I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1397 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt certain 16- 

and 17-year-old individuals employed in timber harvesting entities or 

mechanized timber harvesting entities from child labor laws, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. GOLDEN of Maine (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. PINGREE, and Mr. FULCHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt 

certain 16- and 17-year-old individuals employed in timber harvesting entities or mechanized timber harvesting 

entities from child labor laws, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Future in Logging Ca5 reers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD LABOR LAW EXEMPTIONS FOR TIMBER HAR2 VESTING ENTITIES AND MECHANIZED TIM3 BER HARVESTING ENTITIES. 

4 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

5 201 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 203), by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(z)(1) ‘Timber harvesting employer’ means an em9 ployer engaged in— 

10 ‘‘(A) the felling, skidding, yarding, loading and 

11 processing of timber by equipment other than manu12 ally operated chainsaws and cable skidders; 

13 ‘‘(B) the felling of timber in mechanized oper14 ations; 

15 ‘‘(C) the bucking or converting of timber into 

16 logs, poles, ties, bolts, pulpwood, chemical wood, ex17 celsior wood, cordwood, fence posts, or similar prod18 ucts; 

19 ‘‘(D) the collecting, skidding, yarding, loading, 

20 transporting and unloading of such products in con21 nection with logging; 

22 ‘‘(E) the constructing, repairing and maintain23 ing of roads or camps used in connection with log24 ging; the constructing, repairing, and maintenance 

25 of machinery or equipment used in logging; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) other work performed in connection with 

2 logging. 

3 ‘‘(2) ‘Mechanized timber harvesting employer’— 

4 ‘‘(A) means an employer engaged in the felling, 

5 skidding, yarding, loading and processing of timber 

6 by equipment other than manually operated chain7 saws and cable skidders; and 

8 ‘‘(B) includes an employer engaged in the use 

9 of whole tree processors, cut-to-length processors, 

10 stroke boom delimbers, wheeled and track feller11 bunchers, pull thru delimbers, wheeled and track 

12 forwarders, chippers, grinders, mechanical debark13 ers, wheeled and track grapple skidders, yarders, 

14 bulldozers, excavators, and log loaders.’’; and 

15 (2) in section 13(c) (29 U.S.C. 213(c)), by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) The provisions of section 12 relating to 

18 child labor shall apply to an employee who is 16 or 

19 17 years old employed by a timber harvesting em20 ployer or mechanized timber harvesting employer in 

21 an occupation that the Secretary of Labor finds and 

22 declares to be particularly hazardous for the employ23 ment of children ages 16 or 17, except where such 

24 employee is employed by a timber harvesting em25 ployer or mechanized timber harvesting employer 


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1 owned or operated by a parent or a person standing 

2 in the place of a parent of such employee.’’. 

Æ 


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