I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1904

To improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to plan and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects 

on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management 

lands aimed at protecting communities, watersheds, and certain other 

at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance efforts to protect 

watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland health, including 

catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2003

Mr. MCINNIS (for himself, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. POMBO, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. AKIN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BARTON of 

Texas, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. BLUNT, 

Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. 

CALVERT, Mr. CANNON, Mr. COLE, Mr. CRAMER, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. 

DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. 

DUNCAN, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. GALLEGLY, 

Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. GREEN

of Wisconsin, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. 

HAYES, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 

ISSA, Mr. JANKLOW, Mr. JOHN, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. 

KOLBE, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. LINDER, Mr. 

MCKEON, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, 

Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. NUNES, Mr. 

OBERSTAR, Mr. OTTER, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. OSE, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. PICKERING, 

Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. RENZI, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, 

Mr. ROSS, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 

SHADEGG, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SMITH of 

Michigan, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. TANCREDO, 

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. TURNER of 

Texas, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. VITTER, Mr. WICKER, Mrs. WILSON of New 

Mexico, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
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ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL

To improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture 

and the Secretary of the Interior to plan and conduct 

hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest 

System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands 

aimed at protecting communities, watersheds, and certain 

other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance 

efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire, 

across the landscape, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purpose. 

TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

Sec. 103. Prioritization for communities and watersheds. 

Sec. 104. Environmental analysis. 

Sec. 105. Special Forest Service administrative review process. 

Sec. 106. Special requirements regarding judicial review of authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

Sec. 107. Standard for injunctive relief for agency action to restore fire-adapted 

forest or rangeland ecosystems. 

Sec. 108. Rules of construction. 
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TITLE II—BIOMASS 

Sec. 201. Findings. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 

Sec. 203. Grants to improve the commercial value of forest biomass for electric 

energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, and petroleum-based 

product substitutes. 

Sec. 204. Reporting requirement. 

TITLE III—WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 301. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 302. Establishment of watershed forestry assistance program. 

TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTATIONS 

Sec. 401. Definitions, findings, and purpose. 

Sec. 402. Accelerated information gathering regarding bark beetles, including 

Southern pine beetles, hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash 

borers, red oak borers, and white oak borers. 

Sec. 403. Applied silvicultural assessments. 

Sec. 404. Relation to other laws. 

Sec. 405. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS RESERVE PROGRAM 

Sec. 501. Establishment of healthy forests reserve program. 

Sec. 502. Eligibility and enrollment of lands in program. 

Sec. 503. Conservation plans. 

Sec. 504. Financial assistance. 

Sec. 505. Technical assistance. 

Sec. 506. Safe harbor. 

Sec. 507. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 601. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program to improve detection 

of and response to environmental threats.

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is—

3 (1) to reduce the risks of damage to commu4 nities, municipal water supplies, and some at-risk 

5 Federal lands from catastrophic wildfires; 

6 (2) to authorize grant programs to improve the 

7 commercial value of forest biomass for electric en8 ergy, useful heat, transportation fuels, petroleum-
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1 based product substitutes and other commercial pur2 poses; 

3 (3) to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and 

4 address threats to forest and rangeland health, in5 cluding catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape; 

6 (4) to promote systematic information gath7 ering to address the impact of insect infestations on 

8 forest and rangeland health; 

9 (5) to improve the capacity to detect insect and 

10 disease infestations at an early stage, particularly 

11 with respect to hardwood forests; and 

12 (6) to protect, restore, and enhance degraded 

13 forest ecosystem types in order to promote the recov14 ery of threatened and endangered species as well as 

15 improve biological diversity and enhance carbon se16 questration. 

17 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS RE18 DUCTION ON FEDERAL 

19 LANDS

20 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this title: 

22 (1) AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUC23 TION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘authorized hazardous 

24 fuels reduction project’’ means a hazardous fuels re25 duction project described in subsection (a) of section 
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1 102, subject to the remainder of such section, that 

2 is planned and conducted using the process author3 ized by section 104. 

4 (2) CONDITION CLASS 2.—The term ‘‘condition 

5 class 2’’, with respect to an area of Federal lands, 

6 refers to the condition class description developed by 

7 the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Sta8 tion in the general technical report entitled ‘‘Devel9 opment of Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland 

10 Fire and Fuel Management’’ (RMRS–87), dated 

11 April 2000, under which—

12 (A) fire regimes on the lands have been 

13 moderately altered from their historical range;

14 (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing 

15 key ecosystem components from fire; 

16 (C) fire frequencies have departed (either 

17 increased or decreased) from historical fre18 quencies by one or more return interval, which 

19 results in moderate changes to fire size, fre20 quency, intensity, severity, or landscape pat21 terns; and 

22 (D) vegetation attributes have been mod23 erately altered from their historical range. 

24 (3) CONDITION CLASS 3.—The term ‘‘condition 

25 class 3’’, with respect to an area of Federal lands, 
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1 refers to the condition class description developed by 

2 the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general 

3 technical report referred to in paragraph (2), under 

4 which—

5 (A) fire regimes on the lands have been 

6 significantly altered from their historical range 

7 (B) there exists a high risk of losing key 

8 ecosystem components from fire; 

9 (C) fire frequencies have departed from 

10 historical frequencies by multiple return inter11 vals, which results in dramatic changes to fire 

12 size, frequency, intensity, severity, or landscape 

13 patterns; and 

14 (D) vegetation attributes have been signifi15 cantly altered from their historical range. 

16 (4) DAY.—The term ‘‘day’’ means a calendar 

17 day, except that, if a deadline imposed by this title 

18 would expire on a nonbusiness day, the deadline will 

19 be extended to the end of the next business day. 

20 (5) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘decision 

21 document’’ means a decision notice or a record of 

22 decision, as those terms are used in applicable regu23 lations of the Council on Environmental Quality and 

24 the Forest Service Handbook. 
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1 (6) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

2 lands’’ means—

3 (A) National Forest System lands; and 

4 (B) public lands administered by the Sec5 retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu6 reau of Land Management. 

7 (7) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

8 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction 

9 project’’ refers to the measures and methods de10 scribed in the definition of ‘‘appropriate tools’’ con11 tained in the glossary of the Implementation Plan. 

12 (8) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im13 plementation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan 

14 for the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy for a Col15 laborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire 

16 Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated 

17 May 2002, which was developed pursuant to the con18 ference report for the Department of the Interior 

19 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 

20 (House Report 106–646). 

21 (9) INTERFACE COMMUNITY AND INTERMIX

22 COMMUNITY.—The terms ‘‘interface community’’ 

23 and ‘‘intermix community’’ have the meanings given 

24 those terms on page 753 of volume 66 of the Fed25 eral Register, as published on January 4, 2001. 
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1 (10) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The 

2 term ‘‘municipal water supply system’’ means the 

3 reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, pipes, 

4 pipelines, or other surface facilities and systems con5 structed or installed for the impoundment, storage, 

6 transportation, or distribution of drinking water for 

7 a community. 

8 (11) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term 

9 ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means the Secretary of Agri10 culture with respect to National Forest System lands 

11 and the Secretary of the Interior with respect to 

12 public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 

13 Management. Any reference in this title to the ‘‘Sec14 retary concerned’’, the Secretary of Agriculture’’, or 

15 the ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’ includes the designee 

16 of the Secretary concerned. 

17 (12) THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

18 HABITAT.—The term ‘‘threatened and endangered 

19 species habitat’’ means Federal lands identified in 

20 the listing decision or critical habitat designation as 

21 habitat for a threatened species or an endangered 

22 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

23 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
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1 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION 

2 PROJECTS. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—Subject to the remain4 der of this section, the Secretary concerned may utilize 

5 the process authorized by section 104 to plan and conduct 

6 hazardous fuels reduction projects on any of the following 

7 Federal lands: 

8 (1) Federal lands located in an interface com9 munity or intermix community. 

10 (2) Federal lands located in such proximity to 

11 an interface community or intermix community that 

12 there is a significant risk that the spread of a fire 

13 disturbance event from those lands would threaten 

14 human life and property in the interface community 

15 or intermix community.

16 (3) Condition class 3 or condition class 2 Fed17 eral lands located in such proximity to a municipal 

18 water supply system or a stream feeding a municipal 

19 water supply system that a significant risk exists 

20 that a fire disturbance event would have adverse ef21 fects on the water quality of the municipal water 

22 supply, including the risk to water quality posed by 

23 erosion following such a fire disturbance event. 

24 (4) Condition class 3 or condition class 2 Fed25 eral lands identified by the Secretary concerned as 

26 an area where windthrow or blowdown, or the exist-
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1 ence or threat of disease or insect infestation, pose 

2 a significant threat to forest or rangeland health or 

3 adjacent private lands. 

4 (5) Federal lands not covered by paragraph (1), 

5 (2), (3), or (4) that contain threatened and endan6 gered species habitat, but only if—

7 (A) natural fire regimes on such lands are 

8 identified as being important for, or wildfire is 

9 identified as a threat to, an endangered species, 

10 a threatened species, or its habitat in a species 

11 recovery plan prepared under section 4 of the 

12 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

13 1533) or in a decision document under such 

14 section determining a species to be an endan15 gered species or a threatened species or desig16 nating critical habitat; 

17 (B) the project will provide enhanced pro18 tection from catastrophic wildfire for the spe19 cies or its habitat; and 

20 (C) the Secretary complies with any appli21 cable guidelines specified in the species recovery 

22 plan prepared under the Endangered Species 

23 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

24 (b) RELATION TO AGENCY PLANS.—An authorized 

25 hazardous fuels reduction project shall be planned and 
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1 conducted in a manner consistent with the land and re2 source management plan or land use plan applicable to 

3 the Federal lands covered by the project. 

4 (c) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Not more than a total 

5 of 20,000,000 acres of Federal lands may be included in 

6 authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

7 (d) TREE REMOVAL LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

8 concerned, in the sole discretion of the Secretary con9 cerned, shall plan and conduct an authorized hazardous 

10 fuels reduction project so as to maintain species composi11 tion, size class distribution, and density of trees, including 

12 old and large trees appropriate for each ecosystem type 

13 covered by the project, consistent with the purposes of this 

14 title. 

15 (e) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS.—The 

16 Secretary concerned may not plan or conduct an author17 ized hazardous fuels reduction project that would occur 

18 on any of the following Federal lands: 

19 (1) A component of the National Wilderness 

20 Preservation System. 

21 (2) Federal lands where, by Act of Congress or 

22 Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation 

23 is prohibited or restricted. 

24 (3) Wilderness Study Areas. 
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1 (f) PROTECTION OF ROADLESS AREAS.—The Sec2 retary of Agriculture shall not construct any new perma3 nent road in any Inventoried Roadless Area as part of any 

4 authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

5 SEC. 103. PRIORITIZATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND WATER6 SHEDS. 

7 As provided for in the Implementation Plan, the Sec8 retary concerned shall give priority to authorized haz9 ardous fuel reduction projects that provide for the protec10 tion of communities and watersheds. 

11 SEC. 104. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

13 this title, the Secretary concerned shall plan and conduct 

14 authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects in accord15 ance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

16 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) and any other applicable laws. 

17 (b) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO ELIMINATE AL18 TERNATIVES.—In the case of an authorized hazardous 

19 fuels reduction project, the Secretary concerned is not re20 quired to study, develop, or describe any alternative to the 

21 proposed agency action in the environmental assessment 

22 or environmental impact statement prepared for the pro23 posed agency action pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4332(2)). 
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1 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—

2 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned 

3 shall provide notice of each authorized hazardous 

4 fuels reduction project in accordance with applicable 

5 regulations and administrative guidelines. 

6 (2) PUBLIC MEETING.—During the planning 

7 stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

8 project, the Secretary concerned shall conduct a 

9 public meeting at an appropriate location proximate 

10 to the administrative unit of the Federal lands in 

11 which the authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

12 project will be conducted. The Secretary concerned 

13 shall provide advance notice of the date and time of 

14 the meeting. 

15 (d) PUBLIC COLLABORATION.—In order to encourage 

16 meaningful public participation in the identification and 

17 development of authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

18 projects, the Secretary concerned shall facilitate collabora19 tion among governments and interested persons during 

20 the formulation of each authorized fuels reduction project 

21 in a manner consistent with the Implementation Plan. 

22 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM23 MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National 

24 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) 

25 and the applicable regulations and administrative guide-
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1 lines in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

2 the Secretary concerned shall provide an opportunity for 

3 public input during the preparation of any environmental 

4 assessment or environmental impact statement for pro5 posed agency action for an authorized hazardous fuels re6 duction project. 

7 (f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary concerned 

8 shall sign a decision document for each authorized haz9 ardous fuels reduction project and provide notice of the 

10 decision document. 

11 (g) PROJECT MONITORING.—As provided for in the 

12 Implementation Plan, the Secretary concerned shall mon13 itor the implementation of authorized hazardous fuels re14 duction projects.

15 SEC. 105. SPECIAL FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE RE16 VIEW PROCESS. 

17 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—

18 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue final 

20 regulations to establish an administrative process that will 

21 serve as the sole means by which a person described in 

22 subsection (c) can seek administrative redress regarding 

23 an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

24 (b) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—To be eligible to partici25 pate in the administrative process developed pursuant to 
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1 subsection (a) regarding an authorized hazardous fuels re2 duction project, a person must have submitted specific and 

3 substantive written comments during the preparation 

4 stage of that authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

5 (c) RELATION TO APPEALS REFORM ACT.—Section 

6 322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agen7 cies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16 

8 U.S.C. 1612 note), does not apply to an authorized haz9 ardous fuels reduction project. 

10 SEC. 106. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL 

11 REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS 

12 REDUCTION PROJECTS. 

13 (a) FILING DEADLINE.—

14 (1) TIME LIMIT ESTABLISHED FOR FILING.—

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to be 

16 timely, an action in a court of the United States 

17 challenging an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

18 project shall be filed in the court before the end of 

19 the 15-day period beginning on the date on which 

20 the Secretary concerned publishes, in the local paper 

21 of record, notice of the final agency action regarding 

22 the authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

23 This time limitation supersedes any notice of intent 

24 to file suit requirement or filing deadline otherwise 

25 applicable to a challenge under any provision of law. 
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1 (2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary con2 cerned may not agree to, and a district court may 

3 not grant, a waiver of the requirements of this sub4 section. 

5 (b) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—

6 (1) DURATION; EXTENSION.—Any preliminary 

7 injunction granted regarding an authorized haz8 ardous fuels reduction project shall be limited to 45 

9 days. A court may renew the preliminary injunction, 

10 taking into consideration the goal expressed in sub11 section (c) for the expeditious resolution of cases re12 garding authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

13 projects. 

14 (2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part of 

15 a request to renew a preliminary injunction granted 

16 regarding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

17 project, the parties shall present the court with an 

18 update on any changes that may have occurred dur19 ing the period of the injunction to the forest or 

20 rangeland conditions that the authorized hazardous 

21 fuels reduction project is intended to address. 

22 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—In the 

23 event of the renewal of a preliminary injunction re24 garding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

25 project, the Secretary concerned shall submit notice 
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1 of the renewal to the Committee on Resources and 

2 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat4 ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, 

5 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 

6 (c) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL RE7 VIEW.—Congress intends and encourages any court in 

8 which is filed a lawsuit or appeal of a lawsuit concerning 

9 an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to expe10 dite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings 

11 in such lawsuit or appeal with the goal of rendering a final 

12 determination on jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a 

13 final determination on the merits, within 100 days from 

14 the date the complaint or appeal is filed. 

15 SEC. 107. STANDARD FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR AGEN16 CY ACTION TO RESTORE FIRE-ADAPTED FOR17 EST OR RANGELAND ECOSYSTEMS. 

18 If an action brought against the Secretary concerned 

19 under section 703 of title 5, United States Code, involves 

20 an agency action on Federal lands in which the Secretary 

21 concerned found that the agency action is necessary to re22 store a fire-adapted forest or rangeland ecosystem, includ23 ing an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project, the 

24 court reviewing the agency action, in considering a request 
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1 for a prohibitory or mandatory injunction against the 

2 agency action, shall—

3 (1) consider the public interest in avoiding long4 term harm to the ecosystem; and 

5 (2) give deference to any agency finding, based 

6 upon information in the administrative record, that 

7 the balance of harm and the public interest in avoid8 ing the short-term effects of the agency action is 

9 outweighed by the public interest in avoiding long10 term harm to the ecosystem. 

11 SEC. 108. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

12 (a) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 

13 this title shall be construed to affect, or otherwise bias, 

14 the use by the Secretary concerned of other statutory or 

15 administrative authorities to plan or conduct a hazardous 

16 fuels reduction project on Federal lands, including Federal 

17 lands identified in section 102(e), that is not planned or 

18 conducted using the process authorized by section 104. 

19 (b) RELATION TO LEGAL ACTION.—Nothing in this 

20 title shall be construed to prejudice or otherwise affect the 

21 consideration or disposition of any legal action concerning 

22 the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, part 294 of title 36, 

23 Code of Federal Regulations, as amended in the final rule 

24 and record of decision published in the Federal Register 

25 on January 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244).
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1 TITLE II—BIOMASS 

2 SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 

3 Congress finds the following: 

4 (1) Thousands of communities in the United 

5 States, many located near Federal lands, are at risk 

6 to wildfire. Approximately 190,000,000 acres of land 

7 managed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

8 Secretary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic 

9 fire in the near future. The accumulation of heavy 

10 forest and rangeland fuel loads continues to increase 

11 as a result of disease, insect infestations, and 

12 drought, further raising the risk of fire each year. 

13 (2) In addition, more than 70,000,000 acres 

14 across all land ownerships are at risk to higher than 

15 normal mortality over the next 15 years from insect 

16 infestation and disease. High levels of tree mortality

17 from insects and disease result in increased fire risk, 

18 loss of old growth, degraded watershed conditions, 

19 and changes in species diversity and productivity, as 

20 well as diminished fish and wildlife habitat and de21 creased timber values. 

22 (3) Preventive treatments such as removing fuel 

23 loading, ladder fuels, and hazard trees, planting 

24 proper species mix and restoring and protecting 

25 early successional habitat, and other specific restora-
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1 tion treatments designed to reduce the susceptibility 

2 of forest and rangeland to insect outbreaks, disease, 

3 and catastrophic fire present the greatest oppor4 tunity for long-term forest and rangeland health by 

5 creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribu6 tion. Such prevention treatments are widely acknowl7 edged to be more successful and cost effective than 

8 suppression treatments in the case of insects, dis9 ease, and fire. 

10 (4) The by-products of preventive treatment 

11 (wood, brush, thinnings, chips, slash, and other haz12 ardous fuels) removed from forest and rangelands 

13 represent an abundant supply of biomass for bio14 mass-to-energy facilities and raw material for busi15 ness. There are currently few markets for the ex16 traordinary volumes of by-products being generated 

17 as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive 

18 treatment activities. 

19 (5) The United States should—

20 (A) promote economic and entrepreneurial 

21 opportunities in using by-products removed 

22 through preventive treatment activities related 

23 to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect 

24 infestation; and 
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1 (B) develop and expand markets for tradi2 tionally underused wood and biomass as an out3 let for by-products of preventive treatment ac4 tivities. 

5 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this title: 

7 (1) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ means 

8 trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, nee9 dles, and other woody parts, and by-products of pre10 ventive treatment, such as wood, brush, thinnings, 

11 chips, and slash, that are removed—

12 (A) to reduce hazardous fuels; or 

13 (B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis14 ease or insect infestation. 

15 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 4(e) of 

17 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist18 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 

19 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes—

20 (A) an individual; 

21 (B) a community (as determined by the 

22 Secretary concerned); 

23 (C) an Indian tribe; 
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1 (D) a small business, micro-business, or a 

2 corporation that is incorporated in the United 

3 States; and 

4 (E) a nonprofit organization. 

5 (4) PREFERRED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘pre6 ferred community’’ means—

7 (A) any town, township, municipality, or 

8 other similar unit of local government (as deter9 mined by the Secretary concerned) that—

10 (i) has a population of not more than 

11 50,000 individuals; and 

12 (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 

13 sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 

14 determines contains or is located near 

15 land, the condition of which is at signifi16 cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 

17 or insect infestation or which suffers from 

18 disease or insect infestation; or 

19 (B) any county that—

20 (i) is not contained within a metro21 politan statistical area; and 

22 (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 

23 sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 

24 determines contains or is located near 

25 land, the condition of which is at signifi-
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1 cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 

2 or insect infestation or which suffers from 

3 disease or insect infestation. 

4 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec5 retary concerned’’ means—

6 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re7 spect to National Forest System lands; and 

8 (B) the Secretary of the Interior with re9 spect to Federal lands under the jurisdiction of 

10 the Secretary of the Interior and Indian lands. 

11 SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE COMMERCIAL VALUE 

12 OF FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY, 

13 USEFUL HEAT, TRANSPORTATION FUELS, 

14 AND PETROLEUM-BASED PRODUCT SUB15 STITUTES. 

16 (a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL USE GRANT PROGRAM.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

18 may make grants to any person that owns or oper19 ates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material 

20 to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor21 tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod22 ucts to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass 

23 for use by such facility. 
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1 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub2 section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass 

3 delivered. 

4 (3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI5 TIES.—As a condition of a grant under this sub6 section, the grant recipient shall keep such records 

7 as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and 

8 correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all 

9 transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. 

10 Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary 

11 concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the rep12 resentative reasonable access to the facility that pur13 chases or uses biomass and an opportunity to exam14 ine the inventory and records of the facility. 

15 (b) VALUE ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

17 may make grants to persons to offset the cost of 

18 projects to add value to biomass. In making such 

19 grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference 

20 to persons in preferred communities.

21 (2) SELECTION.—The Secretary concerned shall 

22 select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after 

23 giving consideration to the anticipated public bene24 fits of the project, opportunities for the creation or 
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1 expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses, 

2 and the potential for new job creation. 

3 (3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub4 section may not exceed $100,000. 

5 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the 

7 fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out this section. 

8 SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

9 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than October 1, 

10 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 

11 the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Com12 mittee on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of 

13 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En14 ergy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agri15 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 

16 describing the results of the grant programs authorized 

17 by section 203. 

18 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall include 

19 the following: 

20 (1) An identification of the size, type, and the 

21 use of biomass by persons that receive grants under 

22 section 203. 

23 (2) The distance between the land from which 

24 the biomass was removed and the facility that used 

25 the biomass. 
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1 (3) The economic impacts, particularly new job 

2 creation, resulting from the grants to and operation 

3 of the eligible operations. 

4 TITLE III—WATERSHED 

5 FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 

6 SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There has been a dramatic shift in public 

9 attitudes and perceptions about forest management, 

10 particularly in the understanding and practice of 

11 sustainable forest management. 

12 (2) It is commonly recognized that the proper 

13 stewardship of forest lands is essential to sustaining 

14 and restoring the health of watersheds. 

15 (3) Forests can provide essential ecological 

16 services in filtering pollutants, buffering important 

17 rivers and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which 

18 makes its restoration worthy of special focus. 

19 (4) Strengthened education, technical assist20 ance, and financial assistance to nonindustrial pri21 vate forest landowners and communities, relating to 

22 the protection of watershed health, is needed to real23 ize the expectations of the general public. 

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to—
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1 (1) improve landowner and public under2 standing of the connection between forest manage3 ment and watershed health; 

4 (2) encourage landowners to maintain tree 

5 cover on their property and to utilize tree plantings 

6 and vegetative treatments as creative solutions to 

7 watershed problems associated with varying land 

8 uses; 

9 (3) enhance and complement forest manage10 ment and buffer utilization for watersheds, with an 

11 emphasis on urban watersheds; 

12 (4) establish new partnerships and collaborative 

13 watershed approaches to forest management, stew14 ardship, and conservation; 

15 (5) provide technical and financial assistance to 

16 States to deliver a coordinated program that en17 hances State forestry best-management practices 

18 programs, as well as conserves and improves for19 ested lands and potentially forested lands through 

20 technical, financial, and educational assistance to 

21 qualifying individuals and entities; and 

22 (6) maximize the proper management and con23 servation of wetland forests and to assist in their 

24 restoration as necessary.
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1 SEC. 302. ESTABLISHMENT OF WATERSHED FORESTRY AS2 SISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is 

4 amended by inserting after section 5 the following new 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE. 

7 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE.—The 

8 Secretary, acting through the Forest Service, may provide 

9 technical, financial, and related assistance to State for10 esters and equivalent State officials for the purpose of ex11 panding State forest stewardship capacities and activities 

12 through State forestry best-management practices and 

13 other means at the State level to address watershed issues 

14 on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested 

15 lands. 

16 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

17 QUALITY.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera19 tion with State foresters or equivalent State officials, 

20 shall engage interested members of the public, in21 cluding nonprofit organizations and local watershed 

22 councils, to develop a program of technical assist23 ance to protect water quality, as described in para24 graph (2). 

25 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The program 

26 under this subsection shall be designed—
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1 ‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed 

2 partnerships that focus on forested landscapes 

3 at the local, State, and regional levels; 

4 ‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-man5 agement practices and water quality technical 

6 assistance directly to nonindustrial private for7 est landowners; 

8 ‘‘(C) to provide technical guidance to land 

9 managers and policy makers for water quality 

10 protection through forest management; 

11 ‘‘(D) to complement State and local efforts 

12 to protect water quality and provide enhanced 

13 opportunities for consultation and cooperation 

14 among Federal and State agencies charged with 

15 responsibility for water and watershed manage16 ment; 

17 ‘‘(E) to provide enhanced forest resource 

18 data and support for improved implementation

19 and monitoring of State forestry best-manage20 ment practices. 

21 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program of tech22 nical assistance shall be implemented by State for23 esters or equivalent State officials. 

24 ‘‘(c) WATERSHED FORESTRY COST-SHARE PRO25 GRAM.— 
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•HR 1904 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish a watershed forestry cost-share program to be 

3 administered by the Forest Service and implemented 

4 by State foresters or equivalent State officials. 

5 Funds or other support provided under such pro6 gram shall be made available for State forestry best7 management practices programs and watershed for8 estry projects. 

9 ‘‘(2) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROJECTS.—The 

10 State forester or equivalent State official of a State, 

11 in coordination with the State Forest Stewardship 

12 Coordinating Committee established under section 

13 19(b) for that State, shall annually make awards to 

14 communities, nonprofit groups, and nonindustrial 

15 private forest landowners under the program for wa16 tershed forestry projects described in paragraph (3). 

17 ‘‘(3) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A 

18 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical 

19 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and res20 toration needs within a State by demonstrating the 

21 value of trees and forests to watershed health and 

22 condition through—

23 ‘‘(A) the use of trees as solutions to water 

24 quality problems in urban and rural areas; 
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1 ‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve2 ment, and action through State, local and non3 profit partnerships; 

4 ‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of 

5 monitoring information on forestry best-man6 agement practices relating to watershed for7 estry; 

8 ‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management 

9 activities and conservation planning; and 

10 ‘‘(E) the restoration of wetland (as defined 

11 by the States) and stream-side forests and the 

12 establishment of riparian vegetative buffers. 

13 ‘‘(4) COST-SHARING.—Funds provided under 

14 this subsection for a watershed forestry project may 

15 not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the project. 

16 Other Federal funding sources may be used to cover 

17 a portion of the remaining project costs, but the 

18 total Federal share of the costs may not exceed 90 

19 percent. The non-Federal share of the costs of a 

20 project may be in the form of cash, services, or other 

21 in-kind contributions. 

22 ‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew23 ardship Coordinating Committee for a State shall 

24 prioritize watersheds in that State to target water25 shed forestry projects funded under this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—Financial and 

2 technical assistance shall be made available to the 

3 State Forester or equivalent State official to create 

4 a State best-management practice forester to lead 

5 statewide programs and coordinate small watershed6 level projects. 

7 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devote 

9 at least 75 percent of the funds appropriated for a 

10 fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of appro11 priations in subsection (e) to the cost-share program 

12 under subsection (c) and the remainder to the task 

13 of delivering technical assistance, education, and 

14 planning on the ground through the State Forester 

15 or equivalent State official. 

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution 

17 of these funds by the Secretary among the States 

18 shall be made only after giving appropriate consider19 ation to—

20 ‘‘(A) the acres of nonindustrial private 

21 forestland and highly erodible land in each 

22 State; 

23 ‘‘(B) each State’s efforts to conserve for24 ests; 
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1 ‘‘(C) the acres of forests in each State that 

2 have been lost or degraded or where forests can 

3 play a role in restoring watersheds; and 

4 ‘‘(D) the number of nonindustrial private 

5 forest landowners in each State. 

6 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 

9 2008.’’. 

10 TITLE IV—INSECT 

11 INFESTATIONS 

12 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 

14 (1) APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENT.—

15 The term ‘‘applied silvicultural assessment’’ means 

16 any vegetative or other treatment, for the purposes 

17 described in section 402, including timber harvest, 

18 thinning, prescribed burning, and pruning, as single 

19 treatment or any combination of these treatments. 

20 (2) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

21 lands’’ means—

22 (A) National Forest System lands; and 

23 (B) public lands administered by the Sec24 retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu25 reau of Land Management. 
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1 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec2 retary concerned’’ means—

3 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

4 through the Forest Service, with respect to Na5 tional Forest System lands; and 

6 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

7 through appropriate offices of the United States 

8 Geological Survey, with respect to federally 

9 owned land administered by the Secretary of 

10 the Interior. 

11 (4) 1890 INSTITUTIONS.—The term ‘‘1890 In12 stitution’’ means a college or university eligible to 

13 receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 

14 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University. 

15 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) High levels of tree mortality due to insect 

17 infestation result in—

18 (A) increased fire risk; 

19 (B) loss of old growth; 

20 (C) loss of threatened and endangered spe21 cies; 

22 (D) loss of species diversity;

23 (E) degraded watershed conditions; 
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1 (F) increased potential for damage from 

2 other agents of disturbance, including exotic, 

3 invasive species; and 

4 (G) decreased timber values. 

5 (2) Bark beetles destroy hundreds of thousands 

6 of acres of trees each year. In the West, over 

7 21,000,000 acres are at high risk of bark beetle in8 festation and in the South over 57,000,000 acres are 

9 at risk across all land ownerships. Severe drought 

10 conditions in many areas of the South and West will 

11 increase risk of bark beetle infestations. 

12 (3) The hemlock woolly adelgid is destroying 

13 streamside forests throughout the mid-Atlantic and 

14 Appalachian region, threatening water quality and 

15 sensitive aquatic species, and posing a potential 

16 threat to valuable commercial timber lands in North17 ern New England. 

18 (4) The emerald ash borer is a nonnative, 

19 invasive pest that has quickly become a major threat 

20 to hardwood forests as a emerald ash borer infesta21 tion is almost always fatal to the affected trees. This 

22 pest threatens to destroy over 692,000,000 ash trees 

23 in forests in Michigan and Ohio alone, and between 

24 five and ten percent of urban street trees in the 

25 Upper Midwest. 
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1 (5) Epidemic populations of Southern pine bee2 tle are ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas, Flor3 ida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, 

4 South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In 2001, 

5 Florida and Kentucky experienced 146 percent and 

6 111 percent increases, respectively, in beetle popu7 lations. 

8 (6) These epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine 

9 beetle have forced private landowners to harvest 

10 dead and dying trees, in both rural areas and in11 creasingly urbanized settings. 

12 (7) According to the Forest Service, recent out13 breaks of the red oak borer in Arkansas have been 

14 unprecedented, with almost 800,000 acres infested 

15 at population levels never seen before. 

16 (8) Much of the damage from the red oak borer 

17 has taken place in National forests, and the Federal 

18 response has been inadequate to protect forest eco19 systems and other ecological and economic resources. 

20 (9) Previous silvicultural assessments, while 

21 useful and informative, have been limited in scale 

22 and scope of application, and there has not been suf23 ficient resources available to adequately test a full 

24 array of individual and combined applied silvicul25 tural assessments. 
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•HR 1904 IH 

1 (10) Only through the rigorous funding, devel2 opment, and assessment of potential applied silvicul3 tural assessments over specific time frames across 

4 an array of environmental and climatic conditions 

5 can the most innovative and cost effective manage6 ment applications be determined that will help re7 duce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to attack 

8 by forest pests. 

9 (11) Funding and implementation of an initia10 tive to combat forest pest infestations should not 

11 come at the expense of supporting other programs 

12 and initiatives of the Secretary concerned. 

13 (c) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title—

14 (1) to require the Secretary concerned to de15 velop an accelerated basic and applied assessment 

16 program to combat infestations by bark beetles, in17 cluding Southern pine beetles, hemlock woolly 

18 adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak borers, and 

19 white oak borers; 

20 (2) to enlist the assistance of universities and 

21 forestry schools, including Land Grant Colleges and 

22 Universities and 1890 Institutions, to carry out the 

23 program; and 

24 (3) to carry out applied silvicultural assess25 ments. 
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1 SEC. 402. ACCELERATED INFORMATION GATHERING RE2 GARDING BARK BEETLES, INCLUDING 

3 SOUTHERN PINE BEETLES, HEMLOCK WOOL4 LY ADELGIDS, EMERALD ASH BORERS, RED 

5 OAK BORERS, AND WHITE OAK BORERS. 

6 (a) INFORMATION GATHERING.—The Secretary con7 cerned shall establish, acting through the Forest Service 

8 and United States Geological Survey, as appropriate, an 

9 accelerated program—

10 (1) to plan, conduct, and promote comprehen11 sive and systematic information gathering on bark 

12 beetles, including Southern pine beetles, hemlock 

13 woolly adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak borers, 

14 and white oak borers, including an evaluation of—

15 (A) infestation prevention and control 

16 methods; 

17 (B) effects of infestations on forest eco18 systems; 

19 (C) restoration of the forest ecosystem ef20 forts; 

21 (D) utilization options regarding infested 

22 trees; and

23 (E) models to predict the occurrence, dis24 tribution, and impact of outbreaks of bark bee25 tles, including Southern pine beetles, hemlock 
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1 woolly adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak 

2 borers, and white oak borers; 

3 (2) to assist land managers in the development 

4 of treatments and strategies to improve forest health 

5 and reduce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to 

6 severe infestations of bark beetles, including South7 ern pine beetles, hemlock woolly adelgids, emerald 

8 ash borers, red oak borers, and white oak borers on 

9 Federal lands and State and private lands; and 

10 (3) to disseminate the results of such informa11 tion gathering, treatments, and strategies. 

12 (b) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

13 concerned shall establish and carry out the program in co14 operation with scientists from universities and forestry 

15 schools, State agencies, and private and industrial land 

16 owners. The Secretary concerned shall designate univer17 sities and forestry schools, including Land Grant Colleges 

18 and Universities and 1890 Institutions, to assist in car19 rying out the program. 

20 SEC. 403. APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENTS. 

21 (a) ASSESSMENT EFFORTS.—For information gath22 ering purposes, the Secretary concerned may conduct ap23 plied silvicultural assessments on Federal lands that the 

24 Secretary concerned determines, in the sole discretion of 

25 the Secretary concerned, is at risk of infestation by, or 
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1 is infested with, bark beetles, including Southern pine bee2 tles, hemlock woolly adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak 

3 borers, and white oak borers. Any applied silvicultural as4 sessments carried out under this section shall be con5 ducted on not more than 1,000 acres per assessment. 

6 (b) LIMITATIONS.—

7 (1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Sub8 section (a) does not apply to—

9 (A) a component of the National Wilder10 ness Preservation System; 

11 (B) Federal lands where, by Act of Con12 gress or Presidential proclamation, the removal 

13 of vegetation is restricted or prohibited; or 

14 (C) congressionally designated wilderness 

15 study areas. 

16 (2) CERTAIN TREATMENT PROHIBITED.—Sub17 section (a) does not authorize the application of in18 secticides in municipal watersheds and associated ri19 parian areas. 

20 (3) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Applied silvicul21 tural assessments may be implemented on not more 

22 than 250,000 acres using the authorities provided by 

23 this title. 

24 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—
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1 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned 

2 shall provide notice of each applied silvicultural as3 sessment proposed to be carried out under this sec4 tion in accordance with applicable regulations and 

5 administrative guidelines. 

6 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—During the planning 

7 stage of each applied silvicultural assessment pro8 posed to be carried out under this section, the Sec9 retary concerned shall provide an opportunity for 

10 public input. 

11 (d) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—Applied silvicultural 

12 assessments carried out under this section are deemed to 

13 be categorically excluded from further analysis under the 

14 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

15 4321 et seq.). The Secretary concerned need not make any 

16 findings as to whether the project, either individually or 

17 cumulatively, has a significant effect on the environment. 

18 SEC. 404. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

19 The authorities provided to the Secretary concerned 

20 by this title are supplemental to their respective authori21 ties provided in any other law. 

22 SEC. 405. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 

24 2004 through 2008 such sums as may be necessary to 

25 carry out this title.
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1 TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS 

2 RESERVE PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF HEALTHY FORESTS RE4 SERVE PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

6 shall establish the healthy forests reserve program as a 

7 program within the Forest Service for the purpose of pro8 tecting, restoring, and enhancing degraded forest eco9 systems to promote the recovery of threatened and endan10 gered species as well as improve biodiversity and enhance 

11 carbon sequestration. 

12 (b) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

13 shall carry out the healthy forests reserve program in co14 operation with the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

15 through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

16 SEC. 502. ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT OF LANDS IN 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ELIGIBLE LANDS.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

19 in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall 

20 designate rare forest ecosystems to be eligible for the 

21 healthy forests reserve program. The following lands are 

22 eligible for enrollment in the healthy forests reserve pro23 gram: 

24 (1) Private lands whose enrollment will protect, 

25 restore, enhance, or otherwise measurably increase 
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•HR 1904 IH 

1 the likelihood of recovery of an endangered species 

2 or threatened species in the wild. 

3 (2) Private lands whose enrollment will protect, 

4 restore, enhance, or otherwise measurably increase 

5 the likelihood of the recovery of an animal or plant 

6 species before the species reaches threatened or en7 dangered status, such as candidate, State-listed spe8 cies, rare, peripheral, and special concern species. 

9 (b) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In enrolling lands 

10 that satisfy the criteria in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub11 section (a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall give addi12 tional consideration to those lands whose enrollment will 

13 also improve biological diversity and increase carbon se14 questration. 

15 (c) ENROLLMENT BY WILLING OWNERS.—The Sec16 retary of Agriculture shall enroll lands in the healthy for17 ests reserve program only with the consent of the owner 

18 of the lands. 

19 (d) MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT.—The total number of 

20 acres enrolled in the healthy forests reserve program shall 

21 not exceed 1,000,000 acres.

22 (e) METHODS OF ENROLLMENT.—Lands may be en23 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program pursuant to 

24 a 10-year cost-share agreement, a 30-year easement, or 

25 a permanent easement with buyback option. The extent 
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1 to which each enrollment method is used shall be based 

2 on the approximate proportion of owner interest expressed 

3 in that method in comparison to the other methods. 

4 (f) ENROLLMENT PRIORITY.—The Secretary of Agri5 culture shall give priority to the enrollment of lands that, 

6 in the sole discretion of the Secretary, will provide the best 

7 opportunity to resolve conflicts between the presence of 

8 an animal or plant species referred to in paragraph (1) 

9 or (2) of subsection (a) and otherwise lawful land use ac10 tivities. 

11 SEC. 503. CONSERVATION PLANS. 

12 (a) PLAN REQUIRED.—Lands enrolled in the healthy 

13 forests reserve program shall be subject to a conservation 

14 plan, to be developed jointly by the land owner and the 

15 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The conservation 

16 plan shall include a description of the land-use activities 

17 that are permissible on the enrolled lands. 

18 (b) INVOLVEMENT BY OTHER AGENCIES AND ORGA19 NIZATIONS.—A State fish and wildlife agency, State for20 estry agency, State environmental quality agency, and 

21 other State conservation agencies and nonprofit conserva22 tion organizations may assist in providing technical or fi23 nancial assistance, or both, for the development and imple24 mentation of conservation plans. 
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1 (c) COST EFFECTIVENESS.—The conservation plan 

2 shall maximize the environmental benefits per dollar ex3 pended. 

4 SEC. 504. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) PERMANENT EASEMENT WITH BUYBACK OP6 TION.—

7 (1) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—In the case of land 

8 enrolled in the healthy forests reserve program using 

9 a permanent easement with a buyback option, the 

10 Secretary of Agriculture shall pay the owner of the 

11 land an amount equal to—

12 (A) the fair market value of the enrolled 

13 land less the fair market value of the land en14 cumbered by the easement; plus 

15 (B) the actual costs of the approved con16 servation practices or the average cost of ap17 proved practices, as established by the Sec18 retary. 

19 (2) BUYBACK OPTION.—Beginning on the 50th 

20 anniversary of the enrollment of the land, and every 

21 10th-year thereafter, the owner shall be able to pur22 chase the easement back from the United States at 

23 a rate equal to the fair market value of the easement 

24 plus the costs, adjusted for inflation, of the approved 

25 conservation practices. 
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1 (b) 30-YEAR EASEMENT.—In the case of land en2 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 30-

3 year easement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall pay the 

4 owner of the land an amount equal to—

5 (1) 75 percent of the fair market value of the 

6 land less the fair market value of the land encum7 bered by the easement; plus 

8 (2) 75 percent of the actual costs of the ap9 proved conservation practices or 75 percent of the 

10 average cost of approved practices, as established by 

11 the Secretary. 

12 (c) 10-YEAR AGREEMENT.—In the case of land en13 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 10-

14 year cost-share agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture 

15 shall pay the owner of the land an amount equal to—

16 (1) 75 percent of the actual costs of the ap17 proved conservation practices; or 

18 (2) 75 percent of the average cost of approved 

19 practices, as established by the Secretary. 

20 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Sec21 retary of Agriculture may accept and use contributions of 

22 non-Federal funds to make payments under this section. 

23 SEC. 505. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

24 The Forest Service and the United States Fish and 

25 Wildlife Service shall provide landowners with technical 
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•HR 1904 IH 

1 assistance to comply with the terms of agreements and 

2 easements under the healthy forests reserve program and 

3 conservation plans. 

4 SEC. 506. SAFE HARBOR. 

5 In implementing the healthy forests reserve program, 

6 the Secretary of the Interior shall provide safe harbor or 

7 similar assurances, through section 7 or other authorities 

8 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

9 1531 et seq.), consistent with the implementing regula10 tions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to 

11 landowners who enroll land in the healthy forests reserve 

12 program when such enrollment will result in a net con13 servation benefit for listed species. 

14 SEC. 507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 

16 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry 

17 out this title. 

18 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

19 PROVISIONS 

20 SEC. 601. FOREST STANDS INVENTORY AND MONITORING 

21 PROGRAM TO IMPROVE DETECTION OF AND 

22 RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall 

24 carry out a comprehensive program to inventory, monitor, 

25 characterize, assess, and identify forest stands (with em-
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•HR 1904 IH 

1 phasis on hardwood forest stands) and potential forest 

2 stands—

3 (1) in units of the National Forest System 

4 (other than those units created from the public do5 main); and 

6 (2) on private forest land, with the consent of 

7 the owner of the land. 

8 (b) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—In carrying out the 

9 program, the Secretary shall address issues including—

10 (1) early detection, identification, and assess11 ment of environmental threats (including insect, dis12 ease, invasive species, fire, and weather-related risks 

13 and other episodic events); 

14 (2) loss or degradation of forests; 

15 (3) degradation of the quality forest stands 

16 caused by inadequate forest regeneration practices; 

17 (4) quantification of carbon uptake rates; and 

18 (5) management practices that focus on pre19 venting further forest degradation. 

20 (c) EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.—In carrying out the 

21 program, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive 

22 early warning system for potential catastrophic environ23 mental threats to forests to increase the likelihood that 

24 forest managers will be able to—
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1 (1) isolate and treat a threat before the threat 

2 gets out of control; and 

3 (2) prevent epidemics, such as the American 

4 chestnut blight in the first half of the twentieth cen5 tury, that could be environmentally and economically 

6 devastating to forests. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 

10 2008.

Æ