[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 52 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3918-S3920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL, of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Bennet):
  S. 720. A bill to provide a source of funds to carry out restoration 
activities on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of 
the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I am today introducing a bill 
to provide additional resources for use by the Federal land-managing 
agencies to restore lands damaged as a result of legal violations and 
to promote public education about the use of the Federal lands. This 
bill is similar to one I introduced in the U.S. House of 
Representatives in the 110th Congress, H.R. 1463. I would like to thank 
Sen. Bennet for joining me as a cosponsor.
  The large majority of people who use and enjoy our national public 
lands respect those lands and facilities and do not deliberately damage 
them. They abide by our laws and regulations that

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are designed to preserve and protect these lands and facilities for 
future generations to enjoy and appreciate. Unfortunately, there are 
some who violate those laws and regulations and in so doing damage the 
lands and facilities. Violators who are caught can face fines and 
penalties. This bill would direct the Federal public land agencies to 
apply the funds collected as fines to help restore the lands and 
facilities that may have been damaged due to the violations.
  The purpose of this bill is to assist the land-managing agencies--the 
Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the Fish and 
Wildlife Service in the Interior Department as well as the Forest 
Service in the Agriculture Department--by allowing the money collected 
as fines to be used for repairing damage caused by the actions that 
lead to the fines or by similar actions instead of going to the U.S. 
Treasury. It would also allow them to use the money to increase public 
awareness of regulations and other requirements regarding use of 
Federal lands. It provides that any of the money not needed for those 
purposes would be credited to the Crime Victims Fund in the Treasury.
  Allowing these funds to be used in this manner will not likely repair 
the all of the damage caused by illegal activities in most instances, 
but it will at least provide some assistance.
  The genesis for this bill stemmed from a number of illegal activities 
that created significant damage to Federal public lands and facilities. 
Let me highlight just a couple of these.
  As many may remember, Colorado experienced one of its worst fires in 
2002, the Hayman Fire. This fire torched over 130,000 acres in the 
watershed of the Denver metropolitan area. It also destroyed 133 homes 
and forced the evacuation of over 5,000 people. After the fire, which 
was exceedingly hot and fast moving, a major thunderstorm pummeled the 
then-barren ground and washed debris and sediment into the Strontia 
Springs Reservoir, a major drinking water supply for Denver, hampering 
its capacity. Tragically, one person died of a heart attack during this 
fire, five firefighters were killed in a car crash on the way to the 
fire, and two people were killed during the subsequent thunderstorm and 
flooding. It was later learned that the fire was caused by the illegal 
actions of a former Forest Service employee. That person was later 
fined and jailed. This bill would allow the Forest Service to apply 
those fines collected to help restore the lands damaged by this fire.
  Other examples involve off-road vehicles. Throughout the west, and 
especially in Colorado, increased growth and development has resulted 
in an increase in recreational use of our public lands. These 
recreational uses have, in some cases, stressed the capacity of the 
public land agencies to adequately control and manage such use. As a 
result, areas of our public lands are being damaged. These impacts can 
include: damage to wildlife habitat; increased run-off and sediment 
pollution in rivers and streams,; damage to sensitive high-altitude 
tundra, desert soils, and wetlands; creation of ruts and other visual 
impacts on the landscape; loss of quiet and secluded areas of the 
public lands; and adverse effects on wildlife.

  Recreational off-road vehicle use on our public lands should be 
allowed to continue, but it must be managed to minimize or avoid these 
problems by appropriate restrictions and putting some sensitive areas 
off-limits to vehicle use. Again, most vehicle users are responsible--
they stay on designated roads and trails, they are respectful of the 
landscape and they endeavor to tread lightly. However, there are a 
number of such users who do not obey the rules. Given the nature of 
this use, large, powerful motorized vehicles that are able to penetrate 
deeper and deeper into previously secluded areas, even a relatively few 
who violate management requirements can create serious damage to public 
land resources.
  For example, in the summer of 2000 two recreational off-road vehicle 
users ignored closure signs while four-wheel driving on Bureau of Land 
Management land high above Silverton, Colorado. As a result, they got 
stuck for five days on a 70 percent slope at 12,500 feet along the 
flanks of Houghton Mountain. At first, they abandoned their vehicles. 
Then, they returned with other vehicles to pull their vehicles out of 
the mud and off the mountain. The result was significant damage to the 
high alpine tundra, a delicate ecosystem that may take thousands of 
years to recover. As noted in a Denver Post story about this incident, 
``alpine plant life has evolved to withstand freezing temperatures, 
nearly year-round frost, drought, high winds and intense solar 
radiation, but it is helpless against big tires.'' The violators at 
this incident were fined. Again, this bill would allow those fines to 
be applied to address the specific damage that resulted.
  These are but two examples. Regrettably, there have been many more 
such examples not only in Colorado but also throughout the west. These 
examples underscore the nature of the problem that this bill would 
address. This bill would give the Federal public land agencies the 
ability to apply resources to recover damaged lands from illegal 
activities.
  This is a modest bill but an important one. I think it deserves the 
support of our colleagues and I will do all I can to achieve its 
enactment into law.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 720

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal 
     Land Restoration, Enhancement, Public Education, and 
     Information Resources Act'' or the ``Federal Land REPAIR 
     Act''.
       (b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) violations of laws (including regulations) applicable 
     to the use of Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 
     Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture 
     often result in damages to the Federal land that require 
     expenditures for restoration activities to mitigate the 
     damages;
       (2) increased public information and education regarding 
     the laws (including regulations) applicable to the use of the 
     Federal land can help to reduce the frequency of 
     unintentional violations; and
       (3) it is appropriate that fines and other monetary 
     penalties paid as a result of violations of laws (including 
     regulations) applicable to the use of Federal land be used to 
     defray the costs of the restoration activities and to provide 
     public information and education.

     SEC. 2. USE OF FINES FROM VIOLATIONS OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
                   APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC LAND FOR RESTORATION AND 
                   INFORMATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

       (a) Land Under Jurisdiction of Bureau of Land Management.--
     Section 305 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
     1976 (43 U.S.C. 1735) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(d) Use of Collected Fines.--
       ``(1) Availability and authorized use.--Any amounts 
     received by the United States as a result of a fine imposed 
     under section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, for a 
     violation of a regulation prescribed under section 303(a) 
     shall be available to the Secretary, without further 
     appropriation and until expended--
       ``(A) to cover the cost to the United States of any 
     improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work on public 
     land rendered necessary by the action that led to the fine or 
     by similar actions; and
       ``(B) to increase public awareness of regulations and other 
     requirements regarding the use of public land.
       ``(2) Treatment of excess funds.--Amounts referred to in 
     paragraph (1) that the Secretary determines are in excess of 
     the amounts necessary to carry out the purposes specified in 
     that paragraph shall be transferred to the Crime Victims Fund 
     established by section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 
     1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).''.
       (b) National Park System Lands.--Section 3 of the National 
     Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 3), is amended--
       (1) by striking ``That the Secretary'' the first place it 
     appears and inserting ``(a) Regulations for Use and 
     Management of National Park System; Enforcement.--The 
     Secretary'';
       (2) by striking ``He may also'' the first place it appears 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(b) Special Management Authorities.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior may'';
       (3) by striking ``He may also'' the second place it appears 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Detrimental animals and plants.--The Secretary 
     may;''.
       (4) by striking ``No natural,'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(c) Lease and Permit Authorities.--No natural''; and
       (5) by adding at the end the following:

[[Page S3920]]

       ``(d) Use of Collected Fines.--
       ``(1) Availability and authorized use.--Any amounts 
     received by the United States as a result of a fine imposed 
     under section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, for a 
     violation of a rule or regulation prescribed under this 
     section shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior, 
     without further appropriation and until expended--
       ``(A) to cover the cost to the United States of any 
     improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work on the 
     National Park System land rendered necessary by the action 
     that led to the fine or by similar actions; and
       ``(B) to increase public awareness of rules, regulations, 
     and other requirements regarding the use of National Park 
     System land.
       ``(2) Treatment of excess funds.--Amounts referred to in 
     paragraph (1) that the Secretary determines are in excess of 
     the amounts necessary to carry out the purposes specified in 
     that paragraph shall be transferred to the Crime Victims Fund 
     established by section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 
     1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).''.
       (c) National Wildlife Refuge System Lands.--Section 4(f) of 
     the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 
     1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(3) Use of collected fines.--Any amounts received by the 
     United States as a result of a fine imposed under section 
     3571 of title 18, United States Code, for a violation of this 
     Act (including a regulation issued under this Act) shall be 
     available to the Secretary, without further appropriation and 
     until expended--
       ``(A) to cover the cost to the United States of any 
     improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work on System 
     land rendered necessary by the action that led to the fine or 
     by similar actions; and
       ``(B) to increase public awareness of rules, regulations, 
     and other requirements regarding the use of System land.
       ``(4) Treatment of excess funds.--Amounts referred to in 
     paragraph (3) that the Secretary determines are in excess of 
     the amounts necessary to carry out the purposes specified in 
     that paragraph shall be transferred to the Crime Victims Fund 
     established by section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 
     1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).''.
       (d) National Forest System Land.--The eleventh undesignated 
     paragraph under the heading ``surveying the public lands'' of 
     the Act of June 4, 1897 (16 U.S.C. 551), is amended--
       (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND; 
                   REGULATIONS.

       ``(a) Regulations for Use and Protection of National Forest 
     System.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary'';
       (2) by striking ``continued; and he may'' and inserting the 
     following: ``continued.
       ``(2) Regulations.--The Secretary may'';
       (3) by striking ``destruction; and any violation'' and 
     inserting the following: ``destruction.
       ``(b) Violations; Penalties.--
       ``(1) In general.--Any violation'';
       (4) by striking ``Any person'' and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Magistrate judge.--Any person'';
       (5) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Use of Collected Fines.--
       ``(1) Availability and authorized use.--Any amounts 
     received by the United States as a result of a collateral 
     payment in lieu of appearance or a fine imposed under section 
     3571 of title 18, United States Code, for a violation of a 
     regulation issued under subsection (a) shall be available to 
     the Secretary of Agriculture, without further appropriation 
     and until expended--
       ``(A) to cover the cost to the United States of any 
     improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work on National 
     Forest System land rendered necessary by the action that led 
     to the fine or payment; and
       ``(B) to increase public awareness of rules, regulations, 
     and other requirements regarding the use of National Forest 
     System land.
       ``(2) Treatment of excess funds.--Amounts referred to in 
     paragraph (1) that the Secretary of Agriculture determines 
     are in excess of the amounts necessary to carry out the 
     purposes specified in that paragraph shall be transferred to 
     the Crime Victims Fund established by section 1402 of the 
     Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).''; and
       (6) by moving section 3 (as designated by paragraph (1)) so 
     as to appear at the end of that Act.
                                 ______