Pub. L. 106-291, tit. III, sec. 349

Sec. 349. (a) In furtherance of the purposes of the Umpqua Land Exchange Project (ULEP) and previous Congressional appropriations therefor, there is hereby appropriated the sum of $4,300,000 to be derived from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Such amount shall be available to the Foundation for Voluntary Land Exchanges (“Foundation”) working in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior, and with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as the lead Federal agency, to complete a Final Land Ownership Adjustment Plan (“Plan”) for the area (“Basin”), comprising approximately 675,000 acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled “Coast Range-Umpqua River Basin,” dated August 2000. No more than 15 percent of this appropriation shall be used by the agency for defraying administrative overhead. (b) In preparing the Plan, the Secretary shall identify, no later than March 31, 2001, those lands or interests in land with willing sellers which merit emergency purchase by the United States due to critical environmental values or possibility of imminent development. For lands or interests in land so identified, the Secretary and the Foundation shall arrange with landowners to complete appraisals and purchase clearances required by law so that the Secretary may thereafter consummate purchases as soon as funds therefor are appropriated by the Congress. (c) Pursuant to the funding and direction of subsection (a), the Secretary shall, in cooperation with the Foundation, no later than December 31, 2002, complete the Plan utilizing the Multi-Resource Land Allocation Model (“Model”) developed for the ULEP. The Plan shall identify: (1) non-Federal Lands or interests in land in the Basin which, with the concurrence of willing non-Federal landowners, are recommended for acquisition or exchange by the United States; (2) Federal lands or interests in land in the Basin recommended for disposal into non-Federal ownership in exchange for the acquired lands of equal value; and (3) specific land exchanges or purchases to implement the Plan. In addition, no later than December 31, 2002, the Secretary, in cooperation with the Foundation, shall complete a draft Habitat Conservation Plan ("HCP") covering the lands to be disposed of by the United States and consistent with the Plan, a comprehensive Final Environmental Impact Statement covering the Plan, and a comprehensive Biological Opinion analyzing the net impacts of the Plan at Plan scale over time in 5 year increments, taking into consideration 114 STAT. 1004all expected benefits to be achieved by the Plan and HCP, and any consistency determinations or amendments to any applicable Federal land management plans. The HCP shall cover all species analyzed in the Model (including species under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Commerce). (d) No later than March 31, 2002, the Secretary and the Foundation shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate, and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, a joint report summarizing the Plan and the land exchanges or purchases identified to implement the Plan, and outlining: (1) any Fiscal Year 2003 funding needed for land purchases; (2) any recommendations for actions to expedite or facilitate the specific land exchanges or purchases identified to implement the Plan, or the HCP; and (3) an action Plan for making the Model publicly available for additional land exchanges or other purposes upon completion of the exchanges. (e) No later than June 15, 2003: (1) the Secretary with the Foundation and the financial participation and commitment of willing private landowners shall complete appraisals and other land purchase or exchange clearances required by law, including those pertaining to cultural and historic resources and hazardous materials; and (2) the Secretary shall consummate with willing non-Federal landowners the specific land exchanges previously identified in subsection (c) to implement the Plan, and together with the Secretary of Commerce, shall issue the HCP.