[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9602 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9602
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize
States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage
conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 16, 2024
Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Costa, Mr. Huffman, and Ms.
Bonamici) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize
States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage
conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Forest Legacy Management Flexibility
Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS TO
ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MANAGE CONSERVATION EASEMENTS UNDER
THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.
(a) State Authorization.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended--
(1) in subsection (l)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection
(m)'' and inserting ``subsection (o)''; and
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the
State of Vermont'' and inserting ``any State'';
and
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in the matter
preceding subclause (I), by striking ``of
Vermont'' and inserting ``involved'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (o); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (l) the following:
``(m) Third-Party Conservation Easements.--
``(1) In general.--At the request of a State, the Secretary
shall authorize the State to approve eligible qualified
organizations to acquire, hold, and manage conservation
easements to carry out activities under the Forest Legacy
Program.
``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to acquire, hold, and
manage a conservation easement under this subsection, a
qualified organization shall demonstrate to the Secretary the
abilities necessary to acquire, monitor, and enforce interests
in forestland--
``(A) consistent with the Forest Legacy Program;
and
``(B) in accordance with the applicable assessment
of need submitted to the Secretary by the State in
which the conservation easement is located.
``(3) Reversion.--If the Secretary or a State determines a
condition described in paragraph (4) is met with respect to a
conservation easement--
``(A) all right, title, and interest of the
qualified organization in and to the conservation
easement shall terminate; and
``(B) all right, title, and interest in and to the
conservation easement shall revert to the State or, if
approved by the State, another qualified organization
determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph
(2).
``(4) Conditions for reversion.--A condition described in
this paragraph is, with respect to a conservation easement
acquired, held, and managed by a qualified organization, any of
the following:
``(A) The qualified organization is unable to carry
out the responsibilities of the qualified organization
under the Forest Legacy Program with respect to the
conservation easement.
``(B) The conservation easement has been modified
in a way that is inconsistent with the purposes of the
Forest Legacy Program or the applicable assessment of
need described in paragraph (2)(B).
``(C) The conservation easement has been conveyed
to another person (other than a qualified organization
determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph
(2) and approved by the State).
``(n) Qualified Organization Defined.--In this section, the term
`qualified organization' means an organization that--
``(1) is a qualified organization, as defined in section
170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
``(2) is organized for, and at all times since the
formation of the organization, has been operated principally
for one or more of the conservation purposes described in
section 170(h)(4)(A) of such Code;
``(3) has not been the subject of any criminal or civil
enforcement action taken by the Attorney General of the United
States or the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service
pertaining to the charitable donation of conservation easements
under such Code; and
``(4) has been awarded, and at all times thereafter
maintained, accredited status by the Land Trust Accreditation
Commission, or if such Commission ceases to exist, a successor
organization that offers substantially similar accreditation
and is approved by the Secretary for purposes of this
section.''.
(b) Technical Corrections.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is further amended--
(1) in subsection (i), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and
inserting ``subsection (c)'';
(2) in subsection (l)(3)(B)(i)(II), by inserting ``and''
after the semi-colon at the end; and
(3) in the header of subsection (o), as redesignated by
this section, by striking ``Appropriation'' and inserting
``Authorization of Appropriations''.
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