PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES FROM BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LANDS FOR USE TO BENEFIT PUBLIC SAFETY, LAW ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION, AND OTHER PUBLIC PURPOSES.

SEC. 103. PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES FROM BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LANDS FOR USE TO BENEFIT PUBLIC SAFETY, LAW ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION, AND OTHER PUBLIC PURPOSES. (a) Payment.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay an eligible county either— (1) the 50-percent payment under the Act of August 28, 1937 (43 U.S.C. 1181f), or the Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181f-1) as appropriate; or (2) the rail payment amount in place of the 50-percent payment. (b) Election To Receive Full Payment Amount.— (1) Election; duration.—The election to receive the full payment amount shall be made at the discretion of the county. Once the election is made, it shall be effective for the fiscal year in which the election is made and all subsequent fiscal years through fiscal year 2006. (2) Source of payment amounts.—The payment to an eligible county 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 permanent operating funds, received by the Federal Government from activities by the Bureau of Land Management on the Federal lands described in section 3(1)(B) and to the extent of any shortfall, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. (c) Expenditure Rules for Eligible Counties.— (1) Allocations.— (A) Use of portion in same manner as 50-percent payments.—Of the funds to be paid to an eligible county pursuant to subsection (a)(2), not less than 80 percent, but not more than 85 percent, of the funds distributed to the eligible county shall be expended in the same manner in which the 50-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 (1)(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 the Interior, without further appropriation, and 114 STAT. 1614 shall remain available until expended in accordance with title II. (B) Treatment of title in 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.—An eligible county shall notify the Secretaryof the Interior 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 received under subsection (a)(2) in the same manner in which the 50-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). (d) Time for Payment.—The payment to an eligible county under this section for a fiscal year shall be made as soon as practicable after the end of that fiscal year.