[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 937 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 937

    To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to 
   authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative 
   agreements with States to provide for State management of grazing 
                          permits and leases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 14, 2015

   Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to 
   authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative 
   agreements with States to provide for State management of grazing 
                          permits and leases.

    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 ``State Grazing Management Authority 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE SECRETARY 
              OF THE INTERIOR AND THE STATES.

    Section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1752) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Cooperative Agreements With States.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Cooperative agreement.--The term `cooperative 
                agreement' means a cooperative agreement entered into 
                under paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Eligible federal land.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `eligible 
                        Federal land' means public land that is subject 
                        to a grazing permit or lease issued by the 
                        Bureau.
                            ``(ii) Exclusion.--The term `eligible 
                        Federal land' does not include--
                                    ``(I) a unit of the National 
                                Wilderness Preservation System; or
                                    ``(II) an area of critical 
                                environmental concern.
                    ``(C) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the 
                Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director 
                of the Bureau.
            ``(2) Authorization.--At the request of the Governor of a 
        State, the Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement 
        with the State to provide for State management of grazing 
        allotments on eligible Federal land in the State, subject to 
        this subsection.
            ``(3) Maximum number of grazing allotments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), not more than 2 grazing allotments 
                may be managed by any one State at any one time under 
                this subsection.
                    ``(B) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                limitation under subparagraph (A) with respect to a 
                State if the Secretary determines a waiver to be 
                appropriate.
            ``(4) NEPA authority.--A cooperative agreement shall 
        include the assignment of the responsibilities of the Secretary 
        under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
        4321 et seq.) to the State with respect to the grazing 
        allotments managed under that paragraph, including the 
        responsibility for determining whether the following actions 
        with respect to the grazing allotments qualify for a 
        categorical exclusion under that Act:
                    ``(A) The conduct of vegetation projects.
                    ``(B) The conduct of pinyon or juniper treatments.
                    ``(C) Determinations with respect to the number of 
                permitted animal unit months.
            ``(5) Term.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A cooperative agreement shall be 
                for a term of 20 years.
                    ``(B) Renewal.--If the Secretary and State agree to 
                a renewal of a cooperative agreement, the cooperative 
                agreement may be renewed for an additional 20-year 
                term.
            ``(6) Applicable law.--In managing grazing allotments under 
        paragraph (2), a State shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) this Act; and
                    ``(B) any other applicable Federal law (including 
                regulations).
            ``(7) Resolution of disputes.--
                    ``(A) Authority of the interior board of land 
                appeals.--Nothing in this subsection provides to the 
                Interior Board of Land Appeals authority to hear a case 
                with respect to a decision relating to a grazing 
                allotment managed by the State under paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) State dispute resolution process.--A 
                cooperative agreement shall provide for the development 
                of a process by the State to resolve disputes relating 
                to a decision by the State with respect to a grazing 
                allotment managed by the State under the cooperative 
                agreement.''.
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