I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2049 

To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

of 1974 to promote reforestation following unplanned events on Federal 

land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. LAMALFA, Ms. 

SPANBERGER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

TAKANO, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee 

on Natural 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 amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 

Planning Act of 1974 to promote reforestation following 

unplanned events on Federal land, 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 ‘‘Repairing Existing 

5 Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act’’ or the ‘‘RE6 PLANT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFORESTATION FOLLOWING WILDFIRES AND 

2 OTHER UNPLANNED EVENTS. 

3 (a) FOREST AND RANGELAND RENEWABLE RE4 SOURCES PLANNING ACT OF 1974.— 

5 (1) NATIONAL FOREST COVER POLICY.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Forest 

7 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning 

8 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601) is amended— 

9 (i) by redesignating subsection (e) as 

10 subsection (f); 

11 (ii) by redesignating the second sub12 section (d) (relating to the policy of Con13 gress regarding forested land in the Na14 tional Forest System) as subsection (e); 

15 and 

16 (iii) in subsection (e) (as so redesig17 nated)— 

18 (I) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (aa) in the first sentence— 

20 (AA) by striking ‘‘9 of 

21 this Act, the Secretary shall 

22 annually for eight years fol23 lowing the enactment of this 

24 subsection’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘9, the Secretary shall, an26 nually during each of the 10 


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1 years beginning after the 

2 date of enactment of the 

3 REPLANT Act’’; and 

4 (BB) by striking 

5 ‘‘eight-year’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘10-year’’; 

7 (bb) in the second sentence, 

8 by striking ‘‘such eight-year pe9 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘the 10-year 

10 period’’; and 

11 (cc) in the third sentence, by 

12 striking ‘‘1978’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘2021’’; 

14 (II) in paragraph (3), in the first 

15 sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘subsection’’; and 

17 (III) by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(4) REFORESTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(i) NATURAL REGENERATION.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 

23 ‘natural regeneration’ means the es24 tablishment of a tree or tree age class 

25 from natural seeding, sprouting, or 


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1 suckering in accordance with the man2 agement objectives of an applicable 

3 land management plan. 

4 ‘‘(II) INCLUSION.—The term 

5 ‘natural regeneration’ may include 

6 any site preparation activity to en7 hance the success of regeneration to 

8 the desired species composition and 

9 structure. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY LAND.—The term ‘pri11 ority land’ means National Forest System 

12 land that, due to an unplanned event— 

13 ‘‘(I) does not meet the conditions 

14 for appropriate forest cover described 

15 in paragraph (1); 

16 ‘‘(II) requires reforestation to 

17 meet the objectives of an applicable 

18 land management plan; and 

19 ‘‘(III) is unlikely to experience 

20 natural regeneration without assist21 ance. 

22 ‘‘(iii) REFORESTATION.—The term 

23 ‘reforestation’ means the act of renewing 

24 tree cover, taking into consideration speVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2049.IH H2049

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1 cies composition and resilience, by estab2 lishing young trees through— 

3 ‘‘(I) natural regeneration; 

4 ‘‘(II) natural regeneration with 

5 site preparation; or 

6 ‘‘(III) planting or direct seeding. 

7 ‘‘(iv) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Sec8 retary’ means the Secretary, acting 

9 through the Chief of the Forest Service. 

10 ‘‘(v) UNPLANNED EVENT.— 

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 

12 ‘unplanned event’ means any un13 planned disturbance that— 

14 ‘‘(aa) disrupts ecosystem or 

15 forest structure or composition; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(bb) changes resources, 

18 substrate availability, or the 

19 physical environment. 

20 ‘‘(II) INCLUSIONS.—The term 

21 ‘unplanned event’ may include— 

22 ‘‘(aa) a wildfire; 

23 ‘‘(bb) an infestation of in24 sects or disease; 

25 ‘‘(cc) a weather event; and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) animal damage. 

2 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each reforestation 

3 activity under this section shall be carried out 

4 in accordance with applicable Forest Service 

5 management practices and definitions, including 

6 definitions relating to silvicultural practices and 

7 forest management. 

8 ‘‘(C) REFORESTATION PRIORITY.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

10 this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

11 priority to projects on the priority list de12 scribed in clause (ii). 

13 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY LIST.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec15 retary shall, based on recommenda16 tions from regional foresters, create a 

17 priority list of reforestation projects 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(aa) primarily take place 

20 on priority land; 

21 ‘‘(bb) promote effective re22 forestation following unplanned 

23 events; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) may include activities 

2 to ensure adequate and appro3 priate seed availability. 

4 ‘‘(II) RANKING.—The Secretary 

5 shall rank projects on the priority list 

6 under subclause (I) based on— 

7 ‘‘(aa) documentation of an 

8 effective reforestation project 

9 plan; 

10 ‘‘(bb) the ability to measure 

11 the progress and success of the 

12 project; and 

13 ‘‘(cc) the ability of a project 

14 to provide benefits relating to 

15 forest function and health, soil 

16 health and productivity, wildlife 

17 habitat, improved air and water 

18 quality, carbon sequestration po19 tential, resilience, job creation, 

20 and enhanced recreational oppor21 tunities.’’. 

22 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

23 9 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 

24 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2105) is amended, in the unVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2049.IH H2049

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1 designated matter following paragraph (5) of 

2 subsection (g)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘section 3(d)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘subsection (e) of section 3’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘1601(d)’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘1601’’. 

7 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM PROGRAM ELE8 MENTS.—Section 9 of the Forest and Rangeland Re9 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 

10 1607) is amended, in the second sentence, by strik11 ing ‘‘2000’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 

12 (b) REFORESTATION TRUST FUND.—Section 303 of 

13 Public Law 96–451 (16 U.S.C. 1606a) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (b)— 

15 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

16 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

17 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

18 ‘‘Proper adjustment’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT OF ESTIMATES.—Proper ad21 justment’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘(3) The amounts’’ 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The amounts’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking the subsection designation 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘the Secretary’’ in 

3 paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (d)(1)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘section 3(d)’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘subsection (e) of section 3’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘1601(d)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘1601’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Agri14 culture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu15 trition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Agriculture of the House of Representatives, and make 

17 publicly available on the website of the Forest Service, a 

18 report that describes, with respect to the preceding year— 

19 (1) an evaluation of the degree to which the 

20 Secretary has achieved compliance with the require21 ments contained in the amendments made by this 

22 Act, including, as a result of those amendments, the 

23 number of acres covered by reforestation projects 

24 that follow unplanned events (such as wildfires); 


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1 (2) the total number of acres of land reforested 

2 under each authority of the Secretary under which 

3 reforestation projects have been carried out; 

4 (3) the number of acres of National Forest Sys5 tem land affected by, and the substance of reforest6 ation needs on that land resulting from, unplanned 

7 events; and 

8 (4) the number of acres in need of reforestation 

9 under subsection (e)(1) of section 3 of the Forest 

10 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

11 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601). 

Æ 


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