II 

★(Star Print) 

Calendar No. 246

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1904

[Report No. 108–121] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2003

Received; read twice and referred to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

JULY 31 (legislative day, JULY 21), 2003

Reported by Mr. COCHRAN, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

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

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

5 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. Injunctive relief for agency action to restore fire-adapted forest or 

rangeland ecosystems. 

Sec. 108. Rules of construction. 

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. 
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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, petroleum9 based product substitutes and other commercial pur10 poses; 

11 (3) to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and 

12 address threats to forest and rangeland health, in13 cluding catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape; 

14 (4) to promote systematic information gath15 ering to address the impact of insect infestations on 

16 forest and rangeland health; 

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

18 disease infestations at an early stage, particularly 

19 with respect to hardwood forests; and 

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

21 forest ecosystem types in order to promote the recov22 ery of threatened and endangered species as well as 
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1 improve biological diversity and enhance carbon se2 questration. 

3 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS RE4 DUCTION ON FEDERAL 

5 LANDS 

6 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title:

8 (1) AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUC9 TION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘authorized hazardous 

10 fuels reduction project’’ means a hazardous fuels re11 duction project described in subsection (a) of section 

12 102, subject to the remainder of such section, that 

13 is planned and conducted using the process author14 ized by section 104. 

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

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

17 refers to the condition class description developed by 

18 the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Sta19 tion in the general technical report entitled ‘‘Devel20 opment of Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland 

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

22 April 2000, under which—

23 (A) fire regimes on the lands have been 

24 moderately altered from their historical range; 
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1 (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing 

2 key ecosystem components from fire; 

3 (C) fire frequencies have departed (either 

4 increased or decreased) from historical fre5 quencies by one or more return interval, which 

6 results in moderate changes to fire size, fre7 quency, intensity, severity, or landscape pat8 terns; and 

9 (D) vegetation attributes have been mod10 erately altered from their historical range. 

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

12 class 3’’, with respect to an area of Federal lands, 

13 refers to the condition class description developed by 

14 the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general 

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

16 which—

17 (A) fire regimes on the lands have been 

18 significantly altered from their historical range; 

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

20 ecosystem components from fire; 

21 (C) fire frequencies have departed from 

22 historical frequencies by multiple return inter23 vals, which results in dramatic changes to fire 

24 size, frequency, intensity, severity, or landscape 

25 patterns; and 
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1 (D) vegetation attributes have been signifi2 cantly altered from their historical range. 

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

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

5 would expire on a nonbusiness day, the deadline will 

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

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

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

9 decision, as those terms are used in applicable regu10 lations of the Council on Environmental Quality and 

11 the Forest Service Handbook. 

12 (6) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

13 lands’’ means—

14 (A) National Forest System lands; and 

15 (B) public lands administered by the Sec16 retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu17 reau of Land Management. 

18 (7) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

19 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction 

20 project’’ refers to the measures and methods de21 scribed in the definition of ‘‘appropriate tools’’ con22 tained in the glossary of the Implementation Plan. 

23 (8) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im24 plementation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan 

25 for the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy for a Col-
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1 laborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire 

2 Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated 

3 May 2002, which was developed pursuant to the con4 ference report for the Department of the Interior 

5 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 

6 (House Report 106–646). 

7 (9) INTERFACE COMMUNITY AND INTERMIX

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

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

10 those terms on page 753 of volume 66 of the Fed11 eral Register, as published on January 4, 2001. 

12 (10) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The 

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

14 reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, pipes, 

15 pipelines, or other surface facilities and systems con16 structed or installed for the impoundment, storage, 

17 transportation, or distribution of drinking water for 

18 a community. 

19 (11) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term 

20 ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means the Secretary of Agri21 culture with respect to National Forest System lands 

22 and the Secretary of the Interior with respect to 

23 public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 

24 Management. Any reference in this title to the ‘‘Sec25 retary concerned’’, the ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’, 
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1 or the ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’ includes the des2 ignee of the Secretary concerned. 

3 (12) THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

4 HABITAT.—The term ‘‘threatened and endangered 

5 species habitat’’ means Federal lands identified in 

6 the listing decision or critical habitat designation as 

7 habitat for a threatened species or an endangered 

8 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

9 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION 

11 PROJECTS. 

12 (a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—Subject to the remain13 der of this section, the Secretary concerned may utilize 

14 the process authorized by section 104 to plan and conduct 

15 hazardous fuels reduction projects on any of the following 

16 Federal lands: 

17 (1) Federal lands located in an interface com18 munity or intermix community. 

19 (2) Federal lands located in such proximity to 

20 an interface community or intermix community that 

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

22 disturbance event from those lands would threaten 

23 human life and property in the interface community 

24 or intermix community. 
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1 (3) Condition class 3 or condition class 2 Fed2 eral lands located in such proximity to a municipal 

3 water supply system, or to a perennial stream feed4 ing a municipal water supply system, that a signifi5 cant risk exists that a fire disturbance event would 

6 have substantial adverse effects on the water quality 

7 of the municipal water supply, including the risk to 

8 water quality posed by erosion following such a fire 

9 disturbance event. 

10 (4) Condition class 3 or condition class 2 Fed11 eral lands identified by the Secretary concerned as 

12 an area where windthrow or blowdown, or the exist13 ence or threat of disease or insect infestation, pose 

14 a significant threat to forest or rangeland health or 

15 adjacent private lands. 

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

17 (2), (3), or (4) that contain threatened and endan18 gered species habitat, but only if—

19 (A) natural fire regimes on such lands are 

20 identified as being important for, or wildfire is 

21 identified as a threat to, an endangered species, 

22 a threatened species, or its habitat in a species 

23 recovery plan prepared under section 4 of the 

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

25 1533) or in a decision document under such 
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1 section determining a species to be an endan2 gered species or a threatened species or desig3 nating critical habitat; 

4 (B) the project will provide enhanced pro5 tection from catastrophic wildfire for the spe6 cies or its habitat; and 

7 (C) the Secretary complies with any appli8 cable guidelines specified in the species recovery 

9 plan prepared under the Endangered Species 

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

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

12 hazardous fuels reduction project shall be planned and 

13 conducted in a manner consistent with the land and re14 source management plan or land use plan applicable to 

15 the Federal lands covered by the project. 

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

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

18 authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

19 (d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS.—The 

20 Secretary concerned may not plan or conduct an author21 ized hazardous fuels reduction project that would occur 

22 on any of the following Federal lands: 

23 (1) A component of the National Wilderness 

24 Preservation System. 
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1 (2) Federal lands where, by Act of Congress or 

2 Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation 

3 is prohibited or restricted. 

4 (3) Wilderness Study Areas. 

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 The Secretary concerned shall prepare an environmental 

18 assessment or an environmental impact statement for each 

19 authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

20 (b) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO ELIMINATE AL21 TERNATIVES.—In the case of an authorized hazardous 

22 fuels reduction project, the Secretary concerned is not re23 quired to study, develop, or describe any alternative to the 

24 proposed agency action in the environmental assessment 

25 or environmental impact statement prepared for the pro-
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1 posed agency action pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na2 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

3 4332(2)). 

4 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—

5 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned 

6 shall provide notice of each authorized hazardous 

7 fuels reduction project in accordance with applicable 

8 regulations and administrative guidelines. 

9 (2) PUBLIC MEETING.—During the planning 

10 stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

11 project, the Secretary concerned shall conduct a 

12 public meeting at an appropriate location proximate 

13 to the administrative unit of the Federal lands in 

14 which the authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

15 project will be conducted. The Secretary concerned 

16 shall provide advance notice of the date and time of 

17 the meeting. 

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

19 meaningful public participation in the identification and 

20 development of authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

21 projects, the Secretary concerned shall facilitate collabora22 tion among governments and interested persons during 

23 the formulation of each authorized fuels reduction project 

24 in a manner consistent with the Implementation Plan. 
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1 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM2 MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National 

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

4 and the applicable regulations and administrative guide5 lines in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary concerned shall provide an opportunity for 

7 public input during the preparation of any environmental 

8 assessment or environmental impact statement for pro9 posed agency action for an authorized hazardous fuels re10 duction project. 

11 (f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary concerned 

12 shall sign a decision document for each authorized haz13 ardous fuels reduction project and provide notice of the 

14 decision document. 

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

16 Implementation Plan, the Secretary concerned shall mon17 itor the implementation of authorized hazardous fuels re18 duction projects. 

19 SEC. 105. SPECIAL FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE RE20 VIEW PROCESS. 

21 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—

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

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

24 regulations to establish an administrative process that will 

25 serve as the sole means by which a person described in 
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1 subsection (b) can seek administrative redress regarding 

2 an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—To be eligible to partici4 pate in the administrative process developed pursuant to 

5 subsection (a) regarding an authorized hazardous fuels re6 duction project, a person must have submitted specific and 

7 substantive written comments during the preparation 

8 stage of that authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

9 The Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that, during the 

10 preparation stage of each authorized hazardous fuels re11 duction project, notice and comment is provided in a man12 ner sufficient to permit interested persons a reasonable 

13 opportunity to satisfy the requirements of this subsection. 

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

15 322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agen16 cies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16 

17 U.S.C. 1612 note), does not apply to an authorized haz18 ardous fuels reduction project. 

19 SEC. 106. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL 

20 REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS 

21 REDUCTION PROJECTS. 

22 (a) FILING DEADLINE.—

23 (1) TIME LIMIT ESTABLISHED FOR FILING.—

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to be 

25 timely, an action in a court of the United States 
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1 challenging an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

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

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

4 the Secretary concerned publishes, in the local paper 

5 of record, notice of the final agency action regarding 

6 the authorized hazardous fuels reduction project. 

7 This time limitation supersedes any notice of intent 

8 to file suit requirement or filing deadline otherwise 

9 applicable to a challenge under any provision of law. 

10 (2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary con11 cerned may not agree to, and a district court may 

12 not grant, a waiver of the requirements of this sub13 section. 

14 (b) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—

15 (1) DURATION; EXTENSION.—Any preliminary 

16 injunction granted regarding an authorized haz17 ardous fuels reduction project shall be limited to 45 

18 days. A court may renew the preliminary injunction, 

19 taking into consideration the goal expressed in sub20 section (c) for the expeditious resolution of cases re21 garding authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

22 projects. 

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

24 a request to renew a preliminary injunction granted 

25 regarding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 
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1 project, the parties shall present the court with an 

2 update on any changes that may have occurred dur3 ing the period of the injunction to the forest or 

4 rangeland conditions that the authorized hazardous 

5 fuels reduction project is intended to address. 

6 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—In the 

7 event of the renewal of a preliminary injunction re8 garding an authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

9 project, the Secretary concerned shall submit notice 

10 of the renewal to the Committee on Resources and 

11 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep12 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat13 ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, 

14 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 

15 (c) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL RE16 VIEW.—Congress intends and encourages any court in 

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

18 an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to expe19 dite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings 

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

21 determination on jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a 

22 final determination on the merits, within 100 days from 

23 the date the complaint or appeal is filed. 
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1 SEC. 107. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR AGENCY ACTION TO RE2 STORE FIRE-ADAPTED FOREST OR RANGE3 LAND ECOSYSTEMS.

4 (a) COVERED PROJECTS.—This section applies with 

5 respect to a motion for an injunction in an action brought 

6 against the Secretary concerned under section 703 of title 

7 5, United States Code, that involves an agency action on 

8 Federal lands, including an authorized hazardous fuels re9 duction project, that is necessary to restore a fire-adapted 

10 forest or rangeland system. 

11 (b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—When considering a mo12 tion described in subsection (a), in determining whether 

13 there would be harm to the defendant from the injunction 

14 and whether the injunction would be in the public interest, 

15 the court reviewing the agency action shall—

16 (1) balance the impact to the ecosystem of the 

17 short-term and long-term effects of undertaking the 

18 agency action against the short-term and long-term 

19 effects of not undertaking the agency action; and 

20 (2) give weight to a finding by the Secretary 

21 concerned in the administrative record of the agency 

22 action concerning the short-term and long-term ef23 fects of undertaking the agency action and of not 

24 undertaking the agency action, unless the court 

25 finds that the finding was arbitrary and capricious. 
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1 SEC. 108. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

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

4 the use by the Secretary concerned of other statutory or 

5 administrative authorities to plan or conduct a hazardous 

6 fuels reduction project on Federal lands, including Federal 

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

8 conducted using the process authorized by section 104. 

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

10 title shall be construed to prejudice or otherwise affect the 

11 consideration or disposition of any legal action concerning 

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

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

14 and record of decision published in the Federal Register 

15 on January 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244). 

16 TITLE II—BIOMASS 

17 SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) Thousands of communities in the United 

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

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

22 managed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

23 Secretary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic 

24 fire in the near future. The accumulation of heavy 

25 forest and rangeland fuel loads continues to increase 
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1 as a result of disease, insect infestations, and 

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

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

4 across all land ownerships are at risk to higher than 

5 normal mortality over the next 15 years from insect 

6 infestation and disease. High levels of tree mortality 

7 from insects and disease result in increased fire risk, 

8 loss of old growth, degraded watershed conditions, 

9 and changes in species diversity and productivity, as 

10 well as diminished fish and wildlife habitat and de11 creased timber values.

12 (3) Preventive treatments such as removing fuel 

13 loading, ladder fuels, and hazard trees, planting 

14 proper species mix and restoring and protecting 

15 early successional habitat, and other specific restora16 tion treatments designed to reduce the susceptibility 

17 of forest and rangeland to insect outbreaks, disease, 

18 and catastrophic fire present the greatest oppor19 tunity for long-term forest and rangeland health by 

20 creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribu21 tion. Such prevention treatments are widely acknowl22 edged to be more successful and cost effective than 

23 suppression treatments in the case of insects, dis24 ease, and fire. 
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1 (4) The by-products of preventive treatment 

2 (wood, brush, thinnings, chips, slash, and other haz3 ardous fuels) removed from forest and rangelands 

4 represent an abundant supply of biomass for bio5 mass-to-energy facilities and raw material for busi6 ness. There are currently few markets for the ex7 traordinary volumes of by-products being generated 

8 as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive 

9 treatment activities. 

10 (5) The United States should—

11 (A) promote economic and entrepreneurial 

12 opportunities in using by-products removed 

13 through preventive treatment activities related 

14 to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect 

15 infestation; and 

16 (B) develop and expand markets for tradi17 tionally underused wood and biomass as an out18 let for by-products of preventive treatment ac19 tivities. 

20 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this title: 

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

23 trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, nee24 dles, and other woody parts, and by-products of pre-
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1 ventive treatment, such as wood, brush, thinnings, 

2 chips, and slash, that are removed—

3 (A) to reduce hazardous fuels; or 

4 (B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis5 ease or insect infestation. 

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

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

8 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist9 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)). 

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

11 (A) an individual; 

12 (B) a community (as determined by the 

13 Secretary concerned); 

14 (C) an Indian tribe; 

15 (D) a small business, micro-business, or a 

16 corporation that is incorporated in the United 

17 States; and 

18 (E) a nonprofit organization. 

19 (4) PREFERRED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘pre20 ferred community’’ means—

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

22 other similar unit of local government (as deter23 mined by the Secretary concerned) that—

24 (i) has a population of not more than 

25 50,000 individuals; and 
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1 (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 

2 sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 

3 determines contains or is located near 

4 land, the condition of which is at signifi5 cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 

6 or insect infestation or which suffers from 

7 disease or insect infestation; or 

8 (B) any county that—

9 (i) is not contained within a metro10 politan statistical area; and 

11 (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the 

12 sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, 

13 determines contains or is located near 

14 land, the condition of which is at signifi15 cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, 

16 or insect infestation or which suffers from 

17 disease or insect infestation. 

18 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec19 retary concerned’’ means—

20 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re21 spect to National Forest System lands; and 

22 (B) the Secretary of the Interior with re23 spect to Federal lands under the jurisdiction of 

24 the Secretary of the Interior and Indian lands. 
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1 SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE COMMERCIAL VALUE 

2 OF FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY, 

3 USEFUL HEAT, TRANSPORTATION FUELS, 

4 AND PETROLEUM-BASED PRODUCT SUB5 STITUTES. 

6 (a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL USE GRANT PROGRAM.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

8 may make grants to any person that owns or oper9 ates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material 

10 to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor11 tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod12 ucts to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass 

13 for use by such facility. 

14 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub15 section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass 

16 delivered. 

17 (3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI18 TIES.—As a condition of a grant under this sub19 section, the grant recipient shall keep such records 

20 as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and 

21 correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all 

22 transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. 

23 Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary 

24 concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the rep25 resentative reasonable access to the facility that pur-
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1 chases or uses biomass and an opportunity to exam2 ine the inventory and records of the facility. 

3 (b) VALUE ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

5 may make grants to persons to offset the cost of 

6 projects to add value to biomass. In making such 

7 grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference 

8 to persons in preferred communities. 

9 (2) SELECTION.—The Secretary concerned shall 

10 select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after 

11 giving consideration to the anticipated public bene12 fits of the project, opportunities for the creation or 

13 expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses, 

14 and the potential for new job creation. 

15 (3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub16 section may not exceed $100,000. 

17 (c) RELATION TO OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES

18 AND RIPARIAN PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary concerned 

19 shall comply with applicable endangered species and ripar20 ian protections in making grants under this section. 

21 Projects funded using grant proceeds shall be required to 

22 comply with such protections. 

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

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

25 fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out this section. 
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1 SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

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

3 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 

4 the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Com5 mittee on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of 

6 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En7 ergy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agri8 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 

9 describing the results of the grant programs authorized 

10 by section 203. 

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

12 the following: 

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

14 use of biomass by persons that receive grants under 

15 section 203. 

16 (2) The distance between the land from which 

17 the biomass was removed and the facility that used 

18 the biomass. 

19 (3) The economic impacts, particularly new job 

20 creation, resulting from the grants to and operation 

21 of the eligible operations. 

22 TITLE III—WATERSHED 

23 FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 

24 SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) There has been a dramatic shift in public 

2 attitudes and perceptions about forest management, 

3 particularly in the understanding and practice of 

4 sustainable forest management. 

5 (2) It is commonly recognized that the proper 

6 stewardship of forest lands is essential to sustaining 

7 and restoring the health of watersheds. 

8 (3) Forests can provide essential ecological 

9 services in filtering pollutants, buffering important 

10 rivers and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which 

11 makes its restoration worthy of special focus. 

12 (4) Strengthened education, technical assist13 ance, and financial assistance to nonindustrial pri14 vate forest landowners and communities, relating to 

15 the protection of watershed health, is needed to real16 ize the expectations of the general public. 

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to—

18 (1) improve landowner and public under19 standing of the connection between forest manage20 ment and watershed health; 

21 (2) encourage landowners to maintain tree 

22 cover on their property and to utilize tree plantings 

23 and vegetative treatments as creative solutions to 

24 watershed problems associated with varying land 

25 uses; 
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1 (3) enhance and complement forest manage2 ment and buffer utilization for watersheds, with an 

3 emphasis on urban watersheds; 

4 (4) establish new partnerships and collaborative 

5 watershed approaches to forest management, stew6 ardship, and conservation; 

7 (5) provide technical and financial assistance to 

8 States to deliver a coordinated program that en9 hances State forestry best-management practices 

10 programs, as well as conserves and improves for11 ested lands and potentially forested lands through 

12 technical, financial, and educational assistance to 

13 qualifying individuals and entities; and 

14 (6) maximize the proper management and con15 servation of wetland forests and to assist in their 

16 restoration as necessary. 

17 SEC. 302. ESTABLISHMENT OF WATERSHED FORESTRY AS18 SISTANCE PROGRAM. 

19 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is 

20 amended by inserting after section 5 the following new 

21 section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE. 

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

24 Secretary, acting through the Forest Service, may provide 

25 technical, financial, and related assistance to State for-
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1 esters and equivalent State officials for the purpose of ex2 panding State forest stewardship capacities and activities 

3 through State forestry best-management practices and 

4 other means at the State level to address watershed issues 

5 on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested 

6 lands. 

7 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

8 QUALITY.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera10 tion with State foresters or equivalent State officials, 

11 shall engage interested members of the public, in12 cluding nonprofit organizations and local watershed 

13 councils, to develop a program of technical assist14 ance to protect water quality, as described in para15 graph (2). 

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

17 under this subsection shall be designed—

18 ‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed 

19 partnerships that focus on forested landscapes 

20 at the local, State, and regional levels; 

21 ‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-man22 agement practices and water quality technical 

23 assistance directly to nonindustrial private for24 est landowners; 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

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

2 managers and policy makers for water quality 

3 protection through forest management; 

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

5 to protect water quality and provide enhanced 

6 opportunities for consultation and cooperation 

7 among Federal and State agencies charged with 

8 responsibility for water and watershed manage9 ment; and 

10 ‘‘(E) to provide enhanced forest resource 

11 data and support for improved implementation 

12 and monitoring of State forestry best-manage13 ment practices. 

14 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program of tech15 nical assistance shall be implemented by State for16 esters or equivalent State officials. 

17 ‘‘(c) WATERSHED FORESTRY COST-SHARE PRO18 GRAM.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a watershed forestry cost-share program to be 

21 administered by the Forest Service and implemented 

22 by State foresters or equivalent State officials. 

23 Funds or other support provided under such pro24 gram shall be made available for State forestry best-
30

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1 management practices programs and watershed for2 estry projects. 

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

4 State forester or equivalent State official of a State, 

5 in coordination with the State Forest Stewardship 

6 Coordinating Committee established under section 

7 19(b) for that State, shall annually make awards to 

8 communities, nonprofit groups, and nonindustrial 

9 private forest landowners under the program for wa10 tershed forestry projects described in paragraph (3). 

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

12 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical 

13 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and res14 toration needs within a State by demonstrating the 

15 value of trees and forests to watershed health and 

16 condition through—

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

18 quality problems in urban and rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve20 ment, and action through State, local and non21 profit partnerships; 

22 ‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of 

23 monitoring information on forestry best-man24 agement practices relating to watershed for25 estry; 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 ‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management 

2 activities and conservation planning; and 

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

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

5 establishment of riparian vegetative buffers. 

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

7 this subsection for a watershed forestry project may 

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

9 Other Federal funding sources may be used to cover 

10 a portion of the remaining project costs, but the 

11 total Federal share of the costs may not exceed 90 

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

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

14 in-kind contributions. 

15 ‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew16 ardship Coordinating Committee for a State shall 

17 prioritize watersheds in that State to target water18 shed forestry projects funded under this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—Financial and 

20 technical assistance shall be made available to the 

21 State Forester or equivalent State official to create 

22 a State best-management practice forester to lead 

23 statewide programs and coordinate small watershed24 level projects. 

25 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devote 

2 at least 75 percent of the funds appropriated for a 

3 fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of appro4 priations in subsection (e) to the cost-share program 

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

6 of delivering technical assistance, education, and 

7 planning on the ground through the State Forester 

8 or equivalent State official. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution 

10 of these funds by the Secretary among the States 

11 shall be made only after giving appropriate consider12 ation to—

13 ‘‘(A) the acres of nonindustrial private 

14 forestland and highly erodible land in each 

15 State; 

16 ‘‘(B) each State’s efforts to conserve for17 ests; 

18 ‘‘(C) the acres of forests in each State that 

19 have been lost or degraded or where forests can 

20 play a role in restoring watersheds; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the number of nonindustrial private 

22 forest landowners in each State. 

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

24 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 

2 2008.’’. 

3 TITLE IV—INSECT 

4 INFESTATIONS 

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

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 

7 (1) APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENT.—

8 The term ‘‘applied silvicultural assessment’’ means 

9 any vegetative or other treatment, for the purposes 

10 described in section 402, including timber harvest, 

11 thinning, prescribed burning, and pruning, as single 

12 treatment or any combination of these treatments. 

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

14 lands’’ means—

15 (A) National Forest System lands; and 

16 (B) public lands administered by the Sec17 retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu18 reau of Land Management. 

19 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec20 retary concerned’’ means—

21 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

22 through the Forest Service, with respect to Na23 tional Forest System lands; and 

24 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

25 through appropriate offices of the United States 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 Geological Survey, with respect to federally 

2 owned land administered by the Secretary of 

3 the Interior. 

4 (4) 1890 INSTITUTIONS.—The term ‘‘1890 In5 stitution’’ means a college or university eligible to 

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

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

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

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

10 infestation result in—

11 (A) increased fire risk; 

12 (B) loss of old growth; 

13 (C) loss of threatened and endangered spe14 cies; 

15 (D) loss of species diversity; 

16 (E) degraded watershed conditions;

17 (F) increased potential for damage from 

18 other agents of disturbance, including exotic, 

19 invasive species; and 

20 (G) decreased timber values. 

21 (2) Bark beetles destroy hundreds of thousands 

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

23 21,000,000 acres are at high risk of bark beetle in24 festation and in the South over 57,000,000 acres are 

25 at risk across all land ownerships. Severe drought 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 conditions in many areas of the South and West will 

2 increase risk of bark beetle infestations. 

3 (3) The hemlock woolly adelgid is destroying 

4 streamside forests throughout the mid-Atlantic and 

5 Appalachian region, threatening water quality and 

6 sensitive aquatic species, and posing a potential 

7 threat to valuable commercial timber lands in North8 ern New England. 

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

10 invasive pest that has quickly become a major threat 

11 to hardwood forests as a emerald ash borer infesta12 tion is almost always fatal to the affected trees. This 

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

14 in forests in Michigan and Ohio alone, and between 

15 five and ten percent of urban street trees in the 

16 Upper Midwest. 

17 (5) Epidemic populations of Southern pine bee18 tle are ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas, Flor19 ida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, 

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

21 Florida and Kentucky experienced 146 percent and 

22 111 percent increases, respectively, in beetle popu23 lations. 

24 (6) These epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine 

25 beetle have forced private landowners to harvest 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 dead and dying trees, in both rural areas and in2 creasingly urbanized settings. 

3 (7) According to the Forest Service, recent out4 breaks of the red oak borer in Arkansas have been 

5 unprecedented, with almost 800,000 acres infested 

6 at population levels never seen before. 

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

8 has taken place in National forests, and the Federal 

9 response has been inadequate to protect forest eco10 systems and other ecological and economic resources. 

11 (9) Previous silvicultural assessments, while 

12 useful and informative, have been limited in scale 

13 and scope of application, and there has not been suf14 ficient resources available to adequately test a full 

15 array of individual and combined applied silvicul16 tural assessments. 

17 (10) Only through the rigorous funding, devel18 opment, and assessment of potential applied silvicul19 tural assessments over specific time frames across 

20 an array of environmental and climatic conditions 

21 can the most innovative and cost effective manage22 ment applications be determined that will help re23 duce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to attack 

24 by forest pests. 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 (11) Funding and implementation of an initia2 tive to combat forest pest infestations should not 

3 come at the expense of supporting other programs 

4 and initiatives of the Secretary concerned. 

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

6 (1) to require the Secretary concerned to de7 velop an accelerated basic and applied assessment 

8 program to combat infestations by bark beetles, in9 cluding Southern pine beetles, hemlock woolly 

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

11 white oak borers; 

12 (2) to enlist the assistance of universities and 

13 forestry schools, including Land Grant Colleges and 

14 Universities and 1890 Institutions, to carry out the 

15 program; and 

16 (3) to carry out applied silvicultural assess17 ments. 

18 SEC. 402. ACCELERATED INFORMATION GATHERING RE19 GARDING BARK BEETLES, INCLUDING 

20 SOUTHERN PINE BEETLES, HEMLOCK WOOL21 LY ADELGIDS, EMERALD ASH BORERS, RED 

22 OAK BORERS, AND WHITE OAK BORERS. 

23 (a) INFORMATION GATHERING.—The Secretary con24 cerned shall establish, acting through the Forest Service 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 and United States Geological Survey, as appropriate, an 

2 accelerated program—

3 (1) to plan, conduct, and promote comprehen4 sive and systematic information gathering on bark 

5 beetles, including Southern pine beetles, hemlock 

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

7 and white oak borers, including an evaluation of—

8 (A) infestation prevention and control 

9 methods; 

10 (B) effects of infestations on forest eco11 systems; 

12 (C) restoration of the forest ecosystem ef13 forts; 

14 (D) utilization options regarding infested 

15 trees; and 

16 (E) models to predict the occurrence, dis17 tribution, and impact of outbreaks of bark bee18 tles, including Southern pine beetles, hemlock 

19 woolly adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak 

20 borers, and white oak borers; 

21 (2) to assist land managers in the development 

22 of treatments and strategies to improve forest health 

23 and reduce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to 

24 severe infestations of bark beetles, including South25 ern pine beetles, hemlock woolly adelgids, emerald 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

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

2 Federal lands and State and private lands; and 

3 (3) to disseminate the results of such informa4 tion gathering, treatments, and strategies. 

5 (b) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

6 concerned shall establish and carry out the program in co7 operation with scientists from universities and forestry 

8 schools, State agencies, and private and industrial land 

9 owners. The Secretary concerned shall designate univer10 sities and forestry schools, including Land Grant Colleges 

11 and Universities and 1890 Institutions, to assist in car12 rying out the program. 

13 SEC. 403. APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENTS. 

14 (a) ASSESSMENT EFFORTS.—For information gath15 ering purposes, the Secretary concerned may conduct ap16 plied silvicultural assessments on Federal lands that the 

17 Secretary concerned determines, in the discretion of the 

18 Secretary concerned, is at risk of infestation by, or is in19 fested with, bark beetles, including Southern pine beetles, 

20 hemlock woolly adelgids, emerald ash borers, red oak bor21 ers, and white oak borers. Any applied silvicultural assess22 ments carried out under this section shall be conducted 

23 on not more than 1,000 acres per assessment. 

24 (b) LIMITATIONS.—
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HR 1904 RS1S 

1 (1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Sub2 section (a) does not apply to—

3 (A) a component of the National Wilder4 ness Preservation System; 

5 (B) Federal lands where, by Act of Con6 gress or Presidential proclamation, the removal 

7 of vegetation is restricted or prohibited; or 

8 (C) congressionally designated wilderness 

9 study areas. 

10 (2) CERTAIN TREATMENT PROHIBITED.—Sub11 section (a) does not authorize the application of in12 secticides in municipal watersheds and associated ri13 parian areas. 

14 (3) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Applied silvicul15 tural assessments may be implemented on not more 

16 than 250,000 acres using the authorities provided by 

17 this title. 

18 (4) PEER REVIEW.—Each applied silvicultural 

19 assessment under this title, prior to being carried 

20 out, shall be peer reviewed by scientific experts se21 lected by the Secretary concerned, which shall in22 clude non-Federal experts. The Secretary concerned 

23 may use existing peer review processes to the extent 

24 they comply with the preceding sentence. 

25 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—
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HR 1904 RS1S 

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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HR 1904 RS1S 

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 
43

HR 1904 RS1S 

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 
44

HR 1904 RS1S 

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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HR 1904 RS1S 

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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HR 1904 RS1S 

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 
47

HR 1904 RS1S 

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-
48

HR 1904 RS1S 

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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HR 1904 RS1S 

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.

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

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

14 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this 

15 Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND 

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. Effect of title. 

TITLE II—BIOMASS 

Sec. 201. Findings. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 
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HR 1904 RS1S 

Sec. 203. Grants to improve commercial value of forest biomass for electric energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, compost, value-added 

products, and petroleum-based product substitutes. 

Sec. 204. Reporting requirement. 

Sec. 205. Improved biomass use research program. 

Sec. 206. Rural revitalization through forestry. 

TITLE III—WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 301. Findings and purposes. 

Sec. 302. Watershed forestry assistance program. 

Sec. 303. Tribal watershed forestry assistance. 

TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTATIONS AND RELATED DISEASES 

Sec. 401. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 402. Definitions. 

Sec. 403. Accelerated information gathering regarding forest-damaging insects. 

Sec. 404. Applied silvicultural assessments. 

Sec. 405. Relation to other laws. 

Sec. 406. 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. Restoration plans. 

Sec. 504. Financial assistance. 

Sec. 505. Technical assistance. 

Sec. 506. Protections and measures 

Sec. 507. Involvement by other agencies and organizations. 

Sec. 508. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE VI—PUBLIC LAND CORPS 

Sec. 601. Purposes. 

Sec. 602. Definitions. 

Sec. 603. Public Land Corps. 

Sec. 604. Nondisplacement. 

Sec. 605. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE VII—RURAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PROGRAM 

Sec. 701. Purpose 

Sec. 702. Definitions. 

Sec. 703. Rural community forestry enterprise program. 

TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 801. Forest inventory and management. 

Sec. 802. Program for emergency treatment and reduction of nonnative invasive 

plants. 

Sec. 803. USDA National Agroforestry Center. 

Sec. 804. Upland Hardwoods Research Center. 

Sec. 805. Sense of Congress regarding enhanced community fire protection.
51

HR 1904 RS1S 

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to reduce the risks of damage to communities, 

4 municipal water supplies, and certain at-risk Federal 

5 land from catastrophic wildfires; 

6 (2) to authorize grant programs to improve the 

7 commercial value of forest biomass (that otherwise 

8 contributes to the risk of catastrophic fire or insect or 

9 disease infestation) for producing electric energy, use10 ful heat, transportation fuels, and petroleum-based 

11 product substitutes, and for other commercial pur12 poses; 

13 (3) to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and 

14 address threats to forest and rangeland health, includ15 ing catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape; 

16 (4) to promote systematic gathering of informa17 tion to address the impact of insect and disease infes18 tations and other damaging agents on forest and 

19 rangeland health; 

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

21 disease infestations at an early stage, particularly 

22 with respect to hardwood forests; and 

23 (6) to protect, restore, and enhance forest eco24 system components—

25 (A) to promote the recovery of threatened 

26 and endangered species; 
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1 (B) to improve biological diversity; and 

2 (C) to enhance productivity and carbon se3 questration. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

7 means—

8 (A) land of the National Forest System (as 

9 defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range10 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 

11 (16 U.S.C 1609(a))) administered by the Sec12 retary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of 

13 the Forest Service; and 

14 (B) public lands (as defined in section 103 

15 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

16 of 1976 (43 U.S.C 1702)), the surface of which

17 is administered by the Secretary of the Interior, 

18 acting through the Director of the Bureau of 

19 Land Management. 

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

21 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian 

22 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

23 U.S.C. 450b). 
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1 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS 

2 REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND

3 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this title: 

5 (1) AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

6 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘authorized hazardous fuels re7 duction project’’ means a hazardous fuels reduction 

8 project on Federal land described in section 102(a) 

9 conducted in accordance with sections 103 and 104. 

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

11 class 2’’, with respect to an area of Federal land, 

12 means the condition class description developed by the 

13 Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in 

14 the general technical report entitled ‘‘Development of 

15 Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland Fire and 

16 Fuel Management’’ (RMRS–87), dated April 2000 

17 (including any subsequent revision to the report), 

18 under which—

19 (A) fire regimes on the land have been mod20 erately altered from historical ranges; 

21 (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing 

22 key ecosystem components from fire; 

23 (C) fire frequencies have increased or de24 creased from historical frequencies by 1 or more 
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1 return intervals, resulting in moderate changes 

2 to—

3 (i) the size, frequency, intensity, or se4 verity of fires; or 

5 (ii) landscape patterns; and 

6 (D) vegetation attributes have been mod7 erately altered from the historical range of the 

8 attributes. 

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

10 class 3’’, with respect to an area of Federal land, 

11 means the condition class description developed by the 

12 Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general tech13 nical report referred to in paragraph (2) (including 

14 any subsequent revision to the report), under which—

15 (A) fire regimes on land have been signifi16 cantly altered from historical ranges; 

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

18 ecosystem components from fire; 

19 (C) fire frequencies have departed from his20 torical frequencies by multiple return intervals, 

21 resulting in dramatic changes to—

22 (i) the size, frequency, intensity, or se23 verity of fires; or 

24 (ii) landscape patterns; and 
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1 (D) vegetation attributes have been signifi2 cantly altered from the historical range of the at3 tributes. 

4 (4) DAY.—The term ‘‘day’’ means—

5 (A) a calendar day; or 

6 (B) if a deadline imposed by this title 

7 would expire on a nonbusiness day, the end of 

8 the next business day. 

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

10 document’’ means a decision notice or record of deci11 sion, as those terms are used in applicable regulations 

12 of the Council on Environmental Quality and the 

13 Forest Service Handbook. 

14 (6) HAZARDOUS FUELS.—The term ‘‘hazardous 

15 fuels’’ means vegetation (dead or alive) in the forest 

16 or rangeland ecosystem that—

17 (A) is in excess of historic conditions or 

18 management goals; and 

19 (B) can cause wildfires. 

20 (7) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT.—

21 The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction project’’ means 

22 the measures and methods described in the definition 

23 of ‘‘appropriate tools’’ contained in the glossary of the 

24 Implementation Plan. 
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1 (8) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Imple2 mentation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan for 

3 the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy for a Collabo4 rative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to 

5 Communities and the Environment, dated May 2002, 

6 which was developed pursuant to the Department of 

7 the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

8 2001 (Public Law 106–291) (including any subse9 quent revision to the Plan). 

10 (9) INTERFACE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘inter11 face community’’ has the meaning given the term in 

12 the notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 (January 4, 

13 2001) (including any subsequent revision to the no14 tice). 

15 (10) INTERMIX COMMUNITY.—The term 

16 ‘‘intermix community’’ has the meaning given the 

17 term in the notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 

18 (January 4, 2001) (including any subsequent revision 

19 to the notice). 

20 (11) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The 

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

22 source watersheds, reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, 

23 laterals, pipes, pipelines, and other surface facilities 

24 and systems constructed or installed for the collection, 
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1 impoundment, storage, transportation, or distribution 

2 of drinking water for a community. 

3 (12) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 

4 ‘‘resource management plan’’ means—

5 (A) a land and resource management plan 

6 prepared for 1 or more units of land of the Na7 tional Forest System described in section 3(1)(A) 

8 under section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Re9 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

10 U.S.C. 1604); or 

11 (B) a land use plan prepared for 1 or more 

12 units of the public land described in section 

13 3(1)(B) under section 202 of the Federal Land 

14 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

15 1712). 

16 (13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

17 means—

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re19 spect to land of the National Forest System de20 scribed in section 3(1)(A); and

21 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re22 spect to public lands described in section 

23 3(1)(B). 
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1 (14) THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

2 HABITAT.—The term ‘‘threatened and endangered spe3 cies habitat’’ means Federal land identified in—

4 (A) a determination that a species is an en5 dangered species or a threatened species under 

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

7 1531 et seq.); 

8 (B) a designation of critical habitat of the 

9 species under that Act; or 

10 (C) a recovery plan prepared for the species 

11 under that Act. 

12 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION 

13 PROJECTS. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct 

16 hazardous fuels reduction projects on—

17 (A) Federal land located in an interface 

18 community or intermix community; 

19 (B) Federal land located in such proximity 

20 to an interface community or intermix commu21 nity that there is a significant risk that the 

22 spread of a fire disturbance event from that land 

23 would threaten human life or property in prox24 imity to or within the interface community or 

25 intermix community; 
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1 (C) condition class 3 or condition class 2 

2 Federal land located in such proximity to a mu3 nicipal watershed, water supply system or a 

4 stream feeding a municipal water supply system 

5 that a significant risk exists that a fire disturb6 ance event would have adverse effects on the 

7 water quality of the municipal water supply or 

8 the maintenance of the system, including the risk 

9 to water quality posed by erosion following such 

10 a fire disturbance event; 

11 (D) condition class 3 or condition class 2 

12 Federal land on which windthrow or blowdown, 

13 ice storm damage, or the existence or threat of 

14 disease or insect infestation, poses a significant 

15 threat to an ecosystem component, or forest or 

16 rangeland resource, on the Federal land or adja17 cent private land; 

18 (E) Federal land not covered by subpara19 graph (A), (B), (C), or (D) that contains threat20 ened and endangered species habitat, if—

21 (i) natural fire regimes on that land 

22 are identified as being important for, or 

23 wildfire is identified as a threat to, an en24 dangered species, a threatened species, or 

25 habitat of an endangered species or threat-
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1 ened species in a species recovery plan pre2 pared under section 4 of the Endangered 

3 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533), or a 

4 notice published in the Federal Register de5 termining a species to be an endangered 

6 species or a threatened species or desig7 nating critical habitat; 

8 (ii) the project will provide enhanced 

9 protection from catastrophic wildfire for the 

10 endangered species, threatened species, or 

11 habitat of the endangered species or threat12 ened species; and 

13 (iii) the Secretary complies with any 

14 applicable guidelines specified in any recov15 ery plan described in clause (i). 

16 (2) CLASSIFICATION.—The Secretary shall clas17 sify appropriate land described in paragraph (1)(D) 

18 impacted by windthrow or blowdown, ice storm dam19 age, or the existence or threat of disease or insect in20 festation as condition class 3 or condition class 2 

21 Federal land. 

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

23 hazardous fuels reduction project shall be conducted in a 

24 manner consistent with the resource management plan ap25 plicable to the Federal land covered by the project. 
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1 (c) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Not more than a total of 

2 20,000,000 acres of Federal land may be included in au3 thorized hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

4 (d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND.—The 

5 Secretary may not conduct an authorized hazardous fuels 

6 reduction project that would occur on—

7 (1) a component of the National Wilderness Pres8 ervation System; 

9 (2) Federal land on which, by Act of Congress or 

10 Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation 

11 is prohibited or restricted; or 

12 (3) a Wilderness Study Area. 

13 SEC. 103. PRIORITIZATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND WATER14 SHEDS. 

15 As provided for in the Implementation Plan, the Sec16 retary shall give priority to authorized hazardous fuel re17 duction projects that provide for the protection of commu18 nities and watersheds.

19 SEC. 104. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS. 

20 (a) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 

22 in this title, the Secretary shall conduct authorized 

23 hazardous fuels reduction projects in accordance 

24 with—
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1 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

2 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.); and 

3 (B) other applicable laws. 

4 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR IMPACT

5 STATEMENT.—The Secretary shall prepare an envi6 ronmental assessment or an environmental impact 

7 statement (pursuant to section 102(2) of the National 

8 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

9 4332(2))) for each authorized hazardous fuels reduc10 tion project. 

11 (b) ALTERNATIVES.—The Secretary is not required to 

12 study, develop, or describe any alternative to the proposed 

13 agency action in the environmental assessment or environ14 mental impact statement prepared in accordance with sub15 section (a)(2). 

16 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—

17 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pro18 vide notice of each authorized hazardous fuels reduc19 tion project in accordance with applicable regulations 

20 and administrative guidelines.

21 (2) PUBLIC MEETING.—During the preparation 

22 stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

23 project, the Secretary shall—

24 (A) conduct a public meeting at an appro25 priate location proximate to the administrative 
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1 unit of the Federal land on which the authorized 

2 hazardous fuels reduction project will be con3 ducted; and 

4 (B) provide advance notice of the location, 

5 date, and time of the meeting. 

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

7 meaningful public participation during preparation of au8 thorized hazardous fuels reduction projects, the Secretary 

9 shall facilitate collaboration among State and local govern10 ments and Indian tribes, and participation of interested 

11 persons, during the preparation of each authorized fuels re12 duction project in a manner consistent with the Implemen13 tation Plan. 

14 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM15 MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National 

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

17 the applicable regulations and administrative guidelines, 

18 the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public input 

19 during the preparation of any environmental assessment or 

20 environmental impact statement for an authorized haz21 ardous fuels reduction project. 

22 (f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary shall sign a 

23 decision document for authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

24 projects and provide notice of the final agency actions. 
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1 (g) PROJECT MONITORING.—In accordance with the 

2 Implementation Plan, the Secretary shall monitor the im3 plementation of authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

4 projects. 

5 SEC. 105. SPECIAL FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE RE6 VIEW PROCESS. 

7 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

8 PROCESS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall pro10 mulgate final regulations to establish an administrative re11 view process that will serve as the sole means by which a 

12 person described in subsection (b) can seek administrative 

13 review regarding a proposed hazardous fuels reduction 

14 project. 

15 (b) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate 

17 in the administrative review process established under 

18 subsection (a), a person shall submit specific and sub19 stantive written comments during the notice and com20 ment stage of the authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

21 project. 

22 (2) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—The Secretary of 

23 Agriculture shall ensure that, during the preparation 

24 stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction 

25 project, notice and comment is provided in a manner 
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1 sufficient to permit interested persons a reasonable 

2 opportunity to comply with this subsection. 

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

4 322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 

5 Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16 U.S.C. 

6 1612 note), does not apply to an authorized hazardous fuels 

7 reduction project. 

8 SEC. 106. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL 

9 REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS 

10 REDUCTION PROJECTS. 

11 (a) FILING DEADLINE.—

12 (1) TIME LIMIT ESTABLISHED FOR FILING.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

14 other provision of law, to be timely, an action in 

15 a court of the United States challenging an au16 thorized hazardous fuels reduction project shall 

17 be filed in the court before the end of the 15-day 

18 period beginning on the date on which the Sec19 retary provides notice of the final agency action 

20 regarding the authorized hazardous fuels reduc21 tion project. 

22 (B) APPLICABILITY.—The time limitation 

23 under subparagraph (A) supersedes any require24 ment regarding notice of intent to file a lawsuit, 

25 or filing deadline, otherwise applicable to an ac-
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1 tion challenging an authorized hazardous fuels 

2 reduction project under any provision of law. 

3 (2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary may 

4 not agree to, and a court of the United States may 

5 not grant, a waiver of the requirements of this sub6 section. 

7 (b) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—

8 (1) DURATION; EXTENSION.—

9 (A) DURATION.—Any preliminary injunc10 tion, or injunction pending appeal, granted by a 

11 court of the United States regarding an author12 ized hazardous fuels reduction project shall be 

13 limited to 45 days. 

14 (B) EXTENSION.—A court may renew the 

15 preliminary injunction or injunction pending 

16 appeal, taking into consideration the goal ex17 pressed in subsection (c) for the expeditious reso18 lution of cases regarding authorized hazardous 

19 fuels reduction projects. 

20 (2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part of a 

21 request to renew a preliminary injunction, or injunc22 tion pending appeal, granted regarding an authorized 

23 hazardous fuels reduction project, the parties involved 

24 shall present to the court a description of any changes 

25 that may have occurred during the period of the in-
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1 junction to the forest or rangeland conditions that the 

2 authorized hazardous fuels reduction project is in3 tended to address. 

4 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—In the 

5 event of the renewal of a preliminary injunction, or 

6 injunction pending appeal, regarding an authorized 

7 hazardous fuels reduction project, the Secretary shall 

8 submit notice of the renewal to—

9 (A) the Committee on Resources and the 

10 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep11 resentatives; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

13 Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, 

14 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 

15 (c) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL RE16 VIEW.—Congress intends and encourages any court in 

17 which is filed an action challenging an authorized haz18 ardous fuels reduction project to expedite, to the maximum 

19 extent practicable, the proceedings in the lawsuit or appeal

20 with the goal of rendering, not later than 100 days after 

21 the date on which the complaint or appeal is filed—

22 (1) a final determination on jurisdiction; and 

23 (2) if jurisdiction exists, a final determination 

24 on the merits. 
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1 SEC. 107. STANDARD FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR AGENCY 

2 ACTION TO RESTORE FIRE-ADAPTED FOREST 

3 OR RANGELAND ECOSYSTEMS. 

4 If a civil action brought against the Secretary under 

5 section 703 of title 5, United States Code, involves an agen6 cy action on Federal land on which the Secretary found 

7 that the agency action is necessary to restore a fire-adapted 

8 forest or rangeland ecosystem (including an authorized haz9 ardous fuels reduction project), the court reviewing the 

10 agency action, in considering a request for a prohibitory 

11 or mandatory injunction against the agency action, shall—

12 (1) balance the impact to the ecosystem likely af13 fected by the project of the short- and long-term effects 

14 of undertaking the agency action against the short15 and long-term effects of not undertaking the agency 

16 action; and 

17 (2) give weight to a finding by the Secretary in 

18 the administrative record of the agency action con19 cerning the short- and long-term effects of under20 taking the agency action and of not undertaking the 

21 agency action, unless the court finds that the finding 

22 was arbitrary and capricious. 

23 SEC. 108. EFFECT OF TITLE. 

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

25 this title affects, or otherwise biases, the use by the Secretary 

26 of other statutory or administrative authority to conduct 
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1 a hazardous fuels reduction project on Federal land (includ2 ing Federal land identified in section 102(d)) that is not 

3 conducted using the process authorized by section 104. 

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

5 title prejudices or otherwise affects the consideration or dis6 position of any legal action concerning the Roadless Area 

7 Conservation Rule contained in part 294 of title 36, Code 

8 of Federal Regulations, and amended in the final rule and 

9 record of decision published in the Federal Register on Jan10 uary 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244). 

11 TITLE II—BIOMASS 

12 SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 

13 Congress finds that—

14 (1)(A) thousands of communities in the United 

15 States, many located near Federal land, are at risk 

16 of wildfire; 

17 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land man18 aged by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec19 retary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic fire 

20 in the near future; and 

21 (C) the accumulation of heavy forest and range22 land fuel loads continues to increase as a result of fire 

23 exclusion, disease, insect infestations, and drought, 

24 further raising the risk of fire each year; 
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1 (2)(A) more than 70,000,000 acres across all 

2 land ownerships are at risk of higher than normal 

3 mortality during the 15-year period beginning on the 

4 date of enactment of this Act because of insect infesta5 tion and disease; and 

6 (B) high levels of tree mortality from insects and 

7 disease result in—

8 (i) increased fire risk; 

9 (ii) loss of older trees and old growth; 

10 (iii) degraded watershed conditions; 

11 (iv) changes in species diversity and pro12 ductivity; 

13 (v) diminished fish and wildlife habitat; 

14 (vi) decreased timber values; and 

15 (vii) increased threats to homes, businesses, 

16 and community watersheds; 

17 (3)(A) preventive treatments (such as reducing 

18 fuel loads, crown density, ladder fuels, and hazard 

19 trees), planting proper species mix, restoring and pro20 tecting early successional habitat, and completing 

21 other specific restoration treatments designed to re22 duce the susceptibility of forest and rangeland to in23 sect outbreaks, disease, and catastrophic fire present 

24 the greatest opportunity for long-term forest and 

25 rangeland health, maintenance, and enhancement by 
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1 creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribution; 

2 and 

3 (B) those vegetation management treatments are 

4 widely acknowledged to be more successful and cost5 effective than suppression treatments in the case of 

6 insects, disease, and fire; 

7 (4)(A) the byproducts of vegetative management 

8 treatment (such as trees, brush, thinnings, chips, 

9 slash, and other hazardous fuels) removed from forest 

10 and rangeland represent an abundant supply of—

11 (i) biomass for biomass-to-energy facilities; 

12 and 

13 (ii) raw material for business; and 

14 (B) there are currently few markets for the ex15 traordinary volumes of by-products being generated 

16 as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive 

17 treatment activities; and 

18 (5) the United States should—

19 (A) promote economic and entrepreneurial 

20 opportunities in using by-products removed 

21 through vegetation treatment activities relating 

22 to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect 

23 infestation; 

24 (B) develop and expand markets for tradi25 tionally underused wood and biomass as an out-
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1 let for by-products of preventive treatment activi2 ties; and 

3 (C) promote research and development to 

4 provide, for the by-products, economically and 

5 environmentally sound—

6 (i) management systems; 

7 (ii) harvest and transport systems; and 

8 (iii) utilization options. 

9 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this title: 

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

12 and woody plants (including limbs, tops, needles, 

13 other woody parts, and wood waste) and byproducts 

14 of preventive treatment (such as wood, brush, 

15 thinnings, chips, and slash) that are removed—

16 (A) to reduce hazardous fuels; 

17 (B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis18 ease or insect infestation; or

19 (C) to improve forest health and wildlife 

20 habitat conditions. 

21 (2) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes—

22 (A) an individual; 

23 (B) a community (as determined by the 

24 Secretary); 

25 (C) an Indian tribe; 
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1 (D) a small business, microbusiness, or a 

2 corporation that is incorporated in the United 

3 States; and 

4 (E) a nonprofit organization. 

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

7 (A) any town, township, municipality, In8 dian tribe, or other similar unit of local govern9 ment (as determined by the Secretary) that—

10 (i) has a population of not more than 

11 50,000 individuals; and 

12 (ii) the Secretary, in the sole discretion 

13 of the Secretary, determines contains or is 

14 located near, or with a water supply system 

15 that contains or is located near, land that—

16 (I) is at significant risk of cata17 strophic wildfire, disease, or insect in18 festation; or 

19 (II) suffers from disease or insect 

20 infestation; or 

21 (B) any area or unincorporated area rep22 resented by a nonprofit organization approved 

23 by the Secretary, that—

24 (i) is not wholly contained within a 

25 metropolitan statistical area; and 
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1 (ii) the Secretary, in the sole discretion 

2 of the Secretary, determines contains or is 

3 located near, or with a water supply system 

4 that contains or is located near, land—

5 (I) the condition of which is at 

6 significant risk of catastrophic wild7 fire, disease, or insect infestation; or 

8 (II) that suffers from disease or 

9 insect infestation. 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

11 means—

12 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re13 spect to National Forest System land; and 

14 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re15 spect to Federal land under the jurisdiction of 

16 the Secretary of the Interior (including land held 

17 in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe). 

18 SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF 

19 FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY, 

20 USEFUL HEAT, TRANSPORTATION FUELS, 

21 COMPOST, VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS, AND PE22 TROLEUM-BASED PRODUCT SUBSTITUTES. 

23 (a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL UTILIZATION GRANT PRO24 GRAM.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

2 grants to any person that owns or operates a facility 

3 that uses biomass as a raw material to produce elec4 tric energy, sensible heat, transportation fuels, sub5 stitutes for petroleum-based products, wood-based 

6 products, pulp, or other commercial products to offset 

7 the costs incurred to purchase biomass for use by the 

8 facility. 

9 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub10 section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass 

11 delivered. 

12 (3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI13 TIES.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a 

15 grant under this subsection, the grant recipient 

16 shall keep such records as the Secretary may re17 quire to fully and correctly disclose the use of the 

18 grant funds and all transactions involved in the 

19 purchase of biomass. 

20 (B) ACCESS.—On notice by a representative 

21 of the Secretary, the grant recipient shall afford 

22 the representative—

23 (i) reasonable access to the facility that 

24 purchases or uses biomass; and 
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1 (ii) an opportunity to examine the in2 ventory and records of the facility. 

3 (b) VALUE-ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary—

5 (A) may make grants to persons to offset the 

6 cost of projects to add value to biomass; and 

7 (B) in making a grant under subparagraph 

8 (A), shall give preference to persons in preferred 

9 communities. 

10 (2) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select a 

11 grant recipient under paragraph (1)(A) after giving 

12 consideration to—

13 (A) the anticipated public benefits of the 

14 project; 

15 (B) opportunities for the creation or expan16 sion of small businesses and microbusinesses re17 sulting from the project; and 

18 (C) the potential for new job creation as a 

19 result of the project. 

20 (3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub21 section shall not exceed $100,000. 

22 (c) RELATION TO OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES AND

23 RIPARIAN PROTECTIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall comply 

2 with applicable endangered species and riparian pro3 tections in making grants under this section. 

4 (2) PROJECTS.—Projects funded using grant 

5 proceeds shall be required to comply with the protec6 tions. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008. 

10 SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

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

12 2008, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Committee on 

14 Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of the House 

15 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat16 ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri17 tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the re18 sults of the grant programs authorized by section 203. 

19 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall in20 clude—

21 (1) an identification of the source, size, type, and 

22 the end-use of biomass by persons that receive grants 

23 under section 203; 
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1 (2) the haul costs incurred and the distance be2 tween the land from which the biomass was removed 

3 and the facilities that used the biomass; 

4 (3) the economic impacts, particularly new job 

5 creation, resulting from the grants to and operation 

6 of the eligible operations; and 

7 (4) the environmental effects of the activities de8 scribed in this section. 

9 SEC. 205. IMPROVED BIOMASS USE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

10 (a) USES OF GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND ASSIST11 ANCE.—Section 307(d) of the Biomass Research and Devel12 opment Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 7624 note; Public Law 106–

13 224) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

15 end; 

16 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) research to integrate silviculture, harvesting, 

20 product development, processing information, and 

21 economic evaluation to provide the science, tech22 nology, and tools to forest managers and community 

23 developers for use in evaluating forest treatment and 

24 production alternatives, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) to develop tools that would enable land 

2 managers, locally or in a several-State region, to 

3 estimate—

4 ‘‘(i) the cost to deliver varying quan5 tities of wood to a particular location; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the amount that could be paid for 

7 stumpage if delivered wood was used for a 

8 specific mix of products; 

9 ‘‘(B) to conduct research focused on devel10 oping appropriate thinning systems and equip11 ment designs that are—

12 ‘‘(i) capable of being used on land 

13 without significant adverse effects on the 

14 land; 

15 ‘‘(ii) capable of handling large and 

16 varied landscapes; 

17 ‘‘(iii) adaptable to handling a wide va18 riety of tree sizes; 

19 ‘‘(iv) inexpensive; and 

20 ‘‘(v) adaptable to various terrains; and 

21 ‘‘(C) to develop, test, and employ in the 

22 training of forestry managers and community 

23 developers curricula materials and training pro24 grams on matters described in subparagraphs 

25 (A) and (B).’’. 
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1 (b) FUNDING.—Section 310(b) of the Biomass Research 

2 and Development Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 7624 note; Public 

3 Law 106–224) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘$49,000,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$54,000,000’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

7 following: ‘‘, of which not less than $5,000,000 shall 

8 be used for each fiscal year to carry out section 

9 307(d)(5)’’. 

10 SEC. 206. RURAL REVITALIZATION THROUGH FORESTRY. 

11 Section 2371 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, 

12 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6601) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) RURAL REVITALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

16 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, in con17 sultation with the State and Private Forestry Tech18 nology Marketing Unit at the Forest Products Lab19 oratory, and in collaboration with eligible institu20 tions, may carry out a program—

21 ‘‘(A) to accelerate adoption of technologies 

22 using biomass and small-diameter materials; 

23 ‘‘(B) to create community-based enterprises 

24 through marketing activities and demonstration 

25 projects; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) to establish small-scale business enter2 prises to make use of biomass and small-diame3 ter materials. 

4 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

7 2004 through 2008.’’. 

8 TITLE III—WATERSHED 

9 FORESTRY ASSISTANCE 

10 SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

11 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

12 (1) there has been a dramatic shift in public at13 titudes and perceptions about forest management, 

14 particularly in the understanding and practice of 

15 sustainable forest management; 

16 (2) it is commonly recognized that the proper 

17 stewardship of forest land is essential to sustaining 

18 and restoring the health of watersheds; 

19 (3) forests can provide essential ecological serv20 ices in filtering pollutants, buffering important rivers 

21 and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which makes 

22 forest restoration worthy of special focus; and 

23 (4) strengthened education, technical assistance, 

24 and financial assistance for nonindustrial private 

25 forest landowners and communities, relating to the 
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1 protection of watershed health, is needed to realize the 

2 expectations of the general public. 

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

4 (1) to improve landowner and public under5 standing of the connection between forest management 

6 and watershed health; 

7 (2) to encourage landowners to maintain tree 

8 cover on property and to use tree plantings and vege9 tative treatments as creative solutions to watershed 

10 problems associated with varying land uses; 

11 (3) to enhance and complement forest manage12 ment and buffer use for watersheds, with an emphasis 

13 on community watersheds; 

14 (4) to establish new partnerships and collabo15 rative watershed approaches to forest management, 

16 stewardship, and conservation; 

17 (5) to provide technical and financial assistance 

18 to States to deliver a coordinated program that en19 hances State forestry best-management practices pro20 grams, and conserves and improves forested land and 

21 potentially forested land, through technical, financial,

22 and educational assistance to qualifying individuals 

23 and entities; and 
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1 (6) to maximize the proper management and 

2 conservation of wetland forests and to assist in the 

3 restoration of those forests.

4 SEC. 302. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

5 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is 

6 amended by inserting after section 5 (16 U.S.C. 2103a) the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF NONINDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FOR10 EST LAND.—In this section, the term ‘nonindustrial private 

11 forest land’ means rural land, as determined by the Sec12 retary, that—

13 ‘‘(1) has existing tree cover or that is suitable for 

14 growing trees; and 

15 ‘‘(2) is owned by any nonindustrial private indi16 vidual, group, association, corporation, or other pri17 vate legal entity, that has definitive decisionmaking 

18 authority over the land. 

19 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE.—The Sec20 retary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, may 

21 provide technical, financial, and related assistance to State 

22 foresters, equivalent State officials, and officials of the Co23 operative State Research, Education, and Extension Service 

24 for the purpose of expanding State forest stewardship ca25 pacities and activities through State forestry best-manage-
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1 ment practices and other means at the State level to address 

2 watershed issues on non-Federal forested land and poten3 tially forested land. 

4 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

5 QUALITY.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera7 tion with State foresters, officials of the Cooperative 

8 State Research, Education, and Extension Service, or 

9 equivalent State officials, shall engage interested 

10 members of the public, including nonprofit organiza11 tions and local watershed councils, to develop a pro12 gram of technical assistance to protect water quality 

13 described in paragraph (2). 

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

15 under this subsection shall be designed—

16 ‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed 

17 partnerships that focus on forested landscapes at 

18 the State, regional, and local levels; 

19 ‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-manage20 ment practices and water quality technical as21 sistance directly to owners of nonindustrial pri22 vate forest land; 

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

24 managers and policymakers for water quality 

25 protection through forest management; 
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1 ‘‘(D) to complement State and local efforts 

2 to protect water quality and provide enhanced 

3 opportunities for consultation and cooperation 

4 among Federal and State agencies charged with 

5 responsibility for water and watershed manage6 ment; and 

7 ‘‘(E) to provide enhanced forest resource 

8 data and support for improved implementation 

9 and monitoring of State forestry best-manage10 ment practices. 

11 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program of tech12 nical assistance shall be implemented by State for13 esters or equivalent State officials. 

14 ‘‘(d) WATERSHED FORESTRY COST-SHARE PRO15 GRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

17 a watershed forestry cost-share program—

18 ‘‘(A) which shall be—

19 ‘‘(i) administered by the Forest Serv20 ice; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) implemented by State foresters or 

22 equivalent State officials; and 

23 ‘‘(B) under which funds or other support 

24 provided shall be made available for State for-
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1 estry best-management practices programs and 

2 watershed forestry projects. 

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

4 State forester, State Research, Education and Exten5 sion official, or equivalent State official of a State, in 

6 coordination with the State Forest Stewardship Co7 ordinating Committee established under section 19(b) 

8 (or an equivalent committee) for that State, shall 

9 make awards to communities, nonprofit groups, and 

10 owners of nonindustrial private forest land under the 

11 program for watershed forestry projects described in 

12 paragraph (3). 

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

14 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical 

15 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and restora16 tion needs within a State by demonstrating the value 

17 of trees and forests to watershed health and condition 

18 through—

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

20 quality problems in urban and rural areas; 

21 ‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve22 ment, and action through State, local and non23 profit partnerships; 
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1 ‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of 

2 monitoring information on forestry best-manage3 ment practices relating to watershed forestry; 

4 ‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management ac5 tivities and conservation planning; and 

6 ‘‘(E)(i) the restoration of wetland (as de7 fined by the States) and stream-side forests; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the establishment of riparian vegeta9 tive buffers. 

10 ‘‘(4) COST-SHARING.—

11 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—

12 ‘‘(i) FUNDS UNDER THIS SUB13 SECTION.—Funds provided under this sub14 section for a watershed forestry project may 

15 not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the 

16 project. 

17 ‘‘(ii) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—The 

18 percentage of the cost of a project described 

19 in clause (i) that is not covered by funds 

20 made available under this subsection may 

21 be paid using other Federal funding sources, 

22 except that the total Federal share of the 

23 costs of the project may not exceed 90 per24 cent.
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1 ‘‘(B) FORM.—The non-Federal share of the 

2 costs of a project may be provided in the form 

3 of cash, services, or other in-kind contributions. 

4 ‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew5 ardship Coordinating Committee for a State, or 

6 equivalent State committee, shall prioritize water7 sheds in that State to target watershed forestry 

8 projects funded under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—Financial and 

10 technical assistance shall be made available to the 

11 State Forester or equivalent State official to create a 

12 State watershed or best-management practice forester 

13 position to—

14 ‘‘(A) lead statewide programs; and 

15 ‘‘(B) coordinate watershed-level projects. 

16 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made available 

18 for a fiscal year under subsection (g), the Secretary 

19 shall use—

20 ‘‘(A) at least 75 percent of the funds to 

21 carry out the cost-share program under sub22 section (d); and 

23 ‘‘(B) the remainder of the funds to deliver 

24 technical assistance, education, and planning, at 
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1 the local level, through the State Forester or 

2 equivalent State official. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution of 

4 funds by the Secretary among States under para5 graph (1) shall be made only after giving appropriate 

6 consideration to—

7 ‘‘(A) the acres of agricultural land, non8 industrial private forest land, and highly erod9 ible land in each State; 

10 ‘‘(B) the miles of riparian buffer needed; 

11 ‘‘(C) the miles of impaired stream segments 

12 and other impaired water bodies where forestry 

13 practices can be used to restore or protect water 

14 resources; 

15 ‘‘(D) the number of owners of nonindustrial 

16 private forest land in each State; and 

17 ‘‘(E) water quality cost savings that can be 

18 achieved through forest watershed management. 

19 ‘‘(f) WILLING OWNERS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Participation of an owner of 

21 nonindustrial private forest land in the watershed 

22 forestry assistance program under this section is vol23 untary. 

24 ‘‘(2) WRITTEN CONSENT.—The watershed for25 estry assistance program shall not be carried out on 
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1 nonindustrial private forest land without the written 

2 consent of the owner of, or entity having definitive de3 cisionmaking over, the nonindustrial private forest 

4 land. 

5 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

7 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.’’. 

8 SEC. 303. TRIBAL WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture (re10 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through 

11 the Chief of the Forest Service, shall provide technical, fi12 nancial, and related assistance to Indian tribes for the pur13 pose of expanding tribal stewardship capacities and activi14 ties through tribal forestry best-management practices and 

15 other means at the tribal level to address watershed issues 

16 on land under the jurisdiction of or administered by the 

17 Indian tribes. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

19 QUALITY.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

21 with Indian tribes, shall develop a program to pro22 vide technical assistance to protect water quality, as 

23 described in paragraph (2). 

24 (2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The program under 

25 this subsection shall be designed—
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1 (A) to build and strengthen watershed part2 nerships that focus on forested landscapes at the 

3 State, regional, tribal, and local levels; 

4 (B) to provide tribal forestry best-manage5 ment practices and water quality technical as6 sistance directly to Indian tribes; 

7 (C) to provide technical guidance to tribal 

8 land managers and policy makers for water 

9 quality protection through forest management; 

10 (D) to complement tribal efforts to protect 

11 water quality and provide enhanced opportuni12 ties for consultation and cooperation among Fed13 eral agencies and tribal entities charged with re14 sponsibility for water and watershed manage15 ment; and 

16 (E) to provide enhanced forest resource data 

17 and support for improved implementation and 

18 monitoring of tribal forestry best-management 

19 practices. 

20 (c) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROGRAM.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

22 a watershed forestry program to be administered by 

23 Indian tribes. 

24 (2) PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.—Funds or other 

25 support provided under the program shall be made 
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1 available for tribal forestry best-management prac2 tices programs and watershed forestry projects. 

3 (3) ANNUAL AWARDS.—The Secretary shall an4 nually make awards to Indian tribes to carry out this 

5 subsection. 

6 (4) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A 

7 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical 

8 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and restora9 tion needs within land under the jurisdiction of or 

10 administered by an Indian tribe by demonstrating 

11 the value of trees and forests to watershed health and 

12 condition through—

13 (A) the use of trees as solutions to water 

14 quality problems; 

15 (B) application of and dissemination of 

16 monitoring information on forestry best-manage17 ment practices relating to watershed forestry; 

18 (C) watershed-scale forest management ac19 tivities and conservation planning; 

20 (D) the restoration of wetland and stream21 side forests and the establishment of riparian 

22 vegetative buffers; and 

23 (E) tribal-based planning, involvement, and 

24 action through State, tribal, local, and nonprofit 

25 partnerships.
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1 (5) PRIORITIZATION.—An Indian tribe that par2 ticipates in the program under this subsection shall 

3 prioritize watersheds in land under the jurisdiction of 

4 or administered by the Indian tribe to target water5 shed forestry projects funded under this subsection. 

6 (6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—The Secretary 

7 may provide to Indian tribes under this section fi8 nancial and technical assistance to establish a posi9 tion of tribal forester to lead tribal programs and co10 ordinate small watershed-level projects. 

11 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall devote—

12 (1) at least 75 percent of the funds made avail13 able for a fiscal year under subsection (e) to the pro14 gram under subsection (c); and 

15 (2) the remainder of the funds to deliver tech16 nical assistance, education, and planning on the 

17 ground to Indian tribes. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008. 

21 TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTA22 TIONS AND RELATED DIS23 EASES 

24 SEC. 401. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) high levels of tree mortality resulting from 

2 insect infestation (including the interaction between 

3 insects and diseases) may result in—

4 (A) increased fire risk; 

5 (B) loss of old trees and old growth; 

6 (C) loss of threatened and endangered spe7 cies; 

8 (D) loss of species diversity; 

9 (E) degraded watershed conditions; 

10 (F) increased potential for damage from 

11 other agents of disturbance, including exotic, 

12 invasive species; and 

13 (G) decreased timber values; 

14 (2)(A) forest-damaging insects destroy hundreds 

15 of thousands of acres of trees each year; 

16 (B) in the West, more than 21,000,000 acres are 

17 at high risk of forest-damaging insect infestation, and 

18 in the South, more than 57,000,000 acres are at risk 

19 across all land ownerships; and 

20 (C) severe drought conditions in many areas of 

21 the South and West will increase the risk of forest22 damaging insect infestations; 

23 (3) the hemlock woolly adelgid is—

24 (A) destroying streamside forests throughout 

25 the mid-Atlantic and Appalachian regions; 
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1 (B) threatening water quality and sensitive 

2 aquatic species; and 

3 (C) posing a potential threat to valuable 

4 commercial timber land in northern New Eng5 land; 

6 (4)(A) the emerald ash borer is a nonnative, 

7 invasive pest that has quickly become a major threat 

8 to hardwood forests because an emerald ash borer in9 festation is almost always fatal to affected trees; and 

10 (B) the emerald ash borer pest threatens to de11 stroy more than 692,000,000 ash trees in forests in 

12 Michigan and Ohio alone, and between 5 and 10 per13 cent of urban street trees in the Upper Midwest; 

14 (5)(A) epidemic populations of Southern pine 

15 beetles are ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas, 

16 Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Caro17 lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; and 

18 (B) in 2001, Florida and Kentucky experienced 

19 146 percent and 111 percent increases, respectively, 

20 in Southern pine beetle populations; 

21 (6) those epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine 

22 beetles have forced private landowners to harvest dead 

23 and dying trees, in rural areas and increasingly ur24 banized settings; 
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1 (7) according to the Forest Service, recent out2 breaks of the red oak borer in Arkansas and Missouri 

3 have been unprecedented, with more than 1,000,000 

4 acres infested at population levels never seen before; 

5 (8) much of the damage from the red oak borer 

6 has taken place in national forests, and the Federal 

7 response has been inadequate to protect forest eco8 systems and other ecological and economic resources; 

9 (9)(A) previous silvicultural assessments, while 

10 useful and informative, have been limited in scale 

11 and scope of application; and 

12 (B) there have not been sufficient resources avail13 able to adequately test a full array of individual and 

14 combined applied silvicultural assessments; 

15 (10) only through the full funding, development, 

16 and assessment of potential applied silvicultural as17 sessments over specific time frames across an array of 

18 environmental and climatic conditions can the most 

19 innovative and cost effective management applica20 tions be determined that will help reduce the suscepti21 bility of forest ecosystems to attack by forest pests; 

22 (11)(A) often, there are significant interactions 

23 between insects and diseases; 

24 (B) many diseases (such as white pine blister 

25 rust, beech bark disease, and many other diseases) can 
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1 weaken trees and forest stands and predispose trees 

2 and forest stands to insect attack; and 

3 (C) certain diseases are spread using insects as 

4 vectors (including Dutch elm disease and pine pitch 

5 canker); and 

6 (12) funding and implementation of an initia7 tive to combat forest pest infestations and associated 

8 diseases should not come at the expense of supporting 

9 other programs and initiatives of the Secretary. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

11 (1) to require the Secretary to develop an accel12 erated basic and applied assessment program to com13 bat infestations by forest-damaging insects and asso14 ciated diseases; 

15 (2) to enlist the assistance of colleges and univer16 sities (including forestry schools, land grant colleges 

17 and universities, and 1890 Institutions), State agen18 cies, and private landowners to carry out the pro19 gram; and 

20 (3) to carry out applied silvicultural assess21 ments. 

22 SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this title: 

24 (1) APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENT.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applied sil2 vicultural assessment’’ means any vegetative or 

3 other treatment carried out for a purpose de4 scribed in section 403. 

5 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘applied sil6 vicultural assessment’’ includes (but is not lim7 ited to) timber harvesting, thinning, prescribed 

8 burning, pruning, and any combination of those 

9 activities. 

10 (2) 1890 INSTITUTION.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu12 tion’’ means a college or university that is eligi13 ble to receive funds under the Act of August 30, 

14 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.). 

15 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu16 tion’’ includes Tuskegee University. 

17 (3) FOREST-DAMAGING INSECT.—The term ‘‘for18 est-damaging insect’’ means—

19 (A) a Southern pine beetle; 

20 (B) a mountain pine beetle; 

21 (C) a spruce bark beetle; 

22 (D) a gypsy moth; 

23 (E) a hemlock woolly adelgid; 

24 (F) an emerald ash borer; 

25 (G) a red oak borer;
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1 (H) a white oak borer; and 

2 (I) such other insects as may be identified 

3 by the Secretary. 

4 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

5 means—

6 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

7 through the Forest Service, with respect to Na8 tional Forest System land; and 

9 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

10 through appropriate offices of the United States 

11 Geological Survey, with respect to federally 

12 owned land administered by the Secretary of the 

13 Interior. 

14 SEC. 403. ACCELERATED INFORMATION GATHERING RE15 GARDING FOREST-DAMAGING INSECTS. 

16 (a) INFORMATION GATHERING.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Forest Service and United States Geological 

18 Survey, as appropriate, shall establish an accelerated pro19 gram—

20 (1) to plan, conduct, and promote comprehensive 

21 and systematic information gathering on forest-dam22 aging insects and associated diseases, including an 

23 evaluation of—

24 (A) infestation, prevention, and suppression 

25 methods; 
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1 (B) effects of infestations and associated 

2 disease interactions on forest ecosystems; 

3 (C) restoration of forest ecosystem efforts; 

4 (D) utilization options regarding infested 

5 trees; and 

6 (E) models to predict the occurrence, dis7 tribution, and impact of outbreaks of forest-dam8 aging insects and associated diseases; 

9 (2) to assist land managers in the development 

10 of treatments and strategies to improve forest health 

11 and reduce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to se12 vere infestations of forest-damaging insects and asso13 ciated diseases on Federal land and State and private 

14 land; and 

15 (3) to disseminate the results of the information 

16 gathering, treatments, and strategies. 

17 (b) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

18 shall—

19 (1) establish and carry out the program in co20 operation with—

21 (A) scientists from colleges and universities 

22 (including forestry schools, land grant colleges 

23 and universities, and 1890 Institutions); 

24 (B) Federal, State, and local agencies; and 

25 (C) private and industrial landowners; and 
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1 (2) designate such colleges and universities to as2 sist in carrying out the program. 

3 SEC. 404. APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENTS. 

4 (a) ASSESSMENT EFFORTS.—For information gath5 ering and research purposes, the Secretary may conduct ap6 plied silvicultural assessments on Federal land that the Sec7 retary determines is at risk of infestation by, or is infested 

8 with, forest-damaging insects. 

9 (b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 (1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Subsection 

11 (a) does not apply to—

12 (A) a component of the National Wilderness 

13 Preservation System; 

14 (B) any Federal land on which, by Act of 

15 Congress or Presidential proclamation, the re16 moval of vegetation is restricted or prohibited; 

17 (C) a congressionally-designated wilderness 

18 study area; or 

19 (D) an area in which activities under sub20 section (a) would be inconsistent with the appli21 cable land and resource management plan. 

22 (2) CERTAIN TREATMENT PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

23 in subsection (a) authorizes the application of insecti24 cides in municipal watersheds or associated riparian 

25 areas. 
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1 (3) PEER REVIEW.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before being carried out, 

3 each applied silvicultural assessment under this 

4 title shall be peer reviewed by scientific experts 

5 selected by the Secretary, which shall include 

6 non-Federal experts. 

7 (B) EXISTING PEER REVIEW PROCESSES.—

8 The Secretary may use existing peer review proc9 esses to the extent the processes comply with sub10 paragraph (A). 

11 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—

12 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pro13 vide notice of each applied silvicultural assessment 

14 proposed to be carried out under this section. 

15 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall pro16 vide an opportunity for public comment before car17 rying out an applied silviculture assessment under 

18 this section. 

19 (d) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Applied silvicultural assess21 ment and research treatments carried out under this 

22 section on not more than 1,000 acres for an assess23 ment or treatment may be categorically excluded from 

24 documentation in an environmental impact statement 

25 and environmental assessment under the National 
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1 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

2 seq.). 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Applied silvicultural as4 sessments and research treatments categorically ex5 cluded under paragraph (1)—

6 (A) shall not be carried out in an area that 

7 is adjacent to another area that is categorically 

8 excluded under paragraph (1) that is being 

9 treated with similar methods; and 

10 (B) shall be subject to the extraordinary cir11 cumstances procedures established by the Sec12 retary pursuant to section 1508.4 of title 40, 

13 Code of Federal Regulations. 

14 (3) MAXIMUM CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The 

15 total number of acres categorically excluded under 

16 paragraph (1) shall not exceed 250,000 acres. 

17 (4) NO ADDITIONAL FINDINGS REQUIRED.—In 

18 accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

19 not be required to make any findings as to whether 

20 an applied silvicultural assessment project, either in21 dividually or cumulatively, has a significant effect on 

22 the environment.
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1 SEC. 405. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

2 The authority provided to each Secretary under this 

3 title is supplemental to, and not in lieu of, any authority 

4 provided to the Secretaries under any other law. 

5 SEC. 406. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

7 are necessary to carry out this title for each of fiscal years 

8 2004 through 2008.

9 TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS 

10 RESERVE PROGRAM 

11 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF HEALTHY FORESTS RESERVE 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

14 shall establish the healthy forests reserve program for the 

15 purpose of restoring and enhancing forest ecosystems—

16 (1) to promote the recovery of threatened and en17 dangered species; 

18 (2) to improve biodiversity; and 

19 (3) to enhance carbon sequestration. 

20 (b) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

21 shall carry out the healthy forests reserve program in co22 ordination with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec23 retary of Commerce. 
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1 SEC. 502. ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT OF LANDS IN 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in co4 ordination with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec5 retary of Commerce, shall describe and define forest eco6 systems that are eligible for enrollment in the healthy forests 

7 reserve program. 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for enrollment in the 

9 healthy forests reserve program, land shall be—

10 (1) private land the enrollment of which will re11 store, enhance, or otherwise measurably increase the 

12 likelihood of recovery of a species listed as endangered 

13 or threatened under section 4 of the Endangered Spe14 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and 

15 (2) private land the enrollment of which will re16 store, enhance, or otherwise measurably improve the 

17 well-being of species that—

18 (A) are not listed as endangered or threat19 ened under section 4 of the Endangered Species 

20 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); but 

21 (B) are candidates for such listing, State22 listed species, or special concern species. 

23 (c) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In enrolling land that 

24 satisfies the criteria under subsection (b), the Secretary of 

25 Agriculture shall give additional consideration to land the 

26 enrollment of which will—
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1 (1) improve biological diversity; and 

2 (2) increase carbon sequestration. 

3 (d) ENROLLMENT BY WILLING OWNERS.—The Sec4 retary of Agriculture shall enroll land in the healthy forests 

5 reserve program only with the consent of the owner of the 

6 land. 

7 (e) MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT.—The total number of 

8 acres enrolled in the healthy forests reserve program shall 

9 not exceed 2,000,000 acres. 

10 (f) METHODS OF ENROLLMENT.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Land may be enrolled in the 

12 healthy forests reserve program in accordance with—

13 (A) a 10-year cost-share agreement; 

14 (B) a 30-year agreement; or 

15 (C) a long-term easement with a buyback 

16 option. 

17 (2) PROPORTION.—The extent to which each en18 rollment method is used shall be based on the approxi19 mate proportion of owner interest expressed in that 

20 method in comparison to the other methods. 

21 (g) ENROLLMENT PRIORITY.—

22 (1) SPECIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall 

23 give priority to the enrollment of land that provides 

24 the greatest conservation benefit to—
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1 (A) primarily, species listed as endangered 

2 or threatened under section 4 of the Endangered 

3 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and 

4 (B) secondarily, species that—

5 (i) are not listed as endangered or 

6 threatened under section 4 of the Endan7 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); 

8 but 

9 (ii) are candidates for such listing, 

10 State-listed species, or special concern spe11 cies. 

12 (2) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—The Secretary of Ag13 riculture shall also consider the cost-effectiveness of 

14 each agreement and easement, and their associated 

15 restoration plans, so as to maximize the environ16 mental benefits per dollar expended. 

17 SEC. 503. RESTORATION PLANS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Land enrolled in the healthy forests 

19 reserve program shall be subject to a restoration plan, to 

20 be developed jointly by the landowner and the Secretary of 

21 Agriculture. 

22 (b) PRACTICES.—The restoration plan shall require 

23 such restoration practices as are necessary to restore and 

24 enhance habitat for—
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1 (1) species listed as endangered or threatened 

2 under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 

3 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and 

4 (2) animal or plant species before the species 

5 reach threatened or endangered status, such as can6 didate, State-listed species, and special concern spe7 cies. 

8 SEC. 504. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) LONG-TERM EASEMENT WITH BUYBACK OP10 TION.—

11 (1) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—In the case of land en12 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 

13 long-term easement (with a minimum length of 99 

14 years) with a buyback option, the Secretary of Agri15 culture shall pay the owner of the land an amount 

16 equal to not less than 75 percent, nor more than 100 

17 percent, of (as determined by the Secretary)—

18 (A) the fair market value of the enrolled 

19 land during the period the land is subject to the 

20 easement, less the fair market value of the land 

21 encumbered by the easement; and 

22 (B) the actual costs of the approved con23 servation practices or the average cost of ap24 proved practices carried out on the land during 

25 the period the land is subject to the easement.
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1 (2) BUY-BACK OPTION.—In the case of land en2 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 

3 long-term easement with a buyback option, beginning 

4 on the date that is 50 years after the date of enroll5 ment of the land, and every 10 years thereafter, the 

6 owner of the land shall be permitted to purchase the 

7 easement back from the United States for an amount 

8 equal to not more than (as determined by the Sec9 retary)—

10 (A) the percentage of the fair market value 

11 the owner received for the easement under para12 graph (1); and 

13 (B) the costs, adjusted by the Secretary to 

14 reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for 

15 all-urban consumers, as published by the Bureau 

16 of Labor Statistics, of the approved conservation 

17 practices necessary for establishment of the ease18 ment. 

19 (3) FUNDS.—All funds returned to the United 

20 States under this subsection shall be used to carry out 

21 the healthy forests reserve program. 

22 (b) 30-YEAR AGREEMENT.— In the case of land en23 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 30-

24 year agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall pay the 
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1 owner of the land an amount equal to not more than (as 

2 determined by the Secretary)—

3 (1) 75 percent of the fair market value of the 

4 land, less the fair market value of the land encum5 bered by the agreement; and 

6 (2) 75 percent of the actual costs of the approved 

7 conservation practices or 75 percent of the average 

8 cost of approved practices. 

9 (c) 10-YEAR AGREEMENT.—In the case of land en10 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 10-

11 year cost-share agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

12 pay the owner of the land an amount equal to not more 

13 than (as determined by the Secretary)—

14 (1) 50 percent of the actual costs of the approved 

15 conservation practices; or 

16 (2) 50 percent of the average cost of approved 

17 practices. 

18 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 

19 of Agriculture may accept and use contributions of non20 Federal funds to make payments under this section. 

21 SEC. 505. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

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

23 provide landowners with technical assistance to assist the 

24 owners in complying with the terms of plans (as included 
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1 in agreements and easements) under the healthy forests re2 serve program. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Secretary 

4 of Agriculture may request the services of, and enter into 

5 cooperative agreements with, individuals or entities cer6 tified as technical service providers under section 1242 of 

7 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842), to assist 

8 the Secretary in providing technical assistance necessary to 

9 develop and implement the healthy forests reserve program. 

10 SEC. 506. PROTECTIONS AND MEASURES 

11 (a) PROTECTIONS.—In the case of a landowner that 

12 enrolls land in the program and whose conservation activi13 ties result in a net conservation benefit for listed, candidate, 

14 or other species, the Secretary of Agriculture shall make 

15 available to the landowner safe harbor or similar assur16 ances and protection under—

17 (1) section 7(b)(4) of the Endangered Species Act 

18 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(4)); or 

19 (2) section 10(a)(1) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

20 1539(a)(1)). 

21 (b) MEASURES.—If protection under subsection (a) re22 quires the taking of measures that are in addition to the 

23 measures covered by the applicable restoration plan agreed 

24 to under section 503, the cost of the additional measures, 

25 as well as the cost of any permit, shall be considered part 
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1 of the restoration plan for purposes of financial assistance 

2 under section 504. 

3 SEC. 507. INVOLVEMENT BY OTHER AGENCIES AND ORGANI4 ZATIONS. 

5 In carrying out this title, the Secretary of Agriculture 

6 may consult with—

7 (1) nonindustrial private forest landowners; 

8 (2) other Federal agencies; 

9 (3) State fish and wildlife agencies; 

10 (4) State forestry agencies; 

11 (5) State environmental quality agencies; 

12 (6) other State conservation agencies; and 

13 (7) nonprofit conservation organizations. 

14 SEC. 508. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this title—

17 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and 

18 (2) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 

19 years 2005 through 2008. 

20 TITLE VI—PUBLIC LAND CORPS 

21 SEC. 601. PURPOSES. 

22 The purposes of this title are—

23 (1) to carry out, in a cost-effective and efficient 

24 manner, rehabilitation, enhancement, and beautifi25 cation projects; 
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1 (2) to offer young people, ages 16 through 25, 

2 particularly those who are at-risk or economically 

3 disadvantaged, the opportunity to gain productive 

4 employment and exposure to the world of work; 

5 (3) to give those young people the opportunity to 

6 serve their communities and their country; and 

7 (4) to expand educational opportunities by re8 warding individuals who participate in the Public 

9 Land Corps with an increased ability to pursue high10 er education or job training. 

11 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this title: 

13 (1) ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATION.—The term 

14 ‘‘Alaska Native Corporation’’ means a Regional Cor15 poration or Village Corporation, as defined in section 

16 101(11) of the National and Community Service Act 

17 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511(11)). 

18 (2) CORPS.—The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Public 

19 Land Corps established under section 603(a). 

20 (3) HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.—The term ‘‘Ha21 waiian home lands’’ means that term, within the 

22 meaning of the National and Community Service Act 

23 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 

24 (4) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

25 has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the
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1 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

2 U.S.C. 12511). 

3 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

4 means—

5 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

6 (B) the Secretary of the Interior. 

7 (6) SERVICE AND CONSERVATION CORPS.—The 

8 term ‘‘service and conservation corps’’ means any or9 ganization established by a State or local government, 

10 nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe that—

11 (A) has a demonstrable capability to pro12 vide productive work to individuals; 

13 (B) gives participants a combination of 

14 work experience, basic and life skills, education, 

15 training, and support services; and 

16 (C) provides participants with the oppor17 tunity to develop citizenship values through serv18 ice to their communities and the United States. 

19 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means—

20 (A) a State; 

21 (B) the District of Columbia; 

22 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

23 (D) Guam; 

24 (E) American Samoa; 
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1 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands; 

3 (G) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

4 (H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

5 (I) the Republic of Palau; and 

6 (J) the United States Virgin Islands. 

7 SEC. 603. PUBLIC LAND CORPS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Public 

9 Land Corps. 

10 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—The Corps shall consist of indi11 viduals who are enrolled as members of a service or con12 servation corps. 

13 (c) CONTRACTS OR AGREEMENTS.—The Secretaries 

14 may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements—

15 (1) directly with any service and conservation 

16 corps to perform appropriate rehabilitation, enhance17 ment, or beautification projects; or 

18 (2) with a department of natural resources, agri19 culture, or forestry (or an equivalent department) of 

20 any State that has entered into a contract or coopera21 tive agreement with a service and conservation corps 

22 to perform appropriate rehabilitation, enhancement, 

23 or beautification projects. 

24 (d) PROJECTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may use the 

2 members of a service and conservation corps to per3 form rehabilitation, enhancement, or beautification 

4 projects authorized by law. 

5 (2) INCLUDED LAND.—In addition to Federal 

6 and State lands, the projects may be carried out on—

7 (A) Indian lands, with the approval of the 

8 applicable Indian tribe; 

9 (B) Hawaiian home lands, with the ap10 proval of the relevant State agency in the State 

11 of Hawaii; and 

12 (C) Alaska native lands, with the approval 

13 of the applicable Alaska Native Corporation. 

14 (e) PREFERENCE.—In carrying out this title, the Sec15 retaries shall give preference to projects that will—

16 (1) provide long-term benefits by reducing haz17 ardous fuels on Federal land; 

18 (2) instill in members of the service and con19 servation corps—

20 (A) a work ethic; 

21 (B) a sense of personal responsibility; and 

22 (C) a sense of public service; 

23 (3) be labor intensive; and 

24 (4) be planned and initiated promptly. 
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1 (f) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The Secretaries may pro2 vide such services as the Secretaries consider necessary to 

3 carry out this title. 

4 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out this title, 

5 the Secretaries shall provide technical assistance, oversight, 

6 monitoring, and evaluation to—

7 (1) State Departments of Natural Resources and 

8 Agriculture (or equivalent agencies); and 

9 (2) members of service and conservation corps. 

10 SEC. 604. NONDISPLACEMENT. 

11 The nondisplacement requirements of section 177(b) of 

12 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

13 U.S.C. 12637(b)) shall apply to activities carried out by 

14 the Corps under this title. 

15 SEC. 605. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

17 this title $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 

18 2008. 

19 TITLE VII—RURAL COMMUNITY 

20 FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PRO21 GRAM 

22 SEC. 701. PURPOSE 

23 The purpose of this title is to assist in the economic 

24 revitalization of rural forest resource-dependent commu-
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1 nities through incentives to promote investment in private 

2 enterprise and community development by—

3 (1) the Department of Agriculture; 

4 (2) the Department of the Interior; 

5 (3) the Department of Commerce; 

6 (4) the Small Business Administration; 

7 (5) land grant colleges and universities; and 

8 (6) 1890 Institutions. 

9 SEC. 702. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this title: 

11 (1) 1890 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu12 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 of 

13 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 

14 Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601). 

15 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means—

17 (A) a unit of State or local government; 

18 (B) an Indian tribe; 

19 (C) a nonprofit organization; 

20 (D) a small forest products business; 

21 (E) a rural forest resource-dependent com22 munity; 

23 (F) a land grant college or university; or 

24 (G) an 1890 institution.
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1 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 project’’ means a project described in section 703 that 

3 will promote the economic development in rural forest 

4 resource-dependent communities based on—

5 (A) responsible forest stewardship; 

6 (B) the production of sustainable forest 

7 products; or 

8 (C) the development of forest related tourism 

9 and recreation activities. 

10 (4) FOREST PRODUCTS.—The term ‘‘forest prod11 ucts’’ means—

12 (A) logs; 

13 (B) lumber; 

14 (C) chips; 

15 (D) small-diameter finished wood products; 

16 (E) energy biomass; 

17 (F) mulch; and 

18 (G) any other material derived from forest 

19 vegetation or individual trees or shrubs. 

20 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘non21 profit organization’’ means an organization that is—

22 (A) described in section 501(c) of the Inter23 nal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

24 (B) exempt from taxation under 501(a) of 

25 that Code. 
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1 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the 

2 rural community forestry enterprise program estab3 lished under section 703. 

4 (7) SMALL FOREST PRODUCTS BUSINESS.—The 

5 term ‘‘small forest products business’’ means a small 

6 business concern (as defined under section 3 of the 

7 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) that is classified 

8 under subsector 113 or code number 115310 of the 

9 North American Industrial Classification System. 

10 (8) RURAL FOREST RESOURCE-DEPENDENT COM11 MUNITY.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘rural forest 

13 resource-dependent community’’ means a com14 munity located in a rural area of the United 

15 States that is traditionally dependent on forestry 

16 products as a primary source of community in17 frastructure. 

18 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘rural forest 

19 resource-dependent community’’ includes a com20 munity described in subparagraph (A) located 

21 in—

22 (i) the northern forest land of Maine; 

23 (ii) New Hampshire; 

24 (iii) New York; 

25 (iv) Vermont; 
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1 (v) the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; 

2 (vi) northern California; 

3 (vii) eastern Oregon; 

4 (viii) the Bitterrroot Valley of Mon5 tana; 

6 (ix) the northern panhandle of Idaho; 

7 and 

8 (x) other areas, as determined by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief 

12 of the Forest Service. 

13 SEC. 703. RURAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab17 lish within the Forest Service a program to be known 

18 as the ‘‘Rural Community Forestry Enterprise Pro19 gram’’. 

20 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pro21 gram, the Secretary shall coordinate with—

22 (A) the Small Business Administration; 

23 (B) the Economic Development Administra24 tion; 

25 (C) land grant colleges and universities; 
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1 (D) 1890 institutions; and 

2 (E) other agencies of the Department of Ag3 riculture that administer rural development pro4 grams. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are—

6 (1) to enhance technical and business manage7 ment skills training; 

8 (2) to organize cooperatives and marketing pro9 grams; 

10 (3) to establish and maintain timber worker skill 

11 pools; 

12 (4) to establish and maintain forest product dis13 tribution networks and collection centers; 

14 (5) to facilitate technology transfer for processing 

15 small diameter trees and brush into useful products; 

16 (6) to develop, where support exists, a program 

17 to promote science-based technology implementation 

18 and technology transfer that expands the capacity for 

19 small forest product businesses to work within market 

20 areas; 

21 (7) to promote forest-related tourism and rec22 reational activities; 

23 (8) to enhance the rural forest business infra24 structure needed to reduce hazardous fuels on public 

25 and private land; and
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1 (9) to carry out related programs and activities, 

2 as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (c) FOREST ENTERPRISE CENTERS.—The Secretary 

4 shall establish at least 1 Forest Enterprise Center at each 

5 Research Station of the Forest Service, to be located at a 

6 forest science laboratory—

7 (1) to carry out eligible projects; and 

8 (2) to coordinate assistance provided to small 

9 forest products businesses with—

10 (A) the Small Business Administration, in11 cluding the timber set-aside program carried out 

12 by the Small Business Administration; 

13 (B) the Rural Utilities Service, the Rural 

14 Housing Service, and the Rural Business-Coop15 erative Service of the Department of Agriculture; 

16 and 

17 (C) the Economic Development Administra18 tion, including the local technical assistance pro19 gram of the Economic Development Administra20 tion. 

21 (d) FOREST ENTERPRISE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

22 AND GRANT PROGRAM.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

24 the Forest Enterprise Centers established under sub25 section (c), shall establish a program to provide tech-
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1 nical assistance and grants to eligible entities to 

2 carry out eligible projects. 

3 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall work with 

4 each Forest Enterprise Center to develop appropriate 

5 program review and prioritization criteria for each 

6 Research Station. 

7 (3) MATCHING FUNDS.—Grants under this sec8 tion shall—

9 (A) not exceed 50 percent of the cost of an 

10 eligible project; and 

11 (B) be made on the condition that non-Fed12 eral sources pay for the remainder of the cost of 

13 an eligible project (including payment through 

14 in-kind contributions of services or materials). 

15 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

17 this subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

18 2004 through 2008. 

19 TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS 

20 PROVISIONS 

21 SEC. 801. FOREST INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT. 

22 Section 17 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act 

23 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 note; Public Law 95313) is amend24 ed to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 17. FOREST INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

3 program using geospatial and information management 

4 technologies (including remote sensing imaging and deci5 sion support systems) to inventory, monitor, characterize, 

6 assess, and identify forest stands and potential forest stands 

7 (with emphasis on hardwood forest stands) on—

8 ‘‘(1) in units of the National Forest System; and 

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

10 the owner of the land. 

11 ‘‘(b) MEANS.—The Secretary shall carry out the pro12 gram through the use of—

13 ‘‘(1) remote sensing technology of the National 

14 Aeronautics and Space Administration and the 

15 United States Geological Survey; 

16 ‘‘(2) emerging geospatial capabilities in research 

17 activities; 

18 ‘‘(3) validating techniques using application 

19 demonstrations; and 

20 ‘‘(4) integration of results into pilot operational 

21 systems. 

22 ‘‘(c) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—In carrying out the 

23 program, the Secretary shall address issues including—

24 ‘‘(1) early detection, identification, and assess25 ment of environmental threats (including insect, dis-
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1 ease, invasive species, fire, acid deposition, and 

2 weather-related risks and other episodic events); 

3 ‘‘(2) loss or degradation of forests; 

4 ‘‘(3) degradation of the quality forest stands 

5 caused by inadequate forest regeneration practices; 

6 ‘‘(4) quantification of carbon uptake rates; and 

7 ‘‘(5) management practices that focus on pre8 venting further forest degradation. 

9 ‘‘(d) EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.—In carrying out the 

10 program, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive early 

11 warning system for potential catastrophic environmental 

12 threats to forests to increase the likelihood that forest man13 agers will be able to—

14 ‘‘(1) isolate and treat a threat before the threat 

15 gets out of control; and 

16 ‘‘(2) prevent epidemics, such as the American 

17 chestnut blight in the first half of the twentieth cen18 tury, that could be environmentally and economically 

19 devastating to forests. 

20 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009.’’. 

23 SEC. 802. PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY TREATMENT AND RE24 DUCTION OF NONNATIVE INVASIVE PLANTS. 

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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1 (1) INTERFACE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘inter2 face community’’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 the notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 (January 4, 

4 2001) (including any subsequent revision to the no5 tice). 

6 (2) INTERMIX COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘intermix 

7 community’’ has the meaning given the term in the 

8 notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 (January 4, 

9 2001) (including any subsequent revision to the no10 tice). 

11 (3) PLANT.—The term ‘‘plant’’ includes—

12 (A) a tree; 

13 (B) a shrub; and 

14 (C) a vine. 

15 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the 

16 program for emergency treatment and reduction of 

17 nonnative invasive plants established under sub18 section (b)(1). 

19 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

21 of the Interior, acting jointly. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish 

24 a program for emergency treatment and reduction of 

25 nonnative invasive plants to provide to State and
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1 local governments and agencies, conservation districts, 

2 tribal governments, and willing private landowners 

3 grants for use in carrying out hazardous fuel reduc4 tion projects to address threats of catastrophic fires 

5 that have been determined by the Secretaries to pose 

6 a serious threat to—

7 (A) property; 

8 (B) human life; or 

9 (C) the ecological stability of an area. 

10 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pro11 gram, the Secretaries shall coordinate with such Fed12 eral agencies, State and local governments and agen13 cies, and conservation districts as are affected by 

14 projects under the program. 

15 (c) ELIGIBLE LAND.—A project under the program 

16 shall—

17 (1) be carried out only on land that is located—

18 (A) in an interface community or intermix 

19 community; or 

20 (B) in such proximity to an interface com21 munity or intermix community as would pose a 

22 significant risk in the event of the spread of a 

23 fire disturbance event from the land (including 

24 a risk that would threaten human life or prop25 erty in proximity to or within the interface com-
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1 munity or intermix community), as determined 

2 by the Secretaries; 

3 (2) remove fuel loads determined by the Secre4 taries, a State or local government, a tribal govern5 ment, or a private landowner to pose a serious threat 

6 to—

7 (A) property; 

8 (B) human life; or 

9 (C) the ecological stability of an area; and 

10 (3) involve the removal of nonnative invasive 

11 plants. 

12 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available for a 

13 project under the program shall be used only for—

14 (1) the removal of plants or other potential fuels 

15 that are—

16 (A) adjacent to or within the wildland 

17 urban interface; or 

18 (B) adjacent to a municipal watershed, 

19 river, or water course; 

20 (2) the removal of erosion structures that impede 

21 the removal of nonnative plants; or 

22 (3) the replanting of native vegetation to reduce 

23 the reestablishment of nonnative invasive plants in a 

24 treatment area. 

25 (e) REVOLVING FUND.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a grant pro2 vided to a willing owner to carry out a project on 

3 non-Federal land under this section, the owner shall 

4 deposit into a revolving fund established by the Secre5 taries any proceeds derived from the sale of timber or 

6 biomass removed from the non-Federal land under the 

7 project. 

8 (2) USE.—The Secretaries shall use amounts in 

9 the revolving fund to make additional grants under 

10 this section. 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

12 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 

13 to carry out this section, to remain available until ex14 pended. 

15 SEC. 803. USDA NATIONAL AGROFORESTRY CENTER. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1243 of the Food, Agri17 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 

18 1642 note; Public Law 101–624) is amended—

19 (1) by striking the section heading and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 1243. USDA NATIONAL AGROFORESTRY CENTER.’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) in subsection (a)—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘SEMIARID’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘USDA NATIONAL’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘Semiarid’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘USDA National’’. 

3 (b) PROGRAM.—Section 1243(b) of the Food, Agri4 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 

5 1642 note; Public Law 101–624) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘local governments, community 

7 organizations, the Institute of Tropical Forestry and 

8 the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry of the Forest 

9 Service,’’ after ‘‘entities,’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘on semiarid 

11 lands’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘from semiarid 

13 land’’; 

14 (4) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(4) collect information on the design, installa17 tion, and function of forested riparian and upland 

18 buffers to—

19 ‘‘(A) protect water quality; and 

20 ‘‘(B) manage water flow;’’; 

21 (5) in paragraphs (6) and (7), by striking ‘‘on 

22 semiarid lands’’ each place it appears; 

23 (6) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(8) provide international leadership in the 

2 worldwide development and exchange of agroforestry 

3 practices;’’; 

4 (7) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘on semiarid 

5 lands’’; 

6 (8) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (9) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (10) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(12) quantify the carbon storage potential of 

12 agroforestry practices such as—

13 ‘‘(A) windbreaks; 

14 ‘‘(B) forested riparian buffers; 

15 ‘‘(C) silvopasture timber and grazing sys16 tems; and 

17 ‘‘(D) alley cropping; and 

18 ‘‘(13) modify and adapt riparian forest buffer 

19 technology used on agricultural land for use by com20 munities to manage stormwater runoff.’’. 

21 SEC. 804. UPLAND HARDWOODS RESEARCH CENTER. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

24 shall establish an Upland Hardwood Research Center. 
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1 (b) LOCATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall lo2 cate the Research Center in an area that, as determined 

3 by the Secretary of Agriculture, would best use and study 

4 the upland hardwood resources of the Ozark Mountains and 

5 the South. 

6 (c) DUTIES.—The Upland Hardwood Research Center 

7 shall, in conjunction with the Southern Forest Research 

8 Station of the Department of Agriculture—

9 (1) provide the scientific basis for sustainable 

10 management of southern upland hardwood forests, 

11 particularly in the Ozark Mountains and associated 

12 mountain and upland forests; and 

13 (2) conduct research in all areas to emphasize 

14 practical application toward the use and preservation 

15 of upland hardwood forests, particularly—

16 (A) the effects of pests and pathogens on up17 land hardwoods; 

18 (B) hardwood stand regeneration and re19 productive biology; 

20 (C) upland hardwood stand management 

21 and forest health; 

22 (D) threatened, endangered, and sensitive 

23 aquatic and terrestrial fauna; 

24 (E) ecological processes and hardwood eco25 system restoration; and 
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1 (F) education and outreach to nonindus2 trial private forest landowners and associations. 

3 (d) RESEARCH.—In carrying out the duties under sub4 section (c), the Upland Hardwood Research Center shall—

5 (1) cooperate with the Center for Bottomland 

6 Hardwood Research of the Southern Forest Research 

7 Station of the Department of Agriculture, located in 

8 Stoneville, Mississippi; and 

9 (2) provide comprehensive research in the Mid10 South region of the United States, the Upland Forests 

11 Ecosystems Unit of the Southern Forest Research Sta12 tion of the Department of Agriculture, located in 

13 Monticello, Arkansas. 

14 (e) PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE LANDOWNERS.—The 

15 Secretary of Agriculture shall encourage and facilitate the 

16 participation of private landowners in the program under 

17 this section. 

18 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008. 

21 SEC. 805. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ENHANCED 

22 COMMUNITY FIRE PROTECTION. 

23 It is the sense of Congress to reaffirm the importance 

24 of enhanced community fire protection program, as de25 scribed in section 10A of the Cooperative Forestry Assist-
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1 ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106c) (as added by section 

2 8003(b) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

3 of 2002 (Public Law 107–171; 116 Stat. 473)).

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to improve 

the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to 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.’’. 
Calendar No. 246

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1904

[Report No. 108–121] 

AN ACT

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 atrisk 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. 

JULY 31 (legislative day, JULY 21), 2003

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title