Copyright 2000 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
June 22, 2000, Thursday
SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 3456 words
HEADLINE:
PREPARED STATEMENT OF RANDLE G. PHILLIPS DEPUTY CHIEF, PROGRAMS AND LEGISLATION
FOREST SERVICE
BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON FORESTS AND FOREST HEALTH
REGARDING THE
INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF RULEMAKINGS AND MULTIPLE FOREST PLAN AMENDMENTS
BODY:
MADAM CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE
COMMITTEE:
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the
interrelationships of Forest Service rulemakings and regional planning efforts.
My name is Randle Phillips, and I am the Deputy Chief for Programs and
Legislation for the Forest Service. I am accompanied by Chris Risbrudt, Director
for Ecosystem Management Coordination for the Forest Service.
Today I
would like to discuss the interrelationships of the agency's rulemakings, other
proposals of national or regional interest, and how they are related to our
draft revisions to the strategic plan.
There are numerous ongoing
efforts in the Forest Service to implement applicable law, regulations, and
policies through forest planning, rulemaking, and strategic planning. These
initiatives show that the Forest Service is actively seeking to implement its
mission of caring for the land and serving people. We are working aggressively
to address the important natural resources issues of today so that all Americans
will be able to enjoy the products, services, and values of the national forests
and grasslands for years to come. Strategic Plan
The strategic plan is
intended to guide future agency actions in managing the national forests and
grasslands resources. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) requires
the Forest Service to revise the agency's strategic plan by September 2000. The
goals and objectives of the revised Forest Service strategic plan will guide the
way in which the Forest Service views and reports accomplishments in managing
the nation's national forests and grasslands. The strategic plan is intended to
provide guidance both for near-term actions and for long-term land health,
public service, and other outcomes.
The four goals of the Forest
Service's strategic plan - ecosystem health, multiple benefits for people,
scientific and technical assistance, and effective public service -- establish
the overall focus for agency programs for the next three to five years.
Collectively, these components of the strategic plan will provide guidance for
future management actions and investments, as well as a set of milestones for
evaluating progress toward the goals.
The agency's proposed rules are
consistent with the goals and objectives of the draft strategic plan. The draft
strategic plan was released for public comment on December 1, 1999, and the
strategic plan is expected to be finalized in September 2000.
Planning
Rule
Currently, the Forest Service has three separate but consistent
rulemaking proposals. Together, these proposals provide a comprehensive strategy
for accomplishing long-term sustainability of our forests and grasslands.
The first is the proposed planning rule, which has been in progress for
10 years. We have found that the existing planning rule issued in 1982, while
appropriate for developing the initial round of plans under the National Forest
Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), warrants changes to better respond to the social,
economic, and ecological issues currently facing national forests and
grasslands, improve implementation of NFMA, and to incorporate the lessons
learned from applying the current rule during the last two decades.
The
proposed planning rule provides the framework for land and resource planning. It
emphasizes ecological, social and economic sustainability, collaboration: with
the public, integration of science into analyses, and problem solving. This
regulation, when finalized, will guide the revisions of land and resource
management plans and site-specific projects. We have completed the review of
comments on the proposed rule, incorporated changes to address those comments,
and expect to release the final rule later this summer.
The proposed
planning rule does not mandate specific actions to be taken; it specifies a
process for planning. The proposed rules for managing our road transportation
system and for roadless area conservation are consistent with the proposed
planning rule and add specificity for road and roadless area management
planning. Moreover, key elements of the road management and roadless area
conservation proposals would be implemented in the future through forest plan
amendments or revisions that would follow the sustainability, collaboration,
science, and other requirements of the planning rule.
The draft
strategic plan and the planning rule also work well together. The strategic plan
provides the Forest Service's national goals and objectives. Land and resource
plans, developed under the planning rule, articulate regional and local goals
and objectives for the National Forest System and guide on the ground
site-specific actions. Provisions in the proposed planning rule ensure that the
agency's national goals and objectives, articulated in the strategic plan, will
be considered in the revision and amendment of land and resource management
plans, the development of site-specific projects, and ongoing monitoring
efforts. This linkage does not exist today under the current planning rule, but
it is absolutely essential for promoting agency-wide accountability and
achieving the long-term results outlined in the agency's strategic plan.
Road Management Rule
With more than 380,000 miles of roads
within the National Forest System, enough to circle the globe 15 times, the
Forest Service is challenged to provide safe and affordable public access to the
National Forest System without degrading land health and water quality. In
addition, a recent assessment of needs for national forest road maintenance and
reconstruction indicated that over $8.4 billion would be
required to clean up the backlog of road related problems that exist on the
landscape. The agency also loses roughly 1000 miles of national forest road
access to passenger cars every year because it doesn't have the funds to
adequately maintain them.
The proposed rule for road management is
designed to help us make the Forest Service road system safe, responsive to
public and agency needs, environmentally sound, and affordable to manage. It
emphasizes the use of science and public involvement at the local level to
identify needed and unneeded roads. The proposed rule would require the
completion of road analyses to ensure that local managers have the best
available information when making decisions on which roads are needed and which
are unneeded. This road analysis would be incorporated into individual forest
plans through the amendment or revision process, which would be guided by the
sustainability, collaboration, science, and other requirements of the planning
rule.
The proposed road management rule does not propose to construct or
close specific roads.
Rather, it establishes a scientific and public
process to gather the information that is needed for such decisions to be made
at the local level. The roads analysis required by the proposed rule would help
address issues such as: "What Forest Service roads are high priority and should
be upgraded?" "What roads are of lesser importance, no longer needed, or
environmentally damaging?" "Should certain roads be closed, decommissioned, or
converted to other uses such as hiking, biking, or walking trails?"
As
proposed, the road management policy includes transition language to conserve
roadless areas and ensure that the agency is considering the best available
science, public needs, maintenance costs, and resource management objectives
before it adds new roads to the existing road system. Until national forests
complete a road analysis procedure and incorporate this analysis into their
forest plan, the proposal would require a compelling need, an environmental
impact statement, and regional forester approval before the agency could build
new roads in roadless areas. Most of the roadless areas affected by this
transition language are already under an interim road building moratorium.
Projects that have already been approved or are in areas that have already been
roaded would not be affected by this requirement.
This proposal would
require forest plans to be amended to include a roads analysis. Many forests
already are including a roads analysis in their forest plan revision. This rule
provides a consistent framework for that analysis throughout the National Forest
System. We are in the process of reviewing the public comments and expect to
release the final rule by September 2000.
Together, the proposed roads
management rule and roadless area conservation strategy form a cohesive strategy
for moving the agency away from building new roads and towards maintaining and
repairing its existing roads. For years the public and agency have questioned
the logic of building new roads, especially in controversial roadless areas,
when the agency simply cannot afford to maintain its existing road system.
Under the two policies, the Forest Service would still build roads, but
the agency would concentrate its construction in areas that already have roads
and on reconstructing existing roads. Before building roads, the Forest Service
would also take a harder look at the environmental, economic, and social costs
of building and then maintaining these roads before building them. By taking
these actions, the Forest Service would be able to target its limited resources
on maintaining and improving the roads the American people use to access the
National Forest System.
The proposed road management policy contributes
to achieving several of the goals and objectives proposed in the draft strategic
plan. For example, the first goal of the draft strategic plan is "Ecosystem
Health." Objective 1 .a calls for the Forest Service to improve and protect
watershed conditions to provide water quality and quantity necessary to support
ecological functions and intended beneficial uses. The proposed road management
policy would require the Forest Service to take a hard look at its existing and
future road system in order to better protect water quality, soil resources, and
watershed health.
Similarly, Goal 4, Effective Public Service, calls for
the Forest Service to enable the efficient delivery of products and services.
The proposed road management policy would make the national forest road system
safe and efficient to manage, focusing on maintaining needed roads.
Roadless Area Conservation Rule
The third initiative is the
roadless area conservation proposal. The Forest Service has attempted to address
the management of roadless areas for over 30 years. With the continued loss of
open space to urban and other uses, there is a need to conserve roadless areas
to provide unfragmented habitat that is crucial to many species of wildlife,
fish, and plants, to serve as reference areas for research, and to maintain some
largely undisturbed landscapes and recreational opportunities in undeveloped
settings.
The roadless area conservation proposal would generally
restrict road construction and reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas.
During future forest plan revision, the local manager would consider protections
for roadless area characteristics in both inventoried roadless and other
unroaded areas.
The proposed rule would not require Forests to amend
their forest plans. Local responsible officials' discretion to initiate forest
plan amendments, as deemed necessary, would not be limited by this provision.
However, there may be instances where local officials elect to initiate
amendment or revision of forest plans following final promulgation of this rule.
Again, any forest plan revision or amendment would be guided by the
sustainability, collaboration, science and other requirements of the planning
rule.
The proposed roadless area conservation rule also contributes to
achieving several of the goals proposed in the draft strategic plan. For
example, the first goal of the draft strategic plan is "Ecosystem Health."
Objective 1.a calls for the Forest Service to improve and protect watershed
conditions to provide water quality and quantity necessary to support ecological
functions and intended beneficial uses. By prohibiting road construction in
inventoried roadless areas and then protecting other roadless characteristics at
the local level, where warranted, the roadless area conservation proposal would
protect critical watersheds and promote water quality. The proposal is also
consistent with other ecosystem health objectives, including increasing fish and
wildlife habitat.
Finally, the fourth goal of the draft strategic plan -
Effective Public Service - calls for the Forest Service to enable the efficient
delivery of products and services. For example, Objective 4.b calls for
improving the safety and economy of Forest Service roads to provide greater
security for the public and employees. The roadless area conservation proposal
will enable the Forest Service to end 25 years of controversy surrounding
roadless areas, target its limited resources more effectively and better provide
the goods and services demanded by the American people.
We plan on
releasing the final rule late this calendar year. The environmental impact
statement for the proposed rule contains a discussion of the cumulative effects
analysis with other Forest Service proposed rules. That discussion will be
expanded, as appropriate, in response to comment on the draft analysis.
Other Agency Rulemaking
You also asked us to address the
Administration's Unified Federal Policy and Environmental Protection Agency's
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) proposals.
Unified Federal Policy
The Administration's proposed Unified Federal Policy for Ensuring a
Watershed Approach to Federal Land and Resource Management is part of the
Administration's Clean Water Action Plan. This proposal requires that Federal
agencies work collaboratively with States, Tribes and stakeholders on developing
watershed assessment protocols, selecting priority watersheds for joint action,
implementing pollution prevention, and incorporating watershed management goals
into planning and programs.
The Unified Federal Policy will be
implemented on a watershed basis. It is not affected by these proposed
rulemaking efforts, but it is consistent with changes in policy direction in the
Forest Service's three rulemaking efforts and the strategic plan. For example
the Unified Federal Policy will be implemented using a collaborative problem
solving process consistent with the proposed planning rule. The watershed and
water quality protection goals are also Consistent with the strategic plan and
related efforts.
TMDL The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed
revisions to its Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program in August 1999. The
proposal included a provision related to forestry operations that were causing
significant water pollution problems. EPA worked closely with the USDA to
develop an alternative approach to reducing water pollution from forest
operations and to address other concerns of the USDA. The revised approach,
described in a Joint Statement of the USDA and the EPA, gives States the lead
role in forest water quality and encourages the development of strong State
forest water quality programs.
Although the revised approach developed
jointly by the EPA and the USDA was a significant improvement over the August
proposal, EPA decided that there was a need to describe this approach to the
wide range of interested parties, to discuss how this approach would work, and
to get ideas for improvements.
In response to the interest in additional
discussion of forest water quality issues, EPA will not include forestry,
provisions in the TMDL regulations to be finalized this summer. The Agency
expects to repropose provisions of the TMDL proposal related to forestry later
this fall along the lines described in the USDA/EPA Joint Statement.
Broad Scale Assessments and Multiple Forest Plan Amendments
Your
invitation letter also asked about various forest plan amendment efforts,
including the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP), the
Sierra Nevada Framework, Northwest Forest Plan survey and manage policy, the
Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery projects, and the Giant Sequoia National
Monument.
Each of these efforts contribute to achieving the goals
proposed in the draft strategic plan - in fact, each specifically addresses
several of the proposed longterm objectives associated with the goals including
protecting watersheds, promoting high water quality, and increasing fish and
wildlife habitat. They also draw on all program areas of the Forest Service and
utilize collaborative partners, focus on ecosystem health, and provide a range
of uses, products and services within the capability of sustainable ecosystems.
Cumulative Effects
Each of the environmental documents for the
proposed rulemakings or multiple forest plan amendments contain a cumulative
effects analysis as required by NEPA. For the roadless area conservation and the
road management proposals, the cumulative effects will be addressed in their
respective environmental impact statement and environmental analysis. Cumulative
effects analysis can be used to modify alternatives to reduce any adverse
environmental consequences and develop mitigation measures and monitoring
protocols. Cumulative effects analysis is integral to Forest Service NEPA
analysis, not a separate effort. Our goal is to use the cumulative effects
analysis at the appropriate scale to make better decisions.
The agency's
strategic plan provides the framework for monitoring and reporting agency
accomplishments in strategic areas such as road maintenance and roadless area
conservation. This plan is adjusted every 3 years to reflect changes in agency
rules and priorities. All of the other initiatives feed into the strategic plan
in painting a picture of national priorities.
The road management and
planning rule proposals would create processes for making decisions on the
management of lands and roads of the national forests. They
would not dictate any specific outcome.
The roadless rule is the only
national initiative that would lead to direct limitation of future activities.
These impacts are discussed in the draft EIS for this proposal.
Similarly, the three proposed rulemakings efforts all have clear
transition policies that address how they will affect ongoing projects. As
proposed, the planning rule would apply to all forest plan amendments or
revisions in which Forest Service has not released a draft EIS within one year
of final publication of the rule. The proposed roadless conservation area policy
would apply to all inventoried roadless areas, except those on the Tongass
National Forest, for which a decision would be postponed until 2004, and all
future forest plan revisions. The Forest Service would implement road analysis
in the course of business on all national forests and grasslands.
The
Sierra Nevada Framework and ICBEMP will result in changes to on- theground
management by stipulating guidelines and standards. However, given the
transition language of the three rule makings efforts and the content of these
projects, neither Sierra Nevada Framework, Survey and Manage, nor ICBEMP would
be affected or delayed by the rulemaking efforts.
With the HFQLG (Herger
Feinstein Quincy Library Group) pilot project there will be no additional
implications from the proposed road management policy. Implications from the
proposed roadless area conservation rule would be minimal, since nearly all
inventoried roadless areas are outside of the areas available for the pilot. The
HFQLG Act does require the three affected forests to revise or amend their
forests plans within 2 years of enactment. Depending on when they start the
revision process, they may choose to either follow the current planning rule or
to use the new rule, but the procedure that they follow should have no effect on
the outcomes of forest plan decisions.
Summary
Madam Chairman,
together the proposed planning rule, proposed road management policy, and
proposed roadless area conservation rule provide a comprehensive strategy for
accomplishing long-term sustainability of our national forests and grasslands.
We believe that the Unified Federal Policy and multiple forest plan amendments
are all consistent with the proposed rulemakings and the goals and objectives of
the proposed strategic plan. Our proposed 2000 revision of the Forest Service
strategic plan will provide the framework for reporting the success of
implementing these initiatives over time. I look forward to reporting this
success to you in the future.
Madam Chairman, this concludes my
statement. I would be happy to answer any questions you and Members of the
Committee may have.
END
LOAD-DATE: June 27,
2000 
