Notes on 16 U.S.C. § 528 : US Code - Notes

Search Notes on 16 U.S.C. § 528 : US Code - Notes

(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, as amended by Pub. L. 108-
108, title III, Sec. 335, Nov. 10, 2003, 117 Stat. 1312, 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 fees under subsection (c) for forest botanical
products harvested on National Forest System lands. The Secretary
shall establish appraisal methods and bidding procedures to
determine the fair market value of forest botanical products
harvested under the pilot program.
"(c) Fees. -
"(1) Imposition and collection. - Under the pilot program, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall charge and collect from a person
who harvests forest botanical products on National Forest System
lands a fee in an amount established by the Secretary to recover
at least a portion of the fair market value of the harvested
forest botanical products and a portion of the costs incurred by
the Department of Agriculture associated with 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 a fee
under subsection (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 subsection (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) 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 fees collected at that unit under
subsection (c) to pay for the costs of conducting inventories of
forest botanical products, determining sustainable levels of
harvest, monitoring and assessing the impacts of harvest levels
and methods, conducting restoration activities, including any
necessary vegetation, and covering costs of the Department of
Agriculture described in subsection (c)(1).
"(4) Treatment of fees. - Funds collected under subsection (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 fees under subsection (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
subsection (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) Collection of fees. - The Secretary of Agriculture may
collect fees under the authority of subsection (c) until
September 30, 2009.
"(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."
[Pub. L. 108-108, Sec. 335(3), which directed amendment of
section 1000(a)(3) [title III, Sec. 339(d)(1)] of Pub. L. 106-113,
set out above, was executed to section 1000(a)(3) [title III, Sec.
339(e)(1)] of Pub. L. 106-113 to reflect the probable intent of
Congress.]