[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4251-H4253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TREATING TRIBES AND COUNTIES AS GOOD NEIGHBORS ACT

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1450) to amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to modify the 
treatment of revenue from timber sale contracts and certain payments 
made by counties to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 
the Interior under good neighbor agreements, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1450

       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 ``Treating Tribes and Counties 
     as Good Neighbors Act''.

     SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN REVENUE AND 
                   PAYMENTS UNDER GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENTS.

       (a) Good Neighbor Authority.--Section 8206 of the 
     Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ``or Indian tribe''; 
     and
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``, Indian tribe,'' 
     after ``Governor'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)(C)--
       (i) by striking clause (i) and inserting the following:
       ``(i) In general.--Funds received from the sale of timber 
     by a Governor, an Indian tribe, or a county under a good 
     neighbor agreement shall be retained and used by the 
     Governor, Indian tribe, or county, as applicable--

       ``(I) to carry out authorized restoration services under 
     the good neighbor agreement; and
       ``(II) if there are funds remaining after carrying out 
     subclause (I), to carry out authorized restoration services 
     under other good neighbor agreements.''; and

       (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
     ``2028'';
       (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``, Indian tribe,'' 
     after ``Governor''; and
       (D) by striking paragraph (4).
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 8206(a) of the 
     Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``, Indian tribe,'' 
     after ``Governor''; and
       (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, Indian tribe,'' 
     after ``Governor''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act apply 
     to any project initiated pursuant to a good neighbor 
     agreement (as defined in section 8206(a) of the Agricultural 
     Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)))--
       (1) before the date of enactment of this Act, if the 
     project was initiated after the date of enactment of the 
     Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-334; 132 
     Stat. 4490); or
       (2) on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on H.R. 1450, the bill now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arkansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support Congressman Fulcher's bill, the 
Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act.
  This legislation would greatly enhance the collaborative stewardship 
of our Federal lands with Tribal and county partners. This is a 
bipartisan effort that passed out of the House Natural Resources and 
Agriculture Committees unanimously, and it is my hope that we can pass 
this thoughtful proposal in a similar fashion here on the House floor 
today.
  The Federal Government owns roughly 640 million acres, an astonishing 
28 percent of the entire country. States, Tribes, and counties all have 
a very clear interest in how these lands are managed.
  When Federal lands are mismanaged, it is those closest to the lands 
that are most impacted. There is no clearer example of this reality 
than the forest health and wildfire crisis affecting vast swaths of 
Federal lands. Fire knows no boundaries between managed land and 
unmanaged lands. It knows no jurisdictional boundaries.
  As Federal land managers struggle to address this worsening problem, 
Congress developed the Good Neighbor Authority to empower States to 
assist in active forest management efforts on Federal lands.
  Under the Good Neighbor Authority, the Forest Service and Bureau of 
Land Management had the ability to authorize States to undertake 
restoration projects such as hazardous fuel reduction, habitat 
improvement, and road restoration on Federal lands within their 
borders.
  By all accounts, this program for States has been very successful. 
Since 2014, over 490 projects have begun in 38 States. Just last year, 
approximately 274 million board feet of timber was sold under Good 
Neighbor agreements.
  The 2018 farm bill extended Good Neighbor Authority to counties and 
Tribes in the hopes that even more active forest management could be 
accomplished. Unfortunately, the participation of counties and Tribes 
has been limited.

[[Page H4252]]

  Current law does not give Tribes and counties the same authority that 
States have benefited from to retain timber receipts for use on 
additional restoration work. This reality removes a substantial 
incentive for counties and Tribes to pursue Good Neighbor projects, and 
the numbers have shown this to be true. There are currently only six 
counties and five Tribes that have entered into Good Neighbor 
agreements.
  H.R. 1450 offers a solution to this dilemma by extending the 
authority to retain timber receipts from Good Neighbor projects to 
counties and Tribes to fund additional restoration projects, bringing 
them into parity with the treatment that States currently receive.
  In addition to providing important parity, this bill will also 
improve cross-boundary work by allowing restoration projects to occur 
on non-Federal lands. As I mentioned earlier, wildfires know no 
boundaries.
  Good Neighbor Authority has unquestionably been a successful program 
that has not yet reached its full potential. I believe that Congressman 
Fulcher's bill will improve this program and pave the way for Tribes 
and counties to partner on much-needed forest management efforts. Fully 
empowering counties and Tribes to utilize this authority will reduce 
wildfire risks and improve the health of our Federal lands for 
generations to come. I applaud Congressman Fulcher for his leadership 
on this important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 1450 is the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act 
introduced by my colleague from Idaho, Representative Fulcher.
  This bill updates the Good Neighbor Authority program to update the 
incentives for Tribes and counties to partner with the Forest Service 
and the Bureau of Land Management on restoration projects designed to 
enhance resilience and promote healthy landscapes.
  As climate change intensifies, it is crucial that land managers 
utilize collaborative, consensus-driven tools such as Good Neighbor 
Authority to facilitate conservation, restoration, and resiliency of 
Federal lands and neighboring lands.
  However, under current law, only States are authorized to retain 
revenues from timber sales and contracts executed through this program.
  This legislation provides parity for Tribes and counties to increase 
community participation in the restoration of our public lands.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Idaho (Mr. Fulcher), the sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. FULCHER. Mr. Speaker, for years, States could enter into 
cooperative agreements with Federal land management agencies to aid in 
reducing the excess fuel load that makes fires in the West so damaging 
to people, property, and wildlife.
  H.R. 1450 fully extends the same authority and access to revenue that 
States have to counties and Tribes.
  Some States, primarily in the Western U.S., have large percentages of 
their land controlled by the Federal Government. In my home State of 
Idaho, for example, it is 62 percent. As a result, citizens in my State 
must generate enough economic growth to sustain our needs from just the 
resources contained within the available land remaining.
  One can argue that Idahoans and citizens from other States with a 
similar dynamic are merely tenants of their Federal landlord.

                              {time}  1700

  Counties and Tribes face a microcosm of that challenge within the 
States they reside. There are counties in my district, like Idaho 
around Owyhee, for example, where the Federal Government controls more 
than 83 percent of the land within their borders. Without ready access 
to the natural resources and related tax revenue in these areas, it is 
difficult for residents and local municipalities to create wealth and 
provide the ingredients necessary to raise families and grow 
businesses.
  This bill would enable access to resources. As a result, the 
livelihoods of people in rural America would be enhanced through job 
creation, new sources of income, and the economic activity that comes 
with it.
  Federal land management agencies are often unable, due to lack of 
resources, or unwilling, due to bad policy or litigation, to adequately 
maintain the density of tree growth, brush, and other vegetation that 
creates the fuel load for wildfires. Yet local residents, as tenants of 
the land under their own feet, can only wait and hope for their Federal 
landlord to come up with the resources needed to responsibly manage 
land in and around their communities. H.R. 1450 empowers local counties 
and Tribes so they can engage, and at least have a chance to put some 
wisdom into how these lands are managed.
  We, in the West, care about our environment. God has blessed us with 
an abundance of natural resources, and that comes with the 
responsibility of wise stewardship. H.R. 1450 recognizes and 
incentivizes just that, allowing a portion of receipts from timber 
sales, for example, to be shared with counties and Tribes. That is a 
win-win situation. Tribes and counties are local, and as such, they are 
on the front lines of the land management battle.
  I thank Chairman Westerman, my co-lead, Representative Marie 
Gluesenkamp Perez, and all of my other colleagues on the Natural 
Resources Committee and the Agriculture Committee for their support of 
this legislation.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. Perez), the sponsor of the legislation.
  Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Grijalva for yielding 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1450, the 
Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act.
  This bill is critical for districts like mine. Why? This bill gives 
back the flexibility that is critical to counties and Tribes, who 
understand that wildfires and natural disasters do not discriminate 
between Federal and non-Federal lands, and ensures that we use all of 
the tools at our disposal to mitigate the effects of wildfire and 
maintain healthy forests.
  In the 2018 farm bill, Congress expanded Good Neighbor Authority to 
make Tribes and counties eligible to enter into Good Neighbor 
agreements. However, Tribes and counties were not afforded the same 
authority as States to retain the receipts from these GNA project 
revenues to reinvest in conservation. This fundamentally reduced the 
ability to engage and partner on critical management projects like 
wildfire mitigation, invasive species management, and habitat 
maintenance.
  Additionally, the 2018 farm bill removed the ability to carry out 
restoration services that were agreed to under the Good Neighbor 
Agreements to take place off of Federal lands. You can literally get 
out in the woods, and you can see the boundaries and political 
boundaries between the treated land and untreated land that has 
resulted.
  As a result, adjacent Tribal and county land that is essential to the 
health of national forests can no longer be restored as comprehensive 
landscapes.
  Rural, timber-based Skamania County, my home county, is leading 
innovation with Good Neighbor Authority by hiring foresters with these 
funds to advance timber harvests for forest health, fire management, 
and invasive species management, all mounting issues in the Gifford 
Pinchot National Forest that have not been addressed for decades.
  Skamania County was the first to build a relationship with the State 
Department of Natural Resources to determine how this Good Neighbor 
Authority could help the forest health conditions of the national 
forests, which make up 80 percent of Skamania County.
  This partnership between the Forest Service, the State agency, and 
Skamania County has been hugely successful. The additional flexibility 
provided by this bill is a commonsense fix to a program that has been 
proven to be highly successful.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I 
thank Congressman Fulcher for his leadership

[[Page H4253]]

on this bill. I thank Chairman Westerman and Ranking Member Grijalva, 
as well as Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Scott, for their 
support of this critical legislation.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and 
Mineral Resources.
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1450, the 
Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act, introduced by my 
good friend and colleague, Representative Fulcher of Idaho.
  St. Louis County, Minnesota, is the largest county east of the 
Mississippi River and the place I have always called home.
  St. Louis County is a checkerboard of Federal and non-Federal land. 
As such, there are many actors managing the land, be it the Bureau of 
Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service that manage our Federal 
lands, or the States, the counties, and the local Tribes that manage 
our non-Federal lands.
  Since its introduction over two decades ago, the Good Neighbor 
Authority program has facilitated co-stewardship of our Federal and 
non-Federal lands. By partnering Federal land managers with State 
stakeholders, we have created healthier forests, lowered fire risks, 
and better conserved our landscapes.
  However, the most successful stewardship of our public lands occurs 
when all parties are brought together and everyone is able to do their 
part.

  Unfortunately, our counties and Tribal partners, who do a lion's 
share of the work on Federal lands, are still unable to access the Good 
Neighbor Authority program.
  H.R. 1450 will allow our counties and federally recognized Tribes to 
access this critical management tool and allow them the ability to 
reinvest in restoration projects. This will build on the success of the 
program and further benefit our conservation efforts across this 
Nation.
  This bipartisan bill passed both the Natural Resources Committee and 
the Agriculture Committee with broad support. I am hopeful that the 
House can continue this forward momentum today.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
legislation.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the Committee on 
Agriculture.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague 
and fellow chair for his leadership on the Natural Resources Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1450.
  The Good Neighbor Authority has been a vital tool to get forest 
management and restoration projects off the ground. This program helps 
the Forest Service address the wildfire and forest health crises and 
serves as a model for highly effective partnerships.
  While the 2018 farm bill expanded the Good Neighbor Authority program 
eligibility to counties and Tribes, the law did not authorize counties 
and Tribes to retain timber revenues from the Good Neighbor Authority 
agreement, as States do.
  In extending this authority to counties and Tribes, this bill will 
expand this important forest management tool to help reduce wildfire 
risk and improve forest health at a meaningful scale.
  I am proud to report that H.R. 1450 passed unanimously out of the 
Committee on Agriculture and followed suit with the unanimous vote in 
the Natural Resources Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear this legislation represents a commonsense 
fix to a valuable forest management program. I urge my colleagues to 
support the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act and vote 
``yes'' on passage.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I must say it is an honor to work with a 
colleague like Chairman Thompson who cares so much about forest health, 
and I appreciate the ranking member in the minority for supporting this 
bill as well, as it did pass unanimously out of both committees.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation. It creates parity and access for two significant 
constituencies, counties and Tribes, and creates parity for them. I 
think at the end of the day, it creates a collaborative effort that is 
more comprehensive and more extensive.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the magnitude of our forest health crises 
demands an all-hands-on-deck approach that utilizes all of the tools in 
the toolbox.
  The Good Neighbor Authority has proven to be an exceptional tool when 
used by the States. We need to improve and expand on that with H.R. 
1450 by including Tribes and counties.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cline). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1450, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________