Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB211 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 211
5	5	To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve
6	6	the management of grazing permits and leases, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JANUARY23, 2025
9	9	Mr. B
10	10	ARRASSO(for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROUNDS, Ms. LUMMIS, and Mr.
11	11	S
12	12	HEEHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
13	13	to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
16	16	of 1976 to improve the management of grazing permits
17	17	and leases, and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resiliency for Ranch-4
22	22	ing and Natural Conservation Health Act’’. 5
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25	25	•S 211 IS
26	26	SEC. 2. TEMPORARY USE OF VACANT GRAZING ALLOT-1
27	27	MENTS FOR HOLDERS OF GRAZING PERMITS 2
28	28	OR LEASES DURING EXTREME NATURAL 3
29	29	EVENTS AND DISASTERS. 4
30	30	Title IV of the Federal Land Policy and Management 5
31	31	Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended by add-6
32	32	ing at the end the following: 7
33	33	‘‘SEC. 405. VACANT GRAZING ALLOTMENTS MADE AVAIL-8
34	34	ABLE TO HOLDERS OF GRAZING PERMITS OR 9
35	35	LEASES DURING EXTREME NATURAL EVENTS 10
36	36	AND DISASTERS. 11
37	37	‘‘(a) D
38	38	EFINITION OFSECRETARYCONCERNED.—In 12
39	39	this section, the term ‘Secretary concerned’ means— 13
40	40	‘‘(1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect 14
41	41	to National Forest System land; and 15
42	42	‘‘(2) the Secretary, with respect to public lands. 16
43	43	‘‘(b) A
44	44	LLOTMENTS.— 17
45	45	‘‘(1) I
46	46	N GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 18
47	47	may make available to the holder of a grazing per-19
48	48	mit or lease issued by either Secretary concerned the 20
49	49	temporary use of a vacant grazing allotment if— 21
50	50	‘‘(A) 1 or more grazing allotments covered 22
51	51	by the grazing permit or lease of the holder of 23
52	52	the grazing permit or lease are temporarily un-24
53	53	usable, as determined by the Secretary con-25
54	54	cerned, because of unforeseen natural events or 26
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57	57	•S 211 IS
58	58	disasters (including an extreme weather event, 1
59	59	drought, wildfire, infestation, or blight); and 2
60	60	‘‘(B) the Secretary concerned determines 3
61	61	that the vacant grazing allotment is appropriate 4
62	62	for temporary grazing use. 5
63	63	‘‘(2) T
64	64	ERMS AND CONDITIONS .—In establishing 6
65	65	the terms and conditions in a permit or lease for the 7
66	66	temporary use of a vacant grazing allotment made 8
67	67	available pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary 9
68	68	concerned— 10
69	69	‘‘(A) shall take into consideration the 11
70	70	terms and conditions of the most recent permit 12
71	71	or lease that was applicable to the vacant graz-13
72	72	ing allotment; 14
73	73	‘‘(B) if there are no terms or conditions 15
74	74	available for consideration under subparagraph 16
75	75	(A), may assign temporary terms or conditions, 17
76	76	after considering ecological conditions of, or 18
77	77	terms on, adjacent grazing allotments; 19
78	78	‘‘(C) shall base the terms and conditions 20
79	79	on local ecological conditions, as determined by 21
80	80	the applicable official; 22
81	81	‘‘(D) shall take into consideration other 23
82	82	factors, including any prior agency agreement 24
83	83	that resolved or sought to resolve a manage-25
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86	86	•S 211 IS
87	87	ment conflict, including a conflict related to 1
88	88	State management of wildlife; and 2
89	89	‘‘(E) may authorize the placement and use 3
90	90	of temporary rangeland improvements (includ-4
91	91	ing portable corrals, fencing, aboveground pipe-5
92	92	lines, and water troughs) on the vacant grazing 6
93	93	allotment to accommodate the temporary use. 7
94	94	‘‘(3) C
95	95	OORDINATION.—To the maximum extent 8
96	96	practicable, the Secretaries concerned shall coordi-9
97	97	nate to make available to holders of grazing permits 10
98	98	or leases the use of vacant grazing allotments, re-11
99	99	gardless of agency jurisdiction over vacant grazing 12
100	100	allotments, pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2). 13
101	101	‘‘(4) E
102	102	FFECT.—The temporary use of a vacant 14
103	103	grazing allotment under this subsection shall not— 15
104	104	‘‘(A) preclude or otherwise alter other on-16
105	105	going or future actions or assessments evalu-17
106	106	ating the potential of the vacant grazing allot-18
107	107	ment to be used or otherwise assigned; or 19
108	108	‘‘(B) alter— 20
109	109	‘‘(i) the terms and conditions of the 21
110	110	original grazing permit or lease of the 22
111	111	holder of the grazing permit or lease; 23
112	112	‘‘(ii) the preference or ability of the 24
113	113	holder of the grazing permit or lease to re-25
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116	116	•S 211 IS
117	117	turn to the original allotment once access 1
118	118	to, or the use of, the original allotment is 2
119	119	restored; or 3
120	120	‘‘(iii) the animal unit months in fu-4
121	121	ture authorizations, or conditions of a per-5
122	122	mit, of the holder of the grazing permit or 6
123	123	lease. 7
124	124	‘‘(c) D
125	125	URATION.—The Secretary concerned shall de-8
126	126	termine the duration of the temporary use of a vacant 9
127	127	grazing allotment made available pursuant to subsection 10
128	128	(b), after considering— 11
129	129	‘‘(1) the condition of the vacant grazing allot-12
130	130	ment; and 13
131	131	‘‘(2) the period of time necessary for the origi-14
132	132	nal allotment of the holder of the grazing permit or 15
133	133	lease to return to use. 16
134	134	‘‘(d) G
135	135	UIDELINES.— 17
136	136	‘‘(1) I
137	137	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 18
138	138	the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 19
139	139	concerned shall establish guidelines to expeditiously, 20
140	140	efficiently, and effectively carry out activities author-21
141	141	ized under this section. 22
142	142	‘‘(2) C
143	143	ONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the 23
144	144	guidelines under paragraph (1), the Secretary con-24
145	145	cerned may consider— 25
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148	148	•S 211 IS
149	149	‘‘(A) criteria for determining whether the 1
150	150	vacant grazing allotment is suitable for tem-2
151	151	porary grazing use; 3
152	152	‘‘(B) eligibility criteria for the holders of 4
153	153	grazing permits or leases; 5
154	154	‘‘(C) prioritizing holders of grazing permits 6
155	155	or leases in close proximity to a vacant grazing 7
156	156	allotment; 8
157	157	‘‘(D) any class or change in class of live-9
158	158	stock on the temporary use of a vacant grazing 10
159	159	allotment, with consideration given to local eco-11
160	160	logical conditions, disease, wildlife conflicts, and 12
161	161	other factors based on localized conditions; 13
162	162	‘‘(E) processes for coordinating with allot-14
163	163	ments adjoining or within the vicinity of a va-15
164	164	cant grazing allotment; and 16
165	165	‘‘(F) any other processes intended to expe-17
166	166	dite procedures for making vacant grazing allot-18
167	167	ments available during emergent circumstances. 19
168	168	‘‘(e) P
169	169	ERIODICEVALUATIONS.—The Secretary con-20
170	170	cerned shall periodically evaluate land health conditions of 21
171	171	vacant grazing allotments to facilitate the efficient imple-22
172	172	mentation of this section.’’. 23
173	173	Æ
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