State Grazing Management Authority Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1214 To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with States to provide for State administra- tion of allotment management plans. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with States to provide for State administra- tion of allotment management plans. 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 ‘‘State Grazing Manage- 4 ment Authority Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1214 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS 1 BETWEEN THE SECRETARY OF THE INTE- 2 RIOR, THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, 3 AND STATES. 4 Section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 5 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(k) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH STATES.— 8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) ALLOTMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 10 The term ‘allotment management plan’ has the 11 meaning given the term in subsection (k) of 12 section 103, except that— 13 ‘‘(i) any reference to ‘the lessees or 14 permittees involved’ in that subsection 15 shall be considered to be a reference to ‘the 16 Secretary concerned’; and 17 ‘‘(ii) any reference to ‘the Secretary 18 concerned’ in that subsection shall be con- 19 sidered to be a reference to ‘the Governor 20 of the applicable State’. 21 ‘‘(B) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term 22 ‘cooperating agency’ means, as applicable— 23 ‘‘(i) a State agricultural agency that 24 is involved in a proposed action under an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1214 IS allotment management plan authorized 1 under paragraph (2); or 2 ‘‘(ii) a Federal agency that— 3 ‘‘(I) is involved in a proposed ac- 4 tion under an allotment management 5 plan authorized under paragraph (2); 6 ‘‘(II) is not the lead agency; and 7 ‘‘(III) has the jurisdiction or spe- 8 cial expertise such that the Federal 9 agency needs to be consulted— 10 ‘‘(aa) to use a categorical 11 exclusion; or 12 ‘‘(bb) to prepare an environ- 13 mental assessment or environ- 14 mental impact statement, as ap- 15 plicable. 16 ‘‘(C) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The 17 term ‘cooperative agreement’ means a coopera- 18 tive agreement entered into under paragraph 19 (2). 20 ‘‘(D) DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK.—The term 21 ‘domestic livestock’ means an animal raised in 22 an agricultural setting to produce labor or com- 23 modities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1214 IS ‘‘(E) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LAND.—The 1 term ‘eligible Federal land’ means— 2 ‘‘(i) public lands that— 3 ‘‘(I) are subject to a grazing per- 4 mit or lease issued by the Bureau 5 under section 3 or 15 of the Act of 6 June 28, 1934 (commonly known as 7 the ‘Taylor Grazing Act’) (43 U.S.C. 8 315b, 315m); and 9 ‘‘(II) have periodically or histori- 10 cally been used or offered for public 11 domestic livestock grazing, as deter- 12 mined by the Secretary concerned; 13 and 14 ‘‘(ii) National Forest System land 15 that— 16 ‘‘(I) is subject to a grazing per- 17 mit or lease issued by the Secretary of 18 Agriculture; and 19 ‘‘(II) has periodically or histori- 20 cally been used or offered for public 21 domestic livestock grazing, as deter- 22 mined by the Secretary concerned. 23 ‘‘(F) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 24 term ‘environmental assessment’ has the mean- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1214 IS ing given the term in section 1508.9 of title 40, 1 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 2 regulation). 3 ‘‘(G) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE- 4 MENT.—The term ‘environmental impact state- 5 ment’ means a detailed statement required 6 under section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi- 7 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 8 4332(2)(C)). 9 ‘‘(H) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead 10 agency’ means the Federal agency headed by 11 the Secretary concerned that, at the request of 12 the Governor of the applicable State under 13 paragraph (3)(A)(ii), carries out the NEPA 14 process for a proposed action under an allot- 15 ment management plan authorized under para- 16 graph (2). 17 ‘‘(I) NEPA PROCESS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘NEPA 19 process’ means any portion of the process, 20 analysis, and other measure, including the 21 preparation of an environmental impact 22 statement, if necessary, that is required to 23 be carried out by the Secretary concerned 24 under the National Environmental Policy 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1214 IS Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) be- 1 fore the Secretary concerned undertakes a 2 proposed action. 3 ‘‘(ii) PERIOD.—For purposes of clause 4 (i), the NEPA process— 5 ‘‘(I) begins on the date on which 6 the Secretary concerned receives an 7 application for a proposed action from 8 a project sponsor; and 9 ‘‘(II) ends on the date on which 10 the Secretary concerned issues, with 11 respect to the proposed action— 12 ‘‘(aa) a record of decision, 13 including, if necessary, a revised 14 record of decision; 15 ‘‘(bb) a finding of no signifi- 16 cant impact; or 17 ‘‘(cc) a categorical exclusion 18 under the National Environ- 19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 20 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 21 ‘‘(J) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term 22 ‘project sponsor’ means a Federal agency or ap- 23 plicable State agency that seeks approval of a 24 proposed action. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1214 IS ‘‘(K) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term 1 ‘Secretary concerned’ means— 2 ‘‘(i) the Secretary, acting through the 3 Director of the Bureau, with respect to 4 public lands; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Agriculture, act- 6 ing through the Chief of the Forest Serv- 7 ice, with respect to National Forest System 8 land. 9 ‘‘(L) STATE COMMISSION.—The term 10 ‘State commission’ means an advisory commis- 11 sion for a State established under paragraph 12 (8)(A). 13 ‘‘(2) PILOT PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the 15 Governor of a State, the Secretary concerned 16 shall enter into a cooperative agreement with 17 the State to authorize the State to administer 18 1 or more allotment management plans on eligi- 19 ble Federal land in the State, including the 20 commencement of a lease or the issuance of a 21 permit for domestic livestock grazing on the ap- 22 plicable allotment, subject to valid existing 23 rights and this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1214 IS ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary con- 1 cerned may enter into a cooperative agreement 2 under subparagraph (A) and a State may com- 3 mence a lease and issue a permit under an al- 4 lotment management plan authorized under 5 that subparagraph only after the Governor of 6 the State has submitted to the Secretary con- 7 cerned— 8 ‘‘(i) if the applicable allotment is oc- 9 cupied, a notice from each holder of a 10 grazing permit or lease occupying the ap- 11 plicable allotment that provides that— 12 ‘‘(I) the holder consents to man- 13 agement by the State of the applicable 14 permit or lease, which may include a 15 maximum fee that the State may 16 charge the holder of the grazing per- 17 mit or lease under paragraph (6)(C); 18 and 19 ‘‘(II) if the grazing permit or 20 lease is subsequently transferred, the 21 transfer shall be subject to the re- 22 quirement that the transferee con- 23 sents to the management by the State 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1214 IS of the applicable permit or lease, in 1 accordance with subclause (I); and 2 ‘‘(ii) a proposed allotment manage- 3 ment plan for the applicable allotment. 4 ‘‘(3) NEPA AUTHORITY.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the 6 Governor of a State— 7 ‘‘(i) a cooperative agreement shall in- 8 clude an assignment of the responsibilities 9 of the Secretary concerned under the Na- 10 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 11 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to the State with 12 respect to the allotment management plans 13 authorized under paragraph (2); or 14 ‘‘(ii)(I) the Federal agency headed by 15 the Secretary concerned shall carry out the 16 NEPA process for each proposed action 17 under an allotment management plan au- 18 thorized under paragraph (2); 19 ‘‘(II) the applicable agricultural agen- 20 cy of the State shall participate in the 21 NEPA process as a cooperating agency; 22 and 23 ‘‘(III) any other Federal or State 24 agency may participate in the NEPA proc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1214 IS ess as a cooperating agency, as the appli- 1 cable State commission determines to be 2 appropriate. 3 ‘‘(B) MULTI-AGENCY PROJECTS.— 4 ‘‘(i) RESPONSIBILITIES OF LEAD 5 AGENCY.—The lead agency for a proposed 6 action shall— 7 ‘‘(I) as soon as practicable and in 8 consultation with the cooperating 9 agencies, determine whether a pro- 10 posed action requires the preparation 11 of an environmental assessment or an 12 environmental impact statement; and 13 ‘‘(II) if the lead agency deter- 14 mines under subclause (I) that an en- 15 vironmental impact statement is nec- 16 essary— 17 ‘‘(aa) be responsible for co- 18 ordinating the preparation of the 19 environmental impact statement; 20 ‘‘(bb) incorporate, to the 21 maximum extent practicable, any 22 applicable State or local resource 23 management plans into the envi- 24 ronmental impact statement and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1214 IS environmental assessment, as ap- 1 plicable; 2 ‘‘(cc) provide each cooper- 3 ating agency with an opportunity 4 to review and contribute to the 5 preparation of the environmental 6 impact statement and environ- 7 mental assessment, as applicable, 8 for the proposed action, except 9 that a cooperating agency shall 10 limit comments to issues within 11 the special expertise or jurisdic- 12 tion of the cooperating agency; 13 and 14 ‘‘(dd) as soon as practicable 15 and in consultation with the co- 16 operating agencies, determine the 17 range of alternatives to be con- 18 sidered for the proposed action. 19 ‘‘(ii) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In carrying 21 out the NEPA process for a proposed 22 action under an allotment manage- 23 ment plan authorized under para- 24 graph (2), the lead agency, in con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1214 IS sultation with the cooperating agen- 1 cies, shall prepare not more than 1 of 2 each type of document described in 3 subclause (II), as applicable. 4 ‘‘(II) DOCUMENTS DESCRIBED.— 5 The documents referred to in sub- 6 clause (I) are— 7 ‘‘(aa) an environmental as- 8 sessment; 9 ‘‘(bb) a finding of no signifi- 10 cant impact; 11 ‘‘(cc) an environmental im- 12 pact statement; and 13 ‘‘(dd) a record of decision. 14 ‘‘(iii) PROHIBITION.—A cooperating 15 agency may not evaluate an alternative to 16 the proposed action that the lead agency 17 has not determined to be within the range 18 of alternatives to be considered under 19 clause (i)(II)(dd). 20 ‘‘(C) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.—With 21 respect to the allotment management plans au- 22 thorized under paragraph (2), the following ac- 23 tions shall qualify for a categorical exclusion 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1214 IS under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.): 2 ‘‘(i) The conduct of vegetation res- 3 toration projects using a method such as— 4 ‘‘(I) aerial, drill, or broadcast 5 seeding; 6 ‘‘(II) disking; 7 ‘‘(III) mowing; 8 ‘‘(IV) chaining; 9 ‘‘(V) the use of a forestry mulch- 10 er; 11 ‘‘(VI) prescribed fire; 12 ‘‘(VII) invasive species manage- 13 ment; or 14 ‘‘(VIII) any other method of 15 vegetation restoration that the appli- 16 cable State commission considers to 17 be appropriate. 18 ‘‘(ii) The conduct of pinyon or juniper 19 treatments using a method such as— 20 ‘‘(I) prescribed fire; 21 ‘‘(II) hand removal; 22 ‘‘(III) chaining; 23 ‘‘(IV) dozing; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1214 IS ‘‘(V) the use of a forestry mulch- 1 er; or 2 ‘‘(VI) any other method that a 3 State commission considers to be ap- 4 propriate. 5 ‘‘(iii) Any change to— 6 ‘‘(I) the type of domestic live- 7 stock grazing on the applicable allot- 8 ment; or 9 ‘‘(II) the number of, or season of 10 use for, permitted animal unit months 11 that a State commission makes to the 12 allotment management plan. 13 ‘‘(iv) The installation of new fencing 14 and the maintenance and repair of existing 15 fencing, including— 16 ‘‘(I) the installation of cattle 17 guards; 18 ‘‘(II) the installation of new fenc- 19 ing to adjust pasture boundaries; 20 ‘‘(III) the installation of new 21 gates; and 22 ‘‘(IV) the removal of fencing. 23 ‘‘(v) Water infrastructure improve- 24 ments described in paragraph (4). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1214.IS S1214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 15 •S 1214 IS ‘‘(vi) Any other activ [Text truncated for display. 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