§1712 — Title 43 Public Lands | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must make, keep up, and update land use plans for public lands with public input. These plans must cover all public lands, no matter how they were labeled before. For National Forest lands, the Secretary must work with tribal land programs and consider approved tribal policies. Plans must follow multiple-use and sustained-yield goals, use science from different fields, protect important environmental areas first, rely on land and resource inventories when available, and think about current and future uses, scarcity and alternatives, and long-term public benefit over short-term gain. Plans must follow pollution laws and be coordinated, when possible, with Federal, State, local, and tribal plans. Officials at those levels must be given early notice and a real chance to advise and comment. Any land classifications or plans in effect on October 21, 1976, can be reviewed and changed under these planning rules. The Secretary can issue management decisions to put plans into effect, and those decisions can be changed later. If a decision completely stops one or more major uses for two or more years on 100,000 acres or more, the Secretary must tell Congress. Congress then has 90 days to pass a concurrent resolution to stop the decision; if the committee does not act in 30 days, members may force the resolution out under special rules. Withdrawals under section 1714 may be used, and removing lands from the Mining Law of 1872 or transferring them to another agency must follow withdrawal or other law; a wholly owned government corporation may still get mining rights like a private citizen. The Secretary must set rules and hearings to let the public, States, and local governments comment on plans.

Title 43, §1712

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall, with public involvement and consistent with the terms and conditions of this Act, develop, maintain, and, when appropriate, revise land use plans which provide by tracts or areas for the use of the public lands. Land use plans shall be developed for the public lands regardless of whether such lands previously have been classified, withdrawn, set aside, or otherwise designated for one or more uses.

(b)In the development and revision of land use plans, the Secretary of Agriculture shall coordinate land use plans for lands in the National Forest System with the land use planning and management programs of and for Indian tribes by, among other things, considering the policies of approved tribal land resource management programs.

(c)In the development and revision of land use plans, the Secretary shall—

(1)use and observe the principles of multiple use and sustained yield set forth in this and other applicable law;

(2)use a systematic interdisciplinary approach to achieve integrated consideration of physical, biological, economic, and other sciences;

(3)give priority to the designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern;

(4)rely, to the extent it is available, on the inventory of the public lands, their resources, and other values;

(5)consider present and potential uses of the public lands;

(6)consider the relative scarcity of the values involved and the availability of alternative means (including recycling) and sites for realization of those values;

(7)weigh long-term benefits to the public against short-term benefits;

(8)provide for compliance with applicable pollution control laws, including State and Federal air, water, noise, or other pollution standards or implementation plans; and

(9)to the extent consistent with the laws governing the administration of the public lands, coordinate the land use inventory, planning, and management activities of or for such lands with the land use planning and management programs of other Federal departments and agencies and of the States and local governments within which the lands are located, including, but not limited to, the statewide outdoor recreation plans developed under chapter 2003 of title 54, and of or for Indian tribes by, among other things, considering the policies of approved State and tribal land resource management programs. In implementing this directive, the Secretary shall, to the extent he finds practical, keep apprised of State, local, and tribal land use plans; assure that consideration is given to those State, local, and tribal plans that are germane in the development of land use plans for public lands; assist in resolving, to the extent practical, inconsistencies between Federal and non-Federal Government plans, and shall provide for meaningful public involvement of State and local government officials, both elected and appointed, in the development of land use programs, land use regulations, and land use decisions for public lands, including early public notice of proposed decisions which may have a significant impact on non-Federal lands. Such officials in each State are authorized to furnish advice to the Secretary with respect to the development and revision of land use plans, land use guidelines, land use rules, and land use regulations for the public lands within such State and with respect to such other land use matters as may be referred to them by him. Land use plans of the Secretary under this section shall be consistent with State and local plans to the maximum extent he finds consistent with Federal law and the purposes of this Act.

(d)Any classification of public lands or any land use plan in effect on October 21, 1976, is subject to review in the land use planning process conducted under this section, and all public lands, regardless of classification, are subject to inclusion in any land use plan developed pursuant to this section. The Secretary may modify or terminate any such classification consistent with such land use plans.

(e)The Secretary may issue management decisions to implement land use plans developed or revised under this section in accordance with the following:

(1)Such decisions, including but not limited to exclusions (that is, total elimination) of one or more of the principal or major uses made by a management decision shall remain subject to reconsideration, modification, and termination through revision by the Secretary or his delegate, under the provisions of this section, of the land use plan involved.

(2)Any management decision or action pursuant to a management decision that excludes (that is, totally eliminates) one or more of the principal or major uses for two or more years with respect to a tract of land of one hundred thousand acres or more shall be reported by the Secretary to the House of Representatives and the Senate. If within ninety days from the giving of such notice (exclusive of days on which either House has adjourned for more than three consecutive days), the Congress adopts a concurrent resolution of nonapproval of the management decision or action, then the management decision or action shall be promptly terminated by the Secretary. If the committee to which a resolution has been referred during the said ninety day period, has not reported it at the end of thirty calendar days after its referral, it shall be in order to either discharge the committee from further consideration of such resolution or to discharge the committee from consideration of any other resolution with respect to the management decision or action. A motion to discharge may be made only by an individual favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported such a resolution), and debate thereon shall be limited to not more than one hour, to be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to or disagreed to. If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed to, the motion may not be made with respect to any other resolution with respect to the same management decision or action. When the committee has reprinted, or has been discharged from further consideration of a resolution, it shall at any time thereafter be in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. The motion shall be highly privileged and shall not be debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to or disagreed to.

(3)Withdrawals made pursuant to section 1714 of this title may be used in carrying out management decisions, but public lands shall be removed from or restored to the operation of the Mining Law of 1872, as amended (R.S. 2318–2352; 30 U.S.C. 21 et seq.) or transferred to another department, bureau, or agency only by withdrawal action pursuant to section 1714 of this title or other action pursuant to applicable law: Provided, That nothing in this section shall prevent a wholly owned Government corporation from acquiring and holding rights as a citizen under the Mining Law of 1872.

(f)The Secretary shall allow an opportunity for public involvement and by regulation shall establish procedures, including public hearings where appropriate, to give Federal, State, and local governments and the public, adequate notice and opportunity to comment upon and participate in the formulation of plans and programs relating to the management of the public lands.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c)(9), is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, known as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. The Mining Law of 1872, as amended, referred to in subsec. (e)(3), is act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, 17 Stat. 91, which was incorporated into the Revised Statutes of 1878 as R.S. §§ 2319 to 2328, 2331, 2333 to 2337, and 2344, which are classified to sections 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 35, 37, 39 to 42, and 47 of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining. For complete classification of R.S. §§ 2318–2352, see Tables.

Amendments

2014—Subsec. (c)(9). Pub. L. 113–287 substituted “chapter 2003 of title 54” for “the Act of September 3, 1964 (78 Stat. 897), as amended”.

§1712 Land Use Plans