Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act

Updated: July 7, 2015

Secure rural Schools Act Reauthorized for 2 years on April 16, 2015

The Secure Rural Schools Act (SRS Act) was reauthorized by section 524 of P.L. 114-10 and signed into law by the President on April 16, 2015. Section 524(a)(2) requires that SRS Act payments for FY 2014 be made not later than 45 days after enactment. Updated projected payment reports (ASR 10-1, ASR 10-3, and ASR 18-1) are available on the payments and receipts page.  In total, approximately $285 million in Forest Service authorized SRS funding will benefit 41 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in support of local schools and roads and for other purposes.

Payment Timing for Title I and Title III funds
P.L. 114-10 requires that SRS Title I and Title III payments for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year) be made within 45 days of enactment; by May 31, 2015.

Title II funds
The SRS Act funding includes approximately $28 million in Title II funding for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year), which can be used to complete special restoration projects on Federal lands proposed by resource advisory committees. Additional Title II funding will be available in FY 2016.

Full Funding Amount under section 524 of P.L. 114-10
Section 524 would retain the annual decrease in the full funding amount currently provided in section 3(11)(C) of the SRS Act, which provides that for FY 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter, the full funding amount shall be 95% of the full funding amount for the preceding fiscal year. Accordingly, the full funding amount for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year) would be 95% of the amount for FY 2013, and the full funding amount for FY 2015 (FY 2016 payment year) would be 95% of the amount for FY 2014.

County Elections
Section 524 would lock-in the Title II and III elections made by counties for the payment for FY 2013 (FY 2014 payment year). For the payments for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year) and for FY 2015 (FY 2016 payment year), a county election to receive a payment—the election to receive a share of the State’s 25% payment or a share of the State (formula) payment—and the county election to allocate the share of the State (formula) payment for Titles II and III would be the same elections made by the county for payment for FY 2013 (FY 2014 payment year).

Reduction for Payments Already Made
The amount paid to a State for a county that will receive a share of the State (formula) payment will be reduced by the county’s share of the 25% payment already made in February of 2015. A county that elected to receive a share of the State’s 25% payment for FY 2013 (FY 2014 payment year) will get paid its full share of the State’s 25% payment.

Payments made under the 1908 Act in FY 2015
Before the SRS Act was reauthorized on April 16, 2015, the 1908 Act (16 U.S.C. 500) requiring 25-percent payments governed the distribution of payments to States for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year). The Forest Service made 25-percent payments to States under the 1908 Act in February of 2015.

Title II and Title III Deadlines
The deadline to initiate a project using title II or title III funds allocated for the payment for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year) or for the payment for FY 2015 (FY 2016 payment year) has been extended to September 30, 2017. The deadline for the Secretary concerned to obligate the title II funds and for the county to obligate the title III funds has been extended to September 30, 2018.

Sequestration
Payments under the SRS Act, including State formula payments and 25-percent payments, for FY 2014 (FY 2015 payment year) and for FY 2015 (FY 2016 payment year) are not subject to sequestration because the Act was not reauthorized at the time the sequestration order for each of the fiscal years was issued.

Secure Rural Schools (SRS) website based database

The Forest Service SRS Title II database can now be found at the following link.