II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2791 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 18, 2009 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to grant economy-related contract extensions of a certain timber contracts between the Secretary of the Interior and timber purchasers, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Forest Harvest Opportunity Act.

2.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Economy-related contract extension

The term economy-related contract extension means the addition of 3 years to the expiration date of a qualifying contract for the right to cut and remove timber. (2)

Qualifying contract

The term qualifying contract means a contract, executed on or before December 31, 2008, for the sale of timber from land administered by the Bureau of Land Management— (A)for which there is unharvested volume remaining; (B)for which, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the timber purchaser makes a written request to the Secretary for an economy-related contract extension; and (C)that has not been terminated prior to the request for an economy-related contract extension under section 3(a). (3)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. (4)

Timber purchaser

The term timber purchaser means the party to the qualifying contract for the sale of timber from land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

3.

Economy-related contract extensions

(a)

Request

Not later than 30 days after a timber purchaser requests an economy-related contract extension of a qualifying contract between the Secretary and the timber purchaser, the Secretary shall modify the qualifying contract to add 3 years to the contract expiration date. (b)

Waiver of claims as of extension

The timber purchaser shall waive any and all claims the timber purchaser has against the United States involving the qualifying contract that exist on the date that the Secretary modifies the qualifying contract under subsection (a). (c)

Claims prior to date of extension

Nothing in this Act affects any claim by the United States against any timber purchaser, including claims that arose under a qualifying contract before the date on which the Secretary extends the contract expiration date under subsection (a).