A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain Federal forest land at risk for catastrophic wildfires as emergency mitigation areas, to authorize the use of alternative arrangements in those areas, and for other purposes.

Summary: Emergency Forest Rescue Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) designate Federal forest land that is at wildfire risk because of severe drought and dead and dying trees as an emergency mitigation area; and (2) request authority from the Council on Environmental Quality to use alternative arrangements (including timber harvesting) to protect trees in such an area from disease, insect infestation, invasive plant species, or other natural disaster.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Forest Rescue Act of 
2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) fire and land management policies have contributed to 
        the increasing severity and intensity of wildfires over the 
        past few decades;
            (2) a large proportion of Federal forest land is in a 
        condition of serious degradation because of trees that are--
                    (A) diseased; or
                    (B) dying because of--
                            (i) insect infestation;
                            (ii) invasive plant species; or
                            (iii) other natural disasters (including 
                        blowdowns and wildfires);
            (3) the drought conditions of 2002 are exacerbating the 
        conditions on Federal forest land, making the Federal forest 
        land particularly susceptible to an increased threat of 
        wildfires;
            (4) in addition to threatening Federal forest land, 
        wildfires threaten thousands of communities that are located on 
        the border or within the boundaries of the Federal forest land;
            (5) the 2000 and 2002 fire seasons demonstrate the 
        devastation that is possible if emergency action is not taken 
        to reduce the increased threat of wildfire from diseased and 
        dying trees;
            (6) the combination of drought and diseased and dying trees 
        creates even more dangerous conditions under which--
                    (A) the severity of wildfires increases; and
                    (B) wildfires pose a greater threat to public 
                health and safety; and
            (7) it is critically important that the heads of Federal 
        agencies responsible for managing Federal forest land have the 
        authority to declare as emergency mitigation areas any Federal 
        forest land that has a dangerous buildup of dead or dying trees 
        because of disease, insect infestation, invasive plant species, 
        or other natural disasters, for the purposes of--
                    (A) reducing the threat of wildfires; and
                    (B) protecting Federal forest land and the 
                communities located near or adjacent to the Federal 
                forest land.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Designee.--The term ``designee'' means--
                    (A) the Chief of the Forest Service;
                    (B) the Director of the Bureau of Land Management; 
                or
                    (C) the Director of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service.
            (2) Emergency mitigation area.--The term ``emergency 
        mitigation area'' means an area designated by the Secretary 
        under section 4(a).
            (3) Federal forest land.--The term ``Federal forest land'' 
        means any forest land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means--
                    (A) in the case of Federal forest land under the 
                jurisdiction of the Forest Service, the Secretary of 
                Agriculture; or
                    (B) in the case of Federal forest land under the 
                jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management or the 
                United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Secretary 
                of the Interior.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY MITIGATION AREAS.

    (a) Designation.--The Secretary or a designee shall designate as an 
emergency mitigation area any Federal forest land that--
            (1) is experiencing a severe drought; and
            (2) has a large quantity of trees that are dead or dying 
        because of disease, insect infestation, an invasive plant 
        species, or other natural disaster.
    (b) Emergency Circumstance.--Designation of an emergency mitigation 
area under subsection (a) is an emergency circumstance within the 
meaning of part 1506.11 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 
successor regulation).
    (c) Alternative Arrangements.--
            (1) In general.--On designation of an emergency mitigation 
        area under subsection (a), the Secretary or a designee shall 
        request from the Council on Environmental Quality authority to 
        use any alternative arrangement (including timber harvesting) 
        in the emergency mitigation area that is necessary to protect 
        trees in the emergency mitigation area from disease, insect 
        infestation, an invasive plant species, or other natural 
        disaster.
            (2) Exemption from applicable law.--In carrying out an 
        alternative arrangement approved by the Council on 
        Environmental Quality under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 
        Agriculture or a designee shall be exempt from the requirements 
        of section 322 of the Department of the Interior and Related 
        Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1612 note).