"(C) recognize the fundamental need to protect and where appropriate, improve the quality of soil, water, and air resources; "(D) state national goals that recognize the interrelationships between and interdependence within the renewable resources; and "(E) evaluate the impact of the export and import of raw logs upon domestic timber supplies and prices". (16 U.S.C. 1602) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM RESOURCE PLANNING Sec. 6. Section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as redesignated by section 2 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof new subsections (c) through (m) as follows; "(c) The Secretary shall begin to incorporate the standards and guidelines required by this section in plans for units of the National Forest System as soon as practicable after enactment of this subsection and shall attempt to complete such incorporation for all such units by no later than September 30, 1985. The Secretary shall report to the Congress on the progress of such incorporation in the annual report required by section 8 (c) of this Act. Until such time as a unit of the National Forest System is managed under plans developed in accordance with this Act, the management of such unit may continue under existing land and resource management plans. "(d) The Secretary shall provide for public participation in the development, review, and revision of land management plans including, but not limited to, making the plans or revisions available to the public at convenient locations in the vicinity of the affected unit for a period of at least three months before final adoption, during which period the Secretary shall publicize and hold public meetings or comparable processes at locations that foster public participation in the review of such plans or revisions. "(e) In developing, maintaining, and revising plans for units of the National Forest System pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall assure that such plans- (1) provide for multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services obtained there from in accordance with the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, and in particular, include coordination of outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness; and timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness; and "(2) determine forest management systems, harvesting levels, and procedures in the light of all of the uses set forth in subsection (c)(1), the definition of the terms 'multiple use' and 'sustained yield' as provided in the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, and the availability of lands and their suitability for resource management. "(f) Plans developed in accordance with this section shall- "(1) form one integrated plan for each unit of the National Forest System, incorporating in one document or one set of documents, available to the public at convenient locations, all of the features required by this section; "(2) be embodied in appropriate written material, including maps and other descriptive documents, reflecting proposed and possible actions, including the planned timber sale program and the proportion of probable methods of timber harvest within the unit necessary to fulfill the plan; "(3) be prepared by an interdisciplinary team. Each team shall prepare its plan based on inventories of the applicable resources of the forest; "(4) be amended in any manner whatsoever after final adoption after public notice, and, if such amendment would result in a significant change in such plan, in accordance with the provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section and public involvement comparable to that required by subsection (d) of this section; and "(5) be revised (A) from time to time when the secretary finds conditions in a unit have significantly changed, but at least every fifteen years, and (B) in accordance with the provisions of subsections (e) and (f) of this section and public involvement comparable to that required by subsection (d) of this section. (g) As soon as practicable, but not later than two years after enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 553 of title 5, United States Code, promulgate regulations, under the principles of the Multiple-Use, Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, that set out the process for the development and revision of the land management plans, and the guidelines and standards prescribed by this subsection. regulations shall include, but not be limited to- "(1) specifying procedures to insure that land management plans are prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, including, but not limited to, direction on when and for what plans an environmental impact statement required under section 102(2) (C) of that Act shall be prepared; (2) specifying guidelines which- The (A) require the identification of the suitability of lands for resource management '(B) provide for obtaining inventory data on the various renewable resources, and soil and water, including pertinent maps, graphic material, and explanatory aids; and "(C) provide for methods to identify special conditions or situations involving hazards to the various resources and their relationship to alternate activities; "(3) specifying guidelines for land management plans developed to achieve the goals of the Program which- "(A) insure consideration of the economic and environmental aspects of various systems of renewable resource management, including the related systems of silviculture and protection of forest resources, provide for outdoor recreation (including wilderness), range, timber, watershed, wildlife, and fish; to "(B) provide for diversity of plant and animal communities based on the suitability and capability of the specific land area in order to meet overall multiple-use objectives, and within the multiple-use objectives of a land management plan adopted pursuant to this section, provide, where appropriate, to the degree practicable, for steps to be taken to preserve the diversity of tree species similar to that existing in the region controlled by the plan; "(C) insure research on and (based on continuous monitoring and assessment in the field evaluation of the effects of each management system to the end that it will not produce substantial and permanent impairment of the productivity of the land; "(D) permit increases in harvest levels based on intensified management practices, such as reforestation, thinning, and tree improvement if "(E) insure that timber will be harvested from "(i) soil, slope, or other watershed conditions will not be irreversibly damaged; "(ii) there is assurance that such lands can be adequately restocked within five years after harvest; "(iii) protection is provided for streams, stream-banks, shorelines, lakes, wetlands, and other bodies of water from detrimental changes in water temperatures, blockages of water courses, and deposits of sediment, where harvests are likely to seriously and adversely affect water conditions or fish habitat; and "(iv) the harvesting system to be used is not selected primarily because it will give the greatest dollar return or the greatest unit output of timber; and "(F) insure that clearcutting, seed tree cutting, shelterwood cutting, and other cuts designed to regenerate and even-aged stand of timber will be used as a cutting method on National Forest System lands only where- "(i) for clearcutting, it is determined to be the optimum method, and for other such cuts it is determined to be appropriate, to meet the objectives and requirements of the relevant land management plan; "(ii) the interdisciplinary review as determined by the Secretary has been completed and the potential environmental, biological, esthetic, engineering, and economic impacts on each advertised sale area have been assessed, as well as the consistency of the sale with the multiple use of the general area; "(iii) cut blocks, patches, or strips are shaped and blended to the extent practicable with the natural terrain; "(iv) there are established according to geographic areas, forest types, or other suitable classifications the maximum size limits for areas to be cut in one harvest operation, including provision to exceed the established limits after appropriate public notice and review by the responsible Forest Service officer one level above the Forest Service officer who normally would approve the harvest proposal: Provided, That such limits shall not apply to the size of areas harvested as a result of natural catastrophic conditions such as fire, insect and disease attack, or windstorm; and "(v) such cuts are carried out in a manner consistent with the protection of soil, watershed, fish, wildlife, recreation, and esthetic resources, and the regeneration of the timber resource. "(h) (1) In carrying out the purposes of subsection (g) of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint a committee of scientists who are not officers or employees of the Forest Service. The committee shall provide scientific and technical advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and procedures to assure that an effective interdisciplinary approach is proposed and adopted. The committee shall terminate upon promulgation of the regulations. The views of the committees shall be included in the public information supplied when the regulations are proposed for adoption. "(2) Clerical and technical assistance, as may be necessary to discharge the duties of the committee, shall be provided from the personnel of the Department of Agriculture. "(3) While attending meetings of the committee, the members shall be entitled to receive compensation at a rate of $100 per diem, including traveltime, and while away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for persons in the Government service employed intermittently. "(i) Resource plans and permits, contracts, and other instruments for the use and occupany of National Forest System lands shall be consistent with the land management plans. Those resource plans and permits, contracts, and other such instruments currently in existence shall be revised as soon as practicable to be made consistent with such plans. When land management plans are revised, resource plans and permits, contracts, and other instruments, when necessary, shall be revised as soon as practicable. Any revision in present or future permits, contracts, and other instruments made pursuant to this section shall be subject to valid existing rights. "(j) Land management plans and revisions shall become effective thirty days after completion of public participation and publication of notification by the Secretary as required under section 6(d) of this Act. "(k) In developing land management plans pursuant to this Act, the Secretary shall identify lands within the management area which are not suited for timber production, considering physical, economic, and other pertinent factors to the extent feasible, as determined by the Secretary, and shall assure that, except for salvage sales or sales necessitated to protect other multiple-use values, no timber harvesting shall occur on such lands for a period of 10 years. Lands once identified as unsuitable for timber production shall continue to be treated for reforestation purposes, particularly with regard to the protection of other multiple-use values. The Secretary shall review his decision to classify these lands as not suited for timber production at least every 10 years and shall return these lands to timber production whenever he determines that conditions have changed so that they have become suitable for timber production. "(1) The Secretary shall- "(1) formulate and implement, as soon as practicable, a process for estimating long-terms costs and benefits to support the program evaluation requirements of this Act. This process shall include requirements to provide information on a representative sample basis of estimated expenditures associated with the reforestation, timber stand |