Monitoring and Enforcement.—

Sec. 603. Monitoring and Enforcement.—Section 492 of the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 620d) is amended— (1) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end the following:111 STAT. 1621 “(C) Mitigation of penalties.— “(i) In general.—The Secretary concerned— “(I) in determining the applicability of any penalty imposed under this paragraph, shall take into account all relevant mitigating factors, including mistake, inadvertence, and error; and “(II) based on any mitigating factor, may, with respect to any penalty imposed under this paragraph— “(aa) reduce the penalty; “(bb) not impose the penalty; or “(cc) on condition of there being no further violation under this paragraph for a prescribed period, suspend imposition of the penalty. “(ii) Contractural remedies.—In the case of a minor violation of this title (including a regulation), the Secretary concerned shall, to the maximum extent practicable, permit a contracting officer to redress the violation in accordance with the applicable timber sale contract rather than assess a penalty under this paragraph.”; and (2) in subsection (d)(1)— (A) by striking “The head” and inserting the following: “(A) In general.—Subject to subparagraph (B), the head”; and (B) by adding at the end the following: “(B) Prerequisites for debarment.— “(i) In general.—No person may be debarred from bidding for or entering into a contract for the purchase of unprocessed timber from Federal lands under subparagraph (A) unless the head of the appropriate Federal department or agency first finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that debarment is warranted. “(ii) Withholding of awards during debarment proceedings.—The head of an appropriate Federal department or agency may withhold an award under this title of a contract for the purchase of unprocessed timber from Federal lands during a debarment proceeding.”.