II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 745 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for the 

designation of treatment areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 17, 2013 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

to provide for the designation of treatment areas, 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 ‘‘National Forest Insect 

5 and Disease Treatment Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF TREATMENT AREAS. 

7 Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 

8 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 602. DESIGNATION OF TREATMENT AREAS. 

2 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION OF TREATMENT AREAS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) INITIAL AREAS.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the date of enactment of the National Forest 

5 Insect and Disease Treatment Act of 2013, the Sec6 retary shall, in consultation with the Governor of the 

7 State, designate as part of an insect and disease 

8 treatment program 1 or more subwatersheds (sixth9 level hydrologic units, according to the System of 

10 Hydrologic Unit Codes of the United States Geologi11 cal Survey) in at least 1 national forest in each 

12 State that is experiencing an insect or disease epi13 demic. 

14 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL AREAS.—After the end of the 

15 60-day period described in paragraph (1), the Sec16 retary may designate additional subwatersheds 

17 under this section as needed to address insect and 

18 disease threats. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A subwatershed designated 

20 under subsection (a) shall be— 

21 ‘‘(1) experiencing substantially increased tree 

22 mortality due to insect or disease infestation, based 

23 on annual forest health surveys conducted by the 

24 Secretary; 

25 ‘‘(2) at risk of experiencing substantially in26 creased tree mortality over the next 15 years due to 


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1 insect or disease infestation, based on the most re2 cent National Insect and Disease Risk Map pub3 lished by the Forest Service; or 

4 ‘‘(3) in an area in which the risk of hazard 

5 trees poses an imminent risk to public infrastruc6 ture, health, or safety. 

7 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF AREAS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry 

9 out priority projects on Federal land in the sub10 watersheds designated under subsection (a) to re11 duce the risk or extent of, or increase the resilience 

12 to, insect or disease infestation in the subwater13 sheds. 

14 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—Any project under para15 graph (1) for which a public notice to initiate 

16 scoping is issued on or before September 30, 2018, 

17 may be carried out in accordance with subsections 

18 (b), (c), (d), and (g) (other than paragraph (4)) of 

19 section 102, and sections 104, 105, and 106. 

20 ‘‘(3) EFFECT.—Projects carried out under this 

21 subsection shall be considered ‘authorized hazardous 

22 fuel reduction projects’ for purposes of the authori23 ties described in paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 

2 2018, the Secretary shall issue a report that in3 cludes— 

4 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of the progress towards 

5 project goals; and 

6 ‘‘(B) recommendations for modifications to 

7 the projects and management treatments. 

8 ‘‘(d) TREE RETENTION.—The Secretary shall carry 

9 out projects under subsection (b) in a manner that maxi10 mizes the retention of old-growth and large trees, as ap11 propriate for the forest type, to the extent that the trees 

12 promote stands that are resilient to insects and disease. 

13 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

16 2018.’’. 

Æ 


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