[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1738 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1738
To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the
National Forest System.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 1, 2009
Ms. Cantwell (for herself, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Lieberman,
Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kaufman, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Webb, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Boxer,
Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Akaka, Mr.
Dodd, Mr. Burris, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Warner, Mr. Reed, Mrs.
Murray, Mrs. Hagan, Mr. Brown, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within 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 ``Roadless Area Conservation Act of
2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) In General.--Congress finds that--
(1) there is a compelling need to establish national
protection for inventoried roadless areas of the National
Forest System in order to protect the unique social and
ecological values of those irreplaceable resources;
(2) roadless areas protect healthy watersheds and their
numerous benefits including--
(A) protecting downstream communities from floods
and tempering the effects of drought;
(B) ensuring a supply of clean water for domestic,
agricultural, and industrial uses;
(C) helping maintain abundant and healthy fish and
wildlife populations and habitats;
(D) providing the setting for many forms of outdoor
recreation; and
(E) providing drinking water to millions of
citizens from the more than 354 municipal watersheds
found on roadless areas;
(3) maintaining roadless areas in a relatively undisturbed
condition--
(A) saves downstream communities millions of
dollars in water filtration costs; and
(B) is crucial to preserve the flow of affordable,
clean water to a growing population;
(4) the protection of roadless areas can maintain
biological strongholds and refuges for many imperiled species
by halting the ongoing fragmentation of the landscape into
smaller and smaller parcels of land divided by road corridors;
(5) roadless areas conserve native biodiversity by serving
as a bulwark against the spread of nonnative invasive species;
(6) roadless areas provide unparalleled opportunities for
hiking, camping, picnicking, wildlife viewing, hunting,
fishing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, mountain-biking, and
similar activities;
(7) while roadless areas may have many wilderness-like
attributes, unlike wilderness areas, the use of mechanized
means of travel is allowed in many roadless areas;
(8) roadless areas contain many sites sacred to Native
Americans and other groups that use roadless areas for
spiritual and religious retreats;
(9) from the inception of Federal land management, it has
been the mission of the Forest Service and other agencies to
manage the National Forest System for the dual purposes of
resource extraction and conservation;
(10) consistent with that dual mission, this Act--
(A) protects social and ecological values, while
allowing for many multiple uses of inventoried roadless
areas; and
(B) does not impose any limitations on the use of,
or access to National Forest System, State, or private
land outside inventoried roadless areas;
(11) establishing a consistent national policy for the
protection of inventoried roadless areas--
(A) ensures that the considerable long-term
ecological and economic benefits of protecting roadless
areas for future generations are properly considered;
(B) diminishes the likelihood of controversy at the
project level; and
(C) enables the Chief of the Forest Service to
focus on the economic and environmental benefits of
reducing hazardous fuel buildups in portions of the
landscape that already have roads;
(12) the National Fire Plan indicates that fires are almost
twice as likely to occur in roaded areas as in roadless areas,
because roadless areas are generally located further away from
communities and are harder to access;
(13) the report entitled ``Protecting People and Sustaining
Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems--A Cohesive Strategy'' (65
Fed. Reg. 67480) advocates a higher priority for fuel reduction
on land that is near communities and readily accessible
municipal watersheds;
(14) the Forest Service has an enormous backlog of
maintenance needs for the existing 386,000 mile road system of
the Forest Service that will cost millions of dollars to
eliminate;
(15) no State or private land owner would continue to build
new roads in the face of such an enormous backlog;
(16) failure to maintain forest roads--
(A) limits public access; and
(B) causes degradation of water quality and
wildlife and fish habitat; and
(17) protection of roadless areas--
(A) will impact less than 0.5 percent of the
national timber supply; and
(B) will have a negligible impact on oil and gas
production because--
(i) the entire National Forest System
provides only approximately 0.4 percent of the
quantity of oil and gas that is produced in the
United States; and
(ii) roadless areas provide only a fraction
of the quantity of oil and gas that is produced
in the National Forest System.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide, within the
context of multiple-use management, lasting protection for inventoried
roadless areas within the National Forest System.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Classified road.--
(A) In general.--The term ``classified road'' means
a road wholly or partially within, or adjacent to,
National Forest System land that is determined to be
needed for long-term motor vehicle access.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``classified road''
includes a State road, county road, privately-owned
road, National Forest System road, and any other road
authorized by the Forest Service.
(2) Inventoried roadless area.--The term ``inventoried
roadless area'' means an area identified in a roadless area
map.
(3) Responsible official.--The term ``responsible
official'' means a Forest Service line officer or employee with
the authority and responsibility to make decisions regarding
the protection and management of inventoried roadless areas
under this Act.
(4) Road.--The term ``road'' means a motor vehicle
travelway over 50 inches wide, unless designated and managed as
a trail.
(5) Road construction.--The term ``road construction''
means activity that results in the addition of classified road
or temporary road miles.
(6) Road improvement.--The term ``road improvement'' means
activity that results in--
(A) an increase of the traffic service level of an
existing road;
(B) an expansion of the capacity of the road; or
(C) a change in the original design function of the
road.
(7) Road maintenance.--The term ``road maintenance'' means
ongoing upkeep of a road necessary to retain or restore the
road in accordance with approved road management objectives.
(8) Road realignment.--The term ``road realignment'' means
an activity that results in--
(A) a new location for all or part of an existing
road; and
(B) treatment of the old roadway.
(9) Road reconstruction.--The term ``road reconstruction''
means an activity that results in improvement or realignment of
an existing classified road.
(10) Roadless area characteristics.--The term ``roadless
area characteristics'' means resources or features that are
often present in and characterize inventoried roadless areas,
including--
(A) high quality or undisturbed soil, water, and
air;
(B) sources of public drinking water;
(C) diversity of plant and animal communities;
(D) habitat for--
(i) threatened, endangered, candidate, or
sensitive species, and species proposed for
listing, under the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and
(ii) species dependent on large,
undisturbed areas of land;
(E) primitive, semiprimitive nonmotorized, and
semiprimitive motorized classes of dispersed
recreation;
(F) reference landscapes;
(G) natural appearing landscapes with high scenic
quality;
(H) traditional cultural properties and sacred
sites; and
(I) other locally identified unique
characteristics.
(11) Roadless area map.--The term ``roadless area map''
means an inventoried roadless area map that is contained in the
document entitled ``Forest Service Roadless Areas Conservation,
Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2'', dated
November 2000.
(12) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
(13) Temporary road.--The term ``temporary road'' means a
road that is--
(A) authorized by contract, permit, lease, other
written authorization, or emergency operation; and
(B) not intended to be part of the forest
transportation system and not necessary for long-term
resource management.
(14) Unclassified road.--The term ``unclassified road''
means a road on National Forest System land that is not managed
as part of the forest transportation system, including--
(A) an unplanned road, abandoned travelway, or off-
road vehicle track that has not been designated and
managed as a trail; and
(B) a road that was once under permit or other
authorization and was not decommissioned on the
termination of the authorization.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND ROAD RECONSTRUCTION IN
INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS.
(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection (b), road
construction and road reconstruction may not take place in an
inventoried roadless area of the National Forest System.
(b) Exceptions.--Road construction and road reconstruction may take
place, including through the use of appropriated funds, in an
inventoried roadless area of the National Forest System if the
responsible official determines that--
(1) a road is needed to protect public health and safety in
a case of an imminent threat of flood, fire, or other
catastrophic event that, without intervention, would cause the
loss of life or property;
(2) a road is needed to conduct--
(A) a response action under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); or
(B) a natural resource restoration action under--
(i) that Act;
(ii) section 311 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321); or
(iii) the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.);
(3) a road is needed pursuant to a reserved or outstanding
right, or as provided for by law or treaty;
(4) a road realignment is needed--
(A) to prevent irreparable resource damage that
arises from the design, location, use, or deterioration
of a classified road that cannot be mitigated by road
maintenance; and
(B) to provide for essential public or private
access, natural resource management, or public health
or safety;
(5) road reconstruction is needed to implement a road
safety improvement project on a classified road determined to
be hazardous on the basis of accident experience or accident
potential with respect to the road;
(6)(A) a Federal-aid highway project authorized under
chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is--
(i) in the public interest; or
(ii) consistent with the purposes for which the
land was reserved or acquired; and
(B) no other reasonable and prudent alternative to the
project exists; or
(7)(A) a road is needed in conjunction with--
(i) the continuation, extension, or renewal of a
mineral lease on land that is under lease by the
Secretary of the Interior as of January 12, 2001; or
(ii) the issuance of a new lease issued immediately
on the date of expiration of an existing lease
described in clause (i);
(B) road construction or road reconstruction under this
paragraph will be conducted in a manner that--
(i) minimizes the effects on surface resources;
(ii) prevents unnecessary or unreasonable surface
disturbance; and
(iii) complies with all applicable laws (including
regulations), lease requirements, and land and resource
management plan directives; and
(C) a road constructed or reconstructed under this
paragraph will be removed on the earlier of--
(i) the date on which the road is no longer needed
for the purposes of the lease; or
(ii) the date of termination or expiration of the
lease.
(c) Road Maintenance.--A classified road in an inventoried roadless
area may be maintained.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TIMBER CUTTING, SALE, OR REMOVAL IN INVENTORIED
ROADLESS AREAS.
(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection (b), timber may
not be cut, sold, or removed in an inventoried roadless area of the
National Forest System.
(b) Exceptions.--Timber may be cut, sold, or removed in an
inventoried roadless area if the responsible official determines that
the cutting, sale, or removal of the timber is expected to be
infrequent and--
(1) the cutting, sale, or removal of generally small
diameter timber--
(A) will improve or maintain 1 or more roadless
area characteristics; and
(B) is needed--
(i) to improve habitat for threatened,
endangered, candidate, or sensitive species,
and species proposed for listing, under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.); or
(ii) to maintain or restore the
characteristics of ecosystem composition and
structure, such as to reduce the risk of
uncharacteristic wildfire effects, within the
range of variability that would be expected to
occur under a natural disturbance regime of the
current climatic period;
(2) the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is incidental
to the implementation of a management activity not otherwise
prohibited by this Act;
(3) the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is needed and
appropriate for personal or administrative use, in accordance
with part 223 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations; or
(4) roadless characteristics have been substantially
altered in a portion of an inventoried roadless area as a
result of the construction of a classified road and subsequent
timber harvest, if--
(A) the road construction and subsequent timber
harvest occurred after the area was designated an
inventoried roadless area and before January 12, 2001;
and
(B) timber is cut, sold, or removed only in the
substantially altered portion of the inventoried
roadless area.
SEC. 6. MODIFICATIONS TO ROADLESS AREA MAPS.
(a) Authority of Secretary.--The Secretary may make 1 or more
modifications to a roadless area map to improve the accuracy or
inclusiveness of the roadless area map.
(b) Requirements.--In modifying a roadless area map under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) make the modification in accordance with the National
Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); and
(2) to evaluate the effect of the modification, prepare an
environmental impact statement or similar analysis required
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).
SEC. 7. SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY.
(a) Effect.--This Act does not--
(1) revoke, suspend, or modify any permit, contract, or
other legal instrument authorizing the occupancy and use of
National Forest System land issued or entered into before
January 12, 2001;
(2) compel the amendment or revision of any land and
resource management plan;
(3) revoke, suspend, or modify any decision concerning any
project or activity made before January 12, 2001; or
(4) apply to road construction, reconstruction, or the
cutting, sale, or removal of timber in an inventoried roadless
area of the Tongass National Forest if a notice of availability
of a draft environmental impact statement for such activity has
been published in the Federal Register before January 12, 2001.
(b) Limitation on Revision.--The prohibitions and restrictions
established in this Act are not subject to reconsideration, revision,
or rescission in any subsequent project decision or amendment or
revision to any land and resource management plan carried out in
accordance with section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604).
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