Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5737 To expand the authorization of voluntary Federal grazing permit retirement, provide increased flexibility for Federal grazing permittees, promote the equitable resolution or avoidance of conflicts on Federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2020 Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HECK, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. KILMER, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources A BILL To expand the authorization of voluntary Federal grazing permit retirement, provide increased flexibility for Fed- eral grazing permittees, promote the equitable resolution or avoidance of conflicts on Federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5737 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Voluntary grazing permit retirement program. Sec. 5. Effect of waiver of grazing permit. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Voluntary grazing permit retirement is a 8 successful land management tool that has been au- 9 thorized by Congress for specific purposes and in 10 numerous areas throughout the 16 Western States, 11 including Death Valley National Park, Capitol Reef 12 National Park, Arches National Park, Cascade- 13 Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon Caves Na- 14 tional Monument and Preserve, and Wilderness 15 Areas in the Owyhee Canyonlands and Boulder- 16 White Clouds. 17 (2) Expanding the authority for voluntary graz- 18 ing permit retirement to include all Federal lands 19 managed by the Department of Agriculture and the 20 Department of the Interior in the 16 Western States 21 will aid in the resolution of land and resource man- 22 agement conflicts, and provide Federal grazing per- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5737 IH mittees and lessees with increased flexibility and op- 1 portunities when making decisions about the future 2 of their livestock operations. 3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) ADMINISTRATIVELY RETIRED GRAZING AL- 6 LOTMENT.—The term ‘‘administratively retired graz- 7 ing allotment’’ means a grazing allotment, or portion 8 of a grazing allotment, on Federal lands managed by 9 the Secretary that is or becomes vacant or closed 10 due to the voluntary waiver of the grazing permit or 11 lease by the holder of the grazing permit issued by 12 the Secretary with the intention of permanently end- 13 ing livestock grazing on that grazing allotment or a 14 portion of a grazing allotment as a result of an 15 agreement with a third party. 16 (2) COMMERCIAL LIVESTOCK GRAZING OR LIVE- 17 STOCK GRAZING.—The term ‘‘commercial livestock 18 grazing’’ or ‘‘livestock grazing’’— 19 (A) means the grazing of domestic live- 20 stock on Federal lands as authorized by a graz- 21 ing permit or lease; and 22 (B) does not include beasts of burden while 23 used for recreational or administrative pur- 24 poses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5737 IH (3) GRAZING ALLOTMENT.—The term ‘‘grazing 1 allotment’’ means the designated portion of Federal 2 land upon which domestic livestock are authorized to 3 graze by a grazing permit or lease. 4 (4) GRAZING PERMIT; LEASE.—The terms 5 ‘‘grazing permit or lease’’ and ‘‘grazing permit and 6 lease’’ mean any document authorizing the use of 7 Federal lands for the purpose of commercial live- 8 stock grazing. 9 (5) PERMITTEE; LESSEE.—The terms ‘‘per- 10 mittee or lessee’’ and ‘‘permittee and lessee’’ mean 11 a livestock operator that holds a valid existing graz- 12 ing permit or lease. 13 (6) RANGE DEVELOPMENTS.—The term ‘‘range 14 developments’’— 15 (A) means structures, fences, and other 16 permanent fixtures placed on Federal lands for 17 the furtherance of the purpose of livestock graz- 18 ing; and 19 (B) does not include rolling stock, live- 20 stock, and diversions of water from Federal 21 lands onto non-Federal lands. 22 (7) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ re- 23 fers to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec- 24 retary of the Interior. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5737 IH (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the 2 Interior, as appropriate to the administration of a 3 grazing permit or lease. 4 (9) 16 WESTERN STATES.—The term ‘‘16 West- 5 ern States’’ refers to Arizona, California, Colorado, 6 Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New 7 Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South 8 Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. 9 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY GRAZING PERMIT RETIREMENT PRO- 10 GRAM. 11 (a) VOLUNTARY WAIVER OF GRAZING PERMIT OR 12 LEASE.— 13 (1) ACCEPTANCE BY SECRETARY.—Subject to 14 the limitation set forth in subsection (c)(2), the Sec- 15 retary shall accept, on a first-come, first-served 16 basis, any grazing permit or lease related to Federal 17 land in the 16 Western States that is voluntarily 18 waived by a grazing permittee or lessee with the in- 19 tention of permanently ending livestock grazing on 20 that grazing allotment or on a portion of that graz- 21 ing allotment. 22 (2) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall imme- 23 diately terminate any grazing permit or lease accept- 24 ed under paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5737 IH (3) NO NEW GRAZING PERMIT OR LEASE.— 1 With respect to each grazing permit or lease volun- 2 tarily waived under paragraph (1), the Secretary 3 shall— 4 (A) not issue any new grazing permit or 5 lease within the grazing allotment covered by 6 the grazing permit or lease; and 7 (B) ensure a permanent end to livestock 8 grazing on the grazing allotment covered by the 9 grazing permit or lease. 10 (b) WAIVER OF GRAZING PERMIT OR LEASE ON 11 COMMON ALLOTMENTS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a grazing allotment or 13 portion of a grazing allotment covered by a grazing 14 permit or lease that is waived under subsection (a) 15 is also covered in part or in whole by another graz- 16 ing permit or lease that is not waived, the Secretary 17 shall reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing 18 on the grazing allotment to reflect the waiver. 19 (2) AUTHORIZED LEVEL.—To ensure that there 20 is a permanent reduction in the level of livestock 21 grazing on the land covered by the grazing permit 22 or lease waived under subsection (a), the Secretary 23 shall not allow grazing to exceed the level established 24 under paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5737 IH (c) LIMITATION.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall accept 2 per fiscal year under this section— 3 (A) not more than 100 grazing permits, in 4 the aggregate for all of the 16 Western States; 5 and 6 (B) not more than 25 grazing permits for 7 land located in whole or in part in any indi- 8 vidual State. 9 (2) APPLICABILITY.—This limitation shall not 10 apply to administratively retired grazing allotments 11 as of the effective date of this Act. 12 (d) ADMINISTRATIVELY RETIRED GRAZING ALLOT- 13 MENTS.—With respect to grazing allotments administra- 14 tively retired before the date of the enactment of this Act, 15 the Secretary shall— 16 (1) not issue any new grazing permit or lease 17 within the grazing allotment covered by the grazing 18 permit or lease; and 19 (2) ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing 20 on the grazing allotment covered by the grazing per- 21 mit or lease. 22 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF WAIVER OF GRAZING PERMIT. 23 (a) EFFECT ON RANGE DEVELOPMENTS.—A per- 24 mittee or lessee who waives a grazing permit or lease to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5737 IH the Secretary under section 4 shall be deemed to have 1 waived any claim to all range developments on land cov- 2 ered by the grazing permit or lease waived, notwith- 3 standing any other provision of law. 4 (b) SECURING RETIRED ALLOTMENTS AGAINST UN- 5 AUTHORIZED USE.—The Secretary shall ensure that graz- 6 ing allotments retired from grazing under this Act are ren- 7 dered reasonably secure from trespass grazing by domestic 8 livestock. 9 (c) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 10 this Act shall be construed to affect the Secretary’s au- 11 thority to modify or terminate any grazing permit or lease 12 in accordance with other law. 13 (d) RELATION TO VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Noth- 14 ing in this Act affects the allocation, ownership, interest, 15 or control, in existence on the date of the enactment of 16 this Act, of any water, water right, or any other valid ex- 17 isting right held by the United States, an Indian Tribe, 18 State, county or municipality, or private individual, part- 19 nership, or corporation. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5737.IH H5737 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS