Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 1043 (ih) To amend title II of the Social Security Act to strengthen the Social Security system to meet the challenges of the next century. [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 1043 (ih) To amend title II of the Social Security Act to strengthen the Social Security system to meet the challenges of the next century. [Introduced in House] ...
species populations and the retention of old or large
native-species trees.
(B) Reestablish fire regimes approximating those
that shaped forest ecosystems prior to intensive fire
suppression.
(C) Improve the ability of State and local fire
departments to safely and effectively perform initial
fire control in the area of the project.
(D) Mitigate areas at high risk for flood, erosion,
or sediment damage following a wildland fire,
rehabilitate areas that have experienced such fire-
related damage, or both.
(E) Where appropriate, improve the use of, or add
value to, small diameter trees.
(2) Compliance with environmental laws.--The planning and
implementation of a hazardous fuels reduction project under the
program shall comply with all applicable Federal and State
environmental laws and incorporate current scientific forest
restoration information.
(3) Assessment requirements.--Each hazardous fuels
reduction project under the program shall include a multiparty
assessment--
(A) to identify both the existing ecological
condition of the proposed project area and the desired
future condition; and
(B) to evaluate, upon project completion, the
positive or negative impact and effectiveness of the
project.
(e) Annual Workshop.--Each stakeholder that desires to participate
in a hazardous fuels reduction project under the program shall enter
into an agreement to attend an annual workshop with other stakeholders
for the purpose of discussing the program and the hazardous fuels
reduction projects implemented under the program. The Secretary
concerned shall coordinate and fund the annual workshop, and
stakeholders may use a portion of the funds provided for projects under
the program to pay for travel and per diem expenses to attend the
workshop.
(f) Report.--Not later than five years after the end of the first
fiscal year in which funding is made available for the program, the
Secretary concerned shall submit a report to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of
the House of Representatives containing an assessment on whether, and
to what extent, the hazardous fuel reduction projects funded under the
program are meeting the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 7. SELECTION PROCESS FOR HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.
(a) Determination of Project Funding Priorities.--Prior to the
selection of hazardous fuels reduction projects under section 6, the
State Forester and Regional Forester, and the State Forester and State
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, of each State in which such
projects will be conducted shall meet with the technical advisory panel
for the State established in subsection (c) to determine priorities for
project funding.
(b) Selection of Proposals to Be Funded.--
(1) Recommendations.--After consulting with the technical
advisory panels for a State, the State Forester, Regional
Forester, and State Director of the Bureau of Land Management
shall jointly submit to the Secretary concerned recommendations
regarding priority hazardous fuels reduction projects that
should be funded under section 6.
(2) Selection.--Based on the recommendations received under
paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall then select the
hazardous fuels reduction project proposals to be funded under
section 6.
(3) Priorities.--The Secretary concerned shall give
priority to hazardous fuels reduction projects that can be
conducted across ownership boundaries for the benefit of a
larger landscape or watershed.
(c) Technical Advisory Panel.--
(1) Panel required; purpose.--The Secretary concerned shall
convene a technical advisory panel for each State in which
hazardous fuels reduction projects will be conducted under
section 6 for the purpose of setting protection and restoration
priorities, evaluating all proposed projects, and providing
recommendations under subsection (a). The Secretary concerned
shall establish the procedures through which each panel will
develop its recommendations.
(2) Administration.--The technical advisory panel for a
State shall be jointly administered by the State Forester and
the Regional Forester, in the case of panels convened by the
Secretary of Agriculture, or the State Forester and the State
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, in the case of
panels convened by the Secretary of the Interior.
(3) Composition.--Each technical advisory panel shall be
composed of 10 to 13 members appointed by the Secretary
concerned from persons recommended by the respective State
Forester and Regional Forester or State Director of the Bureau
of Land Management.
(4) Required members.--At a minimum, the technical advisory
panel for a State shall include the following members:
(A) An official of the natural resource department
of the State or an equivalent State agency.
(B) Two representatives from Federal land
management agencies.
(C) One tribal representative, if the State
includes at least one federally-recognized Indian
tribe.
(D) One representative of the State's local fire
departments.
(E) Two independent scientists with experience in
forest ecosystem restoration.
(F) An equal number of representatives from each of
the following:
(i) One or more recognized conservation
organizations.
(ii) Local communities.
(iii) Local commodity interests.
SEC. 8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Multi-Party Process.-- The Secretary concerned shall establish
a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process in order to assess the
cumulative accomplishments or adverse impacts of hazardous fuels
reduction projects conducted under section 6. To the extent
practicable, the Secretary concerned shall include any interested
individual or organization in the monitoring and evaluation process.
(b) Department Monitoring.--The Secretary concerned also shall
conduct a monitoring program to assess the short- and long-term
ecological effects of the hazardous fuels reduction projects conducted
under section 6. The monitoring of a project shall be performed for a
minimum of 15 years.
SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES UNDER COOPERATIVE COMMUNITY
PROTECTION AND FOREST RESTORATION PROGRAM.
(a) Scoping.--In accordance with applicable regulations and
administrative guidelines in effect on January 1, 2003, the Secretary
concerned shall conduct scoping for each hazardous fuel reduction
project involving Federal lands to be conducted under section 6.
Scoping shall include an opportunity for public participation.
(b) Public Meeting.--Upon completion of the scoping for a hazardous
fuel reduction project involving Federal lands, the Secretary concerned
shall conduct a public meeting at an appropriate location with respect
to the project.
SEC. 10. SPECIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
PROCESS FOR HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.
(a) Applicability.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall use the
following administrative appeal process to consider appeals regarding
hazardous fuels reduction projects to be conducted on National Forest
System lands under section 6.
(b) Documents.--
(1) Complete and availability.--Under this administrative
appeal process, the environmental analysis document, analysis
file, and decision document for a hazardous fuels reduction
project shall be complete and available for public review once
notice of the decision document is provided in the local paper
of record. The Secretary of Agriculture shall seek to make
these documents as widely available as possible, through
posting on the Internet and in other ways.
(2) Revision.--Except as provided in this section, the
environmental analysis document, analysis file, and decision
document may not be revised after it is made available to the
public unless the Secretary of Agriculture provides new public
notice and recommences the time limits specified in this
subsection for the project.
(c) Eligibility.--To be eligible to appeal a hazardous fuels
reduction project under this administrative appeal process, a person
must have submitted written comments during the preparation stage of
the project on an issue specifically related to the project for which
the appeal is sought. For purposes of this subsection, a written
comment includes a comment sent by e-mail or facsimile.
(d) Submission of Notice of Intent to Appeal.--
(1) Time for submission.--The Secretary of Agriculture
shall give eligible persons a 10-day period, beginning on the
date the signed decision document for a hazardous fuels
reduction project is made available to the public, during which
to submit written notice of an intent to appeal the decision.
Notice submitted after the end of such period shall not be
accepted. For purposes of this paragraph, a written notice
includes a notice submitted by e-mail or facsimile, and written
notice submitted by mail shall be considered to have been
submitted on the date shown by a postmark or other evidence of
the date on which it was mailed.
(2) Effect of failure to timely submit.--If no valid notice
of appeal is submitted within the required period, the
hazardous fuels reduction project shall not be subject to
appeal under this administrative appeal process or any other
provision of law, and the decision document shall be considered
the final agency decision.
(e) Filing of Appeal.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall give an
eligible person who timely submits the notice of intent to appeal with
regard to a hazardous fuels reduction project a 15-day period during
which to file the administrative appeal. This period shall begin at the
end of the 10-day period required by subsection (d), not on the day the
person actually submitted the notice.
(f) Stay of Action.--Upon the timely submission of a notice of an
intent to appeal a hazardous fuels reduction project under subsection
(d), the Secretary of Agriculture shall take no action to implement the
hazardous fuels reduction project until the completion of the appeal
process and any judicial review of the project, unless the person
submitting a notice of intent fails to timely file the administrative
appeal under subsection (e).
(g) Time for Review.--Upon receipt of the administrative appeal
with regard to a hazardous fuels reduction project, the appeals officer
shall consider and render a decision on the appeal within 25 days.
(h) Handling of Appeals.--
(1) Negotiations authorized.--The appeals officer may enter
into negotiations with the appellant and other interested
persons who filed comments during the preparation stage of the
hazardous fuels reduction project subject to the review. Any
decision document resulting from the negotiations shall be
considered the final agency decision.
(2) New decision document.--The appeals officer may sign a
new decision document correcting errors or otherwise modifying
the decision document or may remand the case for further
proceedings. If the appeals officer signs a new decision
document, the appeals officer shall supplement the record with
explanatory analysis and documentation. The new decision
document shall be considered the final agency decision.
(3) Extension of time periods.--In order to facilitate
negotiations, or for any other reason considered appropriate by
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary may extend either
or both of the periods specified in subsections (d) and (e) for
submission of a notice of intent to appeal and for filing of an
appeal.
(i) Relation to Existing Authority.--Any provision of section 322
of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1993 (Public Law 102-381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note), that is
inconsistent with the process established by this section shall not
apply to a hazardous fuels reduction project covered by this Act.
SEC. 11. FOREST RESTORATION AND HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND
PROJECTS.
(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior (in this section referred to as the
``Secretaries'') shall jointly establish a program to identify and
carry out projects to implement this section on the Federal lands and,
subject to subsections (c) and (d), certain non-Federal lands.
(b) Authorized Project Activities.--Projects identified and
implemented under the program are limited to one or more of the
following activities:
(1) Erosion control and restoration of healthy, properly
functioning watersheds, including meadows, upslope areas,
riparian and floodplain areas, stream channels, and wetlands.
(2) Activities to implement a recovery plan for a
threatened or endangered species.
(3) Road and trail assessments and plans and the
maintenance, obliteration, or closure of roads and trails.
(4) Wildlife and fish habitat management activities
designed to restore native species and their habitats.
(5) Monitoring, including multiparty monitoring, of the
implementation and effectiveness of the projects.
(6) Watershed analysis, including resource conditions and
trend assessments.
(7) Restoration job training and the support of existing,
and the creation of new, micro- and small enterprises related
to restoration and the utilization and marketing of by-products
derived from the projects.
(8) Activities to ensure compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.).
(9) Ecologically appropriate actions for the control and
removal of noxious and invasive species.
(10) Reimbursement of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service for the costs
of carrying out their responsibilities under section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1536) related to
consultation and conference in connection with the projects.
(11) Assisting the owners of eligible residences to reduce
the risk of damage to such residences and appurtenant
structures from wild fires on adjacent lands.
(c) Cooperative Agreements.--
(1) Projects on non-federal land.--The Secretaries may
enter into cooperative agreements with State and local
governments, tribal governments, private and nonprofit
entities, and landowners for protection, restoration, and
enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat and other resources on
public or private lands, or both, that benefit these resources
within a watershed.
(2) Cost-sharing requirement.--If funds provided under this
section are expended on a project conducted in whole or part on
non-Federal lands, the Federal share of the project's total
costs shall not exceed 70 percent.
(d) Homeowner Assistance.--
(1) Eligibility requirements.--Funds provided pursuant to a
cooperative agreement under subsection (c) may be expended to
reduce the likelihood of damage from fire to a residence
located in the wildland-urban interface, or to a structure
appurtenance to such a residence, if the Secretary concerned
determines that such a residence is vulnerable to damage from a
wildfire originating on adjacent lands.
(2) Applicability of other provisions.--Subsections (e)
through (i) shall not apply to a project under this section
involving only the provision of assistance under this
subsection.
(3) Implementation criteria.--The Secretaries, in
consultation with the State Foresters, shall develop criteria
for implementation of this subsection in order to achieve the
most effective and efficient use of Federal funds.
(e) Monitoring.--
(1) Multiparty monitoring, evaluation, and accountability
process.--The Secretaries shall establish a multiparty
monitoring, evaluation, and accountability process in order to
assess the ecological, social, and economic impacts of projects
conducted under the program. A project may not be implemented,
in whole or in part, under the program until the Secretaries
reserve sufficient funds to ensure that the multiparty
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