II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2277 

To respond to the extreme fire hazard and unsafe conditions resulting from 

pine beetle infestation, drought, disease, or storm damage by declaring 

a state of emergency and directing the Secretary of Agriculture to immediately implement hazardous fuels reduction projects in the manner provided in title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2012 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To respond to the extreme fire hazard and unsafe conditions 

resulting from pine beetle infestation, drought, disease, 

or storm damage by declaring a state of emergency and 

directing the Secretary of Agriculture to immediately 

implement hazardous fuels reduction projects in the manner provided in title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration 

Act of 2003, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Forest Emer3 gency Response Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

6 (1) forest health and human safety in certain 

7 national forests have deteriorated dangerously due to 

8 pine beetle infestation, disease, storm damage, and 

9 drought; and 

10 (2) the resulting fire hazard in those national 

11 forests endangers adjacent communities, ranches, 

12 State parks, and several units of the National Park 

13 System and poses a significant threat to the eco14 nomic stability of surrounding areas and the health, 

15 safety, and well-being of residents and visitors to 

16 those areas. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DESIGNATED NATIONAL FOREST.—The 

20 term ‘‘designated national forest’’ means a national 

21 forest designated by the Secretary under section 

22 4(b). 

23 (2) EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES.—The term 

24 ‘‘emergency circumstances’’ has the meaning given 

25 the term in section 1506.11 of title 40, Code of Fed26 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation). 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

3 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY AND SELECTION OF 

4 PILOT PROJECT NATIONAL FORESTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In recognition of deteriorating 

6 forest health conditions, extreme fire hazard, and the sig7 nificant number of dead and dying trees in certain na8 tional forests due to pine beetle infestation, drought, dis9 ease, or storm damage, and the resulting imminent risk 

10 of devastating wildfire that poses a significant threat to 

11 the economic stability of surrounding areas and the health, 

12 safety, and well-being of residents, firefighters, and visi13 tors to the areas, Congress declares that the fire hazard 

14 and human endangerment in those national forests des15 ignated by the Secretary under subsection (b) constitute 

16 emergency circumstances. 

17 (b) DESIGNATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

20 shall designate not less than 1 national forest in 

21 each applicable State that is experiencing conditions 

22 that constitute emergency circumstances due to pine 

23 beetle infestation, drought, disease, or storm damage 

24 and the resulting imminent risk of devastating wild25 fire that poses significant threat to the economic 


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1 stability of surrounding areas and the health, safety, 

2 and well-being of residents, firefighters, and visitors 

3 to the areas. 

4 (2) LIMITATION.—A designation under para5 graph (1) shall be for a period not to exceed 10 

6 years. 

7 SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF EXPEDITED PROCEDURES AND 

8 ACTIVITIES OF THE HEALTHY FORESTS RES9 TORATION ACT OF 2003 TO DESIGNATED FOR10 EST SERVICE PILOT PROJECTS. 

11 (a) APPLICABILITY.—Subject to subsections (b) 

12 through (e), title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

13 of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511 et seq.) (including the environ14 mental analysis requirements of section 104 of that Act 

15 (16 U.S.C. 6514), the special administrative review proc16 ess under section 105 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 6515), and 

17 the judicial review process under section 106 of that Act 

18 (16 U.S.C. 6516)), shall apply to all Forest Service 

19 projects and activities implementing the land and resource 

20 management plan developed for the designated national 

21 forests during the term of the emergency circumstance de22 clared under section 4. 

23 (b) APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW.—Section 322 of 

24 Public Law 102–381 (16 U.S.C. 1612 note; 106 Stat. 


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1 1419) shall not apply to projects conducted in accordance 

2 with this section. 

3 (c) REQUIRED MODIFICATIONS.—In applying title I 

4 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

5 U.S.C. 6511 et seq.) to Forest Service projects and activi6 ties in designated national forests, the Secretary shall 

7 make the following modifications: 

8 (1) The authority shall apply to the entire des9 ignated national forest, including land that is out10 side of a wildland-urban interface area or that does 

11 not satisfy any of the other eligibility criteria speci12 fied in section 102(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

13 6512(a)). 

14 (2) All projects and activities of the Forest 

15 Service, including necessary connected actions (as 

16 described in section 1508.25(a)(1) of title 40, Code 

17 of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)), 

18 shall be considered to be authorized hazardous fuel 

19 reduction projects for purposes of applying the title. 

20 (3) In the case of a project intended to address 

21 the existence of an infestation of disease or insects, 

22 or the presence of such an infestation on imme23 diately adjacent land, the Secretary may proceed 

24 with the project if there is any risk the infestation 


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1 will spread, not just in the event of an imminent risk 

2 of the spread of the infestation. 

3 (4) Forest Service projects and activities in the 

4 designated national forest conducted under title I of 

5 that Act shall not be counted toward the limitation 

6 in section 102(c) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 6512(c)) on 

7 the total quantity of acreage that may be treated 

8 under that title. 

9 (d) SMALLER PROJECTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), a project conducted in a designated na12 tional forest in accordance with this section that 

13 comprises less than 10,000 acres shall be considered 

14 an action categorically excluded from the require15 ments for an environmental assessment or an envi16 ronmental impact statement under section 1508.4 of 

17 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

18 regulation). 

19 (2) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Para20 graph (1) does not apply to— 

21 (A) a component of the National Wilder22 ness Preservation System; 

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

24 Congress or Presidential proclamation, the re25 moval of vegetation is restricted or prohibited; 


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1 (C) a congressionally designated wilderness 

2 study area; or 

3 (D) an area in which activities under para4 graph (1) would be inconsistent with the appli5 cable land and resource management plan. 

6 (e) PROHIBITION ON RESTRAINING ORDERS, PRE7 LIMINARY INJUNCTIONS, AND OTHER RELIEF PENDING

8 JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—No restraining order, pre10 liminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal 

11 shall be issued by any court of the United States 

12 with respect to any decision to engage in any reme13 dial action or to prepare, advertise, offer, award, or 

14 operate a timber sale under this section in a des15 ignated national forest. 

16 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW.—Section 

17 705 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply 

18 to any challenge to a sale described in paragraph 

19 (1). 

20 SEC. 6. GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY. 

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

23 State’’ means a State that contains National Forest 

24 System land. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

3 (3) STATE FORESTER.—The term ‘‘State for4 ester’’ means the head of a State agency with juris5 diction over State forestry programs in an eligible 

6 State. 

7 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 

9 into a cooperative agreement or contract (including 

10 a sole source contract) with a State forester to au11 thorize the State forester to provide the forest, 

12 rangeland, and watershed restoration and protection 

13 services described in paragraph (2) on National For14 est System land in the eligible State. 

15 (2) AUTHORIZED SERVICES.—The forest, 

16 rangeland, and watershed restoration and protection 

17 services referred to in paragraph (1) include the con18 duct of— 

19 (A) activities to treat insect infected trees; 

20 (B) activities to reduce hazardous fuels; 

21 and 

22 (C) any other activities to restore or im23 prove forest, rangeland, and watershed health, 

24 including fish and wildlife habitat. 


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1 (3) STATE AS AGENT.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (6), a cooperative agreement or contract 

3 entered into under paragraph (1) may authorize the 

4 State forester to serve as the agent for the Secretary 

5 in providing the restoration and protection services 

6 authorized under that paragraph. 

7 (4) SUBCONTRACTS.—In accordance with appli8 cable contract procedures for the eligible State, a 

9 State forester may enter into subcontracts to provide 

10 the restoration and protection services authorized 

11 under a cooperative agreement or contract entered 

12 into under paragraph (1). 

13 (5) TIMBER SALES.—Subsections (d) and (g) of 

14 section 14 of the National Forest Management Act 

15 of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) shall not apply to services 

16 performed under a cooperative agreement or con17 tract entered into under paragraph (1). 

18 (6) RETENTION OF NEPA RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

19 Any decision required to be made under the Na20 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

21 4321 et seq.) with respect to any restoration and 

22 protection services to be provided under this section 

23 by a State forester on National Forest System land 

24 shall not be delegated to a State forester or any 

25 other officer or employee of the eligible State. 


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1 (7) APPLICABLE LAW.—The restoration and 

2 protection services to be provided under this section 

3 shall be carried out on a project-to-project basis 

4 under existing authorities of the Forest Service. 

Æ 


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