§ 528. — Development and administration of renewable surface resources for multiple use and sustained yield of products and services; Congressional declaration of policy and purpose.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC528]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 2--NATIONAL FORESTS
SUBCHAPTER I--ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 528. Development and administration of renewable surface
resources for multiple use and sustained yield of products and
services; Congressional declaration of policy and purpose
It is the policy of the Congress that the national forests are
established and shall be administered for outdoor recreation, range,
timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes. The purposes of
sections 528 to 531 of this title are declared to be supplemental to,
but not in derogation of, the purposes for which the national forests
were established as set forth in section 475 of this title. Nothing
herein shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or
responsibilities of the several States with respect to wildlife and fish
on the national forests. Nothing herein shall be construed so as to
affect the use or administration of the mineral resources of national
forest lands or to affect the use or administration of Federal lands not
within national forests.
(Pub. L. 86-517, Sec. 1, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 215.)
Short Title
Section 5 of Pub. L. 86-517, as added Pub. L. 94-588, Sec. 19, Oct.
22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2962, provided that: ``This Act [enacting this
section and sections 529 to 531 of this title] may be cited as the
`Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960'.''
Pilot Program of Charges and Fees for Harvest of Forest Botanical
Products
Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(3) [title III, Sec. 339], Nov.
29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-199, provided that:
``(a) Definition of Forest Botanical Product.--For purposes of this
section, the term `forest botanical product' means any naturally
occurring mushrooms, fungi, flowers, seeds, roots, bark, leaves, and
other vegetation (or portion thereof) that grow on National Forest
System lands. The term does not include trees, except as provided in
regulations issued under this section by the Secretary of Agriculture.
``(b) Recovery of Fair Market Value for Products.--The Secretary of
Agriculture shall develop and implement a pilot program to charge and
collect not less than the fair market value for forest botanical
products harvested on National Forest System lands. The Secretary shall
establish appraisal methods and bidding procedures to ensure that the
amounts collected for forest botanical products are not less than fair
market value.
``(c) Fees.--
``(1) Imposition and collection.--Under the pilot program, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall also charge and collect fees from
persons who harvest forest botanical products on National Forest
System lands to recover all costs to the Department of Agriculture
associated with the granting, modifying, or monitoring the
authorization for harvest of the forest botanical products,
including the costs of any environmental or other analysis.
``(2) Security.--The Secretary may require a person assessed a
fee under this subsection to provide security to ensure that the
Secretary receives the fees imposed under this subsection from the
person.
``(d) Sustainable Harvest Levels for Forest Botanical Products.--The
Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct appropriate analyses to determine
whether and how the harvest of forest botanical products on National
Forest System lands can be conducted on a sustainable basis. The
Secretary may not permit under the pilot program the harvest of forest
botanical products at levels in excess of sustainable harvest levels, as
defined pursuant to the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16
U.S.C. 528 et seq.). The Secretary shall establish procedures and
timeframes to monitor and revise the harvest levels established for
forest botanical products.
``(e) Waiver Authority.--
``(1) Personal use.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
establish a personal use harvest level for each forest botanical
product, and the harvest of a forest botanical product below that
level by a person for personal use shall not be subject to charges
and fees under subsections (b) and (c).
``(2) Other exceptions.--The Secretary may also waive the
application of subsection (b) or (c) pursuant to such regulations as
the Secretary may prescribe.
``(f) Deposit and Use of Funds.--
``(1) Deposit.--Funds collected under the pilot program in
accordance with subsections (b) and (c) shall be deposited into a
special account in the Treasury of the United States.
``(2) Funds available.--Funds deposited into the special account
in accordance with paragraph (1) in excess of the amounts collected
for forest botanical products during fiscal year 1999 shall be
available for expenditure by the Secretary of Agriculture under
paragraph (3) without further appropriation, and shall remain
available for expenditure until the date specified in subsection
(h)(2).
``(3) Authorized uses.--The funds made available under paragraph
(2) shall be expended at units of the National Forest System in
proportion to the charges and fees collected at that unit under the
pilot program to pay for--
``(A) in the case of funds collected under subsection (b),
the costs of conducting inventories of forest botanical
products, determining sustainable levels of harvest, monitoring
and assessing the impacts of harvest levels and methods, and for
restoration activities, including any necessary vegetation; and
``(B) in the case of fees collected under subsection (c),
the costs described in paragraph (1) of such subsection.
``(4) Treatment of fees.--Funds collected under subsections (b)
and (c) shall not be taken into account for the purposes of the
following laws:
``(A) The sixth paragraph under the heading `forest service'
in the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500) and section 13 of the
Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C.
500).
``(B) The fourteenth paragraph under the heading `forest
service' in the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501).
``(C) Section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7
U.S.C. 1012).
``(D) The Act of August 8 [28], 1937, and the Act of May 24,
1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181a et seq.).
``(E) Section 6 of the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly known
as the Recreation and Public Purposes Act; 43 U.S.C. 869-4).
``(F) Chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code.
``(G) Section 401 of the Act of June 15, 1935 (16 U.S.C.
715s).
``(H) Section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act
of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a).
``(I) Any other provision of law relating to revenue
allocation.
``(g) Reporting Requirements.--As soon as practicable after the end
of each fiscal year in which the Secretary of Agriculture collects
charges and fees under subsections (b) and (c) or expends funds from the
special account under subsection (f), the Secretary shall submit to the
Congress a report summarizing the activities of the Secretary under the
pilot program, including the funds generated under subsections (b) and
(c), the expenses incurred to carry out the pilot program, and the
expenditures made from the special account during that fiscal year.
``(h) Duration of Pilot Program.--
``(1) Charges and fees.--The Secretary of Agriculture may
collect charges and fees under the authority of subsections (b) and
(c) only during fiscal years 2000 through 2004.
``(2) Use of special account.--The Secretary may make
expenditures from the special account under subsection (f) until
September 30 of the fiscal year following the last fiscal year
specified in paragraph (1). After that date, amounts remaining in
the special account shall be transferred to the general fund of the
Treasury.''
Act Referred to in Other Sections
The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 is referred to in
sections 472a, 670h, 698v-1, 1133, 1600, 1602, 1604, 1607 of this title;
title 30 section 1272.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 529, 530, 531 of this title.
