§ 471j. — Headwaters Forest and Elk River Property acquisition.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC471j]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 2--NATIONAL FORESTS
SUBCHAPTER I--ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 471j. Headwaters Forest and Elk River Property acquisition
(a) Authorization
Subject to the terms and conditions of this section, up to
$250,000,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund is authorized to
be appropriated to acquire lands referenced in the Agreement of
September 28, 1996, which consist of approximately 4,500 acres commonly
referred to as the ``Headwaters Forest'', approximately 1,125 acres
referred to as the ``Elk Head Forest'', and approximately 9,600 acres
referred to as the ``Elk River Property'', which are located in Humboldt
County, California. This section is the sole authorization for the
acquisition of such property, which is the subject of the Agreement
dated September 28, 1996 between the United States of America
(hereinafter ``United States''), the State of California, MAXXAM, Inc.,
and the Pacific Lumber Company. Of the entire Elk River Property, the
United States and the State of California are to retain approximately
1,845 acres and transfer the remaining approximately 7,755 acres of Elk
River Property to the Pacific Lumber Company. The property to be
acquired and retained by the United States and the State of California
is that property that is the subject of the Agreement of September 28,
1996 as generally depicted on maps labeled as sheets 1 through 7 of
Township 3 and 4 North, Ranges 1 East and 1 West, of the Humboldt
Meridian, California, titled ``Dependent Resurvey and Tract Survey'', as
approved by Lance J. Bishop, Chief Cadastral Surveyor--California, on
August 29, 1997. Such maps shall be on file in the Office of the Chief
Cadastral Surveyor, Bureau of Land Management, Sacramento, California.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make such typographical
and other corrections to this description as are mutually agreed upon by
the parties to the Agreement of September 28, 1996. The land retained by
the United States and the State of California (approximately 7,470
acres) shall hereafter be the ``Headwaters Forest''. Any funds
appropriated by the Federal Government to acquire lands or interests in
lands that enlarge the Headwaters Forest by more than five acres per
each acquisition shall be subject to specific authorization enacted
subsequent to this Act, except that such funds may be used pursuant to
existing authorities to acquire such lands up to five acres per each
acquisition or interests in lands that may be necessary for roadways to
provide access to the Headwaters Forest.
(b) Effective period of authorization
The authorization in subsection (a) of this section expires March 1,
1999 and shall become effective only--
(1) when the State of California provides a $130,000,000
contribution for the transaction;
(2) when the State of California approves a Sustained Yield Plan
covering Pacific Lumber Company timber property;
(3) when the Pacific Lumber Company dismisses the following
legal actions as evidenced by instruments in form and substance
satisfactory to each of the parties to such legal actions: Pacific
Lumber Co. v. United States, No. 96-257L (Fed. Cls.) and Salmon
Creek Corp. v. California Board of Forestry, No. 96-CS-1057 (Cal.
Super. Ct.);
(4) when the incidental take permit under section 10(a) of the
Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. 1539(a)] (based upon a
multispecies Habitat Conservation Plan covering Pacific Lumber
Company timber property, including applicable portions of the Elk
River Property) is issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service;
(5) after an appraisal of all lands and interests therein to be
acquired by the United States has been undertaken, such appraisal
has been reviewed for a period not to exceed 30 days by the
Comptroller General of the United States, and such appraisal has
been provided to the Committee on Resources of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of the House and
Senate;
(6) after the Secretary of the Interior issues an opinion of
value to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the
Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate for the land
and property to be acquired by the Federal Government. Such opinion
of value shall also include the total value of all compensation
(including tax benefits) proposed to be provided for the
acquisition;
(7) after an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan has been prepared and completed in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]; and
(8) when adequate provision has been made for public access to
the property.
(c) Acquisition
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amount paid by the
United States to acquire identified lands and interests in lands
referred to in subsection (a) of this section may differ from the value
contained in the appraisal required by subsection (b)(5) of this section
if the Secretary of the Interior certifies, in writing, to Congress that
such action is in the best interest of the United States.
(d) Habitat conservation plan
(1) Applicable standards
Within 60 days after November 14, 1997, the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall report to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on
Resources of the House of Representatives on the scientific and
legal standards and criteria for threatened, endangered, and
candidate species under the Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.] and any other species used to develop the habitat
conservation plan (hereinafter ``HCP'') and the section 10(a) [16
U.S.C. 1539(a)] incidental take permit for the Pacific Lumber
Company land.
(2) Report
If the Pacific Lumber Company submits an application for an
incidental take permit under section 10(a) of the Endangered Species
Act [16 U.S.C. 1539(a)] for the transaction authorized by subsection
(a) of this section, and the permit is not issued, then the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service shall set forth the substantive rationale or rationales for
why the measures proposed by the applicant for such permit did not
meet the issuance criteria for the species at issue. Such report
shall be submitted to the Congress within 60 days of the decision
not to issue such permit or by May 1, 1999, whichever is earlier.
(3) HCP standards
If a section 10(a) permit for the Pacific Lumber Company HCP is
issued, it shall be deemed to be unique to the circumstances
associated with the acquisition authorized by this section and shall
not establish a higher or lesser standard for any other multispecies
HCPs than would otherwise be established under existing law.
(e) Payment to Humboldt County
Within 30 days of the acquisition of the Headwaters Forest, the
Secretary of the Interior shall provide a $10,000,000 direct payment to
Humboldt County, California.
(f) Payment in lieu of taxes
The Federal portion of the Headwaters Forest acquired pursuant to
this section shall be entitlement land under section 6905 of title 31.
(g) Out-year budget limitations
The following funding limitations and parameters shall apply to the
Headwaters Forest acquired under subsection (a) of this section--
(1) At least 50 percent of the total funds for management of
such lands above the annual level of $100,000 shall (with the
exception of law enforcement activities and emergency activities) be
from non-Federal sources.
(2) Subject to appropriations, the authorized annual Federal
funding for management of such land is $300,000 (with the exception
of law enforcement activities and emergency activities).
(3) The Secretary of the Interior or the Headwaters Forest
Management Trust referenced in subsection (h) of this section is
authorized to accept and use donations of funds and personal
property from the State of California, private individuals, and
other nongovernmental entities for the purpose of management of the
Headwaters Forest.
(h) Headwaters Forest Management Trust
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, with the written
concurrence of the Governor of the State of California, to establish a
Headwaters Forest Management Trust (``Trust'') for the management of the
Headwaters Forest as follows:
(1) Management authority
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to vest management
authority and responsibility in the Trust composed of a board of
five trustees each appointed for terms of three years. Two trustees
shall be appointed by the Governor of the State of California. Three
trustees shall be appointed by the President of the United States.
The first group of trustees shall be appointed within 60 days of
exercising the authority under this subsection and the terms of the
trustees shall begin on such day. The Secretary of the Interior, the
Secretary of Resources of the State of California, and the Chairman
of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors shall be nonvoting, ex
officio members of the board of trustees. The Secretary is
authorized to make grants to the Trust for the management of the
Headwaters Forest from amounts authorized and appropriated.
(2) Operations
The Trust shall have the power to develop and implement the
management plan for the Headwaters Forest.
(i) Management plan
(1) In general
A concise management plan for the Headwaters Forest shall be
developed and periodically amended as necessary by the Secretary of
the Interior in consultation with the State of California (and in
the case that the authority provided in subsection (h) of this
section is exercised, the trustees shall develop and periodically
amend the management plan), and shall meet the following
requirements:
(A) Management goals for the plan shall be to conserve and
study the land, fish, wildlife, and forests occurring on such
land while providing public recreation opportunities and other
management needs.
(B) Before a management structure and management plan are
adopted for such land, the Secretary of the Interior or the
board of trustees, as the case may be, shall submit a proposal
for the structure and plan to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources
of the House of Representatives. The proposed management plan
shall not become effective until the passage of 90 days after
its submission to the Committees.
(C) The Secretary of the Interior or the board of trustees,
as the case may be, shall report annually to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on
Resources of the House of Representatives, and the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations concerning the management of
lands acquired under the authority of this section and
activities undertaken on such lands.
(2) Plan
The management plan shall guide general management of the
Headwaters Forest. Such plan shall address the following management
issues--
(A) scientific research on forests, fish, wildlife, and
other such activities that will be fostered and permitted on the
Headwaters Forest;
(B) providing recreation opportunities on the Headwaters
Forest;
(C) access to the Headwaters Forest;
(D) construction of minimal necessary facilities within the
Headwaters Forest so as to maintain the ecological integrity of
the Headwaters Forest;
(E) other management needs; and
(F) an annual budget for the management of the Headwaters
Forest, which shall include a projected revenue schedule (such
as fees for research and recreation) and projected expenses.
(3) Compliance
The National Environmental Policy Act [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]
shall apply to the development and implementation of the management
plan.
(j) Cooperative management
(1) The Secretary of the Interior may enter into agreements with the
State of California for the cooperative management of any of the
following: Headwaters Forest, Redwood National Park, and proximate State
lands. The purpose of such agreements is to acquire from and provide to
the State of California goods and services to be used by the Secretary
and the State of California in cooperative management of lands if the
Secretary determines that appropriations for that purpose are available
and an agreement is in the best interests of the United States; and
(2) an assignment arranged by the Secretary under section 3372 of
title 5 of a Federal or State employee for work in any Federal or State
of California lands, or an extension of such assignment, may be for any
period of time determined by the Secretary or the State of California,
as appropriate, to be mutually beneficial.
(Pub. L. 105-83, title V, Sec. 501, Nov. 14, 1997, 111 Stat. 1610.)
References in Text
This Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 105-83, Nov. 14,
1997, 111 Stat. 1543, known as the Department of the Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998. For complete classification
of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in
subsecs. (b)(7) and (i)(3), is Pub. L. 91-190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat.
852, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (Sec. 4321
et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables.
The Endangered Species Act, referred to in subsec. (d)(1), probably
means the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Pub. L. 93-205, Dec. 28, 1973,
87 Stat. 884, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 35
(Sec. 1531 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this
Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1531 of this
title and Tables.
Timing of Acquisitions
Section 504 of title V of Pub. L. 105-83 provided that: ``The
acquisitions authorized by sections 501 [16 U.S.C. 471j] and 502 [111
Stat. 1614] of this title may not occur prior to the earlier of: (1) 180
days after enactment of this Act [Nov. 14, 1997]; or (2) enactment of
separate authorizing legislation that modifies section 501, 502, or 503
[111 Stat. 1616] of this title. Within 120 days of enactment, the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture,
respectively, shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the House of
Representatives, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, reports detailing
the status of efforts to meet the conditions set forth in this title
imposed on the acquisition of the interests to protect and preserve the
Headwaters Forest and the acquisition of interests to protect and
preserve Yellowstone National Park. For every day beyond 120 days after
the enactment of this Act that the appraisals required in subsections
[sic] 501(b)(5) and 502(b)(2) are not provided to the Committee on
Resources of the House, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the Senate and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations in
accordance with such subsections, the 180-day period referenced in this
section shall be extended by one day.''
