21st Century Conservation Corps Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 487 To make supplemental appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, Homeland Security, Labor, and Commerce for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To make supplemental appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, Homeland Security, Labor, and Commerce for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Con- 4 servation Corps Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 487 IS SEC. 2. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DE- 1 PARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, THE INTE- 2 RIOR, HOMELAND SECURITY, LABOR, AND 3 COMMERCE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following amounts are appro- 5 priated, out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise 6 appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 7 2021, and for other purposes: 8 (1) FOREST SERVICE SUPPLEMENTAL APPRO- 9 PRIATIONS.—For additional amounts for the Forest 10 Service— 11 (A) $8,075,000,000 for ‘‘National Forest 12 System’’, to remain available through Sep- 13 tember 30, 2023, of which— 14 (i) $3,500,000,000, to remain avail- 15 able through September 30, 2023, shall be 16 used for hazardous fuels management ac- 17 tivities, subject to the conditions that the 18 Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 19 the Chief of the Forest Service (referred to 20 in this paragraph as the ‘‘Secretary’’)— 21 (I) shall prioritize hazardous 22 fuels reduction projects using those 23 amounts for projects— 24 (aa) for which any applica- 25 ble processes under the National 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 487 IS Environmental Policy Act of 1 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 2 have been completed or are in the 3 process of being completed; 4 (bb) that are noncommer- 5 cial; 6 (cc) that focus on small di- 7 ameter trees, thinning, strategic 8 fuel breaks, and fire use to mod- 9 ify fire behavior, as measured by 10 the projected reduction of 11 uncharacteristically severe wild- 12 fire effects for the forest type, 13 such as adverse soil impacts, tree 14 mortality, or other impacts; 15 (dd) that maximize the re- 16 tention of large trees, as appro- 17 priate for the forest type, to the 18 extent that the trees promote 19 fire-resilient stands; 20 (ee) that do not include the 21 establishment of permanent 22 roads; and 23 (ff) for which funding would 24 be committed to decommission all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 487 IS temporary roads constructed to 1 carry out the project; 2 (II) shall not harvest vegeta- 3 tion— 4 (aa) from any old growth 5 stand, unless the old growth 6 stand is part of a science-based 7 ecological restoration project au- 8 thorized by the Secretary that 9 meets applicable protection and 10 old growth enhancement objec- 11 tives, as determined by the Sec- 12 retary; or 13 (bb) within any inventoried 14 roadless area; and 15 (III) shall complete and submit 16 to the Committee on Energy and Nat- 17 ural Resources of the Senate and the 18 Committee on Natural Resources of 19 the House of Representatives an an- 20 nual report describing the number of 21 acres of land on which projects car- 22 ried out using those amounts effec- 23 tively mitigated wildfire risk; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 487 IS (ii) $150,000,000, to remain available 1 through September 30, 2023, shall be de- 2 posited in the Collaborative Forest Land- 3 scape Restoration Fund for ecological res- 4 toration treatments, as authorized by sec- 5 tion 4003(f) of the Omnibus Public Land 6 Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7 7303(f)): Provided, That the Secretary 8 may expend such funds on any proposal 9 that has received or been approved for 10 funding through the Collaborative Forest 11 Landscape Restoration Fund and will be 12 implemented through the collaborative 13 process described in section 4003(b)(2) of 14 that Act (16 U.S.C. 7303(b)(2)); 15 (iii) $300,000,000, to remain available 16 through September 30, 2023, shall be used 17 to implement watershed protection and res- 18 toration action plans developed as part of 19 the Watershed Condition Framework es- 20 tablished under section 304 of the Healthy 21 Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 22 U.S.C. 6543); 23 (iv) $25,000,000, to remain available 24 through September 30, 2021, for ‘‘Recre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 487 IS ation, Heritage, and Wilderness’’, which 1 shall be used for the Every Kid Outdoors 2 program established under section 9001 of 3 the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, 4 Management, and Recreation Act (16 5 U.S.C. 6804 note; Public Law 116–9); and 6 (v) $100,000,000, to remain available 7 through September 30, 2023, shall be used 8 for plan monitoring programs developed 9 pursuant to section 219.12 of title 36, 10 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 11 regulations), including multi-party moni- 12 toring under those programs; 13 (B) $6,000,000,000 for ‘‘Capital Improve- 14 ment and Maintenance’’, to remain available 15 through September 30, 2023, subject to the 16 conditions that— 17 (i) the Secretary shall prioritize the 18 use of those amounts to carry out author- 19 ized activities— 20 (I) to provide stewardship for ex- 21 isting system roads and trails; 22 (II) to improve water quality; 23 (III) to improve, maintain, or re- 24 store infrastructure for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 487 IS (aa) the passage of fish and 1 wildlife; and 2 (bb) recreational use; 3 (IV) to decommission unneeded 4 roads; 5 (V) to improve visitor services; 6 and 7 (VI) to improve recreational and 8 educational access, opportunities, and 9 other services to underserved commu- 10 nities; and 11 (ii) $300,000,000 shall be used for 12 the Forest Service Legacy Roads and 13 Trails Remediation Program established by 14 section 8 of Public Law 88–657 (as added 15 by section 5); 16 (C) $2,400,000,000 for ‘‘State and Private 17 Forestry’’, of which— 18 (i) $100,000,000, to remain available 19 through September 30, 2023, shall be used 20 for competitive grants under the land- 21 scape-scale restoration program established 22 under section 13A of the Cooperative For- 23 estry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 24 2109a), of which $50,000,000 shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 487 IS used to enter into contracts with Indian 1 tribes pursuant to the Indian Self-Deter- 2 mination and Education Assistance Act 3 (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 4 (ii) $100,000,000, to remain available 5 until expended, shall be used for the For- 6 est Legacy Program; 7 (iii) $100,000,000, to remain available 8 through September 30, 2023, shall be used 9 for the urban and community forestry pro- 10 gram; 11 (iv) $100,000,000, to remain available 12 through September 30, 2023, shall be used 13 for the community forest and open space 14 conservation program; and 15 (v) $2,000,000,000, to remain avail- 16 able through September 30, 2023, shall be 17 used for State fire assistance (National 18 Fire Capacity); 19 (D) $30,000,000, to remain available 20 through September 30, 2023, shall be used for 21 the Water Source Protection Program estab- 22 lished under section 303 of the Healthy Forests 23 Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6542); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 487 IS (E) $100,000,000 for the purchase of per- 1 sonal protective equipment and other prepared- 2 ness and response expenses relating to COVID– 3 19, to remain available through September 30, 4 2023: Provided, That the Administrator of the 5 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall 6 consider allocating personal protective equip- 7 ment and appropriate testing for COVID–19 to 8 Federal and cooperating wildland firefighters 9 and law enforcement personnel from Federal 10 land management agencies; and 11 (F) $2,000,000,000, to remain available 12 through September 30, 2023, to carry out the 13 National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act 14 (16 U.S.C. 583k et seq.). 15 (2) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION 16 SERVICE.—For an additional amount for the Nat- 17 ural Resources Conservation Service, 18 $5,500,000,000 for ‘‘Conservation Operations’’, to 19 remain available through September 30, 2025, which 20 shall be used to fund alternative funding arrange- 21 ments under section 1271C(d) of the Food Security 22 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871c(d)), the eligible part- 23 ner (as defined in section 1271A of that Act (16 24 U.S.C. 3871a)) with respect to which demonstrates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 487 IS quantifiable and cost-efficient sediment and nutrient 1 reductions, and near-term job creation, subject to 2 the conditions that— 3 (A) the amounts shall be used— 4 (i) to fund high-impact resiliency 5 projects to restore watersheds, the eligible 6 partner (as so defined) with respect to 7 which demonstrates— 8 (I) quantifiable reductions to 9 nonpoint source pollution; 10 (II) quantified increases in 11 streamflow that functionally benefit 12 native fish and wildlife species; or 13 (III) quantified streamflow pref- 14 erence to account for recreational 15 usage; and 16 (ii) to provide $200,000,000 in tech- 17 nical assessment funding to eligible part- 18 ners (as so defined) to analyze and identify 19 the high-impact sediment, nutrient, and 20 streamflow benefits available in watersheds 21 in advance of projects carried out using 22 those amounts, on a State-by-State and 23 watershed-by-watershed basis, by Decem- 24 ber 31, 2022; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 487 IS (B) with respect to a high-impact resiliency 1 project described in subparagraph (A)(i) funded 2 using amounts made available under this para- 3 graph— 4 (i) the project shall be approved on an 5 expedited basis; 6 (ii) the project shall receive 100 per- 7 cent Federal financial assistance, including 8 60 percent of the assistance provided at 9 the beginning of the project, with eligible 10 partners (as so defined) managing the 11 projects receiving an additional 20 percent 12 administrative rate; and 13 (iii) of the amount provided for the 14 project, not more than 15 percent shall be 15 used by the Secretary of Agriculture to 16 provide technical assistance and measure 17 project results. 18 (3) COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY AND WOOD IN- 19 NOVATION PROGRAM.—$100,000,000 for the Sec- 20 retary of Agriculture for competitive grants under 21 the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation 22 Program established under section 9013 of the 23 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 24 U.S.C. 8113), to remain available through Sep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 487 IS tember 30, 2023: Provided, That the Secretary of 1 Agriculture may award the grants without regard to 2 section 9013(g)(2) of the Farm Security and Rural 3 Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8113(g)(2)). 4 (4) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SUPPLE- 5 MENTAL APPROPRIATIONS.—For additional 6 amounts— 7 (A) for the Bureau of Land Manage- 8 ment— 9 (i) $2,025,000,000 for ‘‘Management 10 of Lands and Resources’’, to remain avail- 11 able until September 30, 2023, which shall 12 be used for hazardous fuels management 13 activities, subject to the conditions that the 14 Secretary of the Interior, acting through 15 the Director of the Bureau of Land Man- 16 agement (referred to in this subparagraph 17 as the ‘‘Secretary’’)— 18 (I) shall prioritize hazardous 19 fuels reduction projects using those 20 amounts for projects— 21 (aa) for which any applica- 22 ble processes under the National 23 Environmental Policy Act of 24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 487 IS have been completed or are in the 1 process of being completed; 2 (bb) that are noncommer- 3 cial; 4 (cc) that focus on small di- 5 ameter trees, thinning, strategic 6 fuel breaks, and fire use to mod- 7 ify fire behavior, as measured by 8 the projected reduction of 9 uncharacteristically severe wild- 10 fire effects for the forest type, 11 such as adverse soil impacts, tree 12 mortality, or other impacts; 13 (dd) that maximize the re- 14 tention of large trees, as appro- 15 priate for the forest type, to the 16 extent that the trees promote 17 fire-resilient stands; 18 (ee) that do not include the 19 establishment of permanent 20 roads; and 21 (ff) for which funding would 22 be committed to decommission all 23 temporary roads constructed to 24 carry out the project; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S487.IS S487 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 487 IS (II) shall not harvest vegetation 1 from any old growth stand, unless the 2 old growth stand is part of a science- 3 based ecological restoration project 4 authorized by the Secretary that 5 meets applicable protection and old 6 growth enhancement objectives, as de- 7 termined by the Secretary; and 8 (III) shall complete and submit 9 to the Committee on Energy and Nat- 10 ural Resources of the Senate and the 11 Committee o [Text truncated for display. 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