Forest Health and Biomass Energy Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4603 To promote the use of forest restoration residue harvested on National Forest System land for renewable energy, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Ms. MCSALLY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To promote the use of forest restoration residue harvested on National Forest System land for renewable energy, 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 ‘‘Forest Health and Bio- 4 mass Energy Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) the current forest health crisis is due in 8 part to overstocked forests that are unable to with- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4603 IS stand the effects of a changing climate, drought, in- 1 sect outbreaks, and disease; 2 (2) removing small, dead, and dying trees as 3 part of an ecological restoration prescription im- 4 proves forest health and resilience and reduces the 5 risk of unnatural wildfire; 6 (3) in many regions of the United States, the 7 rate of harvesting dead and dying trees is not keep- 8 ing pace with mortality of those trees; 9 (4) there is an urgent need to establish industry 10 capacity in the removal of timber residue and bio- 11 mass material from small trees that are at high risk 12 of catastrophic wildfire; 13 (5) wood biomass energy is a renewable source 14 of energy that can generally reduce carbon emissions 15 and other pollutants from a wildfire, open-burning 16 fire, or prescribed fire, if biomass material is re- 17 moved from forest land that is at high risk of cata- 18 strophic wildfire; 19 (6) comprehensive data on the forest biomass 20 potential of fire-prone Federal land is needed from 21 the Department of Energy and the Department of 22 Agriculture; 23 (7) using forest thinning and slash as fuel for 24 biomass power plants reduces carbon impacts and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4603 IS greatly reduces the emissions of carbon and other 1 pollutants compared to wildfire, open-burning fire, 2 and prescribed fire; and 3 (8) removing concentrations of dead and fire- 4 prone trees reduces the risk to the public, fire- 5 fighters, and private and public employees who work 6 in forest land and of high-intensity burns once the 7 trees begin to break and fall down. 8 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HIGH HAZARD AREA. 9 In this Act, the term ‘‘high hazard area’’ means— 10 (1) an area of Federal land or non-Federal land 11 located in an area in which— 12 (A) a project is carried out under— 13 (i) the Collaborative Forest Land- 14 scape Restoration Program established 15 under section 4003 of the Omnibus Public 16 Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 17 7303); or 18 (ii) a good neighbor agreement en- 19 tered into under section 8206 of the Agri- 20 cultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); 21 and 22 (B) drought, tree mortality, insect out- 23 breaks, or disease pose an imminent wildfire 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4603 IS risk to a community, public infrastructure, 1 health, or safety; and 2 (2) any area of National Forest System land lo- 3 cated west of the 100th meridian. 4 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HIGH HAZARD AREAS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 6 shall— 7 (1) as necessary, designate high hazard areas of 8 National Forest System land; and 9 (2) maintain on a website an updated list of 10 high hazard areas designated under paragraph (1). 11 (b) DURATION.—Land designated as a high hazard 12 area under subsection (a) shall retain that designation for 13 a period of not less than 15 years, unless the Secretary 14 of Agriculture, after consultation with the Governor of the 15 State in which the high hazard area is located, determines 16 that the designation is no longer warranted. 17 SEC. 5. CLASSIFICATION OF TIMBER RESIDUE IN HIGH 18 HAZARD AREAS AS NO-VALUE. 19 For the removal of timber located within a high haz- 20 ard area that is covered by the Collaborative Forest Land- 21 scape Restoration Program established under section 4003 22 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 23 U.S.C. 7303) or a good neighbor agreement entered into 24 under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4603 IS U.S.C. 2113a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall not 1 charge a stumpage rate or assign any value to— 2 (1) a tree that is— 3 (A) less than 12 inches in diameter at 4 breast height; and 5 (B) cut to reduce a fire hazard and make 6 stands more fire resilient; 7 (2) any forest processing residue or byproduct 8 of forest restoration, such as the top or a branch of 9 a tree harvested for higher-valued wood products; or 10 (3) a large dead tree that is not suitable for 11 higher-valued wood products because of decay. 12 SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT OF FEDERAL LAND FOR WOOD BIO- 13 MASS ENERGY POTENTIAL. 14 (a) ASSESSMENT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 17 Energy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec- 18 retary’’), in coordination with the Secretary of the 19 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 20 produce a comprehensive assessment (referred to in 21 this section as the ‘‘assessment’’) of the potential to 22 produce biomass energy from land under the admin- 23 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4603 IS and the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to para- 1 graph (2). 2 (2) EXEMPTED LAND.—The assessment shall 3 not apply to land— 4 (A) that is a component of the National 5 Wilderness Preservation System; 6 (B) on which the removal of vegetation is 7 prohibited or restricted by an Act of Congress 8 or a Presidential proclamation; or 9 (C) that is a wilderness study area. 10 (b) SUPPLY INVENTORY.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The assessment shall include 12 an inventory of forest biomass supplies located on 13 Federal land that are suitable for energy use. 14 (2) CLASSIFICATION.—The supply inventory de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) shall distinguish between 16 forest biomass supplies that— 17 (A) are live trees; 18 (B) are dead or salvage trees; 19 (C) are prone to drought, insect outbreak, 20 or disease; 21 (D) are mill residue; and 22 (E) may potentially be harvested. 23 (c) EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL SOURCES.—The as- 24 sessment shall evaluate whether the forest biomass sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4603 IS plies listed in the supply inventory described in subsection 1 (b) are potential wood biomass sources, such as— 2 (1) logging waste, such as tops of trees that 3 otherwise produce commercial sawlogs; 4 (2) trees that are too small to meet saw timber 5 merchantability specifications; 6 (3) trees and ladder fuels that are likely to be 7 removed as part of forest management prescriptions 8 to restore forest health and resiliency; 9 (4) dead trees that are unsuitable for manufac- 10 ture of sawlogs due to decay, staining, or insect 11 damage; 12 (5) portions of harvested trees that cannot be 13 made into solid wood products; 14 (6) unutilized slash; 15 (7) mill residues; and 16 (8) other wood products suitable for energy use. 17 (d) INFRASTRUCTURE DISTRIBUTION AND CAPAC- 18 ITY.—The assessment shall take into consideration— 19 (1) the availability, potential, and distribution 20 of the forest biomass supplies listed in the supply in- 21 ventory described in subsection (b); 22 (2) the infrastructure that supports existing 23 wood products and biomass energy production on 24 the land covered by the assessment; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4603 IS (3) existing and projected forest biomass energy 1 consumption in the United States. 2 (e) ESTIMATES.—Based on the supply inventory de- 3 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary shall develop— 4 (1) a 5- and 10-year estimate of biomass energy 5 that may be produced from supplies listed in the in- 6 ventory; and 7 (2) estimates for the associated costs of trans- 8 porting and processing those supplies for use as en- 9 ergy. 10 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 11 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 12 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 13 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 14 House of Representatives a report describing— 15 (1) the assessment; and 16 (2) the estimates developed under subsection 17 (e). 18 SEC. 7. WOOD BIOMASS TARGETS. 19 The President shall include in the annual submission 20 of the budget of the United States Government under sec- 21 tion 1105 of title 31, United States Code, an annual per- 22 formance metric, which shall be established by the Sec- 23 retary of Agriculture, for the harvest of wood biomass ma- 24 terial in green tons made available for bioenergy markets. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4603 IS SEC. 8. HIGH HAZARD AREA WOOD BIOMASS FUND. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 2 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 3 ‘‘High Hazard Area Wood Biomass Fund’’ (referred to 4 in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’). 5 (b) DEPOSITS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 7 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 8 transfer such percentage as the Secretary deter- 9 mines to be appropriate of the revenue generated 10 from base stumpage rates of timber sales that occur 11 on National Forest System land (other than revenue 12 described in paragraph (2)) to the Secretary of the 13 Treasury for deposit in the Fund. 14 (2) EXCLUSIONS.—Revenue generated from 15 sales described in paragraph (1) may not be trans- 16 ferred under that paragraph if the revenue would, in 17 the absence of that paragraph, be— 18 (A) deposited in the special fund estab- 19 lished under section 3 of the Act of June 9, 20 1930 (commonly known as the ‘‘Knutson-Van- 21 denberg Act’’) (46 Stat. 527, chapter 416; 16 22 U.S.C. 576b); 23 (B) paid to a State, county, or territory 24 under the Act of May 23, 1908 (35 Stat. 260, 25 chapter 192; 16 U.S.C. 500); or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4603 IS (C) paid to a county under the Act of May 1 24, 1939 (53 Stat. 753, chapter 144; 43 U.S.C. 2 2621 et seq.). 3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Fund shall be 4 used by the Secretary to assist timber operators and bio- 5 mass energy producers with the collection, harvest, stor- 6 age, and transportation (including by rail) of biomass ma- 7 terial, such as byproducts of forest health treatments and 8 hazardous fuels reduction projects, removed from National 9 Forest System land in high hazard areas. 10 (d) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under sub- 11 section (c), the Secretary shall give priority to an elec- 12 tricity generating unit that is fired at least 80 percent by 13 coal and that converts to a majority of biomass power op- 14 erations. 15 (e) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section affects the 16 amount of a county payment under the Secure Rural 17 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 18 (16 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.). 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4603.IS S4603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS