Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1603 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership program, 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 ‘‘Joint Chiefs Land- 4 scape Restoration Partnership Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. JOINT CHIEFS LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PART- 6 NERSHIP PROGRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1603 IS (1) CHIEFS.—The term ‘‘Chiefs’’ means the 1 Chief of the Forest Service and the Chief of the 2 Natural Resources Conservation Service. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 4 activity’’ means an activity— 5 (A) to reduce the risk of wildfire; 6 (B) to protect water quality and supply; or 7 (C) to improve wildlife habitat for at-risk 8 species. 9 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 10 the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership 11 program established under subsection (b)(1). 12 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of Agriculture. 14 (5) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 15 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ has the meaning given 16 the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res- 17 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 20 a Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership 21 program to improve the health and resilience of for- 22 est landscapes across National Forest System land 23 and State, Tribal, and private land. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1603 IS (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall ad- 1 minister the program by coordinating eligible activi- 2 ties conducted on National Forest System land and 3 State, Tribal, or private land across a forest land- 4 scape to improve the health and resilience of the for- 5 est landscape by— 6 (A) assisting producers and landowners in 7 implementing eligible activities on eligible pri- 8 vate or Tribal land using the applicable pro- 9 grams and authorities administered by the 10 Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation 11 Service under title XII of the Food Security Act 12 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.), not including 13 the conservation reserve program established 14 under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D 15 of that title (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.); and 16 (B) conducting eligible activities on Na- 17 tional Forest System land or assisting land- 18 owners in implementing eligible activities on 19 State, Tribal, or private land using the applica- 20 ble programs and authorities administered by 21 the Chief of the Forest Service. 22 (c) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The ap- 23 propriate Regional Forester and State Conservationist 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1603 IS shall jointly submit to the Chiefs on an annual basis pro- 1 posals for eligible activities under the program. 2 (d) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—In evaluating and se- 3 lecting proposals submitted under subsection (c), the 4 Chiefs shall consider— 5 (1) criteria including whether the proposal— 6 (A) reduces wildfire risk in a municipal 7 watershed or the wildland-urban interface; 8 (B) was developed through a collaborative 9 process with participation from diverse stake- 10 holders; 11 (C) increases forest workforce capacity or 12 forest business infrastructure and development; 13 (D) leverages existing authorities and non- 14 Federal funding; 15 (E) provides measurable outcomes; or 16 (F) supports established State and re- 17 gional priorities; and 18 (2) such other criteria relating to the merits of 19 the proposals as the Chiefs determine to be appro- 20 priate. 21 (e) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall provide— 22 (1) public notice on the websites of the Forest 23 Service and the Natural Resources Conservation 24 Service describing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1603 IS (A) the solicitation of proposals under sub- 1 section (c); and 2 (B) the criteria for selecting proposals in 3 accordance with subsection (d); and 4 (2) information relating to the program and ac- 5 tivities funded under the program to States, Indian 6 Tribes, units of local government, and private land- 7 owners. 8 (f) EXCLUSIONS.—An eligible activity may not be 9 carried out under the program— 10 (1) in a wilderness area or designated wilder- 11 ness study area; 12 (2) in an inventoried roadless area; 13 (3) on any Federal land on which, by Act of 14 Congress or Presidential proclamation, the removal 15 of vegetation is restricted or prohibited; or 16 (4) in an area in which the eligible activity 17 would be inconsistent with the applicable land and 18 resource management plan. 19 (g) ACCOUNTABILITY.— 20 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 22 retary shall submit to Congress a report providing 23 recommendations to Congress relating to the pro- 24 gram, including a review of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1603 IS (A) funding mechanisms for the program; 1 (B) staff capacity to carry out the pro- 2 gram; 3 (C) privacy laws applicable to the program; 4 (D) data collection under the program; 5 (E) monitoring and outcomes under the 6 program; and 7 (F) such other matters as the Secretary 8 considers to be appropriate. 9 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Chiefs shall annu- 10 ally submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- 11 tion, and Forestry and the Committee on Appropria- 12 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Agri- 13 culture and the Committee on Appropriations of the 14 House of Representatives a report describing 15 projects for which funding is provided under the pro- 16 gram, including the status and outcomes of those 17 projects. 18 (h) FUNDING.— 19 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 20 addition to amounts otherwise available to the Sec- 21 retary to carry out the program, there is authorized 22 to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the 23 program $90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 24 through 2030. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1603 IS (2) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Funds made 1 available under paragraph (1) shall remain available 2 until expended. 3 (3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Of the funds 4 made available under paragraph (1)— 5 (A) not less than 40 percent shall be allo- 6 cated to carry out eligible activities through the 7 Natural Resources Conservation Service; 8 (B) not less than 40 percent shall be allo- 9 cated to carry out eligible activities through the 10 Forest Service; and 11 (C) the remaining funds shall be allocated 12 by the Chiefs to the Natural Resources Con- 13 servation Service or the Forest Service— 14 (i) to carry out eligible activities; or 15 (ii) for other purposes, such as tech- 16 nical assistance, project development, or 17 local capacity building. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS