[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DESIGNATING ADMINISTRATION OF LAKE TAHOE BASIN NATIONAL FOREST TO 
                        SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2122) to designate the Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest in 
the States of California and Nevada to be administered by the Secretary 
of Agriculture, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2122

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       There is hereby designated in the States of California and 
     Nevada the Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest to be 
     administered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a unit of the 
     National Forest System subject to the laws, rules, and 
     regulations applicable to the National Forest System.

     SEC. 2. BOUNDARIES.

       (a) The Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest shall comprise 
     those lands designated as the Lake Tahoe Basin Management 
     Unit in the Federal Register notice dated January 13, 1978 
     (43 F.R. 1971) and any lands subsequently added to the Unit.
       (b) For the purposes of section 7 of the Land and 
     Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601-9), the 
     exterior boundary of the Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest 
     established by this Act shall be treated as if it were the 
     boundary as of January 1, 1965.
       (c) The boundaries of the Tahoe, Eldorado, Toiyabe National 
     Forests are hereby modified to exclude those lands with the 
     boundaries of the Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest.
       (d) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make 
     corrections or adjustments in the boundaries of the Tahoe, 
     Eldorado, Toiyabe, and Lake Tahoe Basin National Forests for 
     administrative purposes.

     SEC. 3. LAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING.

       (a) The Land and Resource Management Plan for the Lake 
     Tahoe Basin Management Unit dated December 2, 1988, shall 
     constitute the land management plan required by section 6 of 
     the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
     1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 
     1976 (16 U.S.C. 1604).
       (b) Nothing in this Act shall require the Forest Service to 
     amend or revise--
       (1) the land and resource management plan dated December 2, 
     1988, or its associated environmental impact statement, or to 
     prepare a new plan or associated environmental impact 
     statement; or
       (2) any draft or final land and resource management plan or 
     associated environmental impact statement for the Tahoe, 
     Eldorado or Toiyabe National Forests.

     SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

       (a) Any reference to the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 
     in any existing statute, regulation, manual, handbook, or 
     otherwise shall be deemed a reference to the Lake Tahoe Basin 
     National Forest.
       (b) Nothing in this Act shall affect--
       (1) any provisions of Public Law 96-551 (94 Stat. 3233), 
     giving Congressional consent to the Tahoe Planning Compact;
       (2) any provisions of Public Law 96-586 (94 Stat. 3381), an 
     Act to provide disposal of certain Federal lands in the Lake 
     Tahoe Basin, commonly called the Burton-Santini Act; or
       (3) valid existing rights of persons holding any 
     authorization, permit, option or other form of contract 
     existing on the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Notwithstanding the distribution requirements of 
     payments under the Act of May 23, 1908 (Ch. 192, 35 Stat. 
     251, as amended), distribution of receipts from the Eldorado, 
     Tahoe, Toiyabe, and Lake Tahoe Basin National Forests shall 
     be based upon the National Forest boundaries that existed 
     prior to enactment of this Act, as though the Lake Tahoe 
     Basin National Forest does not exist.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Doolittle] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle].
  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2122, sponsored by Mrs. 
Vucanovich of Nevada, which would change the designation of the Lake 
Tahoe Basin Management Unit to the Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest.
  The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is made up of portions of three 
national forests, including the Tahoe and Eldorado National Forests in 
California and the Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada. Since 1973, the 
Forest Service has administered these lands--approximately 152,000 
acres--as a single management unit. A land management plan for the unit 
was adopted by the agency in 1988.
  H.R. 2122 would not change the way the lands are managed. The bill 
was amended by the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands to 
ensure that the designation encompasses all lands included in the 
management unit since it was established in 1973, as requested by the 
administration and agreed to by Mrs. Vucanovich. The administration 
supports the bill in its current form, and the Forest Service supported 
similar legislation in the 102d Congress.
  I urge the Members of the House to approve this commonsense measure 
that will clarify the designation of the national forests in the Lake 
Tahoe Basin.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we support this legislation, and the administration 
supports it.
  H.R. 2122 designates a new national forest, the Lake Tahoe Basin 
National Forest, from lands within the Tahoe, Eldorado, and Toiyobe 
National Forests. Currently the lands, which total about 152,000 acres, 
are designated as the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and administered 
as a separate unit within the three existing national forests in the 
area.
  The administration supports the bill and we have no objection to its 
consideration. H.R. 2122 is a name change only, it will not alter how 
these lands are managed.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill. I have no 
further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2122, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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