Forest Data Modernization Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1743 To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. OSSOFF (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program. 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 Data Mod- 4 ernization Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(e) of the Forest and 7 Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 8 (16 U.S.C. 1642(e)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1743 IS (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘their resources’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘the resources of those forests, includ- 3 ing forest carbon,’’; 4 (B) by striking ‘‘In compliance’’ and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In compliance’’; and 7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL METHODS.—Under the 9 program under this subsection, the Secretary 10 shall carry out, as a data collection method— 11 ‘‘(i) a timber products output study; 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) a national woodland owner sur- 14 vey.’’; 15 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘including 16 with respect to available forest carbon data,’’ after 17 ‘‘2 decades,’’; 18 (3) in paragraph (4)— 19 (A) in the second sentence, by striking 20 ‘‘The standards’’ and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The standards de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (A)’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1743 IS (B) by striking ‘‘(4) NATIONAL STAND- 1 ARDS AND DEFINITIONS.—To ensure’’ and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL CONSISTENCY.— 4 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS AND DEFINITIONS.—To 5 ensure’’; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(C) TERMINOLOGY.—The Secretary shall 8 include a clear description of the definition of 9 ‘forest’ used for purposes of reporting data 10 from inventories and analyses of forests and the 11 resources of forests under this subsection 12 with— 13 ‘‘(i) any data or report provided under 14 the program under this subsection; 15 ‘‘(ii) Renewable Resource Assessments 16 prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest 17 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan- 18 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)); and 19 ‘‘(iii) any data or report provided to 20 an entity outside the United States.’’; 21 (4) in paragraph (6)— 22 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 23 (A), by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 24 the date of enactment of this subsection,’’ and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1743 IS inserting ‘‘In accordance with paragraph (7),’’; 1 and 2 (B) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) 3 and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(D) the organization and procedures nec- 5 essary to understand and report on changes in 6 land cover and use; 7 ‘‘(E) the organization and procedures nec- 8 essary to evaluate carbon-related data variables, 9 including soil carbon, collected from forest in- 10 ventory and analysis plots, timber products out- 11 put studies, and national woodland owner sur- 12 veys to ensure that carbon accounting informa- 13 tion needs can be met; and’’; and 14 (5) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(7) UPDATES TO STRATEGIC PLAN.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 17 days after the date of enactment of this para- 18 graph, the Secretary shall prepare an update to 19 the strategic plan under paragraph (6) to in- 20 clude— 21 ‘‘(i) a plan to implement nationally 22 consistent data collection protocols and 23 procedures to improve the statistical preci- 24 sion of base program estimates; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1743 IS ‘‘(ii) pathways to integrate and report 1 on changes in forest carbon, including 2 below-ground carbon; 3 ‘‘(iii) plans, including the identifica- 4 tion of challenges, to collaborate with other 5 Federal agencies, non-Federal partners, 6 and the private sector to integrate existing 7 nationally available data sets and best 8 available commercial technologies, such as 9 remote sensing, spatial analysis techniques, 10 and other new technologies; 11 ‘‘(iv) a plan to increase transparency 12 and clarity in reporting in accordance with 13 paragraph (4)(C); 14 ‘‘(v) a plan to expand current data 15 collection, further integrate remote sensing 16 technology, or both, to include procedures 17 to improve the statistical precision of esti- 18 mates at the sub-State level; 19 ‘‘(vi) a plan to expand current data 20 collection, further integrate remote sensing 21 technology, or both, to include information 22 on renewable biomass supplies and carbon 23 stocks at the local, State, regional, and na- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1743 IS tional levels, including by ownership type; 1 and 2 ‘‘(vii) such other matters as the Sec- 3 retary determines to be appropriate based 4 on recommendations of the Forest Inven- 5 tory and Analysis National User Group. 6 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 7 days after the date of enactment of this para- 8 graph, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 9 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 10 of the Senate and the Committee on Agri- 11 culture of the House of Representatives the up- 12 date to the strategic plan prepared under sub- 13 paragraph (A). 14 ‘‘(C) FURTHER UPDATES.—Not later than 15 5 years after the date on which the update is 16 submitted under subparagraph (B), and every 5 17 years thereafter, the Secretary shall— 18 ‘‘(i) prepare an additional update to 19 the strategic plan; and 20 ‘‘(ii) submit the additional update to 21 the committees described in subparagraph 22 (B). 23 ‘‘(8) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en- 24 sure that data collected under this subsection is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1743 IS ‘‘(A) easily accessible to all public- and pri- 1 vate-sector entities; and 2 ‘‘(B) collected using means that ensure the 3 confidentiality, in accordance with section 1770 4 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 5 2276), of— 6 ‘‘(i) plot locations; 7 ‘‘(ii) nonaggregated data of woodland 8 owners; and 9 ‘‘(iii) forest industry information. 10 ‘‘(9) BIENNIAL COMPILATIONS.—Biennially, the 11 Secretary shall prepare and make publicly available 12 a compilation of national forest inventory and anal- 13 ysis forest statistics, which shall be similar to the ta- 14 bles contained in the Renewable Resource Assess- 15 ments prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest and 16 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 17 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)). 18 ‘‘(10) EXTERNAL COMPLEX DATA REQUESTS.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 20 establish an office, a data platform, or both to 21 process and respond to complex data requests 22 submitted by external organizations relating to 23 the program under this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1743 IS ‘‘(B) FEES.—To cover the costs of proc- 1 essing of and responding to complex data re- 2 quests described in subparagraph (A), the Sec- 3 retary may impose fees on the external organi- 4 zations submitting the requests. 5 ‘‘(11) REPORTS.—Each year, the Secretary 6 shall publish as part of the forest inventory and 7 analysis business report a detailed description of the 8 progress of the Secretary in implementing the pro- 9 grammatic elements of the strategic plan described 10 in paragraph (6), including— 11 ‘‘(A) the costs and priorities of the stra- 12 tegic plan; and 13 ‘‘(B) how the program under this sub- 14 section leverages new technology, improves and 15 standardizes collection protocols, and increases 16 workforce capacity.’’. 17 (b) REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 18 8632(1) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16 19 U.S.C. 1642 note; Public Law 115–334) is amended by 20 striking ‘‘technologies’’ and inserting ‘‘technologies, such 21 as microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, and high-resolution 22 remote sensing data for data collection, and machine 23 learning for improved modeling,’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1743.IS S1743 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS