Highlands Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 296 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 753 [Report No. 117–89] To reauthorize the Highlands Conservation Act, to authorize States to use funds from that Act for administrative purposes, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources MARCH 2, 2022 Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To reauthorize the Highlands Conservation Act, to authorize States to use funds from that Act for administrative purposes, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Highlands Conserva- 4 tion Reauthorization Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 753 RS SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HIGHLANDS CON- 1 SERVATION ACT. 2 The Highlands Conservation Act (Public Law 108– 3 421; 118 Stat. 2375) is amended— 4 (1) in section 3— 5 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 6 follows: 7 ‘‘(1) HIGHLANDS REGION.—The term ‘High- 8 lands region’ means— 9 ‘‘(A) the area depicted on the map entitled 10 ‘The Highlands Region’, dated June 2004, up- 11 dated after the date of enactment of the High- 12 lands Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2021 13 to comprise each municipality included on the 14 list of municipalities included in the Highlands 15 region as of that date of enactment, and main- 16 tained in the headquarters of the Forest Service 17 in Washington, District of Columbia; and 18 ‘‘(B) a municipality approved by the Direc- 19 tor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv- 20 ice under section 4(e).’’; 21 (B) in paragraph (3), by amending sub- 22 paragraph (B) to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(B) identified by a Highlands State as 24 having high conservation value using the best 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 753 RS available science and geographic information 1 systems; and’’; 2 (C) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘; or’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘, including a political subdivision 4 thereof; or’’; and 5 (D) by striking paragraphs (5) through 6 (7); 7 (2) in section 4— 8 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘in 9 the Study’’ and all that follows through the end 10 of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘using the best 11 available science and geographic information 12 systems; and’’; 13 (B) in subsection (c), by amending para- 14 graph (5) to read as follows: 15 ‘‘(5) provides that land conservation partner- 16 ship projects will be consistent with areas identified 17 as having high conservation value in accordance with 18 the purposes described in section 2 in the Highlands 19 region.’’; 20 (C) in subsection (e), by striking 21 ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 22 through 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000 for 23 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2028’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 753 RS (D) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 1 section (g); and 2 (E) by inserting after subsection (d) the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(e) REQUEST FOR INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL MU- 5 NICIPALITY.—The Director of the United States Fish and 6 Wildlife Service may, at the request of a Highlands State, 7 Highlands State, with the concurrence of the municipality, 8 approve the inclusion of a municipality within the State 9 as part of the Highlands region. 10 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 11 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—The Sec- 12 retary of the Interior may not expend more than 13 $300,000 for the administration of this Act in each 14 fiscal year. 15 ‘‘(2) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—A State that 16 receives funds under this section for a land con- 17 servation partnership project may not use more than 18 5 percent of the funds to administer the land con- 19 servation partnership project.’’; 20 (3) in section 5— 21 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the 22 Study, Update, and any future study that the 23 Forest Service may undertake in’’; 24 (B) in subsection (b)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 753 RS (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, in- 1 cluding a Pennsylvania and Connecticut 2 Update’’; and 3 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 4 findings’’ and all that follows through the 5 end of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘with 6 stakeholders regarding implementation of 7 the program; and’’; and 8 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘2005 9 through 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘2022 through 10 2028’’; and 11 (4) in section 6, by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(f) APPRAISAL METHODOLOGY.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an ap- 15 praisal related to a land acquisition carried out 16 under this Act, a Highlands State may use an ap- 17 praisal methodology approved by the Secretary of 18 the Interior. 19 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE APPRAISAL METHOD- 20 OLOGY.—A Highlands State may petition the Sec- 21 retary of the Interior to consider an alternative ap- 22 praisal methodology when there is a conflict, in any 23 Highlands State, between— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 753 RS ‘‘(A) an appraisal methodology approved 1 by the Secretary of the Interior under para- 2 graph (1); and 3 ‘‘(B) applicable State law.’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 296 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 753 [Report No. 117–89] A BILL To reauthorize the Highlands Conservation Act, to authorize States to use funds from that Act for administrative purposes, and for other purposes. MARCH 2, 2022 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S753.RS S753 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS