such councils. Appointments shall be made in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary. The establishment and operation of an advisory council established under this section shall conform to the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (86 Stat. 770; 5 U.S.C. App. 1).

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, each advisory council established by the Secretary under this section shall meet at least once a year with such meetings being called by the Secretary.

(c) Members of advisory councils shall serve without pay, except travel and per diem will be paid each member for meetings called by the Secretary.

(d) An advisory council may furnish advice to the Secretary with respect to the land use planning, classification, retention, management, and disposal of the public lands within the area for which the advisory council is established and such other matters as may be referred to it by the Secretary.

(e) In exercising his authorities under this Act, the Secretary, by regulation, shall establish procedures, including public hearings where appropriate, to give the Federal, State, and local governments and the public adequate notice and an opportunity to comment upon the formulation of standards and criteria for, and to participate in, the preparation and execution of plans and programs for, and the management of, the public lands.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

SEC. 310. The Secretary, with respect to the public lands, shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act and of other laws applicable to the public lands, and the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to lands within the National Forest System, shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act. The promulgation of such rules and regulations shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5 of the United States Code, without regard to section 553(a)(2). Prior to the promulgation of such rules and regulations, such lands shall be administered under existing rules and regulations concerning such lands to the extent practical.

PUBLIC LANDS PROGRAM REPORT

SEC. 311. (a) For the purpose of providing information that will aid Congress in carrying out its oversight responsibilities for public lands programs and for other purposes, the Secretary shall prepare a report in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) and submit it to the Congress no later than one hundred and twenty days after the end of each fiscal year beginning with the report for fiscal year

1979.

(b) A list of programs and specific information to be included in the report as well as the format of the report shall be developed by the Secretary after consulting with the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House and Senate and shall be provided to the committees prior to the end of the second quarter of each fiscal year.

(c) The report shall include, but not be limited to, program identification information, program evaluation information, and program budgetary information for the preceding current and succeeding fiscal years.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

SEC. 312. Where in his judgment sufficient search, rescue, and protection forces are not otherwise available, the Secretary is authorized in cases of emergency to incur such expenses as may be necessary (a) in searching for and rescuing, or in cooperating in the search for and rescue of, persons lost on the public lands, (b) in protecting or rescuing, or in cooperating in the protection and rescue of, persons or animals endangered by an act of God, and (c) in transporting deceased persons or persons seriously ill or injured in the nearest place where interested parties or local authorities are located.

SUNSHINE IN GOVERNMENT

SEC. 313. (a) Each officer or employee of the Secretary and the Bureau who

(1) performs any function or duty under this Act; and

(2) has any known financial interest in any person who (A) applies for or receives any permit, lease, or right-of-way under, or (B) applies for or acquires any land or interests therein under, or (C) is otherwise subject to the provisions of this Act,

shall, beginning on February 1, 1977, annually file with the Secretary a written statement concerning all such interests held by such officer or employee during the preceding calendar year. Such statement shall be available to the public.

(b) The Secretary shall

(1) act within ninety days after the date of enactment of this Act

(A) to define the term "known financial interests" for the purposes of subsection (a) of this section; and

(B) to establish the methods by which the requirement to file written statements specified in subsection (a) of this section will be monitored and enforced, including appropriate provisions for the filing by such officers and employees of such statements and the review by the Secretary of such statements; and

(2) report to the Congress on June 1 of each calendar year with respect to such disclosures and the actions taken in regard thereto during the preceding calendar year.

(c) In the rules prescribed in subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may identify specific positions within the Department of the Interior which are of a nonregulatory or nonpolicymaking nature and provide that officers or employees occupying such positions shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

(d) Any officer or employee who is subject to, and knowingly violates, this section, shall be fined not more than $2,500 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

RECORDATION OF MINING CLAIMS AND ABANDONMENT

SEC. 314. (a) The owner of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim located prior to the date of this Act shall, within the three-year period following the date of the approval of this Act and prior to December 31 of each year thereafter, file the instruments required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection. The owner of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim located after the date of this Act shall, prior to December 31 of each year following the calendar year in which the said claim was located, file the instruments required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection:

(1) File for record in the office where the location notice or certificate is recorded either a notice of intention to hold the mining claim (including but not limited to such notices as are provided by law assessment work), an affidavit of assessment work performed thereon, on a detailed report provided by the Act of September 2, 1958 (72 Stat. 1701; 30 U.S.C. 28-1), relating thereto.

(2) File in the office of the Bureau designated by the Secretary a copy of the official record of the instrument filed or recorded pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, including a description of the location of the mining claim sufficient to locate the claimed lands on the ground.

(b) The owner of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim or mill or tunnel site located prior to the date of approval of this Act shall, within the three-year period following the date of approval of this Act, file in the office of the Bureau designated by the Secretary a copy of the official record of the notice of location or certificate of location, including a description of the location of the mining claim or mill or tunnel site sufficient to locate the claimed lands on the ground. The owner of an unpatented lode or placer mining claim or mill or tunnel site located after the date of approval of this Act shall, within ninety days after the date of location of such claim, file in the office of the Bureau designated by the Secretary a copy of the official record of the notice of location, including a description of the location of the mining claim or mill or tunnel site sufficient to locate the claimed lands on the ground.

(c) The failure to file such instruments as required by subsections (a) and (b) shall be deemed conclusively to constitute an abandonment of the mining claim or mill or tunnel site by the owner; but it shall not be considered a failure to file if the instrument is defective or not timely filed for record under other Federal laws permitting filing or recording thereof, or if the instrument is filed for record by or on behalf of some but not all of the owners of the mining claim or mill or tunnel site.

(d) Such recordation or application by itself shall not render valid any claim which would not be otherwise valid under applicable law. Nothing in this section shall be construed as a waiver of the assessment and other requirements of such law.

RECORDABLE DISCLAIMERS OF INTEREST IN LAND

SEC. 315. (a) After consulting with any affected Federal agency, the Secretary is authorized to issue a document of disclaimer of interest or interests in any lands in any form suitable for recordation, where the disclaimer will help remove a cloud on the title of such lands and where he determines (1) a record interest of the United States in lands has terminated by operation of law or is otherwise invalid; or (2) the lands lying between the meander line shown on a plat of survey approved by the Bureau or its predecessors and the actual shoreline of a body of water are not lands of the United States; or (3) accreted, relicted, or avulsed lands are not lands of the United States.

(b) No document or disclaimer shall be issued pursuant to this section unless the applicant therefor has filed with the Secretary an application in writing and notice of such application setting forth the grounds supporting such application has been published in the Federal Register at least ninety days preceding the issuance of such disclaimer and until the applicant therefor has paid to the Secretary the administrative costs of issuing the disclaimer as determined by the Secretary. All receipts shall be deposited to the then-current appropriation from which expended.

(c) Issuance of a document of disclaimer by the Secretary pursuant to the provisions of this section and regulations promulgated hereunder shall have the same effect as a quit-claim deed from the United States.

CORRECTION OF CONVEYANCE DOCUMENTS

SEC. 316. The Secretary may correct patents or documents of conveyance issued pursuant to section 208 of this Act or to other Acts relating to the disposal of public lands where necessary in order to eliminate errors. In addition, the Secretary may make corrections of errors in any documents of conveyance which have heretofore been issued by the Federal Government to dispose of public lands.

MINERAL REVENUES

SEC. 317. (a) Section 35 of the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437, 450; 30 U.S.C. 181, 191), as amended, is further amended to read as follows: "All money received from sales, bonuses, royalties, and rentals of the public lands under the provisions of this Act and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, notwithstanding the provisions of section 20 thereof, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States; 50 per centum thereof shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury as soon as practicable after March 31, and September 30 of each year to the State other than Alaska within the boundaries of which the leased lands or deposits are or were located; said moneys paid to any of such States on or after January 1, 1976, to be used by such State and its subdivisions, as the legislature of the State

may direct giving priority to those subdivisions of the State social or economically impacted by development of minerals leased under this Act, for (i) planning, (ii) construction and maintenance of public facilities, and (ii) provision of public service; and excepting those from Alaska, 40 per centum thereof shall be paid into, reserved, appropriated, as part of the reclamation fund created by the Act of Congress known as the Reclamation Act, approved June 17, 1902, and of those from Alaska as soon as practicable after March 31 and September 30 of each year, 90 per centum thereof shall be paid to the State of Alaska for disposition by the legislature thereof: Provided, That all moneys which may accrue to the United States under the provisions of this Act and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 from lands within the naval petroleum reserves shall be deposited in the Treasury as 'miscellaneous receipts,' as provided by the Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 813), as amended June 30, 1938 (52 Stat. 1252). All moneys received under the provisions of this Act and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 not otherwise disposed of by this section shall be credited to miscellaneous receipts.".

(b) Funds now held pursuant to said section 35 by the States of Colorado and Utah separately from the Department of the Interior oil shale test leases known as C-A; C-B; U-A and U-B shall be used by such States and subdivisions as the legislature of each State may direct giving priority to those subdivisions socially or economically impacted by the development of minerals leased under this Act for (1) planning, (2) construction and maintenance of public facilities, and (3) provision of public services.

(c) (1) The Secretary is authorized to make loans to States and their political subdivisions in order to relieve social or economic impacts occasioned by the development of minerals leased in such States pursuant to the Act of February 25, 1920, as amended. Such loans shall be confined to the uses specified for the 50 per centum of mineral revenues to be received by such States and subdivisions pursuant to section 35 of such Act. All loans shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed 3 per centum and shall be for such amounts and durations as the Secretary shall determine. The Secretary shall limit the amounts of such loans to all States except Alaska to the anticipated mineral revenues to be received by the recipients of said loans and to Alaska to 55 per centum of anticipated mineral revenues to be received by it pursuant to said section 35 for any prospective 10-year period. Such loans shall be repaid by the loan recipients from mineral revenues to be derived from said section 35 by such recipients, as the Secretary determines. (2) The Secretary, after consultation with Governors of the affected States, shall allocate such loans among the States and their subdivisions in a fair and equitable manner, giving priority to those States and subdivisions suffering the most severe impacts.

(3) Loans under this subsection shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary de

termines necessary to assure that the purpose of this subsection will be achieved. The Secretary shall issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

APPROPRIATION AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 318. (a) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act, but no amounts shall be appropriated to carry out after October 1, 1978. any program, function, or activity of the Bureau under this or any other Act unless such sums are specifically authorized to be appropriated as of the date of approval of this Act or are authorized to be appropriated in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. (b) Consistent with section 607 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, beginning May 15, 1977, and not later than May 15 of each second even numbered year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate a request for the authorization of appropriations for all programs, functions, and activities of the Bureau to be carried out during the four-fiscal-year period beginning on October 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which such request is submitted. The Secretary shall include in his request, in addition to the information contained in his budget request and justification statement to the Office of Management and Budget, the funding levels which he determines can be efficiently and effectively utilized in the execution of his responsibilities for each such program, function, or activity, notwithstanding any budget guidelines or limitations imposed by any official or agency of the executive branch.

(c) Nothing in this section shall apply to the distribution of receipts of the Bureau from the disposal of lands, natural resources, and interests in lands in accordance with applicable law, nor to the use of contributed funds, private deposits for public survey work, and townsite trusteeships, nor to fund allocations from other Federal agencies, reimbursements from both Federal and non-Federal sources, and funds expended for emergency firefighting and rehabilitation.

(d) In exercising the authority to acquire by purchase granted by subsection (a) of section 205 of this Act, the Secretary may use the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase lands which are necessary for proper management of public lands which are primarily of value for outdoor recreation purposes.

TITLE IV-RANGE MANAGEMENT

GRAZING FEES

SEC. 401. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly cause to be conducted a study to determine the value of grazing on the lands under their jurisdiction in the eleven Western States with a view to establishing a fee to be charged for domestic livestock grazing on such lands which is equitable to the United

States and to the holders of grazing permits and leases on such lands. In making such study, the Secretaries shall take into consideration the costs of production normally associated with domestic livestock grazing in the eleven Western States, differences in forage values, and such other factors as may relate to the reasonableness of such fees. The Secretaries shall report the result of such study to the Congress not later than one year from and after the date of approval of this Act, together with recommendations to implement a reasonable grazing fee schedule based upon such study. If the report required herein has not been submitted to the Congress within one year after the date of approval of htis Act, the grazing fee charge then in effect shall not be altered and shall remain the same until such report has been submitted to the Congress. Neither Secretary shall increase the grazing fee in the 1977 grazing year.

(b) (1) Congress finds that a substantial amount of the Federal range lands is deteriorating in quality, and that installation of additional range improvements could arrest much of the continuing deterioration and could lead to substantial betterment of forage conditions with resulting benefits to wildlife, watershed protection, and livestock production. Congress therefore directs that 50 per centum of all moneys received by the United States as fees for grazing domestic livestock on public lands (other than from ceded Indian lands) under the Taylor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1269; 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.) and the Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874; 43 U.S.C. 1181d), and on lands in National Forests in the eleven contiguous Western States under the provisions of this section shall be credited to a separate account in the Treasury, one-half of which is authorized to be appropriated and made available for use in the district, region, or national forest from which such moneys were derived, as the respective Secretary may direct after consultation with district, regional, or national forest user representatives, for the purpose of on-the-ground range rehabilitation, protection, and improvements on such lands, and the remaining one-half shall be used for on-the-ground range rehabilitation, protection, and improvements as the Secretary concerned directs. Any funds so appreciated shall be in addition to any other appropriations made to the respective Secretary for planning and administration of the range betterment program and for other range management. Such rehabilitation, protection, and improvements shall include all forms of range land betterment including, but not limited to, seeding and reseeding, fence construction, weed control, water development, and fish and wildlife habitat enhancement as the respective Secretary may direct after consultation with user representatives. The annual distribution and use of range betterment funds authorized by this paragraph shall not be considered a major Federal action requiring a detailed statement pursuant to section 4332(c) of title 42 of the United States Code.

(2) The first clause of section 10(b) of the Tay

lor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1269), as amended by the Act of August 6, 1947 (43 U.S.C. 315i), is hereby repealed. All distributions of moneys made under section 401(b)(1) of this Act shall be in addition to distributions made under section 10 of the Taylor Grazing Act and shall not apply to distribution of moneys made under section 11 of that Act. The remaining moneys received by the United States as fees for grazing domestic livestock on the public lands shall be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

(3) Section 3 of the Taylor Grazing Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 315), is further amended by

(a) Deleting the last clause of the first sentence thereof, which begins with "and in fixing," deleting the comma after "time", and adding to that first sentence the words "in accordance with governing law".

(b) Deleting the second sentence thereof.

GRAZING LEASES AND PERMITS

SEC. 402. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, permits and leases for domestic livestock grazing on public lands issued by the Secretary under the Act of June 28, 1934 (48 Stat. 1269, as amended; 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.) or the Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874, as amended; 43 U.S.C. 1181a-1181j), or by the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to lands within National Forests in the eleven contiguous Western States, shall be for a term of ten years subject to such terms and conditions the Secretary concerned deems appropirate and consistent with the governing law, including, but not limited to, the authority of the Secretary concerned to cancel, suspend, or modify a grazing permit or lease, in whole or in part, pursuant to the terms and conditions thereof, or to cancel or suspend a grazing permit or lease for any violation of a grazing regulation or of any term or condition of such grazing permit or lease.

(b) Permits or leases may be issued by the Secretary concerned for a period shorter than ten years where the Secretary concerned determines that— (1) the land is pending disposal; or

(2) the land will be devoted to a public purpose prior to the end of ten years; or

(3) it will be in the best interest of sound land management to specify a shorter term: Provided, That the absence from an allotment management plan of details the Secretary concerned would like to include but which are undeveloped shall not be the basis for establishing a term shorter than ten years.

(c) So long as (1) the lands for which the permit or lease is issued remain available for domestic livestock grazing in accordance with land use plans prepared pursuant to section 202 of this Act or section 5 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 477; 16 U.S.C. 1601), (2) the permittee or lessee is in compliance with the rules and regulations issued and the terms and conditions in the permit or lease

specified by the Secretary concerned, and (3) the permittee or lessee accepts the terms and conditions to be included by the Secretary concerned in the new permit or lease, the holder of the expiring permit or lease shall be given first priority for receipt of the new permit or lease.

(d) All permits and leases for domestic livestock grazing issued pursuant to this section, with the exceptions authorized in subsection (e) of this section, on and after October 1, 1988, may incorporate an allotment management plan developed by the Secretary concerned in consultation with the lessees or permittees involved. Prior to that date, allotment management plans shall be incorporated in grazing permits and leases when they are completed. The Secretary concerned may revise such plans from time to time after such consultation.

(e) Prior to October 1, 1988, or thereafter, in all cases where the Secretary concerned has not completed an allotment management plan or determines that an allotment management plan is not necessary for management of livestock operations and will not be prepared, the Secretary concerned shall incorporate in grazing permits and leases such terms and conditions as he deems appropriate for management of the permitted or leased lands pursuant to applicable law. The Secretary concerned shall also specify therein the numbers of animals to be grazed and the seasons of use and that he may reexamine the condition of the range at any time and, if he finds on reexamination that the condition of the range requires adjustment in the amount or other aspect of grazing use, that the permittee or lessee shall adjust his use to the extent the Secretary concerned deems necessary. Such readjustment shall be put into full force and effect on the date specified by the Secretary concerned.

(f) Allotment management plans shall not refer to livestock operations or range improvements on non-Federal lands except where the non-Federal lands are intermingled with, or, with the consent of the permittee or lessee involved, associated with, the Federal lands subject to the plan. The Secretary concerned under appropriate regulations shall grant to lessees and permittees the right of appeal from decisions which specify the terms and conditions of allotment management plans. The preceding sentence of this subsection shall not be construed as limiting any other right of appeal from decisions of such officials.

(g) Whenever a permit or lease for grazing domestic livestock is canceled in whole or in part, in order to devote the lands covered by the permit or lease to another public purpose, including disposal, the permittee or lessee shall receive from the United States a reasonable compensation for the adjusted value, to be determined by the Secretary concerned, of his interest in authorized permanent improvements placed or constructed by the permittee or lessee on lands covered by such permit or lease, but not to exceed the fair market value of the terminated portion of the permittee's or lessee's interest therein. Except in cases of emergency, no permit or lease shall be canceled under

this section without two years' prior notification.

(h) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as modifying in any way law existing on the date of approval of this Act with respect to the creation of right, title, interest or estate in or to public lands or lands in National Forests by issuance of grazing permits and leases.

GRAZING ADVISORY BOARDS

SEC. 403. (a) For each Bureau district office and National Forest headquarters office in the eleven contiguous Western States having jurisdiction over more than five hundred thousand acres of lands subject to commercial livestock grazing (hereinafter in this section referred to as "office"), the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, upon the petition of a simple majority of the livestock lessees and permittees under the jurisdiction of such office, shall establish and maintain at least one grazing advisory board of not more than fifteen advisers.

(b) The function of grazing advisory boards established pursuant to this section shall be to offer advice and make recommendations to the head of the office involved concerning the development of allotment management plans and the utilization of range-betterment funds.

(c) The number of advisers on each board and the number of years an adviser may serve shall be determined by the Secretary concerned in his discretion. Each board shall consist of livestock representatives who shall be lessees or permittees in the area administered by the office concerned and shall be chosen by the lessees and permittees in the area through an election prescribed by the Secretary concerned.

(d) Each grazing advisory board shall meet at least once annually.

(e) Except as may be otherwise provided by this section, the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (86 Stat. 770; 5 U.S.C. App. 1) shall apply to grazing advisory boards.

(f) The provisions of this section shall expire December 31, 1985.

MANAGEMENT OF CERTAIN HORSES AND BURROS

SEC. 404. Sections 9 and 10 of the Act of December 15, 1971 (85 Stat. 649, 651; 16 U.S.C. 1331, 13391340) are renumbered as sections 10 and 11, respectively, and the following new section is inserted after section 8:

"SEC. 9. In administering this Act, the Secretary may use or contract for the use of helicopters or, for the purpose of transporting captured animals, motor vehicles. Such use shall be undertaken only after a public hearing and under the direct supervision of the Secretary or of a duly authorized official or employee of the Department. The provisions of subsection (a) of the Act of September 8, 1959 (73 Stat. 470; 18 U.S.C. 47(a)) shall not be applicable to such use. Such use shall be in accordance with humane procedures prescribed by the Secretary.".