TREES Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1782 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to facilitate tree planting that reduces residential energy consumption, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant pro- gram to facilitate tree planting that reduces residential energy consumption, 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 ‘‘Trees for Residential 4 Energy and Economic Savings Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘TREES Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. TREE PLANTING GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1782 IS (1) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 1 project’’ means a tree planting project that reduces 2 residential energy consumption. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE COST.—The term ‘‘eligible cost’’ 4 means, with respect to a covered project— 5 (A) the cost of carrying out the project, in- 6 cluding— 7 (i) planning and design activities; 8 (ii) establishing nurseries to supply 9 trees; 10 (iii) purchasing trees; and 11 (iv) preparing sites and planting trees; 12 (B) the cost of maintaining and monitoring 13 trees planted under the project for a period of 14 not more than 3 years; 15 (C) the cost of training activities; and 16 (D) any other cost determined appropriate 17 by the Secretary. 18 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 19 ty’’ means— 20 (A) a State government entity; 21 (B) a local government entity; 22 (C) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 23 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 24 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1782 IS (D) a nonprofit organization; and 1 (E) a retail power provider. 2 (4) ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘energy bur- 3 den’’ means the percentage of household income 4 spent on residential energy bills. 5 (5) LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITY.—The term 6 ‘‘local government entity’’ means any municipal gov- 7 ernment or county government entity with jurisdic- 8 tion over local land use decisions. 9 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 10 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 11 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 12 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec- 13 tion 501(a) of that Code. 14 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 15 the program established under subsection (b). 16 (8) RETAIL POWER PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘re- 17 tail power provider’’ means any entity authorized 18 under State or Federal law to generate, distribute, 19 or provide retail electricity, natural gas, or fuel oil 20 service. 21 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Energy. 23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1782 IS tablish a program under which the Secretary shall award 1 grants to eligible entities to facilitate covered projects in 2 accordance with this section. 3 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the Program, 4 the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Agri- 5 culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service. 6 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To receive a grant under the 7 Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 8 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 9 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 10 cluding, with respect to the proposed covered project, a 11 description of— 12 (1) how the covered project will reduce residen- 13 tial energy consumption and the expected reduction 14 in residential energy consumption; 15 (2) the total eligible costs of the covered project 16 and other sources of funding for the covered project; 17 (3) the anticipated community engagement in 18 the covered project; and 19 (4) the tree species to be planted under the cov- 20 ered project and the suitability of those species to 21 the local environment. 22 (e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro- 23 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 24 that propose covered projects that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1782 IS (1) provide the largest potential reduction in 1 residential energy consumption for households with a 2 high energy burden; 3 (2) provide maximum amounts of— 4 (A) shade during periods when residences 5 are exposed to the most sun intensity; and 6 (B) wind protection during periods when 7 residences are exposed to the most wind inten- 8 sity; 9 (3) are located in a neighborhood with a low 10 percentage of tree canopy cover; 11 (4) are located in a neighborhood with a high 12 percentage of senior citizens or children; 13 (5) are located in an area where the average 14 annual income is below the regional median; 15 (6) will collaboratively engage community mem- 16 bers that will be affected by the tree planting; and 17 (7) will employ local residents as a substantial 18 percentage of the workforce of the covered project, 19 with a focus on local residents who are unemployed 20 or underemployed. 21 (f) TREE PLANTING GOALS.—Subject to the avail- 22 ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall, to the max- 23 imum extent practicable, award grants under the Program 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1782 IS in a manner that facilitates the planting of at least 1 300,000 trees each year. 2 (g) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 3 of a covered project carried out using a grant awarded 4 under the Program shall be 90 percent. 5 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 6 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 7 out the Program $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 8 2022 through 2026. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1782.IS S1782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS