[House Report 118-168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                         {  Rept. 118-168
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session   }                                         {    Part 1

======================================================================



 
           TREATING TRIBES AND COUNTIES AS GOOD NEIGHBORS ACT

                                _______
                                

               September 1, 2023.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1450]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred 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, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                           Brief Explanation

    This legislation, as reported out of Committee, makes 
certain technical corrections to the Good Neighbor Authority 
(GNA) to provide counties and Tribes, in addition to States, 
the authority to retain timber sale revenues derived from GNA 
agreements and to use such revenues on forest restoration 
projects on county or Tribal land.

                            Purpose and Need

    GNA agreements allow the Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of 
Land Management to authorize states, counties, and federally 
recognized Tribes to conduct federal forest restoration and 
management activities. Through these cooperative agreements, 
partners have reduced hazardous fuels and wildfire risk, 
improved species habitat, and enhanced watersheds on federal 
forests. However, while GNA was expanded in the 2018 Farm Bill 
to broaden the possible partners and uses of the authority, few 
counties or Tribes have used this authority due to the 
inability to retain timber sale revenues and reinvest in 
restoration activities across jurisdictions.
    H.R. 1450, the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good 
Neighbors Act, provides technical corrections to the 2018 Farm 
Bill to provide Tribes and counties with the ability to 
reinvest timber receipts and enables GNA restoration activities 
to cross jurisdictions on non-federal lands. H.R. 1450 also 
provides a technical correction to properly recognize Tribes in 
statute.
    The Committee believes H.R. 1450 provides the needed 
technical corrections to accelerate, incentivize, and 
streamline forest restoration and management on National Forest 
System lands.

     H.R. 1450, Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act


                           Section-by-Section


Section 1. Short title

    The ``Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act'':

Section 2. Modification of the treatment of certain revenue and 
        payments under Good Neighbor agreements

    Subsection (a)(1) of section 2 amends section 8206 of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014 to change the definition of 
``Governor'' to no longer include an executive official of an 
Indian Tribe so that the word ``Governor'' would apply only to 
the executive or appropriate executive official of an affected 
State (or Puerto Rico).
    Subsection (a)(2) of section 2 amends section 8206 of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014 to add ``Indian tribe'' alongside 
``county'' and ``Governor'' as defined above, as officials or 
entities the Secretary of Agriculture may enter into a good 
neighbor agreement with.
    This subsection further amends section 8206 of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014 by expanding which officials or 
entities shall keep funds received from the sale of timber 
under a good neighbor agreement from only a ``governor'' to 
also include Indian tribes or counties, as applicable.
    This subsection also repeals the limitation that sale funds 
be used only on authorized restoration services on federal land 
under a good neighbor agreement, so that such funds may be used 
on land also held by Indian tribes or counties with a good 
neighbor agreement.
    Furthermore, this subsection adds ``Indian tribes''' 
alongside Governor or county as an official or entity that 
shall not have delegated to it the power to make a decision 
required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
regarding authorized restoration services provided by good 
neighbor agreements on federal land.
    This subsection also strikes paragraph 4 of section 
8206(b), which currently states that payments by a county to 
the Secretary of Agriculture under a project conducted under a 
good neighbor agreement shall not be considered monies received 
from National Forest System land or Bureau of Land Management; 
under H.R. 1450 counties (and Indian tribes) would keep such 
monies themselves.
    Subsection (b) of section 2 concerns conforming amendments.
    Subsection (c) of section 2 provides that the effective 
date of the amendments made by H.R. 1450 would apply to all 
good neighbor agreement projects enacted after the date of 
enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.

                        Committee Consideration


                           I. FULL COMMITTEE

    On May 11, 2023, the Committee on Agriculture met pursuant 
to notice, with a quorum present, to consider H.R. 1450, 
Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act. Chairman 
Thompson made an opening statement, as did Ranking Member 
Scott. Without objection, H.R. 1450 was placed before the 
Committee for consideration, a first reading of the bill was 
waived, and it was open for amendment at any point. The 
Subcommittee on Forestry was discharged from further 
consideration of the legislation.
    Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington State, 
Representative Doug LaMalfa of California, Representative Dusty 
Johnson of South Dakota, Representative Gabe Vasquez of New 
Mexico, and Representative Jim Costa of California all were 
recognized and spoke in favor of the legislation. No further 
discussion occurred, and without objection, the Committee 
considered the bill. There being no amendments, the Committee 
moved to report the bill favorably. Mr. LaMalfa requested a 
roll call vote, of which the final tally was 51 in favor and 
none opposed.
    At the conclusion of consideration of the bill, Chairman 
Thompson advised Members that pursuant to the Rules of the 
House, Members had until Monday, May 15, 2023, to file any 
supplemental, minority, additional, or dissenting views with 
the Committee. Without objection, staff was given permission to 
make any necessary technical, clarifying, or conforming changes 
to reflect the intent of the Committee.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3 (b) of rule XIII of the House 
of Representatives, H.R. 1450 was reported favorably by a 
recorded vote of 51 yeas and 0 nays, 3 not voting.

                             ROLLCALL NO. 1

    Summary: Roll call vote on reporting the measure favorably 
to the House.
    Offered by: Mr. David Scott
    Result: Agreed to

                                  YEAS

                                        
1. Mr. Thompson                     27. Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer
2. Mr. Lucas                        28. Mr. David Scott
3. Mr. Austin Scott                 29. Mr. Costa
4. Mr. Crawford                     30. Mr. McGovern
5. Mr. DesJarlais                   31. Ms. Adams
6. Mr. LaMalfa                      32. Ms. Spanberger
7. Mr. Rouzer                       33. Mrs. Hayes
8. Mr. Kelly                        34. Ms. Brown
9. Mr. Bacon                        35. Ms. Davids of Kansas
10. Mr. Bost                        36. Ms. Slotkin
11. Mr. Johnson                     37. Ms. Caraveo
12. Mr. Baird                       38. Ms. Salinas
13. Mr. Mann                        39. Ms. Perez
14. Mr. Feenstra                    40. Mr. Davis of North Carolina
15. Mrs. Miller of Illinois         41. Ms. Tokuda
16. Mr. Moore                       42. Ms. Budzinski
17. Mrs. Cammack                    43. Mr. Sorenson
18. Mr. Finstad                     44. Mr. Vasquez
19. Mr. Rose                        45. Ms. Crockett
20. Mr. Jackson of Texas            46. Mr. Jackson of Illinois
21. Mr. Molinaro                    47. Mr. Casar
22. Ms. De La Cruz                  48. Ms. Pingree
23. Mr. Langworthy                  49. Ms. Craig
24. Mr. Nunn                        50. Mr. Soto
25. Mr. Alford                      51. Mr. Bishop
26. Mr. Van Orden

                               NOT VOTING

                                        
1. Mr. Duarte                       3. Mr. Carbajal
2. Mr. Miller of Ohio

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Agriculture's 
oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the 
body of this report.

                           Earmark Statement

    H.R. 1450 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House Representatives.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the objective of 
H.R. 1450 is to provide a technical fix that will help with 
more forest restoration on National Forest System lands.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committee within the meaning of section 5(b) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act was created by this 
legislation.

                Applicability to the Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopted as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (Public Law 104-4).

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another 
Federal program, a program that was included in any report from 
the Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to 
section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a 
program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance.

           Budget Act Compliance (Sections 308, 402, and 423)

    The provisions of clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (relating to estimates of new 
budget authority, new spending authority, new credit authority, 
or increased or decreased revenues or tax expenditures) are not 
considered applicable. The estimate and comparison required to 
be prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and sections 402 and 423 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 submitted to the Committee prior to the 
filing of this report are as follows:




    H.R. 1450 would authorize Indian tribes and counties to 
retain the proceeds of timber sales under cooperative forestry 
agreements, also known as good neighbor agreements (GNAs). 
(Under current law, through October 1, 2023, only states can 
retain the proceeds of timber sales under GNAs to cover the 
costs of restoration and protection projects.) The Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service enter into GNAs 
with states, federally recognized Indian tribes, and counties 
to carry out forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration and 
protection projects on federal land.
    Based on information from BLM and the Forest Service, CBO 
expects that without the authority to retain proceeds, timbers 
sales under GNAs with tribes and counties would not occur. On 
that basis, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not 
affect the federal budget. If such sales did occur in the 
absence of that authority, any income is classified in the 
federal budget as an offsetting receipt (or reduction in direct 
spending).
    On August 10, 2023, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 1450, the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors 
Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural 
Resources on June 13, 2023. The two bills are similar; the 
version ordered reported by the House Committee on Agriculture 
would not extend the authority for participants to retain the 
proceeds from timber sales. CBO's cost estimates reflect that 
difference.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lilia Ledezma. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                        AGRICULTURAL ACT OF 2014




           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
TITLE VIII--FORESTRY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Subtitle C--Reauthorization of Other Forestry-Related Laws

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 8206. GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY.

  (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Authorized restoration services.--The term 
        ``authorized restoration services'' means similar and 
        complementary forest, rangeland, and watershed 
        restoration services carried out--
                  (A) on Federal land, non-Federal land, and 
                land owned by an Indian tribe; and
                  (B) by either the Secretary or a Governor, 
                Indian tribe, or county, as applicable, 
                pursuant to a good neighbor agreement.
          (2) County.--The term ``county'' means--
                  (A) the appropriate executive official of an 
                affected county; or
                  (B) in any case in which multiple counties 
                are affected, the appropriate executive 
                official of a compact of the affected counties.
          (3) Federal land.--
                  (A) In general.--The term ``Federal land'' 
                means land that is--
                          (i) National Forest System land; or
                          (ii) public land (as defined in 
                        section 103 of the Federal Land Policy 
                        and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
                        1702)).
                  (B) Exclusions.--The term ``Federal land'' 
                does not include--
                          (i) a component of the National 
                        Wilderness Preservation System;
                          (ii) Federal land on which the 
                        removal of vegetation is prohibited or 
                        restricted by Act of Congress or 
                        Presidential proclamation (including 
                        the applicable implementation plan); or
                          (iii) a wilderness study area.
          (4) Forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration 
        services.--
                  (A) In general.--The term ``forest, 
                rangeland, and watershed restoration services'' 
                means--
                          (i) activities to treat insect- and 
                        disease-infected trees;
                          (ii) activities to reduce hazardous 
                        fuels; and
                          (iii) any other activities to restore 
                        or improve forest, rangeland, and 
                        watershed health, including fish and 
                        wildlife habitat.
                  (B) Exclusions.--The term ``forest, 
                rangeland, and watershed restoration services'' 
                does not include--
                          (i) construction, reconstruction, 
                        repair, or restoration of paved or 
                        permanent roads or parking areas, other 
                        than the reconstruction, repair, or 
                        restoration of a National Forest System 
                        or Bureau of Land Management managed 
                        road that is--
                                  (I) necessary to carry out 
                                authorized restoration services 
                                pursuant to a good neighbor 
                                agreement; and
                                  (II) in the case of a 
                                National Forest System road 
                                that is determined to be 
                                unneeded in accordance with 
                                section 212.5(b)(2) of title 
                                36, Code of Federal Regulations 
                                (as in effect on the date of 
                                enactment of the Wildfire 
                                SuppressionFunding and Forest 
                                Management Activities Act), 
                                decommissioned in accordance 
                                with subparagraph (A)(iii)--
                                          (aa) in a manner that 
                                        is consistent with the 
                                        applicable travel 
                                        management plan; and
                                          (bb) not later than 3 
                                        years after the date on 
                                        which the applicable 
                                        authorized restoration 
                                        services project is 
                                        completed; or
                          (ii) construction, alteration, repair 
                        or replacement of public buildings or 
                        works.
          (5) Good neighbor agreement.--The term ``good 
        neighbor agreement'' means a cooperative agreement or 
        contract (including a sole source contract) entered 
        into between the Secretary and a Governor, Indian 
        tribe, or county, as applicable, to carry out 
        authorized restoration services under this section.
          (6) Governor.--The term ``Governor'' means the 
        Governor or any other appropriate executive official of 
        an affected State [or Indian tribe] or the Commonwealth 
        of Puerto Rico.
          (7) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
        5304).
          (8) National forest system road.--The term ``National 
        Forest System road'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 212.1 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations 
        (as in effect on the date of enactment of the Wildfire 
        Suppression Fundingand Forest Management Activities 
        Act).
          (9) Road.--The term ``road'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 212.1 of title 36, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of 
        this Act).
          (10) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means--
                  (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with 
                respect to National Forest System land; and
                  (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with 
                respect to Bureau of Land Management land.
  (b) Good Neighbor Agreements.--
          (1) Good neighbor agreements.--
                  (A) In general.--The Secretary may enter into 
                a good neighbor agreement with a Governor, 
                Indian tribe, or county to carry out authorized 
                restoration services in accordance with this 
                section.
                  (B) Public availability.--The Secretary shall 
                make each good neighbor agreement available to 
                the public.
          (2) Timber sales.--
                  (A) In general.--Subsections (d) and (g) of 
                section 14 of the National Forest Management 
                Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(d) and (g)) shall 
                not apply to services performed under a good 
                neighbor agreement.
                  (B) Approval of silviculture prescriptions 
                and marking guides.--The Secretary shall 
                provide or approve all silviculture 
                prescriptions and marking guides to be applied 
                on Federal land in all timber sale projects 
                conducted under this section.
                  (C) Treatment of revenue.--
                          [(i) In general.--Funds received from 
                        the sale of timber by a Governor of a 
                        State under a good neighbor agreement 
                        shall be retained and used by the 
                        Governor--
                                  [(I) to carry out authorized 
                                restoration services on Federal 
                                land under the good neighbor 
                                agreement; and
                                  [(II) if there are funds 
                                remaining after carrying out 
                                subclause (I), to carry out 
                                authorized restoration services 
                                on Federal land within the 
                                State under other good neighbor 
                                agreements.]
                          (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.
                          (ii) Termination of effectiveness.--
                        The authority provided by this 
                        subparagraph terminates effective 
                        October 1, 2023.
          (3) Retention of nepa responsibilities.--Any decision 
        required to be made under the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with 
        respect to any authorized restoration services to be 
        provided under this section on Federal land shall not 
        be delegated to a Governor, Indian tribe, or county.
          [(4) Receipts.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
        of law, any payment made by a county to the Secretary 
        under a project conducted under a good neighbor 
        agreement shall not be considered to be monies received 
        from National Forest System land or Bureau of Land 
        Management land, as applicable.]

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    I write to you today, to share my support for H.R. 1450: 
Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act.
    This bill will H.R. 1450: Treating Tribes and Counties as 
Good Neighbors Act, which would allow Indian Tribes and 
counties to retain revenue generated from timber sales under a 
Good Neighbor agreement. Additionally, this bill authorizes 
those entities to use that revenue for restoration projects on 
nonfederal lands, which is an expansion beyond the current 
scope of the program that allows for ``good neighbors''' to 
support forest management on federal lands. In this way, Tribes 
and Counties would be treated like States.
    I fully support this bill as a step forward for tribal 
communities and future tribal generations.
                                            Salud Carbajal,
                                                Member of Congress.