39–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPT. 113–394 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session Part 1 

RIM FIRE EMERGENCY SALVAGE ACT 

APRIL 1, 2014.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 3188] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3188) to expedite the planning and implementation of salvage timber sales as part of Forest Service and Department of the 

Interior restoration and rehabilitation activities for lands within 

the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park and 

Bureau of Land Management lands adversely impacted by the 2013 

Rim Fire in California, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as 

amended do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act’’. 

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED SALVAGE TIMBER SALES IN RESPONSE TO THE CALIFORNIA RIM FIRE. 

(a) SALVAGE TIMBER SALES REQUIRED.—As part of the restoration and rehabilitation activities undertaken on the lands within the Stanislaus National Forest and 

the Bureau of Land Management lands adversely impacted by the 2013 Rim Fire 

in California, the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to affected Stanislaus National Forest lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to affected Bureau of Land Management lands, shall promptly plan and implement salvage timber 

sales of dead, damaged, or downed timber resulting from that wildfire. 

(b) EXPEDITED IMPLEMENTATION.— 

(1) LEGAL SUFFICIENCY.—Due to the extraordinary severity of the Rim Fire 

occurring on the Federal lands described in subsection (a), salvage timber sales 


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conducted under such subsection shall proceed immediately and to completion 

notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), section 14 of the National 

Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a), the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

(2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Salvage timber sales conducted 

under subsection (a) shall not be subject to— 

(A) administrative review, including, in the case of the Forest Service, the 

notice, comment, and appeal requirements of section 322 of the Department 

of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 

102–381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note); or 

(B) judicial review in any court of the United States. 

Amend the title so as to read: 

A bill to expedite the planning and implementation of salvage 

timber sales as part of Forest Service and Department of the Interior restoration and rehabilitation activities for lands within the 

Stanislaus National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands 

adversely impacted by the 2013 Rim Fire in California. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3188, as ordered reported, is to expedite the 

planning and implementation of salvage timber sales as part of 

Forest Service and Department of the Interior restoration and rehabilitation activities for lands within the Stanislaus National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands adversely impacted by 

the 2013 Rim Fire in California. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Yosemite Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act (H.R. 3188) was 

introduced in the wake of the devastating Rim Fire in California’s 

Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Rim Fire first began on August 17, 

2013, allegedly due to an abandoned campfire. This fire became the 

third largest wildfire in California’s history and burned approximately 257,000 acres—over 400 square miles—of the Stanislaus 

National Forest and Yosemite National Park, in addition to destroying 11 residences and over 100 other structures. The total cost 

of fire suppression is estimated to be over $127 million. 

While the Forest Service has begun the process of offering a limited amount of salvage timber for sale from the Rim Fire to restore 

areas that will impact the City of San Francisco’s hydroelectric 

dam and power plants, the agency admits that ‘‘[it] will take much 

longer to approve other areas for salvage logging’’ due to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

According to the Society of American Foresters, post-fire restoration, including salvage of dead timber, is in many cases necessary 

to reduce wildfire risk from future fires, reduce insect, disease, and 

invasive species infestations, as well as improve forest regeneration, wildlife habitat, and finally, reduce watershed impacts and 

erosion. It is also necessary to implement salvage projects as soon 

as possible before the economic value of the timber is lost due to 

deterioration, thus making it more expensive to complete restoration and reforestation activities as the revenues from salvage timber sales are made available to fund such work. 

H.R. 3188 would assist in the restoration process by directing the 

Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to ‘‘promptly’’ implement 

salvage timber sales of dead and damaged timber as a result of the 


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Rim Fire. The legislation would categorically exclude such timber 

sales from time-consuming analysis under NEPA and other applicable federal laws, and would also prohibit frivolous appeals and 

litigation to ensure that projects would not be delayed. 

During Natural Resources Committee markup of the bill, the 

Committee adopted an amendment offered by Congressman Tom 

McClintock (R–CA) to exclude Yosemite National Park from lands 

affected by this legislation. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3188 was introduced on September 26, 2013, by Congressman Tom McClintock (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural 

Resources. Within the Natural Resources Committee, the bill was 

referred to to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On October 3, 2013, the Subcommittee held a 

hearing on the bill. On November 14, 2013, the Natural Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Public 

Lands and Environmental Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman McClintock offered an amendment 

designated .072 to the bill; the amendment was adopted by voice 

vote. No further amendments were offered to the bill, and the bill, 

as amended, was then adopted and ordered favorably reported to 

the House of Representatives by a record vote of 16 to 15, as follows: 


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Date: November 14, 2013 

Committee on Natural Resources 

u.s. House of Representatives 

113 th Congress 

Recorded Vote #: I 

Meeting on / Amendment on: H.R. 3188, To adopt and favorably report the bill to the House, as amended, by a 

vote of 16 yeas and 15 nays. The long title of the bill was amended. 

MEMBERS Yes No Pres MEMBERS Yes No Pres 

Mr. Hastings, W A, Chairman X Mr. Duncan of SC X 

Mr. DefilZio, OR, Ranking X Mr. Cardenas, CA X 

Mr. Young, AK Mr. Tipton, CO X 

Mr. Faleomavaega, AS Mr. Hors/ord, NV X 

Mr. Gohmert TX Mr. Gosar AZ 

Mr. Pallone, NJ Mr. Huffman, CA 

Mr. Bishop, UT X Mr, Labrador, ID X 

Mrs. Napolitano, CA X Mr. Ruiz, CA X 

Mr. Lamborn, CO X Mr. Southerland, FL X 

Mr. Hoit,NJ == Ms. Shea-Porter, NH X 

Mr. Wittman, VA Mr. Flores, TX X 

Mr. Grijalva, AZ X I IMr. Lowenthal, CA X 

Mr. Broun, GA X Mr. Runyan, NJ 

Ms. Bordallo, GU X Mr. Garcia, FL 

Mr. Fleming, LA X Mr. Amodei, NV 

Mr. Costa, CA Mr. Cartwright, PA X 

Mr. McClintock, CA X Mr. Mullin, OK X 

Mr. Sablan, CNMI X Mr, Stewart, UT X 

Mr, Thompson, PA Mr. Daines, MT X 

Ms. Tsongas, MA X Mr. Cramer, ND 

Ms. Lummis, WY Mr, LaMalfa, CA X 

Mr. Pierluisi, PR X Mr. Smith, MO X 

Mr, Beuisbek, MI Vacancy 

Ms. Hanabusa, HI X 

TOTALS 16 15 
5 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 3188—Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act 

H.R. 3188 would direct the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to conduct salvage sales of dead, damaged, or downed timber resulting from the 2013 Rim Fire in California. Sales of salvage 

timber under the bill would be exempted from certain laws related 

to the environment and forest management. In addition, sales conducted under the bill would not be subject to administrative or judicial review. 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3188 would have no significant net impact on the federal budget. Because enacting the bill 

would affect offsetting receipts, and thus direct spending, pay-asyou-go procedures would apply; however, CBO estimates that the 

net effect on direct spending would be negligible. Enacting H.R. 

3188 would not affect revenues. 

Under current law, we expect that the Forest Service will sell 

significant amounts of salvage timber from areas affected by the 

2013 Rim Fire over the next several years. In addition, based on 

information provided by the Forest Service, CBO expects that other 

factors, including a lack of manufacturing capacity and hazardous 

weather conditions in the affected areas, would prevent the Forest 

Service from significantly increasing the amount of salvage timber 

sold if the bill was enacted. Finally, CBO expects that any increase 

in the amount of salvage timber sold in the affected areas would 

be partially offset by reductions in the sale of such timber in other 

national forests. 

H.R. 3188 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect 

the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

H.R. 3188 would impose a private-sector mandate, as defined in 

UMRA, on plaintiffs by eliminating a right of action to seek judicial 

review of sales of salvageable timber on some federal lands affected 

by the Rim Fire. The cost of eliminating a right of action is the forgone income and value of awards in such cases. Because such 

losses would generally not occur for the types of cases involved, the 


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mandate would probably impose no costs. Consequently, CBO estimates the cost of the mandate would fall well below the annual 

threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($152 

million in 2014, adjusted annually for inflation). 

On February 5, 2014, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

2954, the Public Access and Lands Improvement Act, as posted on 

the website of the House Committee on Rules on January 30, 2014. 

Title IX of H.R. 2954 contains provisions similar to those contained 

in H.R. 3188, and the CBO cost estimates are the same. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeff LaFave (for federal costs) and Amy Petz (for the private-sector impact). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3188 

would have no significant net impact on the federal budget. Because enacting the bill would affect offsetting receipts, and thus direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply; however, 

CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be negligible. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill, as ordered reported, is to expedite the planning and implementation of salvage timber sales as part of Forest Service and 

Department of the Interior restoration and rehabilitation activities 

for lands within the Stanislaus National Forest and Bureau of 

Land Management lands adversely impacted by the 2013 Rim Fire 

in California. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 


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PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 


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(8) 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

H.R. 3188 requires salvage logging in the areas affected by the 

Rim Fire, one of the largest fires ever recorded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, while waiving all aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act and a list of other landmark environmental laws. 

Planning, environmental review, and public comment are all important components of forest management. Taking any of those 

pieces out of the equation threatens our forests and the resources 

Congress has pledged to protect. 

The jury is still out on the merits of salvage logging after 

wildfires. In fact, many scientists agree that post-fire logging upsets a critical component of forest ecology and should be done on 

a case-by-case basis, and then only after careful review. 

H.R. 3188 fails to review the merits of salvage logging or assess 

when and how it may be appropriate in the context of the Rim 

Fire. 

The Rim Fire may have been an opportunity to reexamine the 

post-wildfire management tools available to the Forest Service and 

Bureau of Land Management. Instead, H.R. 3188 turns it into an 

opportunity to score a few political points. 

While the majority amended the bill in committee to remove Yosemite National Park from the scope of the bill, H.R. 3188 sets a 

terrible precedent. 

PETER A. DEFAZIO. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA. 


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FAA\KC0A~~~~~ OK( AHOMA 

BOB GOOOL.o,TIf,VIIlGINIA 

\fICi CHA.RMAN 

EXCHANGE OF LETTERS 

'll.~. 'llousc of'Rcprcscntatiucs 

liommittrc on Slgricuirurc 

Room J)O], £ongworth Hoose l ~Iliee ,!3mldmg 

t1Jashington, Bli 20m-bOO] 

The Honorable Doc Hastings 

Chairman 

Committee on Natural Resources 

1324 Longworth HOB 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Chairman Hastings: 

(202)225"2171 

(?02) ?75-0917 FAX 

January 31, 2014 

COILINC rrrtRS(lN,MINIVES01A 

flANKING MINOfllT'r MI:MBf R 

'1IGOlrSCOTT 

STAfrOIRECTOR 

;::~VINJ KRA'-1P 

CHI~"COUNsn 

ROBf.HT" LAREW 

Mto,ORtTVSTAF,OlRrCTOR 

I am writing you regarding Il.R. 3188, the Yosemite Rim Fire Emergency Salvage Act, to 

expedite the planning and implementation of salvage timber sales for lands within Stanislaus 

National Forest and Yosemite National Park. As you are aware, the bill was primarily referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture, while the Committee on Natural Resources was given an 

additional referral. An amended version of H.R. 3188 was favorably reported out of your 

Committee on November 14, 2013. 

I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this legislation before the House in an 

expeditious manner and, accordingly, I agree to discharge II.R. 3188 from further consideration 

by the Committee on Agriculture. I do so with the understanding that by discharging the bill, the 

Committee on Agriculture does not waive any future jurisdictional claim on this or similar 

matters. Further, the Committee on Agriculture reserves the right to seek the appointment of 

conferees. if it should become necessary. 

I ask that you insert a copy of our exchange of lcttcrs into the Congressional Record 

during considcration of this measure on the House floor. Thank you for your courtesy in this 

matter and I look forward to continued cooperation between our respective committees. 

cc: The Honorable Jolm A. Boehner, Speaker 

The Honorable Collin C. Petcrson 

The Honorable Peter DeFazio 

Mr. Thomas J. Wickham, Parliamentarian 

Sincerely, 

i~:D.~. Frank D. Lucas 

Chairman 

agricul!lJre.hoHsogOII 
10 


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lil.~. 110u5£ of 1!\epreseutatiues 

<!:ommittc£ 011 i'latural1RcsuurccE 

lmas!jingtnn. 13<£ 20515 

The Honorable Frank D. Lucas 

Chairman 

Committee on Agriculture 

1301 Longworth HOB 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

January 31, 2014 

Thank you for your letter regarding H.R. 3188, the Yosemite Rim Fire Emergency 

Salvage Act. As you know, the Committee on Natural Resources ordered favorably reported the 

bill, as amended, on November 14, 2013. A copy of the amended bill text was forwarded to your 

staff. I appreciate your support in bringing this legislation before the House of Representatives, 

and accordingly, understand that the Committee on Agriculture will forego action on the bill. 

The Committee on Natural Resources concurs with the mutual understanding that by 

foregoing consideration ofH.R. 3188 at this time, the Committee on Agriculture does not waive 

any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or similar legislation. In addition, 

should a conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the 

Committee on Agriculture represented on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased 

to include your letter and this response in the bill report filed by the Committee on Natural 

Resources, as well as in the Congressional Record during floor consideration, to memorialize 

our understanding. 

Thank you for your cooperation. 

ZR;lk 

Chairman 

cc: The Honorable John A. Boehner, Speaker 

The Honorable Peter DeFazio 

The Honorable Collin C. Peterson 

The Honorable Tom McClintock 

The Honorable Thomas J. Wickham, Parliamentarian 

hUp"!inaturalresollfces.house.gov 

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