The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S5710-S5712 on July 16, 2013.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, and
Mr. Heller):
S. 1300. A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for the conduct of stewardship end result contracting projects; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, on behalf of Senators McCain, Crapo, Risch, Heller, and myself I am pleased to introduce the Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act.
As we continue to search for ways to prevent future wildland fire tragedies, it is worth noting that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, are about to lose one of their most valuable tools in that ongoing fight.
The tool, known as stewardship contracting, allows the Forest Service and BLM--in collaboration with State and local governments, tribal agencies, and non-governmental organizations--to enter into contracts with public or private entities to carry out a variety of land-
management projects, including those that can reduce the risk of wildland fire.
Stewardship contracts have been particularly useful in Arizona. The Forest Service awarded the first such 10-year contract to the White Mountain Stewardship Project in 2004, and the largest contract, the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, began in 2012. Unless Congress acts, the authority to enter into these agreements will expire at the end of September. Our legislation would not only extend the authority for Federal agencies to enter into these agreements, but it builds on past experiences to make commonsense improvements.
For example, it would give the Forest Service and BLM flexibility when establishing cancellation ceilings. A cancellation ceiling represents the amount of money the government would have to pay its contracting partner if the contract were cancelled. Typically, the government has to obligate the full amount at the inception of the contract. As noted in a 2008 GAO report, cancellation ceilings that require agencies to obligate large sums can serve as an impediment to long-term landscape-scale contracts, precisely the types of agreements that most significantly reduce wildfire risks.
Using Defense Department acquisition regulations as a model, our bill solves this problem by allowing Federal agencies to obligate funds in stages that are economically or programmatically viable. It would also require those agencies to notify the House and Senate natural resource committees, as well as the Office of Management and Budget, if the agencies propose contracts that do not fully cover the cancellation ceiling amount. Any extra value from a contract would be dedicated to first satisfying outstanding cancellation-related liabilities before being used to fund other stewardship projects. Finally, our bill incorporates key fire-liability provisions from timber sale contracts into the stewardship model, establishing parity between the two instruments.
Stewardship contracting and the resulting partnerships have helped restore forests, reduce the risk of out-of-control wildfires, and protect rural communities. I thank Senators McCain, Crapo, Risch, and Heller for their support and leadership. It is my hope that our colleagues will act quickly to extend and improve this important land-
management tool.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1300
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act''.
SEC. 2. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING PROJECTS.
(a) 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:
``SEC. 602. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING PROJECTS.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Chief.--The term `Chief' means the Chief of the Forest Service.
``(2) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
``(b) Projects.--Until September 30, 2023, 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.
``(c) Land Management Goals.--The land management goals of a project under subsection (b) may include--
``(1) road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or maintain water quality;
``(2) soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or other resource values;
``(3) setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife habitat;
``(4) removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives;
``(5) watershed restoration and maintenance;
``(6) restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish; or
``(7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species.
``(d) Agreements or Contracts.--
``(1) 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.
``(2) 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.
``(3) Term.--
``(A) 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.
``(B) Maximum.--The period of the contract under subsection
(b) may exceed 5 years but may not exceed 10 years.
``(4) Offsets.--
``(A) 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).
``(B) Methods of appraisal.--The value of timber or other forest products used as an offset under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) shall be determined using appropriate methods of appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products to be removed; and
``(ii) may--
``(I) be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the contracts; and
``(II) may include valuing products on a per-acre basis.
``(5) Cancellation ceilings.--
``(A) 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.
``(B) Notice.--
``(i) 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--
``(I)(aa) the cancellation ceiling amounts proposed for each program year in the agreement or contract; and
``(bb) the reasons for the cancellation ceiling amounts proposed under item (aa);
``(II) the extent to which the costs of contract cancellation are not included in the budget for the agreement or contract; and
``(III) a financial risk assessment of not including budgeting for the costs of agreement or contract cancellation.
``(ii) 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).
``(6) 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), the Chief may enter into an agreement or contract under subsection (b).
``(7) 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).
``(8) 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--
``(A) integrated resource timber contracts, as described in the Forest Service contract numbered 2400-13, part H, section H.4; and
``(B) timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a).
``(e) Receipts.--
``(1) 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.
``(2) Use.--Monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b)--
``(A) may be retained by the Chief and the Director; and
``(B) shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation at the project site from which the monies are collected or at another project site.
``(3) Relation to other laws.--
``(A) 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.
``(B) 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).
``(f) 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--
``(1) the Act of August 11, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 490); and
``(2) the Act of June 30, 1914 (16 U.S.C. 498).
``(g) Performance and Payment Guarantees.--
``(1) 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).
``(2) 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--
``(A) use the excess to satisfy any outstanding liabilities for cancelled agreements or contracts; or
``(B) if there are no outstanding liabilities under subparagraph (A), apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects.
``(h) Monitoring and Evaluation.--
``(1) 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.
``(2) Participants.--Other than the Chief and Director, participants in the process described in paragraph (1) may include--
``(A) any cooperating governmental agencies, including tribal governments; and
``(B) any other interested groups or individuals.
``(i) 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--
``(1) the status of development, execution, and administration of agreements or contracts under subsection
(b);
``(2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted; and
``(3) the role of local communities in the development of agreements or contract plans.''.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
______
By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Merkley):
S. 1301. A bill to provide for the restoration of forest landscapes, protection of old growth forests, and management of national forests in the eastside forests of the State of Oregon; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I would like to reintroduce an important piece of forest legislation for my home State of Oregon.
This is legislation that I introduced in the last two Congresses. The legislation gained the support of the administration through a number of improvements, but unfortunately it failed to get passed. I have since made a few more updates and improvements as I continue talking to stakeholders who worked with me on this legislation. I am introducing the bill today to reinvigorate the discussion and get stakeholders to finalize any outstanding issues so we can finally get this bill done this Congress. I am sending the message that restoring these forests in Oregon is an urgent priority that needs to get done an I am going to keep at it until this issue gets addressed
I am pleased that my colleague from Oregon, Senator Merkley has again joined me today in introducing this bill. He also recognizes the urgent needs to restore Oregon's forests and help forest dependent communities and I am glad he is part of this fight.
Oregon's historic war over its forests restyled in gridlock that led to millions of acres of Oregon's Federal forest landscape containing choked, overstocked stands that are at great risk of uncharacteristic catastrophic fires, insect infestations and disease. The outcome of the decades of conflict is very evident in Eastern Oregon's forests.
That is why I introduced legislation in the last two Congresses to tackle the challenges facing Oregon's Eastside forests and why I reintroduce this legislation again today.
The legislation I first introduced in 2009 reflected an agreement reached by leaders on both sides of these difficult issues Intense negotiations resulted in that legislation with the goal of bringing jobs and a healthier tomorrow to the 8.3 million acres on the 6 Federal forests in eastern and central Oregon. That agreement has already resulted in progress being made on forestry issues in Eastern Oregon. Already there is more collaboration, less gridlock, more timber harvests and forests gradually beginning to get restored.
But we can't stop there. Since the last Congress, discussions and negotiations with interested stakeholders have continued. Today's bill reflects some of those discussions as well as some of the real progress seen on the ground in Eastern Oregon, but it also preserves the core elements of the agreement that I crafted with the stakeholders to this agreement--a push to increase the timber produced from our national forests, landscape scale restoration efforts and protections for watersheds and old growth.
Eastern Oregon today is down to only a small handful of surviving timber mills. Yet those mills are urgently needed to process saw logs and other merchantable material from forest restoration projects. Without them, there will be no restoration of Oregon's Eastside forests. But without far greater certainty of merchantable timber supply, more mills will close.
That's why we not only need to introduce legislation today, we need to pass it this Congress. Because time is not on our side and at risk forests and mills won't wait forever for the perfect consensus.
Fortunately leaders on both sides of this issue recognize that Oregon's forests will pay the price if more mills close. That recognition is what brought us to the landmark agreement in the first place.
I expect continued discussions as the Senate process advances over the best way to craft the bill to reflect current reality on the ground but I want to build on the progress that has been made to this point.
I also want to point out that none of our efforts will succeed unless Oregon Federal forests are also adequately funded to properly manage and restore these valuable Federal assets. I will fight, along with Senator Merkley and other stakeholders, for the funding to put our people back to work and restore the health of our forests.
I thank the stakeholders that have continued to spend time and energy engaged in discussions with me on the details of this legislation. I know there is further work ahead, and I look forward to working with them to get the legislation ready for passage.
I want to also express my gratitude to Governor Kitzhaber, who also understands the importance of advancing efforts to treat and restore Oregon's forests. He went to bat to putting state funding behind these efforts so I want to ensure that the Federal Government is also honoring its commitment to manage these Federal treasures and be a good neighbor to state and private lands. I appreciate his efforts and look forward to continuing to work with him.
I am pleased to reintroduce this legislation today, and I intend to keep working with all the folks in my State who are willing to talk in good faith about restoring our Eastside forests. I want to continue to get input from stakeholders on any further revisions to the bill and get a final product that will pass this Congress.
______
By Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Udall of New
Mexico, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Durbin):
S. 1306. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in order to improve environmental literacy to better prepare students for postsecondary education and careers, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am reintroducing bipartisan legislation to provide support for environmental education in our Nation's classrooms. I thank Senators Kirk, Murray, Tom Udall, Durbin, and Whitehouse for agreeing to be original cosponsors of the No Child Left Inside Act of 2013.
According to the National Association for Environmental Education, 47 states and the District of Columbia have taken steps towards developing plans to integrate environmental literacy into their statewide educational initiatives. In Rhode Island, organizations such as the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Save the Bay, the Nature Conservancy, and the Audubon Society, as well as countless schools and teachers, are offering educational and outdoor experiences that many children may never otherwise have, helping inspire them to learn. In partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Education, these organizations have developed a statewide environmental literacy plan that is now being put into action.
Given the major environmental challenges we face today, our bill seeks to prioritize teaching our young people about their natural world. For more than three decades, environmental education has been a growing part of effective instruction in America's schools. Responding to the need to improve student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century economy, many schools throughout the Nation now offer some form of environmental education.
Yet, environmental education is facing a significant challenge, and remains out of reach for too many children. With many schools being forced to scale back or eliminate environmental programs, fewer and fewer students are able to take part in related classroom instruction and field investigations, however effective or in demand these programs are.
The No Child Left Inside Act would increase environmental literacy among elementary and secondary students by encouraging and providing assistance to states for the development and implementation of environmental literacy plans and promoting professional development for teachers on how to integrate environmental literacy and field experiences into their instruction.
The legislation would also support partnerships with high-need school districts to initiate, expand, or improve their environmental education curriculum, and for replication and dissemination of effective practices. Finally, the legislation would support interagency coordination and reporting on environmental education opportunities across the Federal Government. This legislation has broad support among national and State environmental and educational groups.
The American public recognizes that the environment is a central issue to our future health and well-being. In the private sector, business leaders also increasingly believe that an environmentally literate workforce is critical to their long-term success. They recognize that better, more efficient environmental practices improve the bottom line and help position their companies for the future.
Environmental education helps prepare the next generation with the skills and knowledge necessary to be competitive in the global economy. Studies have shown that it enhances student achievement in science and other core subjects and increases student engagement and critical thinking skills. And it promotes healthy lifestyles by encouraging kids to get outside.
That is why I encourage my colleagues to cosponsor the bipartisan No Child Left Inside Act and to join with Senator Kirk and me to include its provisions into the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
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