Forest Management for Rural Stability Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1643 To amend title 36, United States Code, to grant a Federal charter to the Forest and Refuge County Foundation, to provide for the establishment of the Natural Resources Permanent Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. RISCH) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend title 36, United States Code, to grant a Federal charter to the Forest and Refuge County Foundation, to provide for the establishment of the Natural Resources Permanent Fund, 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 ‘‘Forest Management 4 for Rural Stability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1643 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL CHARTER FOR FOREST AND REFUGE 1 COUNTY FOUNDATION AND ESTABLISHMENT 2 OF NATURAL RESOURCES PERMANENT FUND. 3 (a) FEDERAL CHARTER FOR FOREST AND REFUGE 4 COUNTY FOUNDATION.—Subtitle III of title 36, United 5 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 3001 6 the following: 7 ‘‘CHAPTER 3002—FOREST AND REFUGE 8 COUNTY FOUNDATION 9 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘300201. Definitions. ‘‘300202. Establishment. ‘‘300203. Status and applicable laws. ‘‘300204. Board of Directors. ‘‘300205. Bylaws and duties. ‘‘300206. Authority of Corporation. ‘‘300207. Establishment of Natural Resources Permanent Fund. ‘‘§ 300201. Definitions 10 ‘‘In this chapter: 11 ‘‘(1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘agency head’ 12 means— 13 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of the Treasury; 14 ‘‘(B) the Chief of the Forest Service; 15 ‘‘(C) the Director of the Bureau of Land 16 Management; and 17 ‘‘(D) the Director of the United States 18 Fish and Wildlife Service. 19 ‘‘(2) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 20 Board of Directors of the Corporation. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The term ‘Chairperson’ 1 means the Chairperson of the Board. 2 ‘‘(4) CORPORATION.—The term ‘Corporation’ 3 means the Forest and Refuge County Foundation 4 established by section 300202. 5 ‘‘(5) COUNTY PAYMENT; FULL FUNDING 6 AMOUNT; STATE PAYMENT.—The terms ‘county pay- 7 ment’, ‘full funding amount’, and ‘State payment’ 8 have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of 9 the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-De- 10 termination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7102). 11 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE COUNTY.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 13 county’ means— 14 ‘‘(i) a county that is eligible for a pay- 15 ment under the Secure Rural Schools and 16 Community Self-Determination Act of 17 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), with re- 18 spect to an account established by para- 19 graph (1) or (2) of section 300207(b); or 20 ‘‘(ii) a county that is eligible for a 21 payment under section 401(c) of the Act of 22 June 15, 1935 (commonly known as the 23 ‘Refuge Revenue Sharing Act’) (49 Stat. 24 383, chapter 261; 16 U.S.C. 715s(c)), with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1643 IS respect to the account established by sec- 1 tion 300207(b)(3). 2 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘eligible 3 county’ does not include a county that has 4 elected to opt out of distributions from the 5 Fund under section 300207(e)(4)(A). 6 ‘‘(7) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Nat- 7 ural Resources Permanent Fund established by sec- 8 tion 300207(a). 9 ‘‘(8) HIGHEST HISTORIC PAYMENT.—The term 10 ‘highest historic payment’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) with respect to the Forest Service Ac- 12 count of the Fund, an amount equal to the 13 total amount of State payments received under 14 section 101(a) of the Secure Rural Schools and 15 Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 16 U.S.C. 7111(a)) for fiscal year 2008 (as ad- 17 justed to reflect changes during the period be- 18 ginning on October 1, 2008, in the Consumer 19 Price Index for All Urban Consumers published 20 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the De- 21 partment of Labor); and 22 ‘‘(B) with respect to the Bureau of Land 23 Management Account of the Fund, an amount 24 equal to the total amount of county payments 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1643 IS received under section 101(b) of the Secure 1 Rural Schools and Community Self-Determina- 2 tion Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7111(b)) for fiscal 3 year 2006 (as adjusted to reflect changes dur- 4 ing the period beginning on October 1, 2006, in 5 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con- 6 sumers published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 7 tistics of the Department of Labor). 8 ‘‘(9) MANAGER.—The term ‘manager’ means 9 the manager of investments employed by the Board 10 pursuant to section 300205(c)(3). 11 ‘‘(10) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 12 term ‘resource advisory committee’ means— 13 ‘‘(A) a resource advisory committee estab- 14 lished under section 205 of the Secure Rural 15 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act 16 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125) (as in effect on the 17 day before the date of enactment of this chap- 18 ter); and 19 ‘‘(B) an advisory council established pursu- 20 ant to section 309(a) of the Federal Land Pol- 21 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 22 1739(a)). 23 ‘‘(11) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term 24 ‘Secretary concerned’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 1 spect to the account established by section 2 300207(b)(1); and 3 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 4 spect to an account established by paragraph 5 (2) or (3) of section 300207(b). 6 ‘‘§ 300202. Establishment 7 ‘‘There is established a federally chartered, nonprofit 8 corporation, to be known as the ‘Forest and Refuge Coun- 9 ty Foundation’, which shall be incorporated in the State 10 of Oregon. 11 ‘‘§ 300203. Status and applicable laws 12 ‘‘(a) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The Corporation is 13 not— 14 ‘‘(1) a department, agency, or instrumentality 15 of the United States Government; or 16 ‘‘(2) subject to title 31. 17 ‘‘(b) LIABILITY.—The United States Government 18 shall not be liable for the actions or inactions of the Cor- 19 poration. 20 ‘‘(c) NONPROFIT CORPORATION.—The Corporation 21 shall have and maintain the status of the Corporation as 22 a nonprofit corporation exempt from taxation under the 23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1643 IS ‘‘§ 300204. Board of Directors 1 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The powers of the Corporation 2 shall be vested in a Board of Directors that governs the 3 Corporation. 4 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com- 6 posed of 11 members, of whom— 7 ‘‘(A) 3 shall be appointed by the Chief of 8 the Forest Service; 9 ‘‘(B) 2 shall be appointed by the Director 10 of the Bureau of Land Management; and 11 ‘‘(C) 6 shall be appointed by the Secretary 12 of the Treasury. 13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—In making appoint- 14 ments under paragraph (1), the agency heads 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(A) appoint members who represent the 17 various regions of the United States; and 18 ‘‘(B) ensure that the membership of the 19 Board is— 20 ‘‘(i) apolitical; and 21 ‘‘(ii) fairly balanced in terms of— 22 ‘‘(I) the points of view rep- 23 resented; and 24 ‘‘(II) the functions to be per- 25 formed by the Board, by appointing— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(aa) 3 members who are 1 county elected officials, as of the 2 date of appointment of the mem- 3 bers, of whom— 4 ‘‘(AA) 1 shall be an 5 elected official of a county 6 that contains Federal land 7 described in section 3(7)(A) 8 of the Secure Rural Schools 9 and Community Self-Deter- 10 mination Act of 2000 (16 11 U.S.C. 7102(7)(A)); 12 ‘‘(BB) 1 shall be an 13 elected official of a county 14 that contains Federal land 15 described in section 3(7)(B) 16 of the Secure Rural Schools 17 and Community Self-Deter- 18 mination Act of 2000 (16 19 U.S.C. 7102(7)(B)); and 20 ‘‘(CC) 1 shall be an 21 elected official of a county 22 that is eligible for a payment 23 under section 401(c) of the 24 Act of June 15, 1935 (com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1643 IS monly known as the ‘Refuge 1 Revenue Sharing Act’) (49 2 Stat. 383, chapter 261; 16 3 U.S.C. 715s(c)); 4 ‘‘(bb) 1 member to represent 5 rural economic development in- 6 terests; 7 ‘‘(cc) 6 members with expert 8 experience in fund management 9 or finance; and 10 ‘‘(dd) 1 member to represent 11 education interests. 12 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—A member of the Board, 13 other than a member described in paragraph 14 (2)(B)(ii)(II)(aa), shall not hold an office, position, 15 or employment in any political party. 16 ‘‘(4) DATE.—The appointments of the members 17 of the Board shall be made not later than 90 days 18 after the date of enactment of this chapter. 19 ‘‘(c) CHAIRPERSON.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 21 Board shall be selected from among the members of 22 the Board by a majority vote of the members. 23 ‘‘(2) TERM OF SERVICE.—The Chairperson of 24 the Board— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(A) shall serve for a term of not longer 1 than 4 years; and 2 ‘‘(B) may be reelected to serve an addi- 3 tional term, subject to the condition that the 4 Chairperson may serve for not more than 2 5 consecutive terms. 6 ‘‘(d) TERMS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term of the members 8 of the Board shall be 6 years, except that the agency 9 heads shall designate staggered terms for the mem- 10 bers initially appointed to the Board. 11 ‘‘(2) REAPPOINTMENT.—A member of the 12 Board may be reappointed to serve an additional 13 term, subject to the condition that the member may 14 serve for not more than 2 consecutive terms. 15 ‘‘(e) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Board shall be 16 filled— 17 ‘‘(1) by not later than 90 days after the date 18 on which the vacancy occurs; and 19 ‘‘(2) in the manner in which the original ap- 20 pointment was made. 21 ‘‘(f) TRANSITIONS.—Any member of the Board may 22 continue to serve after the expiration of the term for which 23 the member was appointed or elected until a qualified suc- 24 cessor has been appointed or elected. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(g) MEETINGS AND QUORUM.— 1 ‘‘(1) MEETINGS.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall 3 meet— 4 ‘‘(i) not less frequently than once each 5 calendar year; and 6 ‘‘(ii)(I) at the call of— 7 ‘‘(aa) the Chairperson; or 8 ‘‘(bb) 3 or more members; or 9 ‘‘(II) as otherwise provided in the by- 10 laws of the Corporation. 11 ‘‘(B) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 12 150 days after the date of enactment of this 13 chapter, the Board shall hold an initial meeting 14 of the Board. 15 ‘‘(2) QUORUM.—A quorum of the Board, con- 16 sisting of a majority of the members of the Board, 17 shall be required to conduct any business of the 18 Board. 19 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL OF BOARD ACTIONS.—Except 20 as otherwise provided, the threshold for approving 21 Board actions shall be as set forth in the bylaws of 22 the Corporation. 23 ‘‘(h) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A voting member of the 1 Board— 2 ‘‘(A) shall serve without pay; but 3 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), may be re- 4 imbursed for the actual and necessary traveling 5 and subsistence expenses incurred by the mem- 6 ber in the performance of duties for the Cor- 7 poration. 8 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of reim- 9 bursement under paragraph (1)(B) may not exceed 10 the amount that would be authorized under section 11 5703 of title 5 for the payment of expenses and al- 12 lowances for an individual employed intermittently in 13 the Federal Government service. 14 ‘‘§ 300205. Bylaws and duties 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall adopt, and may 16 amend, the bylaws of the Corporation. 17 ‘‘(b) BYLAWS.—The bylaws of the Corporation shall 18 include, at a minimum— 19 ‘‘(1) the duties and responsibilities of the 20 Board; and 21 ‘‘(2) the operational procedures of the Corpora- 22 tion. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1643 IS ‘‘(c) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOARD.— 1 The Board shall be responsible for actions of the Corpora- 2 tion, including— 3 ‘‘(1)(A) employing individuals at the Corpora- 4 tion to provide investment management services; or 5 ‘‘(B) retaining the services of investment man- 6 agement services providers; 7 ‘‘(2) employing individuals at the Corporation 8 to provide accounting and administrative services; 9 ‘‘(3) employing a manager of investments to 10 manage the amounts authorized to be invested by 11 the Board in accordance with subsection (d); 12 ‘‘(4) entering into a contract with 1 or more 13 banking or trust entities to act as the custodian of 14 the assets of the Fund; and 15 ‘‘(5) engaging other appropriate professional 16 service providers to support the Board and the em- 17 ployees of the Board in carrying out the duties and 18 responsibilities of the Board under this chapter. 19 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY OF MANAGER.—Subject to the di- 20 rection of the Board, the manager shall have control over 21 the amounts under the jurisdiction of the Board in the 22 same manner as if the manager owned those amounts. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1643.IS S1643 [Text truncated for display. 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