[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2875 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2875

To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct 
       of projects that protect forests, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2005

    Mr. Walden of Oregon (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 Committees on Agriculture and 
Education and the Workforce, 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 amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct 
       of projects that protect forests, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Lands Corps Healthy Forests 
Restoration Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT OF 1993.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 203 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 
(16 U.S.C. 1722) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), and (11) as 
        paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and (13), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
            ``(8) Priority project.--The term `priority project' means 
        an appropriate conservation project conducted on eligible 
        service lands to further 1 or more of the purposes of the 
        Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et 
        seq.), as follows:
                    ``(A) To reduce wildfire risk to a community, 
                municipal water supply, or other at-risk Federal land.
                    ``(B) To protect a watershed or address a threat to 
                forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic 
                wildfire.
                    ``(C) To address the impact of insect or disease 
                infestations or other damaging agents on forest and 
                rangeland health.
                    ``(D) To protect, restore, or enhance forest 
                ecosystem components to--
                            ``(i) promote the recovery of threatened or 
                        endangered species;
                            ``(ii) improve biological diversity; or
                            ``(iii) enhance productivity and carbon 
                        sequestration.''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as redesignated by 
        paragraph (1)) the following:
            ``(12) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means--
                    ``(A) with respect to National Forest System land, 
                the Secretary of Agriculture; and
                    ``(B) with respect to Indian lands, Hawaiian home 
                lands, or land administered by the Department of the 
                Interior, the Secretary of the Interior.''.
    (b) Qualified Youth or Conservation Corps.--Section 204(c) of the 
Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture are'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Preference.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For purposes of entering into 
                contracts and cooperative agreements under paragraph 
                (1), the Secretary may give preference to qualified 
                youth or conservation corps located in a specific area 
                that have a substantial portion of members who are 
                economically, physically, or educationally 
                disadvantaged to carry out projects within the area.
                    ``(B) Priority projects.--In carrying out priority 
                projects in a specific area, the Secretary shall, to 
                the maximum extent practicable, give preference to 
                qualified youth or conservation corps located in that 
                specific area that have a substantial portion of 
                members who are economically, physically, or 
                educationally disadvantaged.''.
    (c) Conservation Projects.--Section 204(d) of the Public Lands 
Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723(d)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary of the Interior and 
                the Secretary of Agriculture may each'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may''; and
                    (B) by striking ``such Secretary'' and inserting 
                ``the Secretary'';
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``Appropriate 
        conservation'' and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Projects on indian lands.--Appropriate 
        conservation''; and
            (3) by striking the third sentence and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(3) Disaster prevention or relief projects.--The 
        Secretary may authorize appropriate conservation projects and 
        other appropriate projects to be carried out on Federal, State, 
        local, or private land as part of a Federal disaster prevention 
        or relief effort.''.
    (d) Conservation Centers and Program Support.--Section 205 of the 
Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1724) is amended--
            (1) by striking the heading and inserting the following:

``SEC. 205. CONSERVATION CENTERS AND PROGRAM SUPPORT.'';

            (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Establishment and Use.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may establish and use 
        conservation centers owned and operated by the Secretary for--
                    ``(A) use by the Public Lands Corps; and
                    ``(B) the conduct of appropriate conservation 
                projects under this title.
            ``(2) Assistance for conservation centers.--The Secretary 
        may provide to a conservation center established under 
        paragraph (1) any services, facilities, equipment, and supplies 
        that the Secretary determines to be necessary for the 
        conservation center.
            ``(3) Standards for conservation centers.--The Secretary 
        shall--
                    ``(A) establish basic standards of health, 
                nutrition, sanitation, and safety for all conservation 
                centers established under paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) ensure that the standards established under 
                subparagraph (A) are enforced.
            ``(4) Management.--As the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate, the Secretary may enter into a contract or other 
        appropriate arrangement with a State or local government agency 
        or private organization to provide for the management of a 
        conservation center.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Assistance.--The Secretary may provide any services, 
facilities, equipment, supplies, technical assistance, oversight, 
monitoring, or evaluations that are appropriate to carry out this 
title.''.
    (e) Living Allowances and Terms of Service.--Section 207 of the 
Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1726) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Living Allowances.--The Secretary shall provide each 
participant in the Public Lands Corps and each resource assistant with 
a living allowance in an amount established by the Secretary.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Hiring.--The Secretary may--
            ``(1) grant to a member of the Public Lands Corps credit 
        for time served with the Public Lands Corps, which may be used 
        toward future Federal hiring; and
            ``(2) provide to a former member of the Public Lands Corps 
        noncompetitive hiring status for a period of not more than 120 
        days after the date on which the member's service with the 
        Public Lands Corps is complete.''.
    (f) Funding.--The Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 is amended--
            (1) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729), by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(c) Other Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations under section 211 are in addition to 
amounts allocated to the Public Lands Corps through other Federal 
programs or projects.''; and
            (2) by inserting after section 210 the following:

``SEC. 211. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this title $15,000,000 for each fiscal year, of which $10,000,000 
is authorized to carry out priority projects.
    ``(b) Availability of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, amounts appropriated for any fiscal year to carry out this 
title shall remain available for obligation and expenditure until the 
end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the amounts 
are appropriated.''.
    (g) Conforming Amendments.--The Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 is 
amended--
            (1) in section 204 (16 U.S.C. 1723)--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in the first sentence, by striking 
                        ``Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of 
                        Agriculture'' and inserting ``Secretary'';
                            (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 
                        ``Secretaries'' and inserting ``Secretary''; 
                        and
                            (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 
                        ``Secretaries'' and inserting ``Secretary''; 
                        and
                    (B) in subsection (e), by striking ``Secretary of 
                the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture'' and 
                inserting ``Secretary'';
            (2) in section 205 (16 U.S.C. 1724)--
                    (A) in subsection (b), by striking ``Secretary of 
                the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture'' and 
                inserting ``Secretary''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c), by striking ``Secretary of 
                the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture'' and 
                inserting ``Secretary'';
            (3) in section 206 (16 U.S.C. 1725)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in the first sentence--
                                    (I) by striking ``Secretary of the 
                                Interior and the Secretary of 
                                Agriculture are each'' and inserting 
                                ``Secretary is''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``such Secretary'' 
                                and inserting ``the Secretary'';
                            (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 
                        ``Secretaries'' and inserting ``Secretary''; 
                        and
                            (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 
                        ``Secretaries'' and inserting ``Secretary''; 
                        and
                    (B) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by 
                striking ``Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 
                of Agriculture'' and inserting ``the Secretary''; and
            (4) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
                        of Agriculture are each'' and inserting 
                        ``Secretary is''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 
                        ``Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
                        of Agriculture are each'' and inserting 
                        ``Secretary is''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``Secretary of 
                the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture'' and 
                inserting ``Secretary''.
                                 <all>