H.R. 2771

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2771 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2771

To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize 
States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage 
conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 9, 2025

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Calvert, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Harder of 
California, Mr. Mullin, and Mr. Costa) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize 
States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage 
conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Legacy Management Flexibility 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS TO 
ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MANAGE CONSERVATION EASEMENTS UNDER 
THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.

(a) State Authorization.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry 
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended--
(1) in subsection (l)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection 
(m)'' and inserting ``subsection (o)''; and
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the 
State of Vermont'' and inserting ``any State''; 
and
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in the matter 
preceding subclause (I), by striking ``of 
Vermont'' and inserting ``involved'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (o); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (l) the following:
``(m) Third-Party Conservation Easements.--
``(1) In general.--At the request of a State, the Secretary 
shall authorize the State to approve eligible qualified 
organizations to acquire, hold, and manage conservation 
easements to carry out activities under the Forest Legacy 
Program.
``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to acquire, hold, and 
manage a conservation easement under this subsection, a 
qualified organization shall demonstrate to the Secretary the 
abilities necessary to acquire, monitor, and enforce interests 
in forestland--
``(A) consistent with the Forest Legacy Program; 
and
``(B) in accordance with the applicable assessment 
of need submitted to the Secretary by the State in 
which the conservation easement is located.
``(3) Reversion.--If the Secretary or a State determines a 
condition described in paragraph (4) is met with respect to a 
conservation easement--
``(A) all right, title, and interest of the 
qualified organization in and to the conservation 
easement shall terminate; and
``(B) all right, title, and interest in and to the 
conservation easement shall revert to the State or, if 
approved by the State, another qualified organization 
determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph 
(2).
``(4) Conditions for reversion.--A condition described in 
this paragraph is, with respect to a conservation easement 
acquired, held, and managed by a qualified organization, any of 
the following:
``(A) The qualified organization is unable to carry 
out the responsibilities of the qualified organization 
under the Forest Legacy Program with respect to the 
conservation easement.
``(B) The conservation easement has been modified 
in a way that is inconsistent with the purposes of the 
Forest Legacy Program or the applicable assessment of 
need described in paragraph (2)(B).
``(C) The conservation easement has been conveyed 
to another person (other than a qualified organization 
determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph 
(2) and approved by the State).
``(n) Qualified Organization Defined.--In this section, the term 
`qualified organization' means an organization that--
``(1) is a qualified organization, as defined in section 
170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
``(2) is organized for, and at all times since the 
formation of the organization, has been operated principally 
for one or more of the conservation purposes described in 
section 170(h)(4)(A) of such Code;
``(3) has not been the subject of any criminal or civil 
enforcement action taken by the Attorney General of the United 
States or the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service 
pertaining to the charitable donation of conservation easements 
under such Code; and
``(4) has been awarded, and at all times thereafter 
maintained, accredited status by the Land Trust Accreditation 
Commission, or if such Commission ceases to exist, a successor 
organization that offers substantially similar accreditation 
and is approved by the Secretary for purposes of this 
section.''.
(b) Technical Corrections.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry 
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is further amended--
(1) in subsection (i), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and 
inserting ``subsection (c)'';
(2) in subsection (l)(3)(B)(i)(II), by inserting ``and'' 
after the semi-colon at the end; and
(3) in the header of subsection (o), as redesignated by 
this section, by striking ``Appropriation'' and inserting 
``Authorization of Appropriations''.
<all>