[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 124 (Friday, June 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38285-38288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16348]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

RIN 0596-AC03


Stewardship End Result Contracting

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA, and Bureau of Land Management, DOI

ACTION: Notice of interim guidelines; opportunity for public input.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), and the 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would like 
to receive public input on the interim guidelines jointly developed to 
implement the stewardship end result contracting provisions as 
authorized by section 323 of P.L. 108-7, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note). The agencies are 
publishing these guidelines in the Federal Register in order to insure 
that the public has the opportunity to comment on implementation 
guidelines for this new authority granted by Congress. The public's 
input will be considered prior to development of final agency policy.

DATES: Public input must be received in writing by July 28, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice should be addressed 
to: USDA Forest Service, Forests and Rangelands Staff, Mail Stop 1105, 
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024-1105.
    Public input on these interim guidelines may also be submitted via 
facsimile to (202) 205-1045 or by e-mail to [email protected]. If 
comments are sent via facsimile or e-mail, the public is requested not 
to send duplicate written comments via regular mail.
    All comments, including names and addresses when provided, will be 
available for public inspection and copying. The public may inspect 
comments received at the office of the Director of Forests and 
Rangelands, 201 14th Street, SW., Washington, DC. Visitors are urged to 
call ahead to facilitate entry into the building at (202) 205-0893.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darci Birmingham, Forests and 
Rangelands Staff, Forest Service at (202) 205-1759, or Mike Haske, 
Renewable Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management at (202) 
452-0312. Individuals who use telecommunication

[[Page 38286]]

devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., eastern 
standard time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 323 of P.L. 108-7, the Consolidated Appropriations 
Resolution, 2003, grants the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the 
Forest Service (FS) authority until September 30, 2013, to enter into 
stewardship contracting projects (stewardship projects) with private 
persons or public or private entities, by contract or by agreement, to 
perform services to achieve land management goals for the national 
forests or public lands that meet local and rural community needs. In 
this law, Congress expanded the existing FS authority for stewardship 
projects to include BLM. FS pilot program authority was previously 
granted until September 30, 2004, by section 332 of P.L. 107-63, 
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2002. FS pilot program authority was granted until September 30, 2002, 
by section 347 of P.L. 105-277, Department of the Interior and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999. Pursuant to P.L. 108-7, both Federal 
agencies are authorized to enter into stewardship projects to achieve 
agency land management objectives that meet local rural community 
needs. Until final long-term policy is announced, the BLM will 
implement the FY 2003 program in accordance with Instruction Memorandum 
2003-107. The Forest Service is relying on this notice as the interim 
final policy for stewardship projects, which becomes effective on the 
date of publication.
    The land management goals for stewardship projects may include 
treatments to improve, maintain, or restore forest or rangeland health; 
restore or maintain water quality; improve fish and wildlife habitat; 
and reduce hazardous fuels that pose risks to communities and ecosystem 
values, reestablish native plant species, or other land management 
objectives. Stewardship projects are not a replacement for agencies' 
existing timber sale programs. Stewardship contracting may differ from 
other contracting authorities in the following manner:

--Contracts will be selected on a best value basis;
--Contract length may exceed 5 years but will not exceed 10 years;
--The agencies may apply the value of timber or other forest products 
removed as an offset against any services received;
--Monies received from the sale of forest products or vegetation 
removed from a stewardship project site may be retained by the agencies 
and applied at the project site or at another stewardship project site 
without further appropriation;
--A multiparty monitoring and evaluation process is required.

    The BLM is implementing stewardship projects on a limited basis in 
FY 2003 while guidance for long-term implementation is being developed. 
Therefore, BLM has issued an Instruction Memorandum 2003-107 requesting 
a list of proposed stewardship projects for consideration. The State 
Director will select these projects, with review by the Headquarters 
Office of both the BLM and the Department of the Interior.
    The FS plans to implement the stewardship contracting authority 
much as it did the Stewardship Pilot Program authorized by P.L. 107-63. 
The FS will issue an interim directive in Forest Service Handbook 
2409.19. Stewardship projects are authorized on all FS units. The FS 
will apply lessons learned from the Stewardship Pilot Program when 
developing and implementing stewardship projects under the expanded 
authority. Forest Supervisors will select the projects for their 
respective units. Regional Foresters will provide oversight of the 
program.

Description of Interim Guidelines

    The following are interim guidelines for all stewardship projects 
implemented under section 323 of P.L. 108-7. In developing these 
interim guidelines, the agencies considered comments received by the 
Pinchot Institute for Conservation from participants at a National 
Outreach Forum the Institute held in Washington, DC on April 15, 2003. 
USDA and DOI contracted with the Pinchot Institute for Conservation to 
conduct this forum. The Pinchot Institute for Conservation is also 
under contract with the FS to monitor implementation of the 84 FS 
stewardship pilot projects.
    1. Stewardship projects authorized by Public Law 108-7 will be 
designed to achieve land management goals by modifying vegetation to 
make forests and rangelands more resilient to natural disturbance 
mechanisms such as wind, flood, fire, insects, and disease. The 
objectives of these projects may include improving forest and rangeland 
health, restoring or maintaining water quality, improving fish and 
wildlife habitat, reestablishing native plant species, and/or reducing 
hazardous fuels that pose risks to communities and ecosystem values.
    2. Deriving revenue from the sale of any by-products or other 
materials designated for removal from these stewardship projects will 
be a secondary objective to the restoration goals. Forest products will 
be appraised at fair market value. Contracts of a duration longer than 
3 years will allow for price adjustment for the value of these 
materials to protect the public interest as new markets develop.
    3. The agencies will use an open, collaborative process and, as 
appropriate, will seek early involvement of local government agencies, 
including tribal governments, and any interested groups or individuals 
in various phrases of project development and implementation.
    4. The agencies will seek to use the stewardship authority in 
conjunction with other land management authorities to develop and 
implement stewardship projects across agency administrative boundaries. 
The agencies will seek to achieve land management goals on a watershed, 
or larger scale.
    5. The Forest Service may collect residual receipts pursuant to the 
Knutson-Vandenberg Act of June 9, 1930, and the National Forest 
Management Act of 1976, from excess offset value.
    6. All stewardship projects will comply with applicable 
environmental laws and regulations, including an appropriate level of 
environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, and 
will be consistent with applicable agency land and resource management 
plans. Projects will be subject to applicable agencies' appeals and 
dispute resolution processes.
    7. The agencies may use existing contract or assistance 
instruments, as appropriate, to implement stewardship projects. In 
addition, the agencies may develop new contracting mechanisms as needed 
to implement stewardship projects consistent with relevant laws, 
regulations, and guidelines.
    8. In awarding a stewardship contract on a best value basis, the 
agencies may, in addition to cost or price, consider such criteria as 
the contractor's past performance, work quality, existing public or 
private agreements or contracts, on-time delivery, and experience. The 
agencies may consider the benefits to local and rural community needs 
when considering award of a stewardship contract on a best value basis. 
The agencies' may use non-traditional contractors or recipients, such 
as counties or not-for-profit or non-

[[Page 38287]]

governmental organizations, if consistent with relevant authorities.
    9. The agencies may use all available authorities to involve a wide 
range of contractors or recipients, allow for offsets to be utilized 
for other restoration treatments. The agencies will maintain Federal 
agency control and oversight of operations to assure the protection of 
public assets and compliance with environmental requirements.
    10. Contractors who are awarded stewardship contracts will provide 
such bonds as may be required under law or regulation. The agencies may 
require performance and payment bonds in order to protect the 
government's investment in receipts from forest products to be removed 
under a contract or agreement under Pub. L. 108-7.
    11. The agencies will develop a two-phased training approach to 
implement this authority. Internal agency training will focus on 
allowing for contracting authority to occur as close to the field as 
practicable and will cover topics such as project management, 
performance based end-result contracting and trading goods for 
services. Agencies also will provide external training subject to 
available funding to assist contractors in developing skills to do the 
work required by the contract, and knowledge in competing for and 
performing on stewardship contracts.
    12. The agencies will utilize multiparty monitoring, open to 
interested groups or individuals, to monitor and evaluate an 
appropriate sampling of the projects or programs at the appropriate 
levels. If supported by the local collaborative process, monitoring 
will be conducted at the project level, subject to available funding, 
and will be well coordinated among administrative units to ensure that 
the sampling of projects monitored is geographically diverse and 
represents the range of projects undertaken. Multi-party monitoring 
will focus on:
    a. The status of development, execution, and administration of 
agreements or contracts,
    b. The specific accomplishments that have resulted,
    c. The role of local communities in development of agreement or 
contract plans.
    13. When reporting to Congress, the agencies will utilize 
performance and workload measures consistent with the Government 
Performance and Results Act. To the extent practicable, these measures 
will be consistent across the Department of the Interior and the 
Department of Agriculture.
    14. Stewardship contracting provides for multiple year contracts up 
to 10 years duration. The agencies are encouraged to use multiple-year 
funding to provide incentives to potential sources to make investments 
in long-term landscape improvement projects.
    15. In accordance with law, the agencies will maintain authority 
over all phases of development and implementation of contracts and 
agreements under this authority and will administer them in a manner 
consistent with their intended goals.
    16. Project managers will separately track the values of the goods 
being sold and the services being received for each project.
    17. Use of receipts is limited to direct on-the-ground project 
implementation. Receipts will not be used for overhead, administrative, 
or indirect costs or the completion of environmental studies or other 
planning and analysis.
    18. The use of full and open competition will remain standard 
operating practice and anything less than full and open competition 
will need to be documented and approved by the appropriate Regional 
Forester for the FS and the appropriate State Director for BLM.

Conclusion

    The FS and BLM are seeking public comment on interim agency 
guidelines to implement stewardship projects, as authorized by section 
323 of Pub. L. 108-7, to achieve agency land management objectives and 
meet community needs for improving, maintaining, and restoring forest 
or rangeland health; restoring and maintaining water quality, improving 
fish and wildlife habitat; and reducing hazardous fuels that pose risks 
to communities and ecosystem values. The agencies will continue to 
examine this interim policy for additional changes that may need to be 
made to their respective directive systems or agency regulations. 
Public input received will be considered in the development of final 
policy for each agency.

Regulatory Certification

Environmental Impact

    These interim guidelines would provide guidance to BLM and FS 
employees for implementing stewardship contracting authority. Section 
31.1b of Forest Service Handbook 1909.15 (57 FR 43180; September 18, 
1992) excludes from documentation in an environmental assessment 
statement ``rules, regulations, or policies to establish Service-wide 
administrative procedures, program processes, or instructions.'' The 
agency's preliminary assessment is that these guidelines fall within 
this category of actions and that no extraordinary circumstances exist 
which would require preparation of an environmental assessment or 
environmental impact statement. A final determination will be made upon 
adoption of the final agency policy.
    In addition, the Department of the Interior Manual 516 DM, chapter 
2, Appendix 1 categorically excludes from documentation in an 
environmental assessment or environmental impact statement ``policies, 
directives, regulations, and guidelines of an administrative, 
financial, technical, or procedural nature.'' The agencies' preliminary 
assessment is that these guidelines fall within these categories of 
actions and that no extraordinary circumstances exist that would 
require preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental 
impact statement. A final determination will be made upon adoption of 
the final agency policy.

Regulatory Impact

    These interim guidelines have been reviewed under USDA and DOI 
procedures and Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review. 
The Office of Management and Budget has determined that these interim 
guidelines are not significant. Moreover, these guidelines have been 
considered in light of Executive Order 13272 regarding proper 
consideration of small entities, and the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), which amended the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and it has been determined that 
these guidelines would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities as defined by SBREFA because they 
would not impose record keeping requirements on them; they would not 
affect their competitive position in relation to large entities; and 
they would not affect their cash flow, liquidity, or ability to remain 
in the market.

Federalism

    The agencies have considered these interim guidelines under the 
requirements of Executive Order 13132 on Federalism and have made an 
assessment that the guidelines conform with the federalism principles 
set out in this Executive order; would not impose any compliance costs 
on the States; and would not have substantial direct effects on the 
States or the relationship between the national government and the 
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government. Therefore,

[[Page 38288]]

the agencies have determined that no further assessment of federalism 
implications is necessary at this time.

Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments

    These interim guidelines do not have tribal implications as defined 
by Executive Order 13175 on Consultation and Coordination with Indian 
Tribal Governments, and therefore, advance consultation with tribes is 
not required. However, the projects resulting from these guidelines 
that do have tribal implications as defined by Executive Order 13175 
will result in consultation and coordination with the appropriate 
tribal government.

No Takings Implications

    These interim guidelines have been analyzed in accordance with the 
principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 12630 on 
Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected 
Property Rights, and it has been determined that the guidelines do not 
pose the risk of a taking of Constitutionally protected private 
property.

Energy Effects

    These interim guidelines have been reviewed under Executive Order 
13211 on Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use. It has been determined that these 
guidelines do not constitute a significant energy action as defined in 
the Executive order.

Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public

    These guidelines do not contain any additional record keeping or 
reporting requirements not already required by law or not already 
approved for use, and therefore, impose no additional paperwork burden 
on the public associated with the timber harvest program or other 
information collection requirements as defined in 5 CFR part 1320. 
Accordingly, the review provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and it's implementing regulations at 5 
CFR part 1320 do not apply.

    For the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture:

    Dated: June 23, 2003.
Dale N. Bosworth,
Chief.

    For the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior:

    Dated: June 19, 2003.
Jim Hughes,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. 03-16348 Filed 6-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P