Since 1908, the Forest Service (USFS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid 25% of its gross receipts from timber sales and most other revenue-generating activities to the states for use on roads and schools in the counties where the national forests are located. Similarly, since 1937, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the U.S. Department of the Interior has paid 50% of its gross receipts to the counties containing the "O&C lands" (described below). Congress has enacted temporary programs to sustain the payments at higher levels; the most recent such program, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS), expired following payments made for FY2011. Title I of H.R. The House Committee on Natural Resources ordered the bill reported on February 16, 2012. Payments for Counties

In 1908, Congress added a provision to the Agriculture Appropriations Act directing the USFS to give 25% of its gross receipts to the states for use on roads and schools in the counties where the national forest lands are located. 4019 is called the County, Schools, and Revenue Trust for Federal Forest Land. Section 105(e) would direct that the provisions of this section, for implementing trust projects, are "deemed to be compliance with the requirements of" the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (RPA), the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of 1960 (MUSYA), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The environmental review also would include the public comments and objections and any response, as well as modifications needed "to ensure the annual revenue requirement is met." Finally, the environmental report would not be subject to judicial review. Distribution of Amounts from Trust Projects

This section would allocate receipts from trust projects: 
65% would be deposited in the trust; and 35% would be "deposited in the general fund of the Treasury for use ... in such amounts as may be provided in advance in appropriation Acts, for the Forest Service." 4019 raises many possible issues for Congress. Thus, the trust payments would apparently be in addition to the USFS 25% and O&C 50% payments. The bill would establish a responsibility to produce income, but is unclear on the responsibilities of the agency and the means citizens might have to protect the assets—the federal lands and resources. Annual Revenue Requirements

H.R. Other possible questions include what would be included in "gross receipts"; what receipts would be available to make the specified payments; what additional receipts would be needed to make the specified payments; and where those receipts might come from. Only receipts from trust projects would be deposited in the trust, and trust projects could only occur in counties that did not opt out of the trust payment program. However, all trust project receipts would be deposited in the trust, and the allocation to counties in the trust payment program would not be based on where those receipts were generated. 4019 has been on increased timber sales to provide the additional revenues for the trust. The allocation among states—by historic payments or SRS formula—would make a substantial difference in state payments. Six implementation provisions could raise more complicated issues and warrant some additional discussion: the provision on state education funding; inclusion of the O&C lands; implementation in parts of national forests; directions on timber sale practices and procedures; the need for regulations for implementation; and impacts on USFS staffing and funding. Thus, the bill includes the O&C lands in its definition of federal land, but other provisions of the bill seem not to apply to the O&C lands and it is not clear whether the counties with O&C lands would be eligible for trust payments.
Since 1908, the Forest Service (USFS) in the Department of Agriculture has paid 25% of its receipts to the states for use on roads and schools in the counties where the national forests are located. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Department of the Interior has paid 50% of its receipts to the Oregon counties where the revested (returned to federal ownership) Oregon and California Railroad (O&C) grant lands are located. Payments under these programs dropped substantially in the 1990s, largely because of declining timber sales. In the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-393; SRS), Congress created an optional alternative payment system for these lands, but the law expired at the end of FY2011.
The 112th Congress has considered options for addressing the lower payments from federal lands due to lower timber sales. One bill, H.R. 4019 (Title I, the County, Schools, and Revenue Trust for Federal Forest Land), would establish a new payment program; the House Committee on Natural Resources has ordered the bill reported. The bill would establish the trust with receipts from certain projects, and give the USFS the "fiduciary responsibility" to undertake projects to achieve annual revenue requirements in counties that do not opt out of the trust program. The bill would direct the USFS to calculate the revenue requirements and, to implement trust projects, establish procedures for public involvement, environmental reporting, and judicial review. The bill also would direct the allocation and use of the trust payments, and provide appropriations for the payments until trust projects generated receipts for the trust payments.
H.R. 4019 raises several issues for Congress. One is that, although the trust program has been described as a replacement for the SRS, the payments would apparently be in addition to the USFS 25% and O&C 50% payments that had been replaced by the SRS. Also, the fiduciary responsibility for trust payments makes the counties the primary beneficiary of federal land management and could restrict the ability of individuals to challenge decisions that they feel could degrade the federal lands and resources. The annual revenue requirement—60% of average 1980-1999 gross receipts—raises several questions: what would be included in "gross receipts"; what receipts could be deposited in the trust (e.g., whether deposits to other accounts could instead be deposited in the trust); how much additional revenue would be needed; and where those revenues could come from (e.g., how much additional timber might need to be cut, how many jobs might be created, where the timber could be cut, and what other options might be feasible, such as permits for currently free uses). Public involvement would be limited to written comments and objections to proposed and final trust decisions, filed before the required environmental report is prepared. The environmental report would not need to be made available, and could not be challenged in court or administratively. Trust project decisions would be presumed to be in accordance with several laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Forest Management Act. The 65% of trust project receipts that would be paid to the states would be a significant increase over the 25% USFS payments and the 50% O&C payments. The bill is unclear on the allocation among states; it could be based on historic receipts or on SRS payments, with substantially different results. There could also be numerous implementation issues, such as treatment of state education funding, inclusion of the O&C lands, forests with some counties opting out of the trust payments, existing federal timber sale requirements, the possible need for implementing regulations, and possible additional staffing and funding requirements.