REPLANT Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 866 To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to promote reforestation following unplanned events on Federal land, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to promote reforestation following unplanned events on Federal land, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Repairing Existing 4 Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act’’ or the ‘‘RE- 5 PLANT Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 866 IS SEC. 2. REFORESTATION FOLLOWING WILDFIRES AND 1 OTHER UNPLANNED EVENTS. 2 (a) FOREST AND RANGELAND RENEWABLE RE- 3 SOURCES PLANNING ACT OF 1974.— 4 (1) NATIONAL FOREST COVER POLICY.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Forest 6 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning 7 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601) is amended— 8 (i) by redesignating subsection (e) as 9 subsection (f); 10 (ii) by redesignating the second sub- 11 section (d) (relating to the policy of Con- 12 gress regarding forested land in the Na- 13 tional Forest System) as subsection (e); 14 and 15 (iii) in subsection (e) (as so redesig- 16 nated)— 17 (I) in paragraph (2)— 18 (aa) in the first sentence— 19 (AA) by striking ‘‘9 of 20 this Act, the Secretary shall 21 annually for eight years fol- 22 lowing the enactment of this 23 subsection’’ and inserting 24 ‘‘9, the Secretary shall, an- 25 nually during each of the 10 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 866 IS years beginning after the 1 date of enactment of the 2 REPLANT Act’’; and 3 (BB) by striking 4 ‘‘eight-year’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘10-year’’; 6 (bb) in the second sentence, 7 by striking ‘‘such eight-year pe- 8 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘the 10-year 9 period’’; and 10 (cc) in the third sentence, by 11 striking ‘‘1978’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘2021’’; 13 (II) in paragraph (3), in the first 14 sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘subsection’’; and 16 (III) by adding at the end the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(4) REFORESTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 19 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 20 ‘‘(i) NATURAL REGENERATION.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 22 ‘natural regeneration’ means the es- 23 tablishment of a tree or tree age class 24 from natural seeding, sprouting, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 866 IS suckering in accordance with the man- 1 agement objectives of an applicable 2 land management plan. 3 ‘‘(II) INCLUSION.—The term 4 ‘natural regeneration’ may include 5 any site preparation activity to en- 6 hance the success of regeneration to 7 the desired species composition and 8 structure. 9 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY LAND.—The term ‘pri- 10 ority land’ means National Forest System 11 land that, due to an unplanned event— 12 ‘‘(I) does not meet the conditions 13 for appropriate forest cover described 14 in paragraph (1); 15 ‘‘(II) requires reforestation to 16 meet the objectives of an applicable 17 land management plan; and 18 ‘‘(III) is unlikely to experience 19 natural regeneration without assist- 20 ance. 21 ‘‘(iii) REFORESTATION.—The term 22 ‘reforestation’ means the act of renewing 23 tree cover, taking into consideration spe- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 866 IS cies composition and resilience, by estab- 1 lishing young trees through— 2 ‘‘(I) natural regeneration; 3 ‘‘(II) natural regeneration with 4 site preparation; or 5 ‘‘(III) planting or direct seeding. 6 ‘‘(iv) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Sec- 7 retary’ means the Secretary, acting 8 through the Chief of the Forest Service. 9 ‘‘(v) UNPLANNED EVENT.— 10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 11 ‘unplanned event’ means any un- 12 planned disturbance that— 13 ‘‘(aa) disrupts ecosystem or 14 forest structure or composition; 15 or 16 ‘‘(bb) changes resources, 17 substrate availability, or the 18 physical environment. 19 ‘‘(II) INCLUSIONS.—The term 20 ‘unplanned event’ may include— 21 ‘‘(aa) a wildfire; 22 ‘‘(bb) an infestation of in- 23 sects or disease; 24 ‘‘(cc) a weather event; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 866 IS ‘‘(dd) animal damage. 1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each reforestation 2 activity under this section shall be carried out 3 in accordance with applicable Forest Service 4 management practices and definitions, including 5 definitions relating to silvicultural practices and 6 forest management. 7 ‘‘(C) REFORESTATION PRIORITY.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 9 this subsection, the Secretary shall give 10 priority to projects on the priority list de- 11 scribed in clause (ii). 12 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY LIST.— 13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec- 14 retary shall, based on recommenda- 15 tions from regional foresters, create a 16 priority list of reforestation projects 17 that— 18 ‘‘(aa) primarily take place 19 on priority land; 20 ‘‘(bb) promote effective re- 21 forestation following unplanned 22 events; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 866 IS ‘‘(cc) may include activities 1 to ensure adequate and appro- 2 priate seed availability. 3 ‘‘(II) RANKING.—The Secretary 4 shall rank projects on the priority list 5 under subclause (I) based on— 6 ‘‘(aa) documentation of an 7 effective reforestation project 8 plan; 9 ‘‘(bb) the ability to measure 10 the progress and success of the 11 project; and 12 ‘‘(cc) the ability of a project 13 to provide benefits relating to 14 forest function and health, soil 15 health and productivity, wildlife 16 habitat, improved air and water 17 quality, carbon sequestration po- 18 tential, resilience, job creation, 19 and enhanced recreational oppor- 20 tunities.’’. 21 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22 9 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 23 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2105) is amended, in the un- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 866 IS designated matter following paragraph (5) of 1 subsection (g)— 2 (i) by striking ‘‘section 3(d)’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘subsection (e) of section 3’’; and 4 (ii) by striking ‘‘1601(d)’’ and insert- 5 ing ‘‘1601’’. 6 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM PROGRAM ELE- 7 MENTS.—Section 9 of the Forest and Rangeland Re- 8 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 9 1607) is amended, in the second sentence, by strik- 10 ing ‘‘2000’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 11 (b) REFORESTATION TRUST FUND.—Section 303 of 12 Public Law 96–451 (16 U.S.C. 1606a) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (b)— 14 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 15 (B) in paragraph (3)— 16 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 17 ‘‘Proper adjustment’’ and inserting the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT OF ESTIMATES.—Proper ad- 20 justment’’; and 21 (ii) by striking ‘‘(3) The amounts’’ 22 and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The amounts’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 866 IS (C) by striking the subsection designation 1 and all that follows through ‘‘the Secretary’’ in 2 paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (d)(1)— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘section 3(d)’’ and insert- 7 ing ‘‘subsection (e) of section 3’’; and 8 (B) by striking ‘‘1601(d)’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘1601’’. 10 SEC. 3. REPORT. 11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 12 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Agri- 13 culture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- 14 trition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on 15 Agriculture of the House of Representatives, and make 16 publicly available on the website of the Forest Service, a 17 report that describes, with respect to the preceding year— 18 (1) an evaluation of the degree to which the 19 Secretary has achieved compliance with the require- 20 ments contained in the amendments made by this 21 Act, including, as a result of those amendments, the 22 number of acres covered by reforestation projects 23 that follow unplanned events (such as wildfires); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 866 IS (2) the total number of acres of land reforested 1 under each authority of the Secretary under which 2 reforestation projects have been carried out; 3 (3) the number of acres of National Forest Sys- 4 tem land affected by, and the substance of reforest- 5 ation needs on that land resulting from, unplanned 6 events; and 7 (4) the number of acres in need of reforestation 8 under subsection (e)(1) of section 3 of the Forest 9 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 10 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S866.IS S866 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS