[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1477 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1477

   To make funds generated from the Caribbean National Forest in the 
 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico available to the Secretary of Agriculture 
 for land acquisition intended to protect the integrity of the buffer 
zone surrounding the Caribbean National Forest, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 25, 2005

 Mr. Martinez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To make funds generated from the Caribbean National Forest in the 
 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico available to the Secretary of Agriculture 
 for land acquisition intended to protect the integrity of the buffer 
zone surrounding the Caribbean National Forest, 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 ``Caribbean National Forest 
Preservation Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Pressures of increasing population densities and 
        development are evident in the areas surrounding the boundaries 
        of the Caribbean National Forest in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico.
            (2) While portions of the Caribbean National Forest are 
        already in close proximity to highly populated urban areas, 
        lands adjacent to the National Forest in the northeastern part 
        of the Commonwealth are the focus for future housing and 
        tourism developments.
            (3) Given these development pressures, the Secretary of 
        Agriculture needs to promptly implement a program of land 
        acquisition to consolidate the management and buffer the urban 
        development to the Caribbean National Forest.
            (4) Potential tracts of land for acquisition have already 
        been identified and prioritized in a ten-year acquisition plan 
        that is included in the land and resource management plan for 
        the Caribbean National Forest.
            (5) The Secretary needs a reliable source of funds to 
        support the needed land acquisition.

SEC. 3. LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY, CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST, PUERTO 
              RICO.

    (a) Authority to Acquire Lands.--The Secretary of Agriculture is 
authorized to acquire, by donation or purchase from willing sellers, 
tracts of land intended to assist in the consolidation of lands within 
or adjacent to the boundaries of the Caribbean National Forest in the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    (b) Source of Funds for Land Acquisition.--To fund the land 
acquisition authorized by subsection (a), the Secretary may use all 
amounts generated from the Caribbean National Forest that would, but 
for this subsection, be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the 
Treasury of the United States, but not including amounts authorized by 
law for payments to the Commonwealth or authorized by law for retention 
by the Secretary for any other purpose. Amounts made available under 
this subsection shall be available to the Secretary until expended and 
without further appropriation.
    (c) Boundary Adjustments.--The Secretary shall adjust the 
boundaries of the Caribbean National Forest to include lands acquired 
under subsection (a). For purposes of section 7 of the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-9), the boundaries of the 
Caribbean National Forest, as adjusted pursuant to this subsection, 
shall be considered to be boundaries of the National Forest as of 
January 1, 1965.
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