Timber Innovation Act of 2016

Summary: Timber Innovation Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a performance-driven research and development program to advance tall wood building construction in the United States.  &quot;Tall wood building&quot; means a building designed to be over 85 feet high and constructed with large panelized wood construction (mass timber), including cross-laminated timber, nail laminated timber, glue laminated timber, laminated strand lumber, and laminated veneer lumber.  USDA shall for FY2017-FY2021 carry out an annual competition for a tall wood building design in accordance with the requirements for prize competitions carried out under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980.  In carrying out a wood innovation grant program, USDA may make a wood innovation grant to one or more specified eligible entities in order to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies in the development of innovative wood products for tall wood building construction.  USDA shall give priority to grant proposals which include the use or retrofitting (or both) of existing sawmill facilities in counties where the average annual unemployment rate exceeded the national average by more than 1% in the previous year.  USDA shall carry out a program of education and technical assistance for mass timber applications.  USDA shall collaborate and partner with one or more nonfederal entities, including governments of other countries, to:  enhance tall wood building commercialization of the United States, develop technical assistance related to tall wood building commercialization, and  carry out the program.   

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Timber Innovation Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) wood products play a significant role in the United 
        States economy;
            (2) the United States wood products industry employs more 
        than 548,000 individuals in manufacturing and forestry;
            (3) private forest owners in the United States support 
        approximately 2,400,000 jobs and $87,000,000,000 in payroll;
            (4) support for wood buildings and growing market 
        opportunities for the use of wood products, such as tall wood 
        building markets, could--
                    (A) help ensure that forests in the United States 
                remain healthy; and
                    (B) create income streams for private forest owners 
                that may help the owners keep their land forested 
                instead of selling the land for development;
            (5) developing new markets for wood use in buildings may 
        drive additional investment in hazardous fuels treatments on 
        forest land;
            (6) innovative wood product technologies and building 
        systems--
                    (A) have enabled longer wood spans, taller walls, 
                and higher buildings; and
                    (B) continue to expand the possibilities for wood 
                use in construction;
            (7) wood, because it is a building material that sequesters 
        carbon, has the potential to reduce the overall carbon 
        footprint of a project that uses wood as a building material;
            (8) research helps to modernize building codes on an 
        international basis, and that modernization is needed in the 
        United States for tall wood buildings;
            (9) building codes specify a level of safety that each 
        building material and system shall meet and that level of 
        safety is the same regardless of the construction materials 
        used;
            (10) in the case of wood, building codes ensure that the 
        allowable size, configuration, and required structural and fire 
        protection features of a construction project allow for the 
        safety of all occupants;
            (11) mass timber buildings, due to the thick, solid wood 
        panels of which the buildings are composed, are slow to burn 
        and have inherent fire resistance that, under many 
        configurations, establishes a fire performance equal to or 
        better than other construction materials, allowing mass timber 
        to be used appropriately for buildings that are significantly 
        taller and larger than traditional wood buildings; and
            (12) National Forest System lands offer a ready source of 
        wood for use in the production of mass timber and tall wood 
        buildings.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Mass timber.--The term ``mass timber'' means a type of 
        building component or system that uses large panelized wood 
        construction, including--
                    (A) cross-laminated timber;
                    (B) nail laminated timber;
                    (C) glue laminated timber;
                    (D) laminated strand lumber; and
                    (E) laminated veneer lumber.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (3) Tall wood building.--The term ``tall wood building'' 
        means a building designed to be--
                    (A) constructed with mass timber; and
                    (B) more than 85 feet in height.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR ADVANCING 
              TALL WOOD BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a performance-driven 
research and development program for the purpose of advancing tall wood 
building construction in the United States (referred to in this section 
as the ``program'').
    (b) Activities.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary, in 
consultation with the State and Private Forestry deputy area of the 
Forest Service, shall--
            (1) after receipt of input and guidance from, and 
        collaboration with, the wood products industry, conservation 
        organizations, and institutions of higher education, conduct 
        research at the Forest Products Laboratory that meets 
        measurable performance goals for the achievement of the 
        priorities described in subsection (c); and
            (2) after coordination and collaboration with the wood 
        products industry and conservation organizations, make 
        competitive grants to institutions of higher education to 
        conduct research that meets measurable performance goals for 
        the achievement of the priorities described in subsection (c).
    (c) Program Priorities.--The research carried out under the program 
shall give priority to--
            (1) ways to improve the commercialization of tall wood 
        building materials;
            (2) analyzing the safety of tall wood building materials;
            (3) calculations by the Forest Products Laboratory of the 
        life cycle environmental footprint, from extraction of raw 
        materials through the manufacturing process, of tall wood 
        building construction;
            (4) identifying the building code modifications necessary 
        to construct tall wood buildings;
            (5) analyzing methods to reduce the life cycle 
        environmental footprint of tall wood building construction;
            (6) analyzing the potential implications of the broad 
        adoption of tall wood building technology and architecture in 
        the commercial and residential building market on wildlife and 
        forest biodiversity; and
            (7) one or more other research areas identified by the 
        Secretary, in consultation with the State and Private Forestry 
        deputy area of the Forest Service, conservation organizations, 
        institutions of higher education, and the wood products 
        industry.
    (d) Timeframe.--To the maximum extent practicable, the measurable 
performance goals for the research carried out under the program shall 
be achievable within a 5-year timeframe.

SEC. 5. TALL WOOD BUILDING COMPETITION.

    Subject to availability of appropriations, not less frequently than 
once during each fiscal year for the period of fiscal years 2017 
through 2021, the Secretary shall carry out a competition for a tall 
wood building design in accordance with section 24 of the Stevenson-
Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719).

SEC. 6. WOOD INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definition of Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term 
``eligible entity'' means--
            (1) an individual;
            (2) a public or private entity (including a center of 
        excellence that consists of one or more partnerships between 
        forestry, engineering, architecture, or business schools at one 
        or more institutions of higher education); or
            (3) a State, local, or tribal government.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary, in carrying out the wood 
innovation grant program of the Secretary described in the notice of 
the Secretary entitled ``Request for Proposals: 2016 Wood Innovations 
Funding Opportunity'' (80 Fed. Reg. 63498 (October 20, 2015)), may make 
a wood innovation grant to one or more eligible entities each year for 
the purpose of the acceleration of the adoption of emerging 
technologies in the development of innovative wood products for tall 
wood building construction.
    (c) Incentivizing Use of Existing Milling Capacity.--In selecting 
among eligible proposals for the wood innovation grant program, the 
Secretary shall give priority to proposals which include the use or 
retrofitting (or both) of existing sawmill facilities located in 
Counties where the average annual unemployment rate exceeded the 
national average by more than 1 percent in the previous calendar year.
    (d) Matching Requirement.--As a condition of receiving a grant 
under subsection (b), a recipient shall provide funds equal to the 
amount the recipient receives under the grant, to be derived from non-
Federal sources.

SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in cooperation with State foresters 
and State extension directors (or equivalent State officials), shall 
carry out a program of education and technical assistance for mass 
timber applications (referred to in this section as the ``program'').
    (b) Activities.--Activities under the program shall include--
            (1) the provision of assistance to an individual, a public 
        or private entity, or a local or tribal government in the 
        development of skills and knowledge relating to the use of wood 
        in mass timber applications and other wood technologies;
            (2) the provision of assistance to an individual, a public 
        or private entity, or a State, local, or tribal government in 
        the identification of opportunities for the use of mass timber; 
        and
            (3) activities to increase public understanding of--
                    (A) the environmental, economic, and social values 
                associated with using wood in the construction of 
                buildings; and
                    (B) the relationship between the development of 
                markets for wood products and the ability to carry out 
                sustainable forest management.
    (c) Methods.--The program may include the development and 
distribution of educational materials and holding events designed to 
transfer knowledge.
    (d) Expertise.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) maintain, within the Forest Service, sufficient 
        professional expertise relating to the uses of wood products to 
        conduct the program; and
            (2) improve that expertise by collaborating with other 
        Federal and non-Federal experts on the uses of wood products.
    (e) Partners.--The Secretary shall collaborate and partner with one 
or more non-Federal entities, including the governments of other 
countries, States, local governments, not-for-profit organizations, 
businesses, and institutions of higher education--
            (1) to enhance tall wood building commercialization in the 
        United States;
            (2) to develop technical assistance relating to tall wood 
        building commercialization; and
            (3) to carry out the program.