PAYMENTS TO STATES FROM NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR USE BY COUNTIES TO BENEFIT PUBLIC EDUCATION AND TRANSPORTATION.

SEC. 102. PAYMENTS TO STATES FROM NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR USE BY COUNTIES TO BENEFIT PUBLIC EDUCATION AND TRANSPORTATION. (a) Payment Amounts.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay an eligible State the sum of the amounts elected under subsection (b) by each eligible county for either— (1) the 25-percent payment under the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 500); or (2) the full payment amount in place of the 25-percent payment. (b) Election To Receive Payment Amount.— (1) Election; submission of results.—The election to receive either the full payment amount or the 25-percent payment shall be made at the discretion of each affected county and transmitted to the Secretary by the Governor of a State. (2) Duration of election.—A county election to receive the 25-percent payment shall be effective for two fiscal years. When a county elects to receive the full payment amount, such election shall be effective for all the subsequent fiscal years through fiscal year 2006. (3) Source of payment amounts.—The payment to an eligible State under this section for a fiscal year shall be derived from any revenues, fees, penalties, or miscellaneous receipts, exclusive of deposits to any relevant trust fund, or special accounts, received by the Federal Government from activities 114 STAT. 1612by the Forest Service on the Federal lands described in section 3(1)(A) and to the extent of any shortfall, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. (c) Distribution and Expenditure of Payments.— (1) Distribution method.—A State that receives a payment under subsection (a) shall distribute the payment among all eligible counties in the State in accordance with the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; 16 U.S.C. 500). (2) Expenditure purposes.—Subject to subsection (d), payments received by a State under subsection (a) and distributed to eligible counties shall be expended as required by the laws referred to in paragraph (1). (d) Expenditure Rules for Eligible Counties.— (1) Allocations.— (A) Use of portion in same manner as 25-percent payments.—If an eligible county elects to receive its share of the full payment amount, not less than 80 percent, but not more than 85 percent, of the funds shall be expended in the same manner in which the 25-percent payments are required to be expended. (B) Election as to use of balance.—An eligible county shall elect to do one or more of the following with the balance of the funds not expended pursuant to subparagraph (A): (i) Reserve the balance for projects in accordance with title II. (ii) Reserve the balance for projects in accordance with title III. (iii) Return the balance to the General Treasury in accordance with section 402(b). (2) Distribution of funds.— (A) Treatment of title ii funds.—Funds reserved by an eligible county under paragraph (l)(B)(i) shall be deposited in a special account in the Treasury of the United States and shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary of Agriculture, without further appropriation, and shall remain available until expended in accordance with title II. (B) Treatment of title iii funds.—Funds reserved by an eligible county under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall be available for expenditure by the county and shall remain available, until expended, in accordance with title III. (3) Election.— (A) In general.—An eligible county shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture of its election under this subsection not later than September 30 of each fiscal year. If the eligible county fails to make an election by that date, the county is deemed to have elected to expend 85 percent of the funds to be received under this section in the same manner in which the 25-percent payments are required to be expended, and shall remit the balance to the Treasury of the United States in accordance with section 402(b). (B) Counties with minor distributions.—Notwithstanding any adjustment made pursuant to section 101(b)in the case of each eligible county to which less than $100,000 is distributed for any fiscal year pursuant to 114 STAT. 1613subsection (c)(1), the eligible county may elect to expend all such funds in accordance with subsection (c)(2). (e) Time for Payment.—The payment to an eligible State under this section for a fiscal year shall be made as soon as practicable after the end of that fiscal year.