe National Forest 
        pursuant to subsection (i).
            (2) The date that is five years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (i) Corresponding Forest Plan Amendments.--Commencing on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate a process to 
amend the land and resource management plans for Plumas National 
Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Tahoe National Forest to, where 
appropriate--
            (1) incorporate the pilot project and area designations 
        made by subsection (b) and the resource management activities 
        described in subsection (d); and
            (2) make other changes warranted by the analyses conducted 
        in compliance with section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)), section 6 of the Forest 
        and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
        U.S.C. 1604), and other applicable laws.
    (j) Reporting Requirements.--Not later than January 1 of each year 
during the term of the pilot project, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report on the status of the pilot project. The report shall 
include at least the following:
            (1) A complete accounting of the use of funds made 
        available under subsection (g)(1)(A) until such funds are fully 
        expended.
            (2) A complete accounting of the use of funds and accounts 
        made available under subsection (g)(1) for the previous fiscal 
        year, including a schedule of the amounts drawn from each 
        account used to perform resource management activities 
        described in subsection (d).
            (3) A description of total acres treated, forest health 
        improvements, fire risk reductions, water yield increases, and 
        other natural resources-related benefits achieved by the 
        implementation of the resource management activities described 
        in subsection (d).
            (4) A description of the economic benefits to local 
        communities achieved by the implementation of the pilot 
        project.
            (5) A comparison of the revenues generated by, and costs 
        incurred in, the implementation of the resource management 
        activities described in subsection (d) on the Federal lands 
        included in the pilot project area with the revenues and costs 
        during each of the fiscal years 1992 through 1997 of timber 
        management of such lands before their inclusion in the pilot 
        project.
            (6) A schedule for the resource management activities to be 
        undertaken in the pilot project area during the next fiscal 
        year.
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