
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1611]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
      CHAPTER 36--FOREST AND RANGELAND RENEWABLE RESOURCES PLANNING
 
                         SUBCHAPTER I--PLANNING
 
Sec. 1611. Timber


(a) Limitations on removal; variations in allowable sale quantity; 
        public participation

    The Secretary of Agriculture shall limit the sale of timber from 
each national forest to a quantity equal to or less than a quantity 
which can be removed from such forest annually in perpetuity on a 
sustained-yield basis: Provided, That, in order to meet overall 
multiple-use objectives, the Secretary may establish an allowable sale 
quantity for any decade which departs from the projected long-term 
average sale quantity that would otherwise be established: Provided 
further, That any such planned departure must be consistent with the 
multiple-use management objectives of the land management plan. Plans 
for variations in the allowable sale quantity must be made with public 
participation as required by section 1604(d) of this title. In addition, 
within any decade, the Secretary may sell a quantity in excess of the 
annual allowable sale quantity established pursuant to this section in 
the case of any national forest so long as the average sale quantities 
of timber from such national forest over the decade covered by the plan 
do not exceed such quantity limitation. In those cases where a forest 
has less than two hundred thousand acres of commercial forest land, the 
Secretary may use two or more forests for purposes of determining the 
sustained yield.

(b) Salvage harvesting

    Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall prohibit the 
Secretary from salvage or sanitation harvesting of timber stands which 
are substantially damaged by fire, windthrow, or other catastrophe, or 
which are in imminent danger from insect or disease attack. The 
Secretary may either substitute such timber for timber that would 
otherwise be sold under the plan or, if not feasible, sell such timber 
over and above the plan volume.

(Pub. L. 93-378, Sec. 13, as added Pub. L. 94-588, Sec. 11, Oct. 22, 
1976, 90 Stat. 2957.)

                          Transfer of Functions

    For transfer of certain enforcement functions of Secretary or other 
official in Department of Agriculture under this subchapter to Federal 
Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas 
Transportation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, 
see note set out under section 1601 of this title.


                 Timber Sales Pipeline Restoration Fund

    Pub. L. 104-134, title I, Sec. 101(c) [title III, Sec. 327], Apr. 
26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321-156, 1321-206; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104-
140, Sec. 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327, provided that:
    ``(a) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
shall each establish a Timber Sales Pipeline Restoration Fund 
(hereinafter `Agriculture Fund' and `Interior Fund' or `Funds'). Any 
revenues received from sales released under section 2001(k) of the 
fiscal year 1995 Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance and 
Rescissions Act [probably means section 2001(k) of Pub. L. 104-19, set 
out below], minus the funds necessary to make payments to States or 
local governments under other law concerning the distribution of 
revenues derived from the affected lands, which are in excess of 
$37,500,000 (hereinafter `excess revenues') shall be deposited into the 
Funds. The distribution of excess revenues between the Agriculture Fund 
and Interior Fund shall be calculated by multiplying the total of excess 
revenues times a fraction with a denominator of the total revenues 
received from all sales released under such section 2001(k) and 
numerators of the total revenues received from such sales on lands 
within the National Forest System and the total revenues received from 
such sales on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, 
respectively: Provided, That revenues or portions thereof from sales 
released under such section 2001(k), minus the amounts necessary for 
State and local government payments and other necessary deposits, may be 
deposited into the Funds immediately upon receipt thereof and 
subsequently redistributed between the Funds or paid into the United 
States Treasury as miscellaneous receipts as may be required when the 
calculation of excess revenues is made.
    ``(b)(1) From the funds deposited into the Agriculture Fund and into 
the Interior Fund pursuant to subsection (a)--
        ``(A) seventy-five percent shall be available, without fiscal 
    year limitation or further appropriation, for preparation of timber 
    sales, other than salvage sales as defined in section 2001(a)(3) of 
    the fiscal year 1995 Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster 
    Assistance and Rescissions Act [probably means section 2001(a)(3) of 
    Pub. L. 104-19, set out below], which--
            ``(i) are situated on lands within the National Forest 
        System and lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, 
        respectively; and
            ``(ii) are in addition to timber sales for which funds are 
        otherwise available in this Act or other appropriations Acts; 
        and
        ``(B) twenty-five percent shall be available, without fiscal 
    year limitation or further appropriation, to expend on the backlog 
    of recreation projects on lands within the National Forest System 
    and lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, 
    respectively.
    ``(2) Expenditures under this subsection for preparation of timber 
sales may include expenditures for Forest Service activities within the 
forest land management budget line item and associated timber roads, and 
Bureau of Land Management activities within the Oregon and California 
grant lands account and the forestry management area account, as 
determined by the Secretary concerned.
    ``(c) Revenues received from any timber sale prepared under 
subsection (b) or under this subsection, minus the amounts necessary for 
State and local government payments and other necessary deposits, shall 
be deposited into the Fund from which funds were expended on such sale. 
Such deposited revenues shall be available for preparation of additional 
timber sales and completion of additional recreation projects in 
accordance with the requirements set forth in subsection (b).
    ``(d) The Secretary concerned shall terminate all payments into the 
Agriculture Fund or the Interior Fund, and pay any unobligated funds in 
the affected Fund into the United States Treasury as miscellaneous 
receipts, whenever the Secretary concerned makes a finding, published in 
the Federal Register, that sales sufficient to achieve the total 
allowable sales quantity of the National Forest System for the Forest 
Service or the allowable sales level for the Oregon and California grant 
lands for the Bureau of Land Management, respectively, have been 
prepared.
    ``(e) Any timber sales prepared and recreation projects completed 
under this section shall comply with all applicable environmental and 
natural resource laws and regulations.
    ``(f) The Secretary concerned shall report annually to the 
Committees on Appropriations of the United States Senate and the House 
of Representatives on expenditures made from the Fund for timber sales 
and recreation projects, revenues received into the Fund from timber 
sales, and timber sale preparation and recreation project work 
undertaken during the previous year and projected for the next year 
under the Fund. Such information shall be provided for each Forest 
Service region and Bureau of Land Management State office.
    ``(g) The authority of this section shall terminate upon the 
termination of both Funds in accordance with the provisions of 
subsection (d).''


                  Emergency Salvage Timber Sale Program

    Pub. L. 104-19, title II, Sec. 2001, July 27, 1995, 109 Stat. 240, 
as amended by Pub. L. 104-134, title I, Sec. 101(c) [title III, 
Sec. 316], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321-156, 1321-202; renumbered title 
I, Pub. L. 104-140, Sec. 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327, provided 
that:
    ``(a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
        ``(1) The term `appropriate committees of Congress' means the 
    Committee on Resources, the Committee on Agriculture, and the 
    Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
    Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on 
    Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Committee on 
    Appropriations of the Senate.
        ``(2) The term `emergency period' means the period beginning on 
    the date of the enactment of this section [July 27, 1995] and ending 
    on December 31, 1996.
        ``(3) The term `salvage timber sale' means a timber sale for 
    which an important reason for entry includes the removal of disease- 
    or insect-infested trees, dead, damaged, or down trees, or trees 
    affected by fire or imminently susceptible to fire or insect attack. 
    Such term also includes the removal of associated trees or trees 
    lacking the characteristics of a healthy and viable ecosystem for 
    the purpose of ecosystem improvement or rehabilitation, except that 
    any such sale must include an identifiable salvage component of 
    trees described in the first sentence.
        ``(4) The term `Secretary concerned' means--
            ``(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to lands 
        within the National Forest System; and
            ``(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to Federal 
        lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.
    ``(b) Completion of Salvage Timber Sales.--
        ``(1) Salvage timber sales.--Using the expedited procedures 
    provided in subsection (c), the Secretary concerned shall prepare, 
    advertise, offer, and award contracts during the emergency period 
    for salvage timber sales from Federal lands described in subsection 
    (a)(4). During the emergency period, the Secretary concerned is to 
    achieve, to the maximum extent feasible, a salvage timber sale 
    volume level above the programmed level to reduce the backlogged 
    volume of salvage timber. The preparation, advertisement, offering, 
    and awarding of such contracts shall be performed utilizing 
    subsection (c) and notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
    including a law under the authority of which any judicial order may 
    be outstanding on or after the date of the enactment of this Act 
    [July 27, 1995].
        ``(2) Use of salvage sale funds.--To conduct salvage timber 
    sales under this subsection, the Secretary concerned may use salvage 
    sale funds otherwise available to the Secretary concerned.
        ``(3) Sales in preparation.--Any salvage timber sale in 
    preparation on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 
    subject to the provisions of this section.
    ``(c) Expedited Procedures for Emergency Salvage Timber Sales.--
        ``(1) Sale documentation.--
            ``(A) Preparation.--For each salvage timber sale conducted 
        under subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall prepare a 
        document that combines an environmental assessment under section 
        102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4332(2)) (including regulations implementing such 
        section) and a biological evaluation under section 7(a)(2) of 
        the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) and 
        other applicable Federal law and implementing regulations. A 
        document embodying decisions relating to salvage timber sales 
        proposed under authority of this section shall, at the sole 
        discretion of the Secretary concerned and to the extent the 
        Secretary concerned considers appropriate and feasible, consider 
        the environmental effects of the salvage timber sale and the 
        effect, if any, on threatened or endangered species, and to the 
        extent the Secretary concerned, at his sole discretion, 
        considers appropriate and feasible, be consistent with any 
        standards and guidelines from the management plans applicable to 
        the National Forest or Bureau of Land Management District on 
        which the salvage timber sale occurs.
            ``(B) Use of existing materials.--In lieu of preparing a new 
        document under this paragraph, the Secretary concerned may use a 
        document prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 
        Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) before the date of the 
        enactment of this Act [July 27, 1995], a biological evaluation 
        written before such date, or information collected for such a 
        document or evaluation if the document, evaluation, or 
        information applies to the Federal lands covered by the proposed 
        sale.
            ``(C) Scope and content.--The scope and content of the 
        documentation and information prepared, considered, and relied 
        on under this paragraph is at the sole discretion of the 
        Secretary concerned.
        ``(2) Reporting requirements.--Not later than August 30, 1995, 
    the Secretary concerned shall submit a report to the appropriate 
    committees of Congress on the implementation of this section. The 
    report shall be updated and resubmitted to the appropriate 
    committees of Congress every six months thereafter until the 
    completion of all salvage timber sales conducted under subsection 
    (b). Each report shall contain the following:
            ``(A) The volume of salvage timber sales sold and harvested, 
        as of the date of the report, for each National Forest and each 
        district of the Bureau of Land Management.
            ``(B) The available salvage volume contained in each 
        National Forest and each district of the Bureau of Land 
        Management.
            ``(C) A plan and schedule for an enhanced salvage timber 
        sale program for fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997 using the 
        authority provided by this section for salvage timber sales.
            ``(D) A description of any needed resources and personnel, 
        including personnel reassignments, required to conduct an 
        enhanced salvage timber sale program through fiscal year 1997.
            ``(E) A statement of the intentions of the Secretary 
        concerned with respect to the salvage timber sale volume levels 
        specified in the joint explanatory statement of managers 
        accompanying the conference report on H.R. 1158, House Report 
        104-124.
        ``(3) Advancement of sales authorized.--The Secretary concerned 
    may begin salvage timber sales under subsection (b) intended for a 
    subsequent fiscal year before the start of such fiscal year if the 
    Secretary concerned determines that performance of such salvage 
    timber sales will not interfere with salvage timber sales intended 
    for a preceding fiscal year.
        ``(4) Decisions.--The Secretary concerned shall design and 
    select the specific salvage timber sales to be offered under 
    subsection (b) on the basis of the analysis contained in the 
    document or documents prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) to achieve, 
    to the maximum extent feasible, a salvage timber sale volume level 
    above the program level.
        ``(5) Sale preparation.--
            ``(A) Use of available authorities.--The Secretary concerned 
        shall make use of all available authority, including the 
        employment of private contractors and the use of expedited fire 
        contracting procedures, to prepare and advertise salvage timber 
        sales under subsection (b).
            ``(B) Exemptions.--The preparation, solicitation, and award 
        of salvage timber sales under subsection (b) shall be exempt 
        from--
                ``(i) the requirements of the Competition in Contracting 
            Act [of 1984] (41 U.S.C. 253 et seq.) and the implementing 
            regulations in the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued 
            pursuant to section 25(c) of the Office of Federal 
            Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 421(c)) and any 
            departmental acquisition regulations; and
                ``(ii) the notice and publication requirements in 
            section 18 of such Act (41 U.S.C. 416) and [section] 8(e) of 
            the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)) and the 
            implementing regulations in the Federal Acquisition 
            Regulations and any departmental acquisition regulations.
            ``(C) Incentive payment recipients; report.--The provisions 
        of section 3(d)(1) of the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 
        1994 (Public Law 103-226; 5 U.S.C. 5597 note) shall not apply to 
        any former employee of the Secretary concerned who received a 
        voluntary separation incentive payment authorized by such Act 
        [Pub. L. 103-226, see Short Title of 1994 Amendment note set out 
        under section 2101 of Title 5, Government Organization and 
        Employees] and accepts employment pursuant to this paragraph. 
        The Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the 
        Secretary concerned shall provide a summary report to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress, the Committee on Government 
        Reform and Oversight [now Committee on Government Reform] of the 
        House of Representatives, and the Committee on Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate regarding the number of incentive payment 
        recipients who were rehired, their terms of reemployment, their 
        job classifications, and an explanation, in the judgment of the 
        agencies involved of how such reemployment without repayment of 
        the incentive payments received is consistent with the original 
        waiver provisions of such Act. This report shall not be 
        conducted in a manner that would delay the rehiring of any 
        former employees under this paragraph, or affect the normal 
        confidentiality of Federal employees.
        ``(6) Cost considerations.--Salvage timber sales undertaken 
    pursuant to this section shall not be precluded because the costs of 
    such activities are likely to exceed the revenues derived from such 
    activities.
        ``(7) Effect of salvage sales.--The Secretary concerned shall 
    not substitute salvage timber sales conducted under subsection (b) 
    for planned non-salvage timber sales.
        ``(8) Reforestation of salvage timber sale parcels.--The 
    Secretary concerned shall plan and implement reforestation of each 
    parcel of land harvested under a salvage timber sale conducted under 
    subsection (b) as expeditiously as possible after completion of the 
    harvest on the parcel, but in no case later than any applicable 
    restocking period required by law or regulation.
        ``(9) Effect on judicial decisions.--The Secretary concerned may 
    conduct salvage timber sales under subsection (b) notwithstanding 
    any decision, restraining order, or injunction issued by a United 
    States court before the date of the enactment of this section [July 
    27, 1995].
    ``(d) Direction To Complete Timber Sales on Lands Covered by Option 
9.--Notwithstanding any other law (including a law under the authority 
of which any judicial order may be outstanding on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act [July 27, 1995]), the Secretary concerned shall 
expeditiously prepare, offer, and award timber sale contracts on Federal 
lands described in the `Record of Decision for Amendments to Forest 
Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents Within the 
Range of the Northern Spotted Owl', signed by the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture on April 13, 1994. The 
Secretary concerned may conduct timber sales under this subsection 
notwithstanding any decision, restraining order, or injunction issued by 
a United States court before the date of the enactment of this section. 
The issuance of any regulation pursuant to section 4(d) of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(d)) to ease or reduce 
restrictions on non-Federal lands within the range of the northern 
spotted owl shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C)), given the analysis included in the Final Supplemental 
Impact Statement on the Management of the Habitat for Late Successional 
and Old Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern 
Spotted Owl, prepared by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 
of the Interior in 1994, which is, or may be, incorporated by reference 
in the administrative record of any such regulation. The issuance of any 
such regulation pursuant to section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(d)) shall not require the preparation of an 
environmental impact statement under section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
    ``(e) Administrative Review.--Salvage timber sales conducted under 
subsection (b), timber sales conducted under subsection (d), and any 
decision of the Secretary concerned in connection with such sales, shall 
not be subject to administrative review.
    ``(f) Judicial Review.--
        ``(1) Place and time of filing.--A salvage timber sale to be 
    conducted under subsection (b), and a timber sale to be conducted 
    under subsection (d), shall be subject to judicial review only in 
    the United States district court for the district in which the 
    affected Federal lands are located. Any challenge to such sale must 
    be filed in such district court within 15 days after the date of 
    initial advertisement of the challenged sale. The Secretary 
    concerned may not agree to, and a court may not grant, a waiver of 
    the requirements of this paragraph.
        ``(2) Effect of filing on agency action.--For 45 days after the 
    date of the filing of a challenge to a salvage timber sale to be 
    conducted under subsection (b) or a timber sale to be conducted 
    under subsection (d), the Secretary concerned shall take no action 
    to award the challenged sale.
        ``(3) Prohibition on restraining orders, preliminary 
    injunctions, and relief pending review.--No restraining order, 
    preliminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued 
    by any court of the United States with respect to any decision to 
    prepare, advertise, offer, award, or operate a salvage timber sale 
    pursuant to subsection (b) or any decision to prepare, advertise, 
    offer, award, or operate a timber sale pursuant to subsection (d). 
    Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any 
    challenge to such a sale.
        ``(4) Standard of review.--The courts shall have authority to 
    enjoin permanently, order modification of, or void an individual 
    salvage timber sale if it is determined by a review of the record 
    that the decision to prepare, advertise, offer, award, or operate 
    such sale was arbitrary and capricious or otherwise not in 
    accordance with applicable law (other than those laws specified in 
    subsection (i)).
        ``(5) Time for decision.--Civil actions filed under this 
    subsection shall be assigned for hearing at the earliest possible 
    date. The court shall render its final decision relative to any 
    challenge within 45 days from the date such challenge is brought, 
    unless the court determines that a longer period of time is required 
    to satisfy the requirement of the United States Constitution. In 
    order to reach a decision within 45 days, the district court may 
    assign all or part of any such case or cases to one or more Special 
    Masters, for prompt review and recommendations to the court.
        ``(6) Procedures.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
    the court may set rules governing the procedures of any proceeding 
    brought under this subsection which set page limits on briefs and 
    time limits on filing briefs and motions and other actions which are 
    shorter than the limits specified in the Federal rules of civil or 
    appellate procedure.
        ``(7) Appeal.--Any appeal from the final decision of a district 
    court in an action brought pursuant to this subsection shall be 
    filed not later than 30 days after the date of decision.
    ``(g) Exclusion of Certain Federal Lands.--
        ``(1) Exclusion.--The Secretary concerned may not select, 
    authorize, or undertake any salvage timber sale under subsection (b) 
    with respect to lands described in paragraph (2).
        ``(2) Description of excluded lands.--The lands referred to in 
    paragraph (1) are as follows:
            ``(A) Any area on Federal lands included in the National 
        Wilderness Preservation System.
            ``(B) Any roadless area on Federal lands designated by 
        Congress for wilderness study in Colorado or Montana.
            ``(C) Any roadless area on Federal lands recommended by the 
        Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management for wilderness 
        designation in its most recent land management plan in effect as 
        of the date of the enactment of this Act [July 27, 1995].
            ``(D) Any area on Federal lands on which timber harvesting 
        for any purpose is prohibited by statute.
    ``(h) Rulemaking.--The Secretary concerned is not required to issue 
formal rules under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to 
implement this section or carry out the authorities provided by this 
section.
    ``(i) Effect on Other Laws.--The documents and procedures required 
by this section for the preparation, advertisement, offering, awarding, 
and operation of any salvage timber sale subject to subsection (b) and 
any timber sale under subsection (d) shall be deemed to satisfy the 
requirements of the following applicable Federal laws (and regulations 
implementing such laws):
        ``(1) The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 
    of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.).
        ``(2) The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
    U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
        ``(3) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
    4321 et seq.).
        ``(4) The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
    seq.).
        ``(5) The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a 
    et seq.) [Pub. L. 94-588, see Short Title of 1976 Amendment note set 
    out under section 1600 of this title].
        ``(6) The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 
    528 et seq.).
        ``(7) Any compact, executive agreement, convention, treaty, and 
    international agreement, and implementing legislation related 
    thereto.
        ``(8) All other applicable Federal environmental and natural 
    resource laws.
    ``(j) Expiration Date.--The authority provided by subsections (b) 
and (d) shall expire on December 31, 1996. The terms and conditions of 
this section shall continue in effect with respect to salvage timber 
sale contracts offered under subsection (b) and timber sale contracts 
offered under subsection (d) until the completion of performance of the 
contracts.
    ``(k) Award and Release of Previously Offered and Unawarded Timber 
Sale Contracts.--
        ``(1) Award and release required.--Notwithstanding any other 
    provision of law, within 45 days after the date of the enactment of 
    this Act [July 27, 1995], the Secretary concerned shall act to 
    award, release, and permit to be completed in fiscal years 1995 and 
    1996, with no change in originally advertised terms, volumes, and 
    bid prices, all timber sale contracts offered or awarded before that 
    date in any unit of the National Forest System or district of the 
    Bureau of Land Management subject to section 318 of Public Law 101-
    121 (103 Stat. 745). The return of the bid bond of the high bidder 
    shall not alter the responsibility of the Secretary concerned to 
    comply with this paragraph.
        ``(2) Threatened or endangered bird species.--No sale unit shall 
    be released or completed under this subsection if any threatened or 
    endangered bird species is known to be nesting within the acreage 
    that is the subject of the sale unit.
        ``(3) Alternative offer in case of delay.--If for any reason a 
    sale cannot be released and completed under the terms of this 
    subsection within 45 days after the date of the enactment of this 
    Act, the Secretary concerned shall provide the purchaser an equal 
    volume of timber, of like kind and value, which shall be subject to 
    the terms of the original contract and shall not count against 
    current allowable sale quantities.
    ``(l) Effect on Plans, Policies, and Activities.--Compliance with 
this section shall not require or permit any administrative action, 
including revisions, amendment, consultation, supplementation, or other 
action, in or for any land management plan, standard, guideline, policy, 
regional guide, or multiforest plan because of implementation or 
impacts, site-specific or cumulative, of activities authorized or 
required by this section, except that any such administrative action 
with respect to salvage timber sales is permitted to the extent 
necessary, at the sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, to meet 
the salvage timber sale goal specified in subsection (b)(1) of this 
section or to reflect the effects of the salvage program. The Secretary 
concerned shall not rely on salvage timber sales as the basis for 
administrative action limiting other multiple use activities nor be 
required to offer a particular salvage timber sale. No project decision 
shall be required to be halted or delayed by such documents or guidance, 
implementation, or impacts.''
