RESTORE Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2612 To provide for forest landscape projects, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 16, 2021 Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. WESTERMAN, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for forest landscape projects, 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 ‘‘Restoring Environ- 4 ments, Soils, Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural 5 Economy Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECTS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2612 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 1 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 2 shall, at the request of a Governor of a State, select 3 a forest landscape in the State on which to conduct 4 a forest landscape project described in subsection 5 (b)(1). 6 (2) PROCESS.— 7 (A) PROPOSALS.—To request a forest 8 landscape project be carried out in a State 9 under paragraph (1), the Governor of such 10 State may submit to the Secretary a proposal 11 for a forest landscape project in such State. 12 (B) SELECTION.—The Secretary may only 13 select a proposal submitted under subparagraph 14 (A) if the proposal will be conducted on a forest 15 landscape. 16 (3) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The selection of 17 a forest landscape under this subsection shall not be 18 subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 19 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 20 (b) FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A forest landscape project 22 carried out by the Secretary under this section is a 23 project— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2612 IH (A) for which the Secretary carries out 1 1 or more covered management activities de- 2 scribed in paragraph (2); and 3 (B) that takes place— 4 (i) on a forest landscape; and 5 (ii) on not more than 75,000 acres 6 of— 7 (I) Federal land; or 8 (II) non-Federal land adjacent to 9 Federal land on which the project is 10 also carried out. 11 (2) COVERED MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY.—A cov- 12 ered management activity described in this para- 13 graph is a forest management activity to— 14 (A) install fuel breaks (including shaded 15 fuel breaks) not more than 1⁄2-mile wide across 16 a forest landscape in a strategic system that 17 maximizes the reduction of wildfire risk to com- 18 munities or watersheds; 19 (B) carry out mechanical thinning (includ- 20 ing restoration thinning) of a forest landscape 21 to clear— 22 (i) surface fuels, such as slash; 23 (ii) ladder fuels, such as small and 24 medium diameter trees and shrubs; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2612 IH (iii) both of the fuels described in 1 clauses (i) and (ii); 2 (C) conduct controlled burns; and 3 (D) remove dead trees, dying trees, or 4 trees at high-risk of dying. 5 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out a covered 6 management activity under a forest landscape 7 project, the Secretary— 8 (A) shall— 9 (i) maximize the retention of old- 10 growth stands and large trees, as appro- 11 priate for the forest type, to the extent 12 that the trees promote stands that are re- 13 silient to wildfire and increased average 14 temperature; and 15 (ii) consider the best available sci- 16 entific information to maintain or restore 17 the ecological integrity of the forest land- 18 scape; and 19 (B) may not establish a permanent road. 20 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.— 21 (1) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL 22 ASSESSMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE- 23 MENTS.—This subsection shall apply in any case in 24 which the Secretary prepares an environmental as- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2612 IH sessment or an environmental impact statement pur- 1 suant to section 102(2) of the National Environ- 2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.4332(2)) for a 3 forest landscape project— 4 (A) that— 5 (i) is developed through a collabo- 6 rative process; or 7 (ii) is covered by a community wildfire 8 protection plan; and 9 (B) the primary purpose of which is— 10 (i) to reduce the risk of wildfire in the 11 forest landscape; 12 (ii) to restore ecological health to the 13 forest landscape; or 14 (iii) to adapt the forest landscape to 15 the increased risk of wildfire due to climate 16 change. 17 (2) CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES.—In an 18 environmental assessment or an environmental im- 19 pact statement described in paragraph (1), the Sec- 20 retary shall study, develop, and describe only the fol- 21 lowing alternatives: 22 (A) The proposed agency action. 23 (B) The alternative of no action. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2612 IH (3) WAIVER.—In preparing an environmental 1 impact statement for a forest landscape project de- 2 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not be 3 required to comply with section 1502.11(g) or 4 1502.17 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or 5 successor regulations). 6 (d) JUDICIAL REVIEW IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT 7 COURTS.— 8 (1) VENUE.—Notwithstanding section 1391 of 9 title 28, United States Code, or other applicable law, 10 a forest landscape project for which an environ- 11 mental assessment or an environmental impact 12 statement is prepared shall be subject to judicial re- 13 view only in— 14 (A) the United States district court for a 15 district in which the Federal land to be treated 16 under the forest landscape project is located; or 17 (B) the United States district court for the 18 District of Columbia. 19 (2) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL 20 REVIEW.—In the judicial review of an action chal- 21 lenging a forest landscape project described in para- 22 graph (1), Congress encourages a court of competent 23 jurisdiction to expedite, to the maximum extent 24 practicable, the proceedings in the action with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2612 IH goal of rendering a final determination on jurisdic- 1 tion, and, if jurisdiction exists, a final determination 2 on the merits, as soon as practicable after the date 3 on which a complaint or appeal is filed to initiate 4 the action. 5 (e) EXCLUSIONS.—The authorities provided under 6 this section may not apply to— 7 (1) any component of the National Wilderness 8 Preservation System, except with respect to wilder- 9 ness study areas determined, before the date of the 10 enactment of this Act, to not be suitable for wilder- 11 ness designation; 12 (2) any congressionally designated wilderness 13 study area; 14 (3) National Forest System lands— 15 (A) on which the removal of vegetation is 16 prohibited by Act of Congress; 17 (B) that are located within a national or 18 State-specific inventoried roadless area estab- 19 lished by the Secretary through regulation, un- 20 less— 21 (i) the forest management activity to 22 be carried out under such authority is con- 23 sistent with the forest plan applicable to 24 the area; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2612 IH (ii) the Secretary determines the for- 1 est management activity is permissible 2 under the applicable roadless rule gov- 3 erning such lands; or 4 (iii) the inventoried roadless area was 5 not recommended for wilderness designa- 6 tion as a result of— 7 (I) the second roadless area re- 8 view and evaluation program (RARE 9 II); or 10 (II) a subsequent revision of a 11 land and resources management plan 12 under section 6 of the Forest and 13 Rangeland Renewable Resources 14 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 15 1604); or 16 (C) on which timber harvesting for any 17 purpose is prohibited by Federal statute. 18 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col- 20 laborative process’’ means a collaborative process de- 21 scribed in section 4003(b)(2) of the Omnibus Public 22 Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 23 7303(b)(2)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2612 IH (2) FOREST LANDSCAPE.—The term ‘‘forest 1 landscape’’ means an area that— 2 (A) primarily or entirely contains land that 3 has a high or very high wildfire hazard poten- 4 tial; 5 (B) due to a fuel management activity in 6 the area, would have a reduced risk, as deter- 7 mined by the Secretary— 8 (i) of wildfire endangering a nearby 9 at-risk community (as defined in section 10 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration 11 Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511)); 12 (ii) of wildfire damaging a municipal 13 watershed or infrastructure that serves an 14 at-risk community described in clause (i); 15 or 16 (iii) of the transmission of a high in- 17 tensity wildfire from the applicable 18 wildland-urban interface or forest land- 19 scape to a nearby community; and 20 (C) to the extent practicable, is conducive 21 to the development and implementation of 22 projects relating to wildfire resilience and forest 23 health or removal of dead or dying trees that 24 are carried out through a collaborative process. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2612 IH (3) FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECT.—The term 1 ‘‘forest landscape project’’ means a project described 2 in subsection (b)(1). 3 (4) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘‘forest plan’’ 4 means a land and resource management plan pre- 5 pared by the Forest Service for a unit of the Na- 6 tional Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the 7 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan- 8 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 9 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of Agriculture. 11 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 13 $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year 14 thereafter. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS