I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2612 

To provide for forest landscape projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2021 

Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, 

Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. WESTERMAN, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and 

in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, 

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 provide for forest landscape projects, 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 ‘‘Restoring Environ5 ments, Soils, Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural 

6 Economy Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECTS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall, at the request of a Governor of a State, select 

4 a forest landscape in the State on which to conduct 

5 a forest landscape project described in subsection 

6 (b)(1). 

7 (2) PROCESS.— 

8 (A) PROPOSALS.—To request a forest 

9 landscape project be carried out in a State 

10 under paragraph (1), the Governor of such 

11 State may submit to the Secretary a proposal 

12 for a forest landscape project in such State. 

13 (B) SELECTION.—The Secretary may only 

14 select a proposal submitted under subparagraph 

15 (A) if the proposal will be conducted on a forest 

16 landscape. 

17 (3) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The selection of 

18 a forest landscape under this subsection shall not be 

19 subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 

20 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

21 (b) FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A forest landscape project 

23 carried out by the Secretary under this section is a 

24 project— 


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1 (A) for which the Secretary carries out 1 

2 or more covered management activities de3 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

4 (B) that takes place— 

5 (i) on a forest landscape; and 

6 (ii) on not more than 75,000 acres 

7 of— 

8 (I) Federal land; or 

9 (II) non-Federal land adjacent to 

10 Federal land on which the project is 

11 also carried out. 

12 (2) COVERED MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY.—A cov13 ered management activity described in this para14 graph is a forest management activity to— 

15 (A) install fuel breaks (including shaded 

fuel breaks) not more than 1 16 ⁄2-mile wide across 

17 a forest landscape in a strategic system that 

18 maximizes the reduction of wildfire risk to com19 munities or watersheds; 

20 (B) carry out mechanical thinning (includ21 ing restoration thinning) of a forest landscape 

22 to clear— 

23 (i) surface fuels, such as slash; 

24 (ii) ladder fuels, such as small and 

25 medium diameter trees and shrubs; or 


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1 (iii) both of the fuels described in 

2 clauses (i) and (ii); 

3 (C) conduct controlled burns; and 

4 (D) remove dead trees, dying trees, or 

5 trees at high-risk of dying. 

6 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out a covered 

7 management activity under a forest landscape 

8 project, the Secretary— 

9 (A) shall— 

10 (i) maximize the retention of old11 growth stands and large trees, as appro12 priate for the forest type, to the extent 

13 that the trees promote stands that are re14 silient to wildfire and increased average 

15 temperature; and 

16 (ii) consider the best available sci17 entific information to maintain or restore 

18 the ecological integrity of the forest land19 scape; and 

20 (B) may not establish a permanent road. 

21 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.— 

22 (1) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL

23 ASSESSMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE24 MENTS.—This subsection shall apply in any case in 

25 which the Secretary prepares an environmental asVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2612.IH H2612

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1 sessment or an environmental impact statement pur2 suant to section 102(2) of the National Environ3 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.4332(2)) for a 

4 forest landscape project— 

5 (A) that— 

6 (i) is developed through a collabo7 rative process; or 

8 (ii) is covered by a community wildfire 

9 protection plan; and 

10 (B) the primary purpose of which is— 

11 (i) to reduce the risk of wildfire in the 

12 forest landscape; 

13 (ii) to restore ecological health to the 

14 forest landscape; or 

15 (iii) to adapt the forest landscape to 

16 the increased risk of wildfire due to climate 

17 change. 

18 (2) CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES.—In an 

19 environmental assessment or an environmental im20 pact statement described in paragraph (1), the Sec21 retary shall study, develop, and describe only the fol22 lowing alternatives: 

23 (A) The proposed agency action. 

24 (B) The alternative of no action. 


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1 (3) WAIVER.—In preparing an environmental 

2 impact statement for a forest landscape project de3 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not be 

4 required to comply with section 1502.11(g) or 

5 1502.17 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

6 successor regulations). 

7 (d) JUDICIAL REVIEW IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT

8 COURTS.— 

9 (1) VENUE.—Notwithstanding section 1391 of 

10 title 28, United States Code, or other applicable law, 

11 a forest landscape project for which an environ12 mental assessment or an environmental impact 

13 statement is prepared shall be subject to judicial re14 view only in— 

15 (A) the United States district court for a 

16 district in which the Federal land to be treated 

17 under the forest landscape project is located; or 

18 (B) the United States district court for the 

19 District of Columbia. 

20 (2) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL

21 REVIEW.—In the judicial review of an action chal22 lenging a forest landscape project described in para23 graph (1), Congress encourages a court of competent 

24 jurisdiction to expedite, to the maximum extent 

25 practicable, the proceedings in the action with the 


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1 goal of rendering a final determination on jurisdic2 tion, and, if jurisdiction exists, a final determination 

3 on the merits, as soon as practicable after the date 

4 on which a complaint or appeal is filed to initiate 

5 the action. 

6 (e) EXCLUSIONS.—The authorities provided under 

7 this section may not apply to— 

8 (1) any component of the National Wilderness 

9 Preservation System, except with respect to wilder10 ness study areas determined, before the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act, to not be suitable for wilder12 ness designation; 

13 (2) any congressionally designated wilderness 

14 study area; 

15 (3) National Forest System lands— 

16 (A) on which the removal of vegetation is 

17 prohibited by Act of Congress; 

18 (B) that are located within a national or 

19 State-specific inventoried roadless area estab20 lished by the Secretary through regulation, un21 less— 

22 (i) the forest management activity to 

23 be carried out under such authority is con24 sistent with the forest plan applicable to 

25 the area; 


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1 (ii) the Secretary determines the for2 est management activity is permissible 

3 under the applicable roadless rule gov4 erning such lands; or 

5 (iii) the inventoried roadless area was 

6 not recommended for wilderness designa7 tion as a result of— 

8 (I) the second roadless area re9 view and evaluation program (RARE 

10 II); or 

11 (II) a subsequent revision of a 

12 land and resources management plan 

13 under section 6 of the Forest and 

14 Rangeland Renewable Resources 

15 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1604); or 

17 (C) on which timber harvesting for any 

18 purpose is prohibited by Federal statute. 

19 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col21 laborative process’’ means a collaborative process de22 scribed in section 4003(b)(2) of the Omnibus Public 

23 Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 

24 7303(b)(2)). 


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1 (2) FOREST LANDSCAPE.—The term ‘‘forest 

2 landscape’’ means an area that— 

3 (A) primarily or entirely contains land that 

4 has a high or very high wildfire hazard poten5 tial; 

6 (B) due to a fuel management activity in 

7 the area, would have a reduced risk, as deter8 mined by the Secretary— 

9 (i) of wildfire endangering a nearby 

10 at-risk community (as defined in section 

11 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration 

12 Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511)); 

13 (ii) of wildfire damaging a municipal 

14 watershed or infrastructure that serves an 

15 at-risk community described in clause (i); 

16 or 

17 (iii) of the transmission of a high in18 tensity wildfire from the applicable 

19 wildland-urban interface or forest land20 scape to a nearby community; and 

21 (C) to the extent practicable, is conducive 

22 to the development and implementation of 

23 projects relating to wildfire resilience and forest 

24 health or removal of dead or dying trees that 

25 are carried out through a collaborative process. 


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1 (3) FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECT.—The term 

2 ‘‘forest landscape project’’ means a project described 

3 in subsection (b)(1). 

4 (4) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘‘forest plan’’ 

5 means a land and resource management plan pre6 pared by the Forest Service for a unit of the Na7 tional Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the 

8 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan9 ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

10 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year 

15 thereafter. 

Æ 


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