Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/1339

 117 STAT. 1320

Establishment.

Publication. Public information.

VerDate 11-MAY-2000

10:15 Aug 27, 2004

PUBLIC LAW 108–108—NOV. 10, 2003

215 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations shall apply to projects under this title. SEC. 404. CONTRACTING AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary may enter into contract or cooperative agreements to carry out a project under this title. (b) EXEMPTION.—Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Secretary may limit competition for a contract or a cooperative agreement under subsection (a). SEC. 405. MONITORING REQUIREMENTS. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a multiparty monitoring group consisting of a representative number of interested parties, as determined by the Secretary, to monitor the performance and effectiveness of projects conducted under this title. (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The multiparty monitoring group shall prepare annually a report to the Secretary on the progress of the projects conducted under this title in rehabilitating and restoring the North Fork drainage. The Secretary shall submit the report to the Senate Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. SEC. 406. SUNSET. The authority for the Secretary to issue a decision to carry out a project under this title shall expire 5 years from the date of enactment. SEC. 407. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECORDS OF DECISION. The Secretary of Agriculture shall publish new information regarding forest wide estimates of old growth from volume 103 of the administrative record in the case captioned Ecology Center v. Castaneda, CV– 02–200–M–DWM (D. Mont.) for public comment for a 30-day period. The Secretary shall review any comments received during the comment period and decide whether to modify the Records of Decision (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘ROD’s’’) for the Pinkham, White Pine, Kelsey-Beaver, Gold/Boulder/Sullivan, and Pink Stone projects on the Kootenai National Forest. The ROD’s, whether modified or not, shall not be deemed arbitrary and capricious under the NFMA, NEPA or other applicable law as long as each project area retains 10 percent designated old growth below 5,500 feet elevation in third order watersheds in which the project is located as specified in the forest plan.

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