16 U.S.C. § 1608 — National Forest Transportation System

Page 1961 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 1608 Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transpor- tation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, then to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Nat- ural Gas Transportation Projects, see note set out under section 1601 of this title. § 1608. National Forest Transportation System (a) Congressional declaration of policy; time for development; method of financing; financing of forest development roads The Congress declares that the installation of a proper system of transportation to service the National Forest System, as is provided for in sections 532 to 538 of this title, shall be carried forward in time to meet anticipated needs on an economical and environmentally sound basis, and the method chosen for financing the con- struction and maintenance of the transportation system should be such as to enhance local, re- gional, and national benefits: Provided, That limitations on the level of obligations for con- struction of forest roads by timber purchasers shall be established in annual appropriation Acts. (b) Construction of temporary roadways in con- nection with timber contracts, and other per- mits or leases Unless the necessity for a permanent road is set forth in the forest development road system plan, any road constructed on land of the Na- tional Forest System in connection with a tim- ber contract or other permit or lease shall be de- signed with the goal of reestablishing vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the vege- tative cover has been disturbed by the construc- tion of the road, within ten years after the ter- mination of the contract, permit, or lease either through artificial or natural means. Such action shall be taken unless it is later determined that the road is needed for use as a part of the Na- tional Forest Transportation System. (c) Standards of roadway construction Roads constructed on National Forest System lands shall be designed to standards appropriate for the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and impacts on land and re- sources. (Pub. L. 93–378, § 10, formerly § 9, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 479, renumbered § 10 and amended Pub. L. 94–588, §§ 2, 8, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949, 2956; Pub. L. 97–100, title II, § 201, Dec. 23, 1981, 95 Stat. 1405.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1981—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–100 substituted ‘‘Provided, That limitations on the level of obligations for con- struction of forest roads by timber purchasers shall be established in annual appropriation Acts’’ for ‘‘, except that the financing of forest development roads as au- thorized by clause (2) of section 535 of this title, shall be deemed ‘budget authority’ and ‘budget outlays’ as those terms are defined in section 1302(a) of title 31, and shall be effective for any fiscal year only in the manner required for new spending authority as specified by sec- tion 1351(a) of title 31’’. 1976—Pub. L. 94–588, § 8, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsecs. (b) and (c). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries COUNTY PAYMENT MITIGATION; TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MORATORIUM Pub. L. 105–174, title III, § 3006, May 1, 1998, 112 Stat. 85, provided that: ‘‘(a)(1) This section provides compensation for loss of revenues that would have been provided to counties if no road moratorium, as described in subsection (a)(2), were implemented or no substitute sales offered as de- scribed in subsection (b)(1). This section does not en- dorse or prohibit the road building moratorium nor does it affect the applicability of existing law to any moratorium. ‘‘(2) The Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, in his sole discretion, may offer any tim- ber sales that were scheduled October 1, 1997, or there- after, to be offered in fiscal year 1998 or fiscal year 1999 even if such sales would have been delayed or halted as a result of any moratorium (resulting from the Federal Register proposal of January 28, 1998, pages 4351–4354) on construction of roads in roadless areas within the National Forest System adopted as policy or by regula- tion that would otherwise be applicable to such sales. ‘‘(3) Any sales offered pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall— ‘‘(A) comply with all applicable laws and regula- tions and be consistent with applicable land and re- source management plans, except any regulations or plan amendments which establish or implement the moratorium referred to in subsection (a)(2); and ‘‘(B) be subject to administrative appeals pursuant to part 215 of title 36 of the Code of Federal Regula- tions and to judicial review. ‘‘(b)(1) For any previously scheduled sales that are not offered pursuant to subsection (a)(2), the Chief may, to the extent practicable, offer substitute sales within the same State in fiscal year 1998 or fiscal year 1999. Such substitute sales shall be subject to the re- quirements of subsection (a)(3). ‘‘(2)(A) The Chief shall pay as soon as practicable after fiscal year 1998 and fiscal year 1999 to any State in which sales previously scheduled to be offered that are referred to in, but not offered pursuant to, sub- section (a)(2) would have occurred, 25 percent of any an- ticipated receipts from such sales that— ‘‘(i) were scheduled from fiscal year 1998 or fiscal year 1999 sales in the absence of any moratorium re- ferred to in subsection (a)(2); and ‘‘(ii) are not offset by revenues received in such fis- cal years from substitute projects authorized pursu- ant to subsection (b)(1). ‘‘(B) After reporting the amount of funds required to make any payments required by subsection (b)(2)(A), and the source from which such funds are to be derived, to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Chief shall make any payments required by subsection (b)(2)(A) from any funds available to the Forest Service in fiscal year 1998 or fiscal year 1999, subject to approval of the Commit- tees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, that are not specifically earmarked for another purpose by the applicable appropriation Act or a committee or conference report thereon. ‘‘(C) Any State which receives payments required by subsection (b)(2)(A) shall expend such funds only in the manner, and for the purposes, prescribed in section 500 of title 16, United States Code. ‘‘(c)(1) During the term of the moratorium referred to in subsection (a)(2), the Chief shall prepare and submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report on each of the following— ‘‘(A) a study of whether standards and guidelines in existing land and resource management plans compel or encourage entry into roadless areas within the Na- tional Forest System for the purpose of constructing roads or undertaking any other ground-disturbing ac- tivities; ‘‘(B) an inventory of all roads within the National Forest System and the uses which they serve, in a Page 1962 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 1609 1 See References in Text note below. format that will inform and facilitate the develop- ment of a long-term Forest Service transportation policy; and ‘‘(C) a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the economic and social effects of the moratorium re- ferred to in subsection (a)(2) on county, State, and re- gional levels.’’ Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of certain enforcement functions of Sec- retary or other official in Department of Agriculture under this subchapter to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transpor- tation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, then to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Nat- ural Gas Transportation Projects, see note set out under section 1601 of this title. § 1609. National Forest System (a) Congressional declaration of constituent ele- ments and purposes; lands etc., included within; return of lands to public domain Congress declares that the National Forest System consists of units of federally owned for- est, range, and related lands throughout the United States and its territories, united into a nationally significant system dedicated to the long-term benefit for present and future genera- tions, and that it is the purpose of this section to include all such areas into one integral sys- tem. The ‘‘National Forest System’’ shall in- clude all national forest lands reserved or with- drawn from the public domain of the United States, all national forest lands acquired through purchase, exchange, donation, or other means, the national grasslands and land utiliza- tion projects administered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act [7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.], and other lands, waters, or interests therein which are administered by the Forest Service or are designated for administration through the Forest Service as a part of the sys- tem. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 473 of this title, no land now or hereafter re- served or withdrawn from the public domain as national forests pursuant to section 471 1 of this title, or any act supplementary to and amend- atory thereof, shall be returned to the public do- main except by an act of Congress. (b) Location of Forest Service offices The on-the-ground field offices, field super- visory offices, and regional offices of the Forest Service shall be so situated as to provide the op- timum level of convenient, useful services to the public, giving priority to the maintenance and location of facilities in rural areas and towns near the national forest and Forest Service pro- gram locations in accordance with the standards in section 2204b–1(b) of title 7. (Pub. L. 93–378, § 11, formerly § 10, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 480, renumbered § 11 and amended Pub. L. 94–588, §§ 2, 9, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949, 2957.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is act July 22, 1937, ch. 517, 50 Stat. 522. Title III of the Bankhead Jones Farm Tenant Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 1010 et seq.) of chapter 33 of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete classi- fication of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1000 of Title 7 and Tables. Section 471 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), was repealed by Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792.) AMENDMENTS 1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–588, § 9, prohibited the re- turn to the public domain of land reserved or with- drawn from the public domain as national forests pur- suant to section 471 of this title except by an act of Congress. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries LAND CONVEYANCES INVOLVING JOLIET ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, ILLINOIS Pub. L. 104–106, div. B, title XXIX, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 594, as amended by Pub. L. 106–65, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2842, Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 863; Pub. L. 113–291, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2838, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3710; Pub. L. 115–232, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2848, Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2279, provided that title XXIX could be cited as the ‘‘Illinois Land Conservation Act of 1995’’ and pro- vided for conversion of Joliet Army Ammunition Plant to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Illinois, to be managed by the Secretary of Agriculture as part of Na- tional Forest System, and for conveyance of certain real property at the Arsenal for a national cemetery, a Will County, Illinois, landfill, and industrial parks to replace all or a part of lost economic activity, with pro- visions prohibiting construction of title XXIX to re- strict or lessen degree of cleanup required to be carried out under environmental laws, and provisions author- izing retention of real property used for environmental cleanup by Secretary of the Army until transfer occurs. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of certain enforcement functions of Sec- retary or other official in Department of Agriculture under this subchapter to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transpor- tation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, then to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Nat- ural Gas Transportation Projects, see note set out under section 1601 of this title. § 1610. Implementation of provisions by Sec- retary; utilization of information and data of other organizations; avoidance of duplication of planning, etc.; ‘‘renewable resources’’ de- fined In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall utilize information and data available from other Federal, State, and private organiza- tions and shall avoid duplication and overlap of resource assessment and program planning ef- forts of other Federal agencies. The term ‘‘re- newable resources’’ shall be construed to involve those matters within the scope of responsibil- ities and authorities of the Forest Service on August 17, 1974 and on the date of enactment of any legislation amendatory or supplementary thereto. (Pub. L. 93–378, § 12, formerly § 11, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 480, renumbered § 12 and amended Pub. L. 94–588, §§ 2, 10, Oct. 22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2949, 2957; Pub. L. 115–141, div. O, title II, § 208(b)(2), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1066.)