[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3501 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3501

   To promote and appropriately recognize the role of volunteers and 
   partnership organizations in the stewardship of the resources and 
 values of Federal lands administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 
       and the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 1999

    Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Udall of New Mexico) 
 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 promote and appropriately recognize the role of volunteers and 
   partnership organizations in the stewardship of the resources and 
 values of Federal lands administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 
       and the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Stewardship 
Education, Recreation, and Volunteers for the Environment Act of 
1999''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings, purposes, and definitions.
Sec. 3. Use of volunteers to perform services to benefit Federal lands.
Sec. 4. Recognition of volunteers.
Sec. 5. Cooperative agreements for stewardship of Federal lands.
Sec. 6. Educational outreach.
Sec. 7. Reports and accountability.
Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Lands owned by the United States and managed by the 
        Federal land management agencies encompass extensive natural, 
        cultural, educational, scientific, ecological, wilderness, 
        recreational and other resources and values.
            (2) Proper stewardship of these resources and values is an 
        important national priority.
            (3) Individual volunteers and organizations, working in 
        partnership with Federal land management agencies, play an 
        invaluable role in the stewardship of these resources and 
        values.
            (4) It is in the national interest to encourage and 
        properly recognize the contributions of these volunteers and 
        organizations.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to encourage individual volunteers and partnership 
        organizations to assist the Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture in implementing programs for the 
        stewardship of the resources, values, and facilities of the 
        Federal lands managed by the Federal land management agencies; 
        and
            (2) to authorize appropriate recognition for the role of 
        volunteers and partnership organizations in providing such 
        assistance.
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Federal lands.--The term ``Federal lands'' means--
                    (A) lands owned by the United States and managed by 
                Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture; and
                    (B) lands owned by the United States and managed by 
                a Federal land management agency of the Department of 
                the Interior.
            (2) Federal land management agency.--The term ``Federal 
        land management agency'' means the Bureau of Land Management, 
        the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park 
        Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Forest Service.
            (3) Partnership organization.--the term ``partnership 
        organization'' means an organization that--
                    (A) draws its membership from private individuals, 
                organizations, corporations, academic institutions, or 
                State and local governments;
                    (B) is established to promote the understanding and 
                conservation of the natural, recreational, and cultural 
                resources of Federal lands and to promote education 
                relating to these natural and cultural resources; and
                    (C) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the 
                Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 
                taxation under section 501(a) of that Code.
            (4) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Federal 
        lands described in paragraph (1)(B) and the Secretary of 
        Agriculture with respect to the Federal lands described in 
        paragraph (1)(A).
            (5) Volunteer.--The term ``volunteer'' means an individual 
        or member of a partnership organization who performs volunteer 
        services pursuant to section 3(a).

SEC. 3. USE OF VOLUNTEERS TO PERFORM SERVICES TO BENEFIT FEDERAL LANDS.

    (a) Authority To Use Volunteers.--The Secretary concerned may 
recruit, train, and accept the services of individuals and partnership 
organizations, without compensation, as volunteers to supplement the 
work of employees of each Federal land management agency in performing 
activities for the benefit of Federal lands. The Secretary concerned 
may recruit, train, and accept volunteers without regard to--
            (1) the provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating 
        to appointments in the competitive service; or
            (2) chapter 51 or subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 
        United States Code, relating to classification and General 
        Schedule pay rates for employees.
    (b) General Status of Volunteers Under Federal Employment Law.--
Except as provided in subsection (c), a volunteer shall not--
            (1) be considered to be a Federal employee; and
            (2) be subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal 
        employment, including provisions relating to hours of work, 
        rates of compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, and 
        Federal employee benefits.
    (c) Limited Status of Volunteers as Federal Employees.--
            (1) Federal tort claims act.--For purposes of chapter 171 
        of title 28, United States Code, a volunteer (and the 
        partnership organization, if any, that provided the volunteer) 
        shall be considered to be an employee of the Government (as 
        defined in section 2671 of that title) while performing 
        volunteer services pursuant to subsection (a).
            (2) Compensation for work injuries.--For purposes of 
        subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, a 
        volunteer shall be considered to be an employee (as defined in 
        section 8101 of title 5, United States Code).

SEC. 4. RECOGNITION OF VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) Volunteer Passports Program.--The Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting jointly, shall establish a program 
to be known as the ``Volunteer Passports Program'', to appropriately 
recognize the contributions of volunteers who complete specified hours 
of volunteer service for a Federal land management agency.
    (b) Uniformity.--The Volunteer Passports Program shall apply 
uniformly to each Federal land management agency.
    (c) Classes of Passports.--
            (1) Award and purpose.--The Volunteer Passports Program 
        shall provide for the award of various classes of Volunteer 
        Passports to volunteers. The passport shall entitle the 
        volunteer to exemption, for a specified period of time, from 
        one or more fees charged for access to or use of facilities on 
        lands managed by one or more Federal land management agencies 
        in one or more States.
            (2) Classes and benefits based on hours of volunteer 
        services.--The award of a particular class of Volunteer 
        Passport to a volunteer shall reflect completion by the 
        volunteer of a specified number of hours of volunteer service, 
        so that completion of additional hours shall result in 
        exemption from additional fees.
    (d) Progress Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report concerning the steps 
taken to implement this section and any steps remaining to be taken to 
complete its implementation.

SEC. 5. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR STEWARDSHIP OF FEDERAL LANDS.

    (a) Authority to Enter Into Agreements.--The Secretary concerned 
may enter into cooperative agreements (within the meaning of chapter 63 
of title 31, United States Code) with any partnership organization, 
academic institution, or State or local government agency to carry out 
one or more projects or programs of cooperation with a Federal land 
management agency in accordance with this section.
    (b) Authorized Projects and Programs.--Subject to subsection (c), 
the Secretary concerned may carry out the following types of projects 
and programs for the Federal lands using a cooperative agreement under 
subsection (a):
            (1) Projects and programs that promote the stewardship of 
        resources of Federal lands by volunteers.
            (2) Projects and programs that support the programs of a 
        Federal land management agency through constructing, operating, 
        maintaining, or improving educational and recreational 
        facilities and services.
            (3) Projects and programs that increase awareness and 
        understanding of Federal lands through the development, 
publication, or distribution of educational materials and products.
            (4) Projects and programs that advance education concerning 
        the Federal lands and the missions of the Federal land 
        management agencies through the use of the Federal lands as 
        outdoor classrooms and development of other educational 
        programs.
            (5) Projects and programs that contribute financial 
        resources to the Federal lands, under terms that require that 
        the net revenues be used exclusively for volunteer or 
        educational programs at a particular field office, program, 
        site, or project.
    (c) Conditions on Use of Authority.--The Secretary concerned may 
use a cooperative agreement under subsection (a) to carry out a project 
or program for the Federal lands only if the project or program--
            (1) complies with all Federal laws and all Federal rules, 
        regulations, and policies;
            (2) is consistent with the applicable management plan for 
        the Federal lands involved; and
            (3) satisfies such other terms and conditions as the 
        Secretary concerned determines to be appropriate.
    (d) Federal Funding and Ownership.--
            (1) Matching.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations and the requirements of applicable laws, the 
        Secretary concerned may provide funds to match non-Federal 
        funds (and the value of services or materials) donated under a 
        cooperative agreement under this section. With respect to each 
        project, program, or site, the amount of funds provided by a 
        Secretary may not exceed the amount of the non-Federal 
        donations.
            (2) Use of federal funds.--Any Federal funds used to fund a 
        project or program under a cooperative agreement may be used 
        only for expenses directly related to the project or program 
        and may not be used for operation or administration of any non-
        Federal entity.
            (3) Ownership of facilities.--Any new facility, improvement 
        to an existing facility, or other permanent improvement to a 
        Federal lands site or project constructed under this section 
        shall be the property of the United States.
    (e) Treasury Account.--Amounts received by the Secretary concerned 
for use in connection with projects and programs conducted under the 
authority of this section shall be deposited in a separate account in 
the Treasury and shall be available for such use without further 
congressional action. Amounts in the account that are attributable to 
activities at a particular field office or site shall be available to 
pay the costs of incidental expenses related to volunteer or 
educational activities and to carry out cooperative agreements for that 
office or site.

SEC. 6. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH.

    In implementing this Act and other applicable laws, each Federal 
land management agency shall seek to cooperate with States, local 
school districts, and other entities--
            (1) to promote participation by students and other young 
        people in volunteer programs of the Federal land management 
        agencies;
            (2) to promote greater understanding by students and other 
        young people of the resources and values of Federal lands and 
        the importance of proper stewardship of those resources and 
        values; and
            (3) to provide information and assistance to students and 
        other young people with an interest in careers with a Federal 
        land management agency or other organizations concerned with 
        the management of natural or cultural resources.

SEC. 7. REPORTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

    After submission of the report required by section 4(d), the 
progress and results of all programs and activities authorized under 
this Act shall be reported through existing agency mechanisms, 
including budget-related documents.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act during fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
                                 <all>