Highlands Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2022

II Calendar No. 352 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2793 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2022 Received; read twice and placed on the calendar AN ACT 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 2022’’. 5 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HIGHLANDS CON- 6 SERVATION ACT. 7 The Highlands Conservation Act (Public Law 108– 8 421; 118 Stat. 2375) is amended— 9 (1) in section 3— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2793 PCS (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 1 follows: 2 ‘‘(1) HIGHLANDS REGION.—The term ‘High- 3 lands region’ means— 4 ‘‘(A) the area depicted on the map entitled 5 ‘The Highlands Region’, dated June 2004, up- 6 dated after the date of enactment of the High- 7 lands Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2022 8 to comprise each municipality included on the 9 list of municipalities included in the Highlands 10 region as of that date of enactment, and main- 11 tained in the headquarters of the Forest Service 12 in Washington, District of Columbia; and 13 ‘‘(B) a municipality approved by the Direc- 14 tor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv- 15 ice under section 4(e).’’; 16 (B) in paragraph (3), by amending sub- 17 paragraph (B) to read as follows: 18 ‘‘(B) identified by a Highlands State as 19 having high conservation value using the best 20 available science and geographic information 21 systems; and’’; 22 (C) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘; or’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘, including a political subdivision 24 thereof; or’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2793 PCS (D) by striking paragraphs (5) through 1 (7); 2 (2) in section 4— 3 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘in 4 the Study’’ and all that follows through the end 5 of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘using the best 6 available science and geographic information 7 systems; and’’; 8 (B) in subsection (c), by amending para- 9 graph (5) to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(5) provides that land conservation partner- 11 ship projects will be consistent with areas identified 12 as having high conservation value in accordance with 13 the purposes described in section 2 in the Highlands 14 region.’’; 15 (C) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘fiscal 16 years 2005 through 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal 17 years 2023 through 2029’’; 18 (D) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 19 section (g); and 20 (E) by inserting after subsection (d) the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(e) REQUEST FOR INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL MU- 23 NICIPALITY.—The Director of the United States Fish and 24 Wildlife Service may, at the request of a Highlands State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2793 PCS with the concurrence of the municipality, approve the in- 1 clusion of a municipality within the State as part of the 2 Highlands region. 3 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 4 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—The Sec- 5 retary of the Interior may not expend more than 6 $300,000 for the administration of this Act in each 7 fiscal year. 8 ‘‘(2) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—A State that 9 receives funds under this section for a land con- 10 servation partnership project may not use more than 11 5 percent of the funds to administer the land con- 12 servation partnership project.’’; 13 (3) in section 5— 14 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the 15 Study, Update, and any future study that the 16 Forest Service may undertake in’’; 17 (B) in subsection (b)— 18 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, in- 19 cluding a Pennsylvania and Connecticut 20 Update’’; and 21 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 22 findings’’ and all that follows through the 23 end of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2793 PCS stakeholders regarding implementation of 1 the program; and’’; and 2 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘2005 3 through 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘2023 through 4 2029’’; and 5 (4) in section 6, by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(f) APPRAISAL METHODOLOGY.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an ap- 9 praisal related to a land acquisition carried out 10 under this Act, a Highlands State shall use an ap- 11 praisal methodology approved by the Secretary of 12 the Interior. 13 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE APPRAISAL METHOD- 14 OLOGY.—A Highlands State may petition the Sec- 15 retary of the Interior to consider an alternative ap- 16 praisal methodology when there is a conflict, in any 17 Highlands State, between— 18 ‘‘(A) an appraisal methodology approved 19 by the Secretary of the Interior under para- 20 graph (1); and 21 ‘‘(B) applicable State law.’’. 22 Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2022. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 352 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2793 AN ACT To reauthorize the Highlands Conservation Act, to authorize States to use funds from that Act for administrative purposes, and for other purposes. APRIL 27, 2022 Received; read twice and placed on the calendar VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Apr 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H2793.PCS H2793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS