119-hr2771

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

    (IH) ]

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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''.
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