Trillion Trees Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5859 To establish forest management, reforestation, and utilization practices which lead to the sequestration of greenhouse gases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Mr. WESTERMAN (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. CREN- SHAW, Mr. BARR, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. BACON, Mr. STIV- ERS, and Mr. JOYCE of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Commit- tees on Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources, and Ways and Means, 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 com- mittee concerned A BILL To establish forest management, reforestation, and utilization practices which lead to the sequestration of greenhouse gases, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Trillion Trees Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act are as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5859 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Sense of Congress. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—CARBON SEQUESTRATION THROUGH REFORESTATION ACTIVITIES Sec. 101. National wood growth targets. Sec. 102. National reforestation task force. Sec. 103. Timber survey update. Sec. 104. Reforestation programs. Sec. 105. Carbon sequestration through the healthy forest reserve program. Sec. 106. National Forest Foundation activities. Sec. 107. Global climate change program. Sec. 108. International forestry cooperation. Sec. 109. International engagement. Sec. 110. Modifications to authorities relating to tropical forests. TITLE II—CARBON SEQUESTRATION THROUGH IMPROVED FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES Sec. 201. Carbon sequestration through land use planning; supplements to pro- grammatic environmental impact statements. Sec. 202. Emissions consideration of management injunctions. Sec. 203. Storing carbon on State and private forests. Sec. 204. Carbon sequestration through the good neighbor authority. Sec. 205. Carbon sequestration research programs. TITLE III—MARKET INCENTIVES FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION Sec. 301. Sustainable building and residence credit. Sec. 302. Carbon neutrality of sustainable biomass. Sec. 303. Clarification of research and development program for cellulosic bio- chemical and bioplastics. SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) the Trillion Trees Initiative established by 3 the United Nations Environment Programme should 4 be supported; 5 (2) under such Trillion Trees Initiative, na- 6 tions, corporations, and individuals around the globe 7 will contribute to planting one trillion new trees; 8 (3) one trillion new trees globally would seques- 9 ter a significant amount of atmospheric carbon and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5859 IH constitute a pragmatic step towards addressing glob- 1 al carbon emissions; and 2 (4) under this Act, the United States will— 3 (A) take a leadership role in planting one 4 trillion trees globally; 5 (B) utilize the vast natural assets, robust 6 wood product market, and technical expertise of 7 the United States to plant, manage, and utilize 8 domestic forestland; and 9 (C) incentivize the use of sustainable build- 10 ing products to sequester carbon. 11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘‘forest plan’’ 14 means— 15 (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bu- 16 reau of Land Management for public lands pur- 17 suant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy 18 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 19 1712); or 20 (B) a land and resource management plan 21 prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 22 National Forest System pursuant to section 6 23 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5859 IH sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1 1604). 2 (2) FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY.—The 3 term ‘‘forest management activity’’ means a project 4 or activity carried out by the Secretary concerned on 5 National Forest System lands or public lands con- 6 sistent with the forest plan covering the lands. 7 (3) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 8 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 9 that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range- 10 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 11 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 12 (4) NATURALLY REGENERATED.—The term 13 ‘‘naturally regenerated’’ means to regenerate natural 14 wood growth from— 15 (A) available seed sources; or 16 (B) any other environmental process that 17 does not involve planting. 18 (5) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 19 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 20 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 21 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 22 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of Agriculture. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5859 IH (7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 1 retary concerned’’ means— 2 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 3 spect to National Forest System lands; and 4 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 5 spect to public lands. 6 (8) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 7 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec- 8 retary of Interior. 9 TITLE I—CARBON SEQUESTRA- 10 TION THROUGH REFOREST- 11 ATION ACTIVITIES 12 SEC. 101. NATIONAL WOOD GROWTH TARGETS. 13 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall set targets for in- 15 creased total domestic wood growth for the purposes of 16 capturing and storing carbon. Such targets shall— 17 (1) be based on the best available scientific in- 18 formation; 19 (2) consider both naturally regenerated wood 20 growth and planted wood growth; 21 (3) be established at levels which represent the 22 maximum feasible increase in the total wood volume 23 private, State, and Federal landowners can achieve 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5859 IH by January 1, 2030, and every 10 years thereafter 1 through January 1, 2100; 2 (4) shall be informed by the report provided by 3 the National Reforestation Task Force established in 4 section 102 of this Act; 5 (5) shall not negatively impact continued sus- 6 tainable harvest on National Forest, State, Tribal, 7 and private forestland; and 8 (6) be published in the Federal Register, to- 9 gether with a statement of the basis and justification 10 for such targets. 11 SEC. 102. NATIONAL REFORESTATION TASK FORCE. 12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Within 6 months following 13 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall form a task 14 force to assist the Secretary with meeting the targets re- 15 quired to be set under section 101. 16 (b) DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE.— 17 (1) REPORT.—Within 1 year following the es- 18 tablishment of this task force, the task force shall 19 submit to the Secretary a report, which shall in- 20 clude— 21 (A) recommendations and alternatives for 22 national wood growth targets established under 23 section 101; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5859 IH (B) the feasibility of such recommenda- 1 tions; 2 (C) yearly growth targets required to 3 achieve the national wood growth targets estab- 4 lished under section 101, taking into consider- 5 ation yearly sustainable increases in domestic 6 timber harvest, natural regeneration, adverse 7 natural and anthropogenic events, and other 8 factors impacting the growth rate of all domes- 9 tic forestland; 10 (D) program and policy recommendations 11 designed to achieve the national wood growth 12 targets established under section 101, while still 13 maintaining yearly sustainable increases in the 14 amount of boardfeet harvested from public 15 lands; 16 (E) program and policy recommendations 17 designed to stimulate the domestic and inter- 18 national timber markets; and 19 (F) program and policy recommendations 20 designed to improve the natural regeneration 21 rate of public forest through active forest man- 22 agement. 23 (2) OVERSIGHT.—Following the submission of 24 the report described in paragraph (1), the task force 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5859 IH shall provide continued oversight of the implementa- 1 tion of the national wood growth target, and provide 2 the Secretary with— 3 (A) yearly reports on the progress made 4 towards achieving the national wood growth 5 targets established under section 101; and 6 (B) ongoing program and policy rec- 7 ommendations designed to achieve the national 8 wood growth targets established under section 9 101. 10 (3) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The task force 11 shall— 12 (A) submit to Congress a copy of the re- 13 port under paragraph (1); and 14 (B) not later than 2 years after the report 15 under paragraph (1) is submitted to the Sec- 16 retary and Congress, and every 5 years there- 17 after, submit a report to Congress on the imple- 18 mentation of, and progress towards meeting, 19 the targets set under section 101. 20 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 21 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The task force shall con- 22 sist of 7 ex officio members and 8 discretionary 23 members. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5859 IH (A) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio 1 members of the task force are— 2 (i) the Director of the United States 3 Fish and Wildlife Service or an individual 4 designated by the Director; 5 (ii) the Director of the Bureau of 6 Land Management or an individual des- 7 ignated by the Director; 8 (iii) the Director of the National Park 9 Service or an individual designated by the 10 Director; 11 (iv) the Chief of the Forest Service or 12 an individual designated by the Chief; 13 (v) the Chief of the Natural Resources 14 Conservation Service or an individual des- 15 ignated by the Chief; 16 (vi) the Administrator of the Farm 17 Service Agency or an individual designated 18 by the Administrator; and 19 (vii) the Director of the Bureau of In- 20 dian Affairs or an individual designated by 21 the Director. 22 (B) DISCRETIONARY MEMBERS.—The Sec- 23 retary shall appoint 1 discretionary member 24 from each of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5859 IH (i) A State land management agency. 1 (ii) A private forest landowner with 2 total land holdings of greater than 3 1,000,000 acres. 4 (iii) A private forest landowner with 5 total land holdings of less than 1,000,000 6 acres. 7 (iv) A sawmill, pulp, or paper manu- 8 facturer which relies on the sale of federal 9 timber for at least 25 percent of their fiber 10 supply. 11 (v) An energy company, cooperative, 12 or utility which provides customers with 13 energy at least partially derived from the 14 combustion of wood biomass. 15 (vi) A land conservation nonprofit 16 with previous experience in collaborative 17 forestland restoration projects greater than 18 100,000 acres. 19 (vii) A Tribal resource management 20 organization with previous experience man- 21 aging Tribal timberland. 22 (viii) A wildlife conservation nonprofit 23 with previous experience in collaborative 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5859 IH forestland restoration projects greater than 1 100,000 acres. 2 (ix) An urban resource conservation 3 organization, with previous experience in 4 urban and community reforestation 5 projects. 6 (2) DISCRETIONARY MEMBER TERMS.—Each 7 discretionary member appointed to the task force 8 under paragraph (1)(B) may be appointed and re- 9 moved at the discretion of the Secretary. 10 (3) PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC ADVISORY STA- 11 TUS.—No individual may be appointed to the task 12 force as a discretionary member under paragraph 13 (1)(B) while serving as an officer or employee of the 14 Federal Government. 15 (4) PAY AND EXPENSES.— 16 (A) COMPENSATION.—Members of the task 17 force shall serve without pay. 18 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—A member of the 19 task force may be reimbursed for travel and 20 lodging incurred while attending a meeting of 21 the task force or any other meeting of members 22 approved for reimbursement by the task force 23 in the same amounts and under the same condi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5859 IH tions as Federal employees under section 5703 1 of title 5, United States Code. 2 (C) EXPENSES.—The expenses of the Task 3 Force that the Secretary determines to be rea- 4 sonable and appropriate shall be paid by the 5 Secretary. 6 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, TECHNICAL 7 SERVICES, AND STAFF SUPPORT.—The Secretary 8 shall make personnel of the Department of Agri- 9 culture available to the task force for administrative 10 support, technical services, and staff support the 11 Secretary determines necessary to carry out this sec- 12 tion. 13 (6) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 14 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 15 shall not apply to the task force. 16 SEC. 103. TIMBER SURVEY UPDATE. 17 (a) RENEWABLE RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.—Section 18 3 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan- 19 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 22 the end; 23 (B) by striking paragraph (6) and insert- 24 ing the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5859.IH H5859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]