119-s2566

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2566 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2566

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 31, 2025

Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
 Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 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)
        (A) , by striking ``subsection
            (m) '' and inserting ``subsection

    (n) ''; 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 ``State of 
 Vermont'' and inserting ``applicable State'';

    (2) by redesignating subsection
            (m) as subsection

    (n) ; and

    (3) by inserting after subsection
            (l) the following:
 ``
            (m) Third-Party Conservation Easements.--
 ``

    (1) Definition of qualified organization.--In this 
 subsection, the term `qualified organization' means an 
 organization that--
 ``
        (A) is a qualified organization (as defined in 
 

section 170

    (h)

    (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
 1986);
 ``
        (B) is organized for, and at all times since the 
 formation of the organization has been operated 
 principally for, one or more conservation purposes (as 
 defined in 

section 170

    (h)

    (4)
        (A) of that Code);
 ``
            (C) has not been the subject of any criminal or 
 civil enforcement action taken by the Attorney General 
 or the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service 
 pertaining to the charitable donation of conservation 
 easements under that Code; and
 ``
            (D) has been awarded, and at all times thereafter 
 has maintained, accredited status by the Land Trust 
 Accreditation Commission, or if that Commission ceases 
 to exist, a successor organization that offers 
 substantially similar accreditation and is approved by 
 the Secretary for purposes of this section.
 ``

    (2) Authorization.--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.
 ``

    (3) 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.
 ``

    (4) Reversion.--If the Secretary or a State determines a 
 condition described in paragraph

    (5) 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

    (3) .
 ``

    (5) Conditions for reversion.--A condition referred to in 
 paragraph

    (4) is, with respect to a conservation easement 
 acquired, held, and managed by a qualified organization under 
 this subsection, 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

    (3)
        (B) .
 ``
            (C) The conservation easement has been conveyed 
 to another person (other than a qualified organization 
 determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph

    (3) and approved by the State).''.

    (b) Technical Corrections.--

Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry 
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended--

    (1) in subsection
            (i) , in the first sentence, by striking 
 ``subsection

    (b) '' and inserting ``subsection
            (c) '';

    (2) in subsection
            (l) (3)
        (B)
            (i) 
            (II) , by adding ``and'' after 
 the semicolon at the end; and

    (3) in subsection

    (n) (as redesignated by subsection

    (a)

    (2) ), in the subsection heading, by striking 
 ``Appropriation'' and inserting ``Authorization of 
 Appropriations''.
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