TREES Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3522 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. MCKINLEY, and Mr. FORTENBERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 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) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3522 IH tablish a program under which the Secretary may award 1 grants to eligible entities to facilitate covered projects in 2 accordance with this section. 3 (b) 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 (c) 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 form, and containing 9 such information as the Secretary may require, including 10 the following: 11 (1) A description of how the proposed covered 12 project will reduce residential energy consumption. 13 (2) An estimate of the expected reduction in 14 residential energy consumption to be achieved by the 15 covered project. 16 (3) A description of the total eligible costs of 17 the project and other sources of funding for the cov- 18 ered project. 19 (4) A description of anticipated community en- 20 gagement in the covered project. 21 (5) A description of the tree species to be plant- 22 ed under the covered project and the suitability of 23 such species to the local environment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3522 IH (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro- 1 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to covered projects 2 that— 3 (1) provide the largest potential reduction in 4 residential energy consumption for households with a 5 high energy burden; 6 (2) provide maximum amounts of— 7 (A) shade during periods when residences 8 are exposed to the most sun intensity; and 9 (B) wind protection during periods when 10 residences are exposed to the most wind inten- 11 sity; 12 (3) are located in a neighborhood with a low 13 percentage of tree canopy cover; 14 (4) are located in a neighborhood with a high 15 percentage of senior citizens or children; 16 (5) are located in an area where the average 17 annual income is below the regional median; 18 (6) will collaboratively engage community mem- 19 bers to be affected by the tree planting; and 20 (7) will employ local residents as a substantial 21 percentage of the workforce of the covered project, 22 with a focus on local residents who are unemployed 23 or underemployed. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3522 IH (e) TREE PLANTING GOALS.—Subject to the avail- 1 ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall, to the max- 2 imum extent practicable, award grants under the Program 3 in a manner that facilitates the planting of at least 4 300,000 trees each year. 5 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 6 of a covered project assisted by a grant awarded under 7 the Program shall be 90 percent. 8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Program, 10 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 13 project’’ means a tree planting project carried out to 14 reduce residential energy consumption. 15 (2) ELIGIBLE COST.—The term ‘‘eligible cost’’ 16 means, with respect to a covered project— 17 (A) the cost of carrying out the project, in- 18 cluding— 19 (i) planning and design activities; 20 (ii) establishing nurseries to supply 21 trees; 22 (iii) purchasing trees; and 23 (iv) preparing sites and planting trees; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3522 IH (B) the cost of maintaining and monitoring 1 planted trees for a period of not more than 3 2 years; 3 (C) the cost of training activities; and 4 (D) any other cost determined appropriate 5 by the Secretary. 6 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 7 ty’’ means each of the following: 8 (A) A State government entity. 9 (B) A local government entity. 10 (C) An Indian Tribe. 11 (D) A nonprofit organization. 12 (E) A retail power provider. 13 (4) ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘energy bur- 14 den’’ means the percentage of household income 15 spent on residential energy bills. 16 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 17 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 18 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 19 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 20 (6) LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITY.—The term 21 ‘‘local government entity’’ means any municipal gov- 22 ernment or county government entity with jurisdic- 23 tion over local land use decisions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3522 IH (7) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 1 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 2 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 3 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 4 501(a) of such Code. 5 (8) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 6 the program established under subsection (a). 7 (9) RETAIL POWER PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘re- 8 tail power provider’’ means any entity authorized 9 under State or Federal law to generate, distribute, 10 or provide retail electricity, natural gas, or fuel oil 11 service. 12 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 13 means the Secretary of Energy. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS