I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2639

To expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and restoration 

in wildland fire prone National Forests, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2003

Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Community and Forest Protection Act’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 
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Sec. 3. Hazardous fuels reduction projects. 

Sec. 4. Expedited process. 

Sec. 5. Judicial review in the United States District Courts. 

Sec. 6. Contracting. 

Sec. 7. Biomass grants. 

Sec. 8. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program. 

Sec. 9. Emergency fuels reduction grants. 

Sec. 10. Market incentives for home protection. 

Sec. 11. Ongoing projects and existing authorities. 

Sec. 12. Preference to communities that have ordinances on fire prevention. 

Sec. 13. Sunset. 

Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 15. Definitions.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) In 2002, approximately six and one half 

4 million acres of forest lands in the United States 

5 burned with varying degrees of severity, 21 people 

6 lost their lives, and over 3000 structures were de7 stroyed. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land 

8 Management spent more than $1,000,000,000 fight9 ing these fires. 

10 (2) 73,000,000 acres of public lands are classi11 fied as condition class 3 fire risks. This includes 23 

12 million acres that are in strategic areas designated 

13 by the United States Forest Service for emergency 

14 treatment to withstand catastrophic fire. 

15 (3) The forest management policy of fire sup16 pression has resulted in an accumulation of fuel 

17 loads, dead and dying trees, and nonnative species 

18 that create fuel ladders which allow fires to reach 
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1 the crowns of large old trees and cause catastrophic 

2 fire. 

3 (4) The United States Forest Service and the 

4 Department of the Interior should immediately un5 dertake an emergency program to reduce the risk of 

6 catastrophic fire. 

7 (5) This emergency program should prioritize 

8 the protection of homes and communities and the 

9 restoration of forest health on lands at the highest 

10 risk of catastrophic fire. All fuel reduction treat11 ments should protect old growth stands and large 

12 trees to ensure a rich and continued species diversity 

13 in the Nation’s forests. 

14 SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of Agriculture 

16 and the Interior shall conduct immediately and to comple17 tion hazardous fuels reduction projects consistent with the 

18 Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative Approach for 

19 Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the 

20 Environment on an aggregate area of 20,000,000 acres 

21 of Federal land: 

22 (1) These projects shall be conducted on the 

23 priority lands identified in subsection (d), using the 

24 expedited procedures in section 4. 
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1 (2) The Secretaries shall protect old growth 

2 stands and large trees pursuant to subsection (h). 

3 (b) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—The Secretaries of 

4 Agriculture and the Interior shall jointly select hazardous 

5 fuels reduction projects identified by the Implementation 

6 Plan of the Comprehensive Strategy. 

7 (c) CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING FOREST MANAGE8 MENT PLANS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—Any project 

9 carried out pursuant to this Act shall be consistent with 

10 the applicable forest plan, resource management plan, or 

11 other applicable agency plans or environmental laws ex12 cept as specifically amended by this Act. 

13 (d) PRIORITY LANDS.—In implementing projects 

14 under this Act, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the In15 terior shall give highest priority to: 

16 (1) Wildland-urban interface: Condition class 3 

17 or condition class 2 Federal lands or, where appro18 priate, non-Federal lands. 

19 (2) Municipal watersheds: Condition class 3 

20 Federal lands located in such proximity to a munic21 ipal water supply system that a hazardous fuels re22 duction project must be carried out to reduce the 

23 risk of harm to such system resulting from wildfire. 

24 (3) Fire Regime I lands: Federal lands that are 

25 condition class 3. 
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1 (4) Fire Regimes II and III lands: Condition 

2 class 3 Federal lands identified by the Secretary as 

3 an area where windthrow or blowdown, or the exist4 ence of disease or insect infestation, pose a signifi5 cant threat to forest health or adjacent private 

6 lands. 

7 (e) PUBLIC NOTICE AND PUBLIC RESPONSE.—

8 (1) QUARTERLY NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 

9 provide quarterly notice of each hazardous fuels re10 duction project which uses the streamlined processes 

11 established by this Act. The quarterly notice shall be 

12 provided for all projects in the Federal Register and 

13 on an agency website and in a local paper of record 

14 for local projects. The Secretary may combine this 

15 quarterly notice with other quarterly notices other16 wise issued regarding Federal forest management. 

17 (2) CONTENT.—For each hazardous fuels re18 duction project for which the processes established 

19 by this Act are to be used the notice required by 

20 paragraph (1) shall include at a minimum:

21 (A) Identification of each project as a haz22 ardous fuels reduction project for which the 

23 processes established by this Act are to be used. 
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1 (B) A description of the project, including 

2 as much information on its geographic location 

3 as practicable. 

4 (C) The approximate date on which 

5 scoping for the project will begin. 

6 (D) Information regarding how interested 

7 members of the public can take part in the de8 velopment of the project, including, but not lim9 ited to, project related public meeting notifica10 tion. 

11 (3) PUBLIC MEETING.—Following publication 

12 of each quarterly notice under paragraph (1), but 

13 before the beginning of scoping under section 4(a), 

14 the Secretary shall conduct a public meeting at an 

15 appropriate location in each administrative unit of 

16 the Federal lands regarding those hazardous fuels 

17 reduction projects contained in the quarterly notice 

18 that are proposed to be conducted in that adminis19 trative unit. The Secretary shall provide advance no20 tice of the date and time of the meeting in the quar21 terly notice or using the same means described in 

22 paragraph (1). 

23 (4) PUBLIC RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF

24 PROJECTS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A federally formed re2 source advisory committee may petition, with 

3 supporting evidence, the Secretary to better as4 sess ground conditions of land to be covered by 

5 projects, during scoping or public comment on 

6 specific hazardous fuels reduction projects iden7 tified under subsection (b). 

8 (B) PRIORITY LANDS INCLUDED IN THE

9 PROJECTS.—For specific hazardous fuels reduc10 tion projects the petitioner may seek to correct 

11 the inclusion or exclusion of priority lands iden12 tified in subsection (d). The petitioner may also 

13 seek designation of large trees or old growth 

14 stands to be protected under subsection (h). 

15 (C) SECRETARIAL RESPONSE.—The Sec16 retary must respond to the petition within 30 

17 days by public notice by the same means de18 scribed in paragraph (1). The Secretary shall 

19 provide a public viewing of the area in question 

20 if requested in the petition within 90 days of re21 ceipt of the petition, with the petitioner and any 

22 other interested parties. 

23 (D) DETERMINATION OF PETITION.—The 

24 Secretary must accept or deny the petition 

25 within 120 days of its receipt, based on site-
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1 specific review of historic ecological conditions, 

2 forest type, present fuel loads, and determina3 tion of whether the area properly qualifies as 

4 priority lands under subsection (d). 

5 (5) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The Secretary 

6 shall provide notice by the same means described in 

7 paragraph (1) of any final agency action regarding 

8 a hazardous fuels reduction project for which the 

9 processes established by this Act are used. 

10 (f) PRIORITY HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

11 FUNDING.—The Secretaries shall expend no less than 70 

12 percent of funds under this Act on projects within the 

13 wildland-urban interface, provided that the Secretaries 

14 may adjust this funding formula for a particular State at 

15 the request of its governor. In no event shall the Secre16 taries expend less than 50 percent or greater than 75 per17 cent of funds within the wildland-urban interface for a 

18 particular State. 

19 (g) MONITORING.—The Secretaries shall establish a 

20 multiparty monitoring process with representation from 

21 resource industries, environmentalists, independent sci22 entists, community-based organizations, and other inter23 ested parties in order for Congress to assess a representa24 tive sampling of the hazardous fuels reduction projects im25 plemented pursuant to this Act. 
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1 (h) LIMITATIONS.—In implementing hazardous fuels 

2 reduction projects under this Act the Secretary shall—

3 (1) not undertake any hazardous fuels reduc4 tion projects in wilderness study areas or compo5 nents of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys6 tem; 

7 (2) not construct new roads in inventoried 

8 roadless areas as part of any hazardous fuels reduc9 tion project; 

10 (3) fully maintain the structure, function, proc11 esses and composition of structurally complex older 

12 forests (old growth) according to each ecosystem 

13 type; and 

14 (4) outside old growth stands—

15 (A) shall focus on small diameter trees and 

16 thin from below to modify fire behavior as 

17 measured by rate of spread, height to live 

18 crown, and flame length; and 

19 (B) shall maximize the retention of large 

20 trees to the extent that they promote fire-resist21 ant stands and species diversity as appropriate 

22 for the forest type and site. 
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1 SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCESS. 

2 (a) SCOPING.—The Secretary shall conduct scoping 

3 for each hazardous fuels reduction project implemented 

4 pursuant to this Act. 

5 (b) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS IN THE WILDLAND6 URBAN INTERFACE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The wildland-urban interface 

8 hazardous fuels reduction projects authorized by this 

9 Act are conclusively determined to be categorically 

10 excluded from further analysis under the National 

11 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (‘‘NEPA’’) (42 

12 U.S.C. 4332), and the Secretary need not make any 

13 findings as to whether the projects individually or 

14 cumulatively have a significant effect on the environ15 ment. 

16 (2) VARIED TREATMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

17 vary the treatments and avoid clear cuts inside the 

18 wildland-urban interface to ensure forest health. The 

19 Secretary shall also protect old growth and large 

20 trees pursuant to section 3(h). 

21 (3) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES EXCEP22 TION.—For all hazardous fuels reduction projects 

23 implemented pursuant to this subsection, if there are 

24 extraordinary circumstances, the Secretary shall fol25 low agency procedures related to categorical exclu26 sions and extraordinary circumstances. For the pur-
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1 poses of this subsection, a project’s location within 

2 a municipal watershed shall not be considered an ex3 traordinary circumstance. 

4 (4) APPEALS.—No hazardous fuels reduction 

5 projects implemented pursuant to this subsection 

6 shall be subject to appeal requirements of the Ap7 peals Reform Act (section 322 of Public Law 102–

8 381) or the Department of the Interior Office of 

9 Hearings and Appeals. 

10 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS OUTSIDE THE

11 WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—For hazardous fuels reduc13 tion projects implemented pursuant to this Act on 

14 priority lands identified in section 3(d), if a categor15 ical exclusion does not apply, the Secretary shall de16 termine, consistent with NEPA, whether an environ17 mental assessment is sufficient and use the proce18 dures set forth in the Council on Environmental 

19 Quality ‘‘Guidance for Environmental Assessments 

20 of Forest Health Projects,’’ of December 9, 2002, or 

21 as amended. 

22 (2) ISSUANCE OF DOCUMENTATION AND SHORT23 ENED APPEALS.—Notwithstanding the Appeals Re24 form Act, section 322 of the Department of the In25 terior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
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1 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note), 

2 or regulations pertaining to the Department of the 

3 Interior Office of Hearings and Appeals procedures, 

4 for hazardous fuels reduction projects implemented 

5 by environmental assessments pursuant to sub6 section (c)(1): 

7 (A) The Secretary may issue the environ8 mental documentation and the decision docu9 ment for the project simultaneously without 

10 public comment. Such issuance shall begin the 

11 administrative appeals process immediately. 

12 (B) Persons must file any administrative 

13 appeal of projects under this subsection within 

14 30 days after the date of issuance of a decision. 

15 (C) The Secretary shall resolve any appeal 

16 not later than 30 days after the closing date for 

17 filing an appeal. 

18 (D) If the review officer determines that 

19 an appeal has merit, in lieu of remanding the 

20 proposed agency action, the review officer, in 

21 consultation with the parties, may sign a new 

22 decision. 

23 (E) The Secretary shall stay implementa24 tion of the project for 15 days beginning on the 

25 date on which the Secretary resolves any ad-
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1 ministrative appeal that complies with the re2 quirements in subsection (d). 

3 (d) STANDING TO APPEAL.—If a draft document pre4 pared pursuant to NEPA for a hazardous fuels reduction 

5 project was available for public comment, or the project 

6 had scoping, the Secretary may require that a person fil7 ing an administrative appeal with respect to the project 

8 must have been involved in the public comment process 

9 for the project by submitting specific and substantive writ10 ten comments with regard to the project or must have par11 ticipated in the scoping of the project. 

12 (e) SALVAGE MONITORING PILOT PROGRAM.—

13 (1) SALVAGE PILOT.—The Secretary is author14 ized to use the administrative appeals authorities 

15 under this subsection, pursuant to paragraph (2), 

16 for salvage hazardous fuels reduction projects in the 

17 area popularly known as the Biscuit Fire and ref18 erence on the map entitled ll and dated ll on 

19 file at the Forest Service ll office. 

20 (2) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall require 

21 that any salvage hazardous fuels reduction project 

22 on the Biscuit Fire be subject to ecological and eco23 nomic monitoring of its effects, including on-site 

24 evaluation and inspections. The monitoring shall be 

25 conducted by a group with representation from inde-
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1 pendent scientists, industry representatives, environ2 mentalists, community-based organizations, and 

3 other interested parties. Group selection shall be 

4 through the Western Governors Association Collabo5 rative process. The group shall report to the public 

6 under section 3(e)(1) on the ecological and economic 

7 effects of individual salvage hazardous fuels projects. 

8 SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW IN THE UNITED STATES DIS9 TRICT COURTS. 

10 (a) VENUE.—A hazardous fuels reduction project 

11 conducted under this Act shall be subject to judicial review 

12 only in the United States district court for the district in 

13 which the Federal lands to be treated by the hazardous 

14 fuels reduction project are located, notwithstanding sec15 tion 1391 of title 28, United States Code, or any other 

16 applicable venue statutes. 

17 (b) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL RE18 VIEW.—Congress intends and encourages any court in 

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

20 an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to expe21 dite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings 

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

23 determination on jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a 

24 final determination on the merits, as soon as possible from 

25 the date the complaint or appeal is filed. 
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1 (c) DURATION OF INJUNCTION.—Any temporary in2 junctive relief granted regarding a project undertaken pur3 suant to this Act shall be limited to 60 days, with author4 ity to renew each temporary injunction without limitation. 

5 For each injunctive renewal the parties shall present the 

6 court with updates on the status of the project. 

7 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—Nothing in this section 

8 shall change the standards of judicial review for any action 

9 concerning a project authorized under this Act. 

10 SEC. 6. CONTRACTING. 

11 (a) BEST VALUE CONTRACTING.—The Secretary 

12 shall use best value contracting criteria in awarding at 

13 least fifty percent of contracts and agreements for haz14 ardous fuels reduction projects pursuant to this Act. Best 

15 value contract criteria will include, but not be limited to—

16 (1) the ability of the contractor to meet the eco17 logical goals of the projects; 

18 (2) the use of equipment that will minimize or 

19 eliminate impacts on soils; and 

20 (3) benefit to local economies in performing the 

21 restorative treatments and ensuring that wood by22 products are processed locally. 

23 (b) MONITORING.—The Forest Service shall monitor 

24 the business and employment impacts of hazardous fuels 
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1 reduction projects including the total dollar value of con2 tracts and agreements awarded to qualifying entities. 

3 (c) PUBLIC LANDS CORPS.—

4 (1) CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries are au6 thorized to enter into contracts or cooperative 

7 agreements with a Public Lands Corps—

8 (i) to implement and complete 

9 projects prioritized in section 3(b) and (d) 

10 of this Act; and 

11 (ii) to perform appropriate rehabilita12 tion, enhancement, or beautification 

13 projects with the Department of Natural 

14 Resources, Department of Forestry or De15 partment of Agriculture of any State. 

16 (B) INDIAN LANDS.—Such projects may 

17 also be carried out on Indian lands with the ap18 proval of the relevant Indian tribe. 

19 (C) PREFERENCE.—The Secretaries shall 

20 give preference to those projects which take 

21 place on lands identified as priorities in section 

22 3(d) of this Act and can be planned and initi23 ated promptly. 

24 (D) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The Secre25 taries are authorized to provide such services as
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1 the Secretaries deem necessary to carry out the 

2 purposes of this Act. 

3 (E) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secre4 taries shall work with the National Association 

5 of Service and Conservation Corps to provide 

6 technical assistance, oversight, monitoring, and 

7 evaluation to the United States Departments of 

8 Agriculture and the Interior, State Depart9 ments of Natural Resources and Agriculture, 

10 and Public Lands Corps. 

11 (2) NONDISPLACEMENT.—The nondisplacement 

12 requirements of section 177 of the National and 

13 Community Service Trust Act of 1990 shall be ap14 plicable to all activities carried out under this Act by 

15 the Public Lands Corps. 

16 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

17 the purposes of this subsection there are authorized 

18 to be appropriated $12,500,000 annually for 5 years 

19 after the enactment of this Act. 

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec21 tion—

22 (1) CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS.—The term 

23 ‘‘contracts and agreements’’ means service contracts, 

24 timber sale contracts, construction contracts, supply 

25 contracts, emergency equipment rental agreements, 
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1 architectural and engineering contracts, challenge 

2 cost-share agreements, cooperative agreements, and 

3 participating agreements. 

4 (2) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali5 fying entity’’ means—

6 (A) a natural-resource related small or 

7 micro-enterprise; 

8 (B) a Youth Conservation Corps or Public 

9 Lands Corps crew or related partnership with 

10 State, local and other non-Federal conservation 

11 corps; 

12 (C) an entity that will hire and train local 

13 people to complete the contract or agreement; 

14 (D) an entity that will re-train non-local 

15 traditional forest workers to complete the con16 tract or agreement; or 

17 (E) a local entity that meets the criteria to 

18 qualify for the Historically Underutilized Busi19 ness Zone Program under section 32 of the 

20 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a). 

21 (3) PUBLIC LANDS CORPS.—The term ‘‘Public 

22 Lands Corps’’ means any organization established 

23 by a state or local government, nonprofit organiza24 tion, or Indian tribe that: 

25 (A) has demonstrated the ability: 
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1 (i) to provide labor intensive produc2 tive work to individuals; 

3 (ii) to recruit and train economically 

4 disadvantaged or at-risk youth; 

5 (iii) to give participants a combination 

6 of work experience, basic and life skills, 

7 education, training and support services; 

8 and 

9 (iv) to provide participants with the 

10 opportunity to develop citizenship values 

11 through service to their communities and 

12 the United States; and 

13 (B) has also successfully completed, or is 

14 engaged in, a peer-reviewed, standards based 

15 program assessment process. 

16 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

17 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

18 Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United 

19 States, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar20 iana Islands. 

21 SEC. 7. BIOMASS GRANTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE OPERATION.—The term ‘‘eligible 

24 operation’’ means a facility that is located within the 

25 boundaries of an eligible community and uses bio-
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1 mass from Federal or Tribal lands as a raw material 

2 to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor3 tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod4 ucts. 

5 (2) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ means pre6 commercial thinnings of trees and woody plants, or 

7 non-merchantable material, from hazardous fuels re8 duction projects. 

9 (3) GREEN TON.—The term ‘‘green ton’’ means 

10 2,000 pounds of biomass that has not been mechani11 cally or artificially dried. 

12 (4) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

13 community’’ means any Indian Reservation, or any 

14 county, town, township, municipality, or other simi15 lar unit of local government that has a population 

16 of not more than 50,000 individuals and is deter17 mined by the Secretary to be located in an area near 

18 Federal or Tribal lands which is at significant risk 

19 of catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation 

20 or which suffers from disease or insect infestation. 

21 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

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

23 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist24 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
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1 (b) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL UTILIZATION GRANT

2 PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

4 grants to any individual, community, Indian tribe, 

5 small business or corporation, or nonprofit that owns 

6 or operates an eligible operation to offset capital ex7 penses and costs incurred to purchase biomass for 

8 use by such eligible operation with priority given to 

9 operations using biomass from the highest risk 

10 areas. 

11 (2) LIMITATION.—No grant provided under this 

12 subsection shall be paid at a rate that exceeds $20 

13 per green ton of biomass delivered. 

14 (3) RECORDS.—Each grant recipient shall keep 

15 such records as the Secretary may require to fully 

16 and correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and 

17 all transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. 

18 Upon notice by the Secretary, the grant recipient 

19 shall provide the Secretary reasonable access to ex20 amine the inventory and records of any eligible oper21 ation receiving grant funds. 

22 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

23 the purposes of this subsection, there are authorized 

24 to be appropriated $12,500,000 each to the Sec25 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri-
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1 culture for each fiscal year for five years after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) IMPROVED BIOMASS UTILIZATION PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

5 grants to persons in eligible communities to offset 

6 the costs of developing or researching proposals to 

7 improve the use of biomass or add value to biomass 

8 utilization. 

9 (2) SELECTION.—Grant recipients shall be se10 lected based on the potential for the proposal to—

11 (A) develop affordable thermal or electric 

12 energy resources for the benefit of an eligible 

13 community; 

14 (B) provide opportunities for the creation 

15 or expansion of small businesses within an eligi16 ble community; 

17 (C) create new job opportunities within an 

18 eligible community, and 

19 (D) reduce the hazardous fuels from the 

20 highest risk areas. 

21 (3) LIMITATION.—No grant awarded under this 

22 subsection shall exceed $500,000. 

23 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

24 the purposes of this subsection, there are authorized 

25 to be appropriated $12,500,000 each to the Sec-
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1 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri2 culture for each fiscal year for the five years after 

3 enactment of this Act. 

4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and 

6 the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly submit to the 

7 Congress a report that describes the interim results of the 

8 programs authorized under this section. 

9 SEC. 8. FOREST STANDS INVENTORY AND MONITORING 

10 PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture and 

12 the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out, in conjunc13 tion with the National Aeronautics and Space Administra14 tion and other relevant agencies and research facilities (in15 cluding the Forest Service Research Stations and aca16 demic institutions), a comprehensive program to inventory 

17 and assess forest stands on federal forest land and, with 

18 the consent of the owner, private forest land. The objective 

19 of this program shall be to evaluate current and future 

20 forest health conditions and address ecological impacts of 

21 insect, disease, invasive species, fire and weather-related 

22 episodic events. Emphasis shall be placed upon coordi23 nating, reconciling, and field verification of existing data 

24 (including remotely sensed and modeled data utilized to 

25 characterize vegetation/cover types, density, fire regimes, 
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1 fire effects, and condition classes), and improving the ac2 curacy of such data to assist in management activities. 

3 (b) LOCATION.—The facility for this program shall 

4 be located at the Ochoco National Forest Headquarters 

5 in Prineville, Oregon. 

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

7 purposes of this section, there are authorized to be appro8 priated $5,000,000 each fiscal year for the five years after 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 9. EMERGENCY FUELS REDUCTION GRANTS. 

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

12 establish an Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program 

13 to provide State and local agencies with financial assist14 ance for hazardous fuels reduction projects addressing 

15 threats of catastrophic fire that have been determined by 

16 the United States Forest Service to pose a serious threat 

17 to human life. 

18 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Fuels reduction projects eligible 

19 for funding under the Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant 

20 program shall—

21 (1) be surrounded by or immediately adjacent 

22 to national forest boundaries; 

23 (2) have been determined to be of paramount 

24 urgency by virtue of declarations of emergency by 
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1 both local officials and the governor of the State in 

2 which they are located; and 

3 (3) remove fuel loading determined to pose a 

4 serious threat to human life by the United States 

5 Forest Service. 

6 (c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Funds authorized 

7 under this section shall be limited to the following uses: 

8 (1) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential 

9 fuels adjacent to primary evacuation routes. 

10 (2) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential 

11 fuels adjacent to emergency response centers, emer12 gency communication facilities or sites designated as 

13 shelter-in-place facilities. 

14 (3) evacuation drills and preparation. 

15 (d) REVOLVING FUND.—For work done on private 

16 property and county lands, the grant recipients shall de17 posit into a revolving fund any proceeds from sale of the 

18 timber or biomass from the projects funded under this sec19 tion. The revolving fund shall be used to assist with subse20 quent grants under this section. 

21 (e) EMERGENCY FUELS REDUCTION GRANTS.—For 

22 the purposes of funding the Emergency Fuels Reduction 

23 Grant program under this Act, there are authorized to be 

24 appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture $50,000,000 

25 each fiscal year that this Act is in effect. Subject to section
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1 14, amounts appropriated in one fiscal year and unobli2 gated before the end of that fiscal year shall remain avail3 able for use in subsequent fiscal years. 

4 SEC. 10. MARKET INCENTIVES FOR HOME PROTECTION. 

5 It is the Sense of Congress that insurers should re6 duce premiums for homeowners in condition class 2 and 

7 condition class 3 areas within the wildland-urban interface 

8 who—

9 (1) clear brush and other flammable material in 

10 the vicinity of their homes; 

11 (2) use nonflammable building materials for 

12 roofs and other critical structures; 

13 (3) otherwise improve the defensibility of their 

14 homes against catastrophic fire. 

15 SEC. 11. ONGOING PROJECTS AND EXISTING AUTHORITIES. 

16 Nothing in this Act shall affect projects begun prior 

17 to enactment of this Act or affect authorities otherwise 

18 granted to the Secretaries under existing law. 

19 SEC. 12. PREFERENCE TO COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE ORDI20 NANCES ON FIRE PREVENTION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In determining the allocation of 

22 funding for the Community and Private Land Fire Assist23 ance Program (16 U.S.C. 2106c/PL–171 section 10A(b)), 

24 the Secretary shall prioritize funding to those communities 

25 which have taken proactive steps through the enactment 
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1 of ordinances and other means, including those that have 

2 developed a comprehensive fire protection plan encom3 passing all ownerships, to encourage property owners to 

4 reduce fire risk on private property. 

5 (b) PRIVATE LANDS.—Nothing in this Act shall af6 fect existing authorities to use appropriations authorized 

7 by this Act to carry out the provisions under this Act on 

8 non-Federal lands with the consent of the land owner. 

9 SEC. 13. SUNSET. 

10 The provisions of this Act shall expire five years after 

11 the date of enactment, except that projects for which a 

12 decision notice has been issued by that date may continue 

13 to be implemented. 

14 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—For the 

16 purposes of planning and conducting hazardous fuels re17 duction projects under this Act on National Forest System 

18 Lands, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec19 retary of Agriculture $1,943,100,000 during the 5-year 

20 period beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, 

21 amounts appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated 

22 before the end of that fiscal year shall remain available 

23 for use in subsequent fiscal years. 

24 (b) BLM LANDS.—For the purpose of planning and 

25 conducting hazardous fuels reduction projects under this 
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1 Act on Federal lands managed by the Secretary of the In2 terior, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary of the Interior $1,888,000,000 during the 5-year 

4 period beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, 

5 amounts appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated 

6 before the end of that fiscal year shall remain available 

7 for use in subsequent fiscal years. 

8 SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS. 

9 (a) LAND TYPES AND FIRE REGIME AREAS.—In this 

10 Act, definitions of land types and fire regimes originate 

11 from the United States Forest Service Rocky Mountain 

12 Research Station, as follows: 

13 (1) CONDITION CLASS 2.—The term ‘‘condition 

14 class 2’’ refers to lands on which—

15 (A) fire frequencies have been moderately 

16 altered and have departed from historic fire re17 turn frequencies (either increased or decreased) 

18 by one or more return interval, which results in 

19 moderate changes to fire size, frequency, inten20 sity, severity or landscape patterns; 

21 (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing 

22 key ecosystem components; and 

23 (C) vegetation attributes have been mod24 erately altered from their historic range. 
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1 (2) CONDITION CLASS 3.—The term ‘‘condition 

2 class 3’’ refers to lands on which—

3 (A) fire regimes have been significantly al4 tered from their historic range, which results in 

5 dramatic changes to fire size, frequency, inten6 sity, severity, or landscape patterns; 

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

8 ecosystem components; and 

9 (C) vegetation attributes have been signifi10 cantly altered from their historic range. 

11 (3) FIRE REGIME I.—The term ‘‘fire regime I’’ 

12 refers to lands on which historically fire recurs in 0–

13 35 year intervals and burns with low severity. 

14 (4) FIRE REGIME II.—The term ‘‘fire regime 

15 II’’ refers to lands on which historically fire recurs 

16 in 0–35 year intervals and replaces existing vegeta17 tion. 

18 (5) FIRE REGIME III.—The term ‘‘fire regime 

19 III’’ refers to lands on which historically fire recurs 

20 in 35–100 year intervals and burns with mixed se21 verity. 

22 (b) AT-RISK COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘at-risk com23 munity’’ means a geographic area designated by the Sec24 retary as any area—
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1 (1) defined as an interface community in Vol2 ume 66, page 753, of the January 4, 2001 Federal 

3 Register; 

4 (2) on which conditions are conducive to large5 scale wildland fire disturbance events; and 

6 (3) for which a significant threat to human life 

7 exists as a result of wildland fire disturbance events. 

8 (c) BEST VALUE CONTRACTING.—The term ‘‘best 

9 value contracting’’ means the contracting process de10 scribed in section 15.101 of title 48, Code of Federal Reg11 ulations, which allows the inclusion of non-cost factors in 

12 the federal contract process. 

13 (d) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Com14 prehensive Strategy’’ means the Comprehensive Strategy 

15 for a Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire 

16 Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated May 

17 2002, including by reference the related Implementation 

18 Plan, which was developed pursuant to the conference re19 port to accompany the Department of Interior and Related 

20 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (House Report 106–

21 646). 

22 (e) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal lands’’ 

23 means National Forest System lands and public forested 

24 lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior acting 

25 through the Bureau of Land Management.
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1 (f) GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE.—The term ‘‘geographic 

2 feature’’ means a ridge top, road, stream, or other land3 scape feature which can serve naturally as a firebreak, 

4 staging ground for firefighting, or boundary affecting fire 

5 behavior. 

6 (g) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT.—The 

7 term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction project’’ means a 

8 project— 

9 (1) undertaken for the purpose of reducing the 

10 amount of hazardous fuels resulting from alteration 

11 of a natural fire regime as a result of fire suppres12 sion or other management activities; and 

13 (2) accomplished through the use of prescribed 

14 burning or mechanical treatment, or a combination 

15 thereof. 

16 (h) INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREA.—The term 

17 ‘‘inventoried roadless area’’ means one of the areas identi18 fied in the set of inventoried roadless area maps contained 

19 in the Forest Service Roadless Areas Conservation, Final 

20 Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated No21 vember, 2000. 

22 (i) LOCAL PREFERENCE CONTRACTING.—The term 

23 ‘‘local preference contracting’’ means the Federal con24 tracting process that gives preference to local businesses 

25 described in section 333 of the Department of Interior and 
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1 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 (division F of 

2 Public Law 108–7, 117 Stat. 277). 

3 (j) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The term 

4 ‘‘municipal water supply system’’ means reservoirs, canals, 

5 ditches, flumes, laterals, pipes, pipelines, or other surface 

6 facilities and systems constructed or installed for the im7 poundment, storage, transportation, or distribution of 

8 drinking water for a community. 

9 (k) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

10 Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary’s designee, with 

11 respect to National Forest System lands; and the Sec12 retary of the Interior, or the Secretary’s designees, with 

13 respect to public lands administered by the Secretary 

14 through the Bureau of Land Management. 

15 (l) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

16 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ means the area either within 

17 an at-risk community or within the area—

18 (1) extending out to a geographic feature, if 

19 there is such a feature within approximately three20 quarters of a mile of the community boundary; or 

21 (2) if there is no such geographic feature, extending out 1 22 ⁄2 mile from the community boundary.

Æ