FORESTS Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4228 To restore employment and educational opportunities in, and improve the economic stability of, counties containing National Forest System land, while also reducing Forest Service management costs, by ensuring that such counties have a dependable source of revenue from timber sales conducted on National Forest System land, to reduce payments under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to reflect such counties’ receipt of timber sale revenues, to strength- en stewardship end result contracting, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2023 Mrs. RODGERS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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 committee concerned A BILL To restore employment and educational opportunities in, and improve the economic stability of, counties containing National Forest System land, while also reducing Forest Service management costs, by ensuring that such coun- ties have a dependable source of revenue from timber sales conducted on National Forest System land, to re- duce payments under the Secure Rural Schools and Com- munity Self-Determination Act of 2000 to reflect such counties’ receipt of timber sale revenues, to strengthen VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Sep 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4228 IH stewardship end result contracting, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Fostering Opportunities for Resources and Education 5 Spending through Timber Sales Act of 2023’’ or the 6 ‘‘FORESTS Act of 2023’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Purposes. TITLE I—FOREST ACTIVE MANAGEMENT AREAS Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Establishment of Forest Active Management Areas and annual vol- ume requirements. Sec. 103. Management of Forest Active Management Areas. Sec. 104. Environmental analysis process for covered active management projects. Sec. 105. Expedited compliance with Endangered Species Act. Sec. 106. Administrative review. Sec. 107. Use of arbitration instead of litigation to address challenge to covered active management project developed through collaborative process. Sec. 108. Distribution of forest active management revenues. Sec. 109. Annual report. TITLE II—TRANSITION OF SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COM- MUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000 AND 25-PERCENT PAYMENTS Sec. 201. Prohibition on State retention of portion of 25-percent payments made on behalf of beneficiary counties. TITLE III—STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING AUTHORITY Sec. 301. Maximum authorized duration of stewardship end result contracts. Sec. 302. Payment of portion of stewardship project revenues to county in which stewardship project occurs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4228 IH Sec. 303. Use of contractors to perform environmental analysis in connection with stewardship end result contracting projects. TITLE IV—OTHER MATTERS Sec. 401. Treatment as supplemental funding. Sec. 402. Definition of fire suppression to include certain related activities. Sec. 403. Prohibition on certain actions regarding Forest Service roads and trails. SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 2 (1) To restore employment and educational op- 3 portunities in, and improve the economic stability of, 4 counties containing National Forest System land. 5 (2) To ensure that such counties have a de- 6 pendable source of revenue from National Forest 7 System land. 8 (3) To reduce Forest Service management costs 9 while also ensuring the protection of United States 10 forest resources. 11 (4) To reduce the frequency and severity of cat- 12 astrophic wildfires on Federal lands. 13 TITLE I—FOREST ACTIVE 14 MANAGEMENT AREAS 15 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this title: 17 (1) ANNUAL VOLUME REQUIREMENT.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘annual vol- 19 ume requirement’’, with respect to a Forest Ac- 20 tive Management Area, means, the annual vol- 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4228 IH ume of national forest materials from such For- 1 est Active Management Area that, subject to an 2 adjustment pursuant to section 102(e)(2), is 3 equal to or greater than— 4 (i) the allowable sale quantity estab- 5 lished in the applicable forest plan for such 6 Area, 7 (ii) divided by 10. 8 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—In determining the vol- 9 ume of national forest materials or the sus- 10 tained yield of a Forest Active Management 11 Area, the Secretary may not include non-com- 12 mercial post and pole sales and personal use 13 firewood. 14 (2) BENEFICIARY COUNTY.—The term ‘‘bene- 15 ficiary county’’ means a political subdivision of a 16 State that, on account of containing National Forest 17 System land, was eligible to receive payments for 18 any of the fiscal years 2001 through 2015 through 19 the State under title I of the Secure Rural Schools 20 and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 21 U.S.C. 7111 et seq.). 22 (3) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col- 23 laborative process’’ refers to a planning, decision- 24 making, and management process that, as deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4228 IH mined by the forest manager of the unit of the Na- 1 tional Forest System for which the process will occur 2 and as confirmed by the Regional Forester— 3 (A) includes multiple interested persons 4 representing diverse interests; and 5 (B) is transparent and nonexclusive or 6 meets the requirements for a resource advisory 7 committee under subsections (c) through (f) of 8 section 205 of the Secure Rural Schools and 9 Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 10 U.S.C. 7125). 11 (4) COVERED ACTIVE MANAGEMENT 12 PROJECT.—The terms ‘‘covered active management 13 project’’ and ‘‘covered project’’ mean a project in- 14 volving the management or sale of national forest 15 materials within a Forest Active Management Area 16 to generate forest active management revenues and 17 achieve the annual volume requirement for the For- 18 est Active Management Area. 19 (5) FOREST ACTIVE MANAGEMENT AREA.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Forest Ac- 21 tive Management Area’’ means National Forest 22 System land in a unit of the National Forest 23 System that has been identified in the 5-year 24 period preceding the date of such identification 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4228 IH as being overstocked based off of basal area or 1 at risk of wildfire and suitable for timber pro- 2 duction. 3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—A Forest Active Man- 4 agement Area may not include National Forest 5 System land— 6 (i) that is a component of the Na- 7 tional Wilderness Preservation System; 8 (ii) on which the removal of vegetation 9 is specifically prohibited by Federal stat- 10 ute; or 11 (iii) that is included within a National 12 Monument as of the date of the enactment 13 of this Act. 14 (6) FOREST ACTIVE MANAGEMENT REVE- 15 NUES.—The term ‘‘forest active management reve- 16 nues’’ means revenues derived from the sale of na- 17 tional forest materials in a Forest Active Manage- 18 ment Area. 19 (7) NATIONAL FOREST MATERIALS.—The term 20 ‘‘national forest materials’’ has the meaning given 21 that term in section 14(e)(1) of the National Forest 22 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(e)(1)). 23 (8) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 24 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4228 IH that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range- 1 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 2 U.S.C. 1609(a)), except that the term does not in- 3 clude the National Grasslands and land utilization 4 projects designated as National Grasslands adminis- 5 tered pursuant to the Act of July 22, 1937 (7 6 U.S.C. 1010–1012). 7 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of Agriculture. 9 (10) SUSTAINED YIELD.—The term ‘‘sustained 10 yield’’ means the maximum annual growth potential 11 of a forest calculated on the basis of the culmination 12 of mean annual increment using cubic measurement. 13 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 14 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 15 (12) 25-PERCENT PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘25- 16 percent payment’’ means the payment to States re- 17 quired by the sixth paragraph under the heading of 18 ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 19 (35 Stat. 260; 16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the 20 Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; 16 U.S.C. 21 500). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4228 IH SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST ACTIVE MANAGE- 1 MENT AREAS AND ANNUAL VOLUME RE- 2 QUIREMENTS. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST ACTIVE MANAGE- 4 MENT AREAS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 5 law, the Secretary shall establish one or more Forest Ac- 6 tive Management Areas within each unit of the National 7 Forest System. 8 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Sec- 9 retary shall complete the establishment of Forest Active 10 Management Areas not later than 60 days after the date 11 of the enactment of this Act. 12 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a Forest Active Man- 13 agement Area is to provide a dependable source of 25- 14 percent payments and economic activity through sustain- 15 able forest management for each beneficiary county con- 16 taining National Forest System land included within that 17 Forest Active Management Area. 18 (d) FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The Secretary 19 shall have a fiduciary responsibility to beneficiary counties 20 to manage a Forest Active Management Area to satisfy 21 the annual volume requirement established for that Forest 22 Active Management Area. 23 (e) ANNUAL VOLUME REQUIREMENT.— 24 (1) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—Not 25 later than 30 days after the date of the establish- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4228 IH ment of a Forest Active Management Area, the Sec- 1 retary shall establish the annual volume requirement 2 for that Forest Active Management Area. 3 (2) COLLABORATIVE ADJUSTMENT AUTHOR- 4 ITY.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 6 make publicly available the annual volume re- 7 quirement for a Forest Active Management 8 Area. 9 (B) PETITION FOR ADJUSTMENT.—Not 10 later than 30 days after an annual volume re- 11 quirement for a Forest Management Area is 12 made publicly available under subparagraph 13 (A), a forest management collaborative located 14 in the same Forest Service region as the Forest 15 Active Management Area may petition the Sec- 16 retary to adjust such annual volume require- 17 ment. 18 (C) DETERMINATION.—In the case of a 19 petition under subparagraph (B), the Secretary 20 shall make a determination on such petition not 21 later than 60 days after receiving such petition. 22 (f) SIZE OF FOREST ACTIVE MANAGEMENT AREA.— 23 (1) MINIMUM SIZE.—Except as provided in 24 paragraph (3), the Forest Active Management Areas 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4228 IH established within a unit of the National Forest Sys- 1 tem shall include not less than 50 percent of the Na- 2 tional Forest System lands in that unit identified as 3 commercial forest land capable of producing twenty 4 cubic feet of timber per acre. 5 (2) REDUCTION PROHIBITED.—Except as pro- 6 vided in paragraph (3), once a Forest Active Man- 7 agement Area is established, the Secretary may not 8 reduce the number of acres of National Forest Sys- 9 tem land included in that Forest Active Management 10 Area. 11 (3) COLLABORATIVE ADJUSTMENT AUTHOR- 12 ITY.—The Secretary may reduce the number of 13 acres of National Forest System land included in a 14 Forest Active Management Area, including an acre- 15 age reduction resulting in the inclusion of a quantity 16 of commercial forest land below the percentage re- 17 quired by paragraph (1) and section 101(5)(B), if 18 the reduction is developed and agreed upon through 19 a collaborative process. 20 (g) MAP.—The Secretary shall submit a map of all 21 Forest Active Management Areas established under sub- 22 section (a) and a map of any Forest Active Management 23 Area whose acreage is adjusted made pursuant to sub- 24 section (f)(3)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4228.IH H4228 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4228 IH (1) to the Committee on Agriculture and the 1 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 2 Representatives; and 3 (2) to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 4 and Forestry and the Committee on Energy and 5 Natural Resources of the Senate. 6 (h) RECOGNITION OF VALID AND EXISTING 7 RIGHTS.—Neither the establishment of Forest Active 8 Management Areas under subsection (a) nor any other 9 provision of this title shall be construed to limit or re- 10 strict— 11 (1) access to National Forest System land for 12 hunting, fishing, recreation, and other related pur- 13 poses; or 14 (2) valid and existing rights regarding National 15 Forest System land, including rights of any federally 16 recognized Indian tribe. 17 SEC. 103. MANAGEMENT OF FOREST ACTIVE MANAGEMENT 18 AREAS. 19 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ACHIEVE ANNUAL VOLUME 20 REQUIREMENT.—Immediately upon the establishment of 21 a Forest Active Management Area, the Secretary shall 22 manage the Forest Active Management Area in the man- 23 ner necessary to achieve the annual volume requirement 24 for the Forest Active Management Area. Not later than 25 VerDate Sep 1 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]