[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3032-H3033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        GRANITE WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT AND PROTECTION ACT OF 1998

  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2886) to provide for a demonstration project in the 
Stanislaus National Forest, California, under which a private 
contractor will perform multiple resource management activities for 
that unit of the National Forest system, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2886

       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 ``Granite Watershed 
     Enhancement and Protection Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROJECT, STANISLAUS 
                   NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA, TO ENHANCE AND 
                   PROTECT THE GRANITE WATERSHED.

       (a) Resource Management Contract Authorized.--The Secretary 
     of Agriculture may enter into a contract with a single 
     private contractor to perform multiple resource management 
     activities on Federal lands within the Stanislaus National 
     Forest in the State of California for the purpose of 
     demonstrating enhanced ecosystem health and water quality, 
     and significantly reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, 
     in the Granite watershed at a reduced cost to the Government. 
     The contract shall be for a term of five years.
       (b) Authorized Management Activities.--The types of 
     resource management activities performed under the contract 
     shall include the following:
       (1) Reduction of forest fuel loads through the use of 
     precommercial and commercial thinning and prescribed burns.
       (2) Monitoring of ecosystem health and water quality in the 
     Granite watershed.
       (3) Monitoring of the presence of wildlife in the area in 
     which management activities are performed and the effect of 
     the activities on wildlife presence.
       (4) Such other resource management activities as the 
     Secretary considers appropriate to demonstrate enhanced 
     ecosystem health and water quality in the Granite watershed.
       (c) Compliance With Federal Law and Spotted Owl 
     Guidelines.--All resource management activities performed 
     under the contract shall be performed in a manner consistent 
     with applicable Federal law and the standards and guidelines 
     for the conservation of the California spotted owl (as set 
     forth in the California Spotted Owl Sierran Province Interim 
     Guidelines or the subsequently issued final guidelines, 
     whichever is in effect).
       (d) Funding.--
       (1) Sources of funds.--To provide funds for the resource 
     management activities to be performed under the contract, the 
     Secretary may use--
       (A) funds appropriated to carry out this section;
       (B) funds specifically provided to the Forest Service to 
     implement projects to demonstrate enhanced water quality and 
     protect aquatic and upland resources;
       (C) excess funds that are allocated for the administration 
     and management of the Stanislaus National Forest, California;
       (D) hazardous fuels reduction funds allocated for Region 5 
     of the Forest Service; and
       (E) a contract provision allowing the cost of performing 
     authorized management activities described in subsection (b) 
     to be offset by the values owed to the United States for any 
     forest products removed by the contractor.
       (2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--Except as 
     provided in paragraph (1), the Secretary may not carry out 
     the contract using funds appropriated for any other unit of 
     the National Forest System.
       (3) Conditions on funds transfers.--Any transfer of funds 
     under paragraph (1) may be made only in accordance with the 
     procedures concerning notice to, and review by, the Committee 
     on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Appropriations of the Senate that are applied by 
     the Secretary in the case of a transfer of funds between 
     appropriations.
       (e) Acceptance and Use of State Funds.--The Secretary may 
     accept and use funds provided by the State of California to 
     assist in the implementation of the contract under this 
     section.
       (f) Reporting Requirements.--Not later than February 28 of 
     each year during the term of the contract, the Secretary 
     shall submit to Congress a report describing--
       (1) the resource management activities performed under the 
     contract during the period covered by the report;
       (2) the source and amount of funds used under subsection 
     (d) to carry out the contract; and
       (3) the resource management activities to be performed 
     under the contract during the calendar year in which the 
     report is submitted.
       (g) Relationship to Other Laws.--Nothing in this section 
     exempts the contract, or resource management activities to be 
     performed under the contract, from any Federal environmental 
     law.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth).
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mrs. CHENOWETH asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, the Granite Watershed Enhancement and 
Protection Act is an excellent bill that will enable the Forest Service 
to accomplish multiple resource objectives aimed at reducing fire risk 
and improving water quality under a single contract. H.R. 2886 provides 
for a pilot project on approximately 8,000 acres of National Forest 
land located in and around the 1993 Granite Burn on the Groveland 
District of the Stanislaus National Forest.
  Major meadow restoration, thinning, fuels reductions and road 
maintenance work is needed in order to improve watershed and runoff 
conditions for this river canyon. Current law does not allow the Forest 
Service to offer such a multiple services contract. The legislation 
provides the necessary authority, and specifies that the project will 
be subject to all applicable environmental rules and standards.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Doolittle), for his work on this bill. He has done an admirable 
job in moving the bill forward with the support of the administration. 
The legislation reported by the Committee on Resources includes 
language requested by the administration to clarify the contracting 
authority, and it addresses concerns that were raised by the 
environmental community in the district of the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Doolittle). The meadow restoration, the thinning, the 
fuels reduction and road maintenance work authorized by the bill will 
greatly improve the conditions of the Granite watershed.
  Now, 25 years after the Granite fire, I urge my colleagues to give 
their support to H.R. 2886, so that this much-needed work can finally 
be done.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Idaho 
(Mrs. Chenoweth) for her management of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill which is sponsored by my 
good

[[Page H3033]]

friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle). The Forest 
Service has requested the contracting authority set forth in this 
legislation in order to more efficiently manage a restoration project 
on 8,000 acres of land in the Granite Creek watershed of the Stanislaus 
National Forest in California.
  The details of the restoration work to be conducted pursuant to the 
contract authorized by this bill will be determined after a public 
process in compliance with NEPA. It is our understanding that the 
Forest Service is contemplating restoration activities such as 
thinning, controlled burning and road decommissioning in order to 
improve forest conditions and water quality in the Granite watershed.
  The legislation also provides that funds from the State of 
California, including CALFED funds, may also be used by the Forest 
Service to support these restoration activities in a watershed which is 
part of the Bay-Delta system.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize that this bill provides for 
consolidated contract authority which is limited to the specific test 
projects in California, but we on the minority side of the aisle are 
not prepared to conclude that such authority is necessary or desirable 
on a nationwide basis. It remains to be seen whether a single contract 
will result in more efficient and effective restoration work, and we 
would anticipate continued oversight concerning implementation of this, 
should it be enacted into law.
  The Forest Service has testified before the Committee on Resources in 
support of consolidated contracting authority for the Granite Creek 
project. They are satisfied with the bill's text as reported by the 
committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Doolittle).
  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. 
Chenoweth), our chairman, and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) for their kind remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, as has been indicated, will allow the 
Forest Service to develop a resource management contract that evaluates 
the landscape as a whole rather than, as is present practice, in 
individual pieces, by streamlining the government contracting process 
and reducing staff time spent developing a project, thereby saving 
taxpayer dollars.
  H.R. 2886 will provide the Forest Service with new innovative 
contracting authority for the purpose of developing a comprehensive 
land management contract for the Granite area. Conceptually, the 
proposed project seeks to combine management activities, like forest 
thinning, with road maintenance, wildlife monitoring, and repair and 
maintenance, to improve erosion and runoff conditions.
  This bill would allow the Forest Service to use the revenue generated 
from the sale of commercial timber to offset the cost of conducting 
nonrevenue producing watershed improvement work.
  Existing Federal contracting authority prohibits the Forest Service 
from offering a contract that bundles multiple resource activities 
under one umbrella. While a combination of forest thinning and repair 
and restoration work might be needed in an area to improve forest 
health conditions, existing law requires the Forest Service to offer 
separate contracts for this type of work.
  These limitations often result in tremendous duplication of effort by 
staff, unnecessary paperwork and higher preparation costs at the 
expense of the taxpayer. In the end, the result is an overly 
bureaucratic process that prevents the Forest Service from developing a 
project that evaluates the landscape as a whole. This bill alters this 
dynamic by allowing the Forest Service the opportunity to accomplish a 
greater amount of resource work by simply streamlining the contracting 
process.
  H.R. 2886 looks to meet both environmental and commercial needs by 
using a stewardship approach to managing our Federal lands and 
watersheds. By allowing the Forest Service to implement a project that 
saves taxpayer dollars, reduces the risks of catastrophic wildfire and 
improves the quality of water flowing through our forest streams, this 
project will serve as a learning model of how to coordinate and gain 
efficiency in multipurpose restoration of forested watersheds.
  Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation passed unanimously out of 
the Committee on Resources, and, as was indicated, it is supported by 
the administration.
  H.R. 2886 includes language that clarifies stewardship contracting 
authorities of the Forest Service and addresses concerns raised by the 
environmental community. I would ask for the support of my colleagues, 
and urge them to pass this legislation today.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, again I commend the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Doolittle) for his sponsorship of this legislation. I also want to 
commend the gentleman from California for his pronunciation of my 
district. It is not ``Somalia,'' it is not ``Sam-o-a,'' it is ``Sa-
moa.'' I really appreciate that.
  Again, I thank the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) for her 
management of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, 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 
gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2886, 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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