Home > 106th Congressional Bills > S. 1609 (is) To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise the update factor used in making payments to PPS hospitals under the medicare program. [Introduced in Senate] ...S. 1609 (is) To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise the update factor used in making payments to PPS hospitals under the medicare program. [Introduced in Senate] ...
Calendar No. 520
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1608
[Report No. 106-275]
To provide annual payments to the States and counties from National
Forest System lands managed by the Forest Service, and the revested
Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant
lands managed predominantly by the Bureau of Land Management, for use
by the counties in which the lands are situated for the benefit of
public schools, roads, emergency, and other public purposes; to
encourage and provide new mechanisms for cooperation between counties
and the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to make
necessary investments in Federal lands, and reaffirm the positive
connection between Federal Lands counties and Federal Lands; and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 21, 1999
Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Crapo, Mr.
Johnson, Mr. DeWine, Mrs. Hutchison, and Mr. Burns) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
April 25, 2000
Reported by Mr. Murkowski, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide annual payments to the States and counties from National
Forest System lands managed by the Forest Service, and the revested
Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant
lands managed predominantly by the Bureau of Land Management, for use
by the counties in which the lands are situated for the benefit of
public schools, roads, emergency, and other public purposes; to
encourage and provide new mechanisms for cooperation between counties
and the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to make
necessary investments in Federal lands, and reaffirm the positive
connection between Federal Lands counties and Federal Lands; and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self-Determination Act of 1999''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) the National Forest System, managed by the
Forest Service, was established in 1907 and has grown to
include 192 million acres of Federal Lands;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) the revested Oregon and California Railroad
and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands, managed
predominantly by the Bureau of Land Management, were returned
to Federal ownership in 1916 and 1919, and added to thereafter,
and comprise approximately 2.6 million acres of Federal
Lands;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Congress recognized that, by its decision to
secure these lands in Federal ownership, counties in which the
lands are situated are denied revenues they would otherwise
receive if the lands were sold or transferred into, or the
revested and reconveyed grant lands had remained in, private
ownership;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) counties expend public funds to provide
education, road construction and maintenance, search and
rescue, law enforcement, solid waste, fire protection, and
other services based upon an artificially reduced tax
base;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) to provide compensation to the affected
counties for their loss of tax revenues used for the critical
services they provide to both county citizens and visitors to
Federal Lands, Congress determined that the Federal Government
should share with those jurisdictions the revenues received
from the Federal Lands;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) Congress enacted in 1908, and subsequently
amended, a law that requires 25 percent of the revenues from
National Forest lands be paid to States for use by the counties
in which those lands are situated for the benefit of public
schools and roads;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) Congress enacted in 1937, and subsequently
amended, a law that requires 50 percent of the revenues from
the revested and reconveyed grant lands be paid to the counties
in which those lands are situated to be used in the same manner
as are other county funds;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) in recent years, as the volume of timber sold
annually from most of the Federal Lands has decreased
precipitously, so too have the revenues shared with the
affected counties;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) this decline in shared revenues has severely
curtailed the quality of education in the affected counties, as
well as other county services;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) Congress recognized this trend as it related
to protection of the Northern Spotted Owl and moved to
ameliorate its adverse consequences when, in 1993, it enacted a
law--soon to expire--that provided an alternative annual
``safety net'' payment to 72 counties in Oregon, Washington,
and northern California in which Federal timber sales had been
restricted or prohibited by administrative and judicial
decisions;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) no comparable authority has ever been granted
for alternative payments to counties elsewhere that have
suffered similar shared revenue losses resulting from the
general decreases in timber harvests on Federal
Lands;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) changes in Federal Land management, in
addition to having curtailed timber sales, have altered the
historic, cooperative relationship between counties and the
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (13) both the Forest Service and the Bureau of
Land Management face significant backlogs in infrastructure
maintenance and ecosystem restoration which are not likely to
be addressed through annual appropriations; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (14) new relationships between Federal Lands
counties and Federal Land managers need to be formed to benefit
our natural resources and our rural communities as we enter the
21st century.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) to assist local governments dependent on
Federal Lands to restore funding for education and other public
services that the counties must provide to their
citizens;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) to provide this funding in a form that is
environmentally sound and consistent with applicable resource
management plans;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) to facilitate the development, by the Federal
Government and the counties which benefit from the shared
revenues from the Federal Lands, of a new cooperative
relationship in Federal Land management;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) to help develop local consensus in
implementing applicable plans for the Federal Lands;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) to identify and implement projects on the
Federal Lands that enjoy broad-based local support;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) to make additional investments in
infrastructure maintenance and ecosystem restoration on the
Federal Lands.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> As used in this Act--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) The term ``Federal Lands'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) lands within the National Forest System, as
defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resource Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)) and managed
by the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) revested Oregon and California Railroad and
reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands, managed in part by
the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, and
in part by the Forest Service, Department of
Agriculture.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) The term ``eligible States'' means each State that
received one or more 25 percent payments as defined in, and during the
period described in, subsection (d).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) The term ``eligible counties'' means each county that
received one or more 50 percent payments as defined in, and during the
period described in, subsection (e).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (d) The term ``25 percent payments'' means the payments to
States authorized by the sixth paragraph under the heading of ``FOREST
SERVICE'' of the Act of May 23, 1908, as amended, or section 13 of the
Act of March 1, 1911, as amended (35 Stat. 260, 36 Stat. 963, as
amended; 16 U.S.C. 500).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (e) The term ``50 percent payments'' means the payments
that are the sum of the 50 percent share otherwise paid to a county
pursuant to title II of the Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 875,
chapter 876; 43 U.S.C. 1181f), and the payment made to a county
pursuant to the Act of May 24, 1939 (53 Stat. 753, chapter 144; 43
U.S.C. 1181f-1, et seq.).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (f) The term ``full payment amount'' means the amount
determined by calculating the average of the three highest 25 percent
payments, 50 percent payments, or payments pursuant to section 13982 of
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 500 note) made
to the eligible State or eligible county during the period beginning on
October 1, 1985, and concluding on September 30 of the last full fiscal
year prior to the date of enactment of this Act, adjusted each fiscal
year in which payments are required pursuant to subsection 4(a) and
subsection 5(a) to reflect changes in the consumer price index for
rural areas (as published in the Bureau of Labor Statistics) that occur
after publication of that index for the fiscal year prior to the full
fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (g) The term ``resource management plans'' means land use
plans prepared by the Bureau of Land Management for units of the
Federal Lands described in subsection (a)(2) of this section pursuant
to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
Sec. 1712); and land and resource management plans prepared by the
Forest Service for units of the lands described in subsection (a)(1) of
this section pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.
Sec. 1604).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (h) The term ``Secretaries'' or ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Federal Lands described
in subsection (a)(2) and/or the Secretary of Agriculture with respect
to Federal Lands described in subsection (a)(1).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) The term ``eligible projects'' means any project or
projects conducted on Federal Lands paid for, in whole or in part, by
an eligible county which meets the requirements of subsection
6(b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (j) The term ``associated environmental analysis'' means
any evaluation required by the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321, et seq.) accompanying an eligible project,
or any biological opinion for a project required by the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531, et seq.).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (k) The term ``infrastructure maintenance'' means any road
or facility maintenance, reconstruction, or stabilization activity
approved by the appropriate Secretary and consistent with the
applicable resource management plan.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (l) The term ``ecosystem restoration'' means any watershed
restoration, wildlife habitat improvement or restoration, or forest
health treatment activity approved by the appropriate Secretary and
consistent with the applicable resource management plan.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (m) The term ``Committee'' means an Investment Project
Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 7.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (n) The term ``best value stewardship contracting'' means
using contracts which secure, for the best price, the best quality
service as determined by the Secretary based upon: the technical
demands and complexity of the work to be done; the ecological
sensitivity of the resources being treated; past experience by the
contractor with the type of work being done, using the type of
equipment proposed for the project, and meeting or exceeding desired
ecological conditions; utilization of low value species and byproducts;
commitment to hiring highly qualified workers; and commitment to hiring
local people.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. PAYMENTS TO STATES FROM FOREST SERVICE LANDS FOR
AFFECTED COUNTIES TO USE FOR THE BENEFIT OF PUBLIC
EDUCATION AND TRANSPORTATION.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Requirement for Payments to Eligible States.--The
Secretary of the Treasury shall make payments in accordance with
subsection (b) as early as practicable in each fiscal year from the
first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act to
eligible States as defined in subsection 3(b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Payment Amounts.--Each payment to a State pursuant to
subsection (a) shall include the amount of the 25 percent payments as
defined in subsection 3(d) that is applicable to that State and, if
such amount is less than the full payment amount for that State as
defined in, and calculated pursuant to, subsection 3(f), such
additional funds as are necessary to provide a total payment equal to
the full payment amount as provided in subsection (d).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Expenditure of Payments.--(1) Seventy-five percent of
the funds paid to the States pursuant to subsection (a) shall be
distributed and expended in the same manner in which the 25 percent
payments are required to be distributed and expended.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Twenty-five percent of the funds paid to the States
pursuant to subsection (a) shall be distributed in the same manner in
which the 25 percent payments are required to be distributed and
expended in accordance with section 6.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (d) Source of Special Payments.--Any funds paid to the
States in addition to the 25 percent payments pursuant to this section
and section 6 shall be derived first from any revenues, fees,
penalties, or miscellaneous receipts, exclusive of deposits to any
relevant trust fund, received by the Federal Government from activities
by the Forest Service on the Federal Lands described in subsection
3(a)(1) and/or secondly, as determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, from any funds in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 5. PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES FROM BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
LANDS TO USE FOR THE BENEFIT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, LAW
ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION AND OTHER PUBLIC
PURPOSES.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Requirement for Payments to Eligible Counties.--The
Secretary of the Treasury shall make payments in accordance with
subsection (b) as early as practicable in each fiscal year from the
first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act to
eligible counties as defined in subsection 3(c).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Payment Amounts.--Each payment to a county pursuant to
subsection (a) shall include the amount of the 50 percent payments as
defined in subsection 3(e) that is applicable to that county and, if
such amount is less than the full payment amount for that county as
defined in, and calculated pursuant to, subsection 3(f), such
additional funds as are necessary to provide a total payment equal to
the full payment amount as provided in subsection (d).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Expenditure of Payments.--(1) Seventy-five percent of
the funds paid to the counties pursuant to subsection (a) shall be
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