[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4131 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4131

 To facilitate land acquisition for the consolidation of lands located 
  within the boundaries of, or abutting the boundaries of, El Yunque 
 National Forest in Puerto Rico, and to further the protection of the 
 ecological integrity and biological diversity of the National Forest, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2012

    Mr. Pierluisi (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mrs. 
  Christensen, Ms. Bordallo, and Mr. Sablan) introduced the following 
     bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To facilitate land acquisition for the consolidation of lands located 
  within the boundaries of, or abutting the boundaries of, El Yunque 
 National Forest in Puerto Rico, and to further the protection of the 
 ecological integrity and biological diversity of the 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 ``El Yunque National Forest Preservation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY, EL YUNQUE 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 or interests in land, not in Federal ownership as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act, that--
            (1) are located within the established boundaries of El 
        Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico; or
            (2) abut the boundaries of El Yunque National Forest.
    (b) Source of Funds for Land Acquisition.--To fund the land 
acquisition authorized by subsection (a), the Secretary may use all 
amounts generated from El Yunque National Forest that are deposited in 
the National Forest Fund, except those amounts required by law to be 
paid to Puerto Rico. Amounts made available to the Secretary under this 
subsection shall remain available until expended and without further 
appropriation.
    (c) Boundary Adjustment.--To the extent the Secretary acquires land 
described in subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall adjust the 
boundaries of El Yunque National Forest to include the acquired lands. 
For purposes of section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act 
of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-9), the boundaries of El Yunque National 
Forest, as adjusted pursuant to this subsection, shall be considered to 
be boundaries of the National Forest as of January 1, 1965.
    (d) Relation to Other Land Acquisition Authority.--The creation of 
a dedicated source of funds under subsection (b) for the acquisition of 
land under subsection (a) within or abutting the boundaries of El 
Yunque National Forest shall not be construed to prohibit or limit the 
use of amounts in the Land and Water Conservation Fund to finance land 
acquisition associated with El Yunque National Forest. The land 
acquisition authority provided by subsection (a), and funds provided 
under subsection (b), are intended to supplement, and not supplant, 
other sources of funds for land acquisition associated with El Yunque 
National Forest.
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