S-1724 : Still Just a Bill

Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015

This bill revises and reauthorizes the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act for 10 fiscal years after the enactment of this bill.

The bill adds requirements for the management of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, including requiring the U.S. Forest Service to:

• coordinate with the Environmental Protection Agency and state and local entities in managing the Basin;
• conduct forest management activities in the Basin in a manner that attains multiple ecosystem benefits, unless such activities would excessively increase the cost of any project; and
• establish and monitor post-program ground condition criteria for ground disturbance caused by forest management activities.

The Forest Service may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with governmental and other public and private entities to provide for fuel reduction, erosion control, reforestation, restoration, and similar activities in the Basin.

The bill mandates priority programs in the Basin, including programs for fire risk reduction and forest management, invasive species management, and stormwater management.

The bill requires relevant federal and state agencies, including the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the states of California and Nevada, to develop and update an integrated multiagency assessment and monitoring plan to measure the effectiveness of the Agency's Environmental Improvement Program.

The bill amends the Santini-Burton Act to authorize: (1) a donation from California to the Forest Service of lands administered by its agencies, and (2) a transfer from the Forest Service to Nevada of certain lands in the Basin.