II
Calendar No. 406
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1300
[Report No. 113–179]
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 16 (legislative day, July 15), 2013
Mr. Flake (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, Mr. Heller, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Udall of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
June 2, 2014
Reported by Ms. Landrieu, with amendments
Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic
A BILL
To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for the conduct of stewardship end result contracting projects.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Stewardship Contracting
Reauthorization and Improvement Act
.
Stewardship end result contracting projects
In general
Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Stewardship end result contracting projects
Definitions
In this section:
Chief
The term Chief means the Chief of the Forest Service.
Director
The term Director means the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
Projects
Until
September 30, 2023, the
The Chief and the Director, via agreement or contract as
appropriate, may enter into stewardship contracting projects with
private
persons or other public or private entities to perform services to
achieve land
management goals for the national forests and the public lands that
meet local
and rural community needs.
Land management goals
The land management goals of a project under subsection (b) may include—
road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality;
soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values;
setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat;
removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives;
watershed restoration and maintenance;
restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish; or
control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species.
Agreements or contracts
Procurement procedure
A source for performance of an agreement or contract under subsection (b) shall be selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of source under other public and private agreements or contracts.
Contract for sale of property
A contract entered into under this section may, at the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, be considered a contract for the sale of property under such terms as the Secretary may prescribe without regard to any other provision of law.
Term
In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Chief and the Director may enter into a contract under subsection (b) in accordance with section 3903 of title 41, United States Code.
Maximum
The period of the contract under subsection (b) may exceed 5 years but may not exceed 10 years.
Offsets
In general
The Chief and the Director may apply the value of timber or other forest products removed as an offset against the cost of services received under the agreement or contract described in subsection (b).
Methods of appraisal
The value of timber or other forest products used as an offset under subparagraph (A)—
shall be determined using appropriate methods of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products to be removed; and
may—
be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the contracts; and
may include valuing products on a per-acre basis.
Cancellation ceilings
In general
The Chief and the Director may obligate funds to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs for an agreement or contract under subsection (b) in stages that are economically or programmatically viable.
Notice
Submission to congress
Not later than 30 days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract under subsection (b) that includes a cancellation ceiling in excess of $25,000,000, but does not include proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to the cancellation ceiling established in the agreement or contract, the Chief and the Director shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a written notice that includes—
the cancellation ceiling amounts proposed for each program year in the agreement or contract; and
the reasons for the cancellation ceiling amounts proposed under item (aa);
the extent to which the costs of contract cancellation are not included in the budget for the agreement or contract; and
a financial risk assessment of not including budgeting for the costs of agreement or contract cancellation.
Transmittal to OMB
At least 14 days before the date on which the Chief and Director enter into an agreement or contract under subsection (b), the Chief and Director shall transmit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a copy of the written notice submitted under clause (i).
Relation to other laws
Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g) of section 14
of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) and section 2(a)(1) of the Act of July 31, 1947 (commonly known as
the Materials Act of 1947
) (30 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)), the Chief and the Director may
enter into an agreement or contract under subsection (b).
Contracting officer
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior may determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into and administer an agreement or contract under subsection (b).
Fire liability provisions
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Chief and the Director shall issue for use in all contracts and agreements under subsection (b) fire liability provisions that are in substantially the same form as the fire liability provisions contained in—
integrated resource timber contracts, as described in the Forest Service contract numbered 2400–13, part H, section H.4; and
timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a).
Receipts
In general
The Chief and the Director may collect monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b) if the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the contract that will best achieve the purposes of this section.
Use
Monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b)—
may be retained by the Chief and the Director; and
shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation at the project site from which the monies are collected or at another project site.
Relation to other laws
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the value of services received by the Chief or the Director under a stewardship contract project conducted under this section, and any payments made or resources provided by the contractor, Chief, or Director shall not be considered monies received from the National Forest System or the public lands.
Knutson-Vanderberg Act
The Act of June 9, 1930 (commonly known as the Knutson-Vanderberg Act) (16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.) shall not apply to any agreement or contract under subsection (b).
Costs of removal
Notwithstanding the fact that a contractor did not harvest the timber, the Chief may collect deposits from a contractor covering the costs of removal of timber or other forest products under—
the Act of August 11, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 490); and
the Act of June 30, 1914 (16 U.S.C. 498).
Performance and payment guarantees
In general
The Chief and the Director may require performance and payment bonds under sections 28.103–2 and 28.103–3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, in an amount that the contracting officer considers sufficient to protect the investment in receipts by the Federal Government generated by the contractor from the estimated value of the forest products to be removed under a contract under subsection (b).
Excess offset value
If the offset value of the forest products exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Chief and the Director shall—
use the excess to satisfy any outstanding liabilities for cancelled agreements or contracts; or
if there are no outstanding liabilities under subparagraph (A), apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects.
Monitoring and evaluation
In general
The Chief and the Director shall establish a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that accesses the stewardship contracting projects conducted under this section.
Participants
Other than the Chief and Director, participants in the process described in paragraph (1) may include—
any cooperating governmental agencies, including tribal governments; and
any other interested groups or individuals.
Reporting
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Chief and the Director shall report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives on—
the status of development, execution, and administration of agreements or contracts under subsection (b);
the specific accomplishments that have resulted; and
the role of local communities in the development of agreements or contract plans.
.
Offset
To the extent necessary, the Chief and the Director shall offset any direct spending authorized under section 602 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (as added by subsection (a)) using any additional amounts that may be made available to the Chief or the Director for the applicable fiscal year.
Conforming amendment
Section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) is repealed.
Conforming amendment
In general
Section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) is repealed.
Effect of repeal
Notwithstanding the amendment made by paragraph (1), nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act invalidates or otherwise affects any stewardship contract entered into by the Chief of the Forest Service or the Director of the Bureau of Land Management that is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
June 2, 2014
Reported with amendments