Malheur County Grazing Management Program

(a) In general The Secretary shall carry out a grazing management program on the Federal land, to be known as the Malheur County Grazing Management Program for the purpose of providing to authorized grazing permittees and lessees operational flexibility as set forth in this section. (b) Permit operational flexibility (1) Flexible grazing use alternative for a grazing permit or lease Solely at the request of an authorized grazing permittee or lessee, for purposes of renewing a grazing permittee or lessee’s grazing permit or lease under the program, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Secretary shall develop and analyze at least 1 alternative to provide operational flexibility in livestock grazing use to account for changing conditions. (2) Interim operational flexibilities If an applicable monitoring plan has been adopted under paragraph (3), to meet or make significant progress in meeting applicable Rangeland Health Standards and applicable livestock management objectives in the applicable land use plan, on the request of an authorized grazing permittee or lessee, the Secretary, using new or existing data, shall allow a variance to the terms and conditions of the existing applicable grazing permit or lease for the applicable year due to changes in weather, forage production, effects of fire or drought, or other conditions— (A) to adjust the season of use, the beginning date of the period of use, the ending date of the period of use, or both the beginning date and ending date, as applicable, under the grazing permit or lease, subject to the requirements that— (i) unless otherwise specified in the appropriate allotment management plan or any other activity plan that is the functional equivalent to the appropriate allotment management plan under section 4120.2(a)(3) of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), the applicable adjusted date of the season of use occurs— (I) not earlier than 14 days before the beginning date specified in the applicable permit or lease; and (II) not later than 14 days after the ending date specified in the applicable permit or lease; and (ii) the authorized grazing permittee or lessee provides written notice of the adjustment to the Bureau not later than 2 business days before the date of adjustment; (B) to adjust the dates for pasture rotation by not more than 14 days, subject to the requirement that the authorized grazing permittee or lessee shall provide to the Bureau written notice of the adjustment not later than 2 business days before the date of adjustment; (C) to adjust the placement of existing water structures for livestock or wildlife, subject to applicable water right laws, that any adjustment should not be placed within 100 yards from any associated roads and the requirement that the authorized grazing permittee or lessee shall provide to the Bureau written notice of the adjustment not later than 2 business days before the date of adjustment; and (D) any variance authorized by the Secretary through the Bureau shall be immediately effective upon issue, shall by itself be final agency action, and shall not require conformance to 43 C.F.R. part 4100, subpart 4160, or the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The variance shall be in writing and signed by the authorized officer of the Bureau. (3) Monitoring plans for permit flexibility (A) In general The Secretary shall adopt cooperative rangeland monitoring plans to apply to actions taken under paragraph (2) and to monitor and evaluate current permitted livestock use upon the pasture(s) or allotment(s) to be monitored as related to whether such livestock use is the significant factor or not in meeting or making significant progress in meeting applicable Rangeland Health Standards and applicable livestock management objectives in the applicable land use plan. (B) Requirements A monitoring plan developed under subparagraph (A) shall be based upon existing ecological conditions with reliance upon the ecological site descriptions, including the State and transitions models, as defined by the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, of the area to be monitored, and shall— (i) evaluate the percent utilization of available forage, the existing ecological condition, and the trend of ecological condition of the area to be monitored; (ii) include— (I) a description of the utilization standards for which the monitoring is tracking, including baseline ecological conditions and desired outcome ecological conditions; (II) a description of utilization evaluation protocol; (III) an evaluation schedule identifying periods during which utilization data will be collected; (IV) provisions for adjusting any components of the monitoring plan, including acceptance of data from identified third parties; and (V) a description of the method to communicate the criteria for adjusting livestock grazing use based on the on-the-ground ecological conditions after the period of use; and (iii) provide for annual reports on the effects of flexibility in grazing permit or lease uses under the program to allow the Secretary to make management adjustments to account for the information provided in the annual report. (4) Terms and conditions (A) Preferred alternative If the Secretary determines that an alternative considered under the program that provides operational flexibility is the preferred alternative, the Secretary shall— (i) incorporate the alternative, including applicable monitoring plans adopted under paragraph (3), into the terms and conditions of the applicable grazing permit or lease; and (ii) specify how the monitoring information with respect to the preferred alternative should be used to inform management adjustments under the program. (B) Additional requirements The Secretary may include any other requirements in a permit or lease with respect to which an alternative has been incorporated under subparagraph (A) that the Secretary determines to be necessary. (c) No effect on grazing privileges Nothing in this Act— (1) affects grazing privileges provided under the Act of June 28, 1934 (commonly known as the Taylor Grazing Act; 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.); (2) requires the Secretary to consider modifying or terminating the classification of any existing grazing district on the Federal land in any subsequent plan or decision of the Secretary; or (3) precludes the Secretary from modifying or terminating an existing permit or lease in accordance with applicable law (including regulations).