II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 391

[Report No. 104–321]

To authorize and direct the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to

undertake activities to halt and reverse the decline in forest health

on Federal lands, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. CRAIG (for himself, Mr. HEFLIN, Mr. BURNS, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. GORTON, Mr. KEMPTHORNE, Mr. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. PACKWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources with instructions that when reported the bill be referred jointly to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Environment and Public Works for a period not

to exceed 20 days of session to report or be discharged

JULY 16, 1996

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the

title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

Referred jointly to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

and Environment and Public Works pursuant to the order of February

10, 1995.

A BILL

To authorize and direct the Secretaries of the Interior and

Agriculture to undertake activities to halt and reverse

the decline in forest health on Federal lands, and for

other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Federal Lands Forest

5 Health Protection and Restoration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act, the term—

8 (1) ‘‘Federal lands’’ means—

9 (A) public lands as defined in section

10 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage11 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e));

12 (B) lands reserved or withdrawn from the

13 public domain and designated to the National

14 Wildlife Refuge System as defined in 16 U.S.C.

15 668dd(a); and

16 (C) lands within the National Forest Sys17 tem as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest

18 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning

19 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a));

20 (2) ‘‘forest health management activity’’ means

21 any thinning, salvage, timber stand improvement, re22 forestation, controlled burning or other fuels man23 agement, insect or disease control, riparian or other

24 habitat improvement, soil stabilization or other

25 water quality improvement, or other activity, the
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1 purpose of which is to meet one or more of the ob2 jectives set forth in section 3(c)(1);

3 (3) ‘‘land management plan’’ means—

4 (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bu5 reau of Land Management pursuant to section

6 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage7 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712), or other

8 multiple use plan currently in effect, for a unit

9 of the Federal lands described in paragraph

10 (1)(A); or

11 (B) a land and resource management plan

12 (or, if no final plan is currently in effect, a

13 draft land and resource management plan) pre14 pared by the Forest Service pursuant to section

15 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re16 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604)

17 for one or more units of the Federal lands de18 scribed in paragraph (1)(C); and

19 (4) ‘‘Secretary’’ means—

20 (A) with respect to Federal lands described

21 in paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of the Inte22 rior, or, except for section 6, a designee;

23 (B) with respect to Federal lands described

24 in paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of the Inte25 rior, or except for section 6, a designee; and
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1 (C) with respect to Federal lands described

2 in paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary of Agri3 culture, or, except for section 6, a designee.

4 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AREAS AND SELECTION AND AU5 THORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES.

6 (a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—The Secretary of the In7 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture are each directed—

8 (1) as frequently as necessary but no less than

9 annually, to review the forest health conditions on

10 the federal lands; and

11 (2) from time to time, or pursuant to a petition

12 submitted in accordance with subsection (d), when

13 warranted by conditions set forth in subsection (b),

14 to designate a specific area of the Federal lands as

15 a forest health emergency or high risk area and se16 lect and authorize the forest health management ac17 tivity or activities to be undertaken in such area.

18 (b) FOREST HEALTH EMERGENCY AND HIGH RISK

19 AREAS.—(1) An area of the Federal lands shall be des20 ignated as a forest health emergency area pursuant to

21 subsection (a)(2) if the Secretary concerned finds that—

22 (A) forests on such lands have experienced dis23 turbances, from wildfires, insect infestations, dis24 ease, or other natural causes that have caused more

25 than 50 percent of the trees to be dead or dying,
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1 and will suffer further environmental degradation,

2 such as soil erosion, stream damage, or habitat loss;

3 and

4 (B) implementation of one or more forest

5 health management activities on such lands can re6 duce or eliminate such degradation.

7 (2) An area of the Federal lands shall be designated

8 as a forest health high risk area pursuant to subsection

9 (a)(2) if the Secretary concerned finds that—

10 (A) the forest structure, function, or composi11 tion on such lands has been so altered by human or

12 natural causes as to increase substantially the risk

13 of insect infestation, disease, or wildfire and the con14 sequent risks of significant ecosystem, watershed, or

15 habitat damage or loss of life or property; and

16 (B) implementation of one or more forest

17 health management activities on such lands can re18 duce or eliminate such risks.

19 (3) Each Secretary shall accord priority in the des20 ignation of forest health emergency and high risk areas

21 to—

22 (A) areas where the Secretary determines the

23 need to reduce or eliminate the degradation or risk

24 specified in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) is the

25 greatest; and
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1 (B) wildland/urban interface areas where the

2 Secretary determines human life and property are

3 threatened by wildfire from the affected Federal

4 lands.

5 (c) FOREST HEALTH MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—

6 (1) The forest health management activity or activities se7 lected and authorized for each forest health emergency or

8 high risk area pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall be those

9 activities which the Secretary determines are designated

10 to address the specific site conditions of the areas with

11 the combination of management practices, treatment, and

12 protection needed to arrest the decline in forest health and

13 restore forest health to a condition capable of supporting

14 and sustaining the uses within the historic range of varia15 bility of the area as determined in the applicable land

16 management plan or plans, and to meet the following addi17 tional objectives:

18 (A) safeguard human life, property, and com19 munities;

20 (B) protect the various forest resources placed

21 at risk, including air and water quality, wildlife, and

22 recreation and visual values;

23 (C) restore, maintain, or enhance the integrity

24 of ecosystems, watersheds and habitats damaged or

25 placed at risk; and
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1 (D) protect previous Federal investments in the

2 Federal land resources and environmental values,

3 and future Federal, State, and local revenues that

4 otherwise will be foregone.

5 (2) No forest health management activity shall be

6 precluded because the costs thereof are likely to exceed

7 the revenues therefrom.

8 (3) The Secretary concerned shall publish a schedule

9 for initiating, completing, and monitoring the forest health

10 management activity or activities in each forest health

11 emergency or high risk area in the document containing

12 the Secretary’s final decision designating the area and se13 lecting and authorizing the activity or activities pursuant

14 to subsection (a)(2).

15 (4) Whenever the harvest of live trees is expected to

16 occur in a forest health management activity, the Sec17 retary concerned shall provide in the document containing

18 the Secretary’s final decision selecting and authorizing

19 such activity pursuant to subsection (a)(2) a statement of

20 whether the removal of live trees is necessary to meet one

21 or more of the objectives set forth in paragraph (1) of

22 this subsection.

23 (5) Each Secretary may undertake forest health man24 agement activities not selected and authorized pursuant
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1 to subsection (a)(2) in accordance with applicable provi2 sions of law other than this Act.

3 (d) PETITION PROCESS.—Any interested person may

4 petition either Secretary to designate a specific area of

5 lands of at least 100 acres in size within the Secretary’s

6 jurisdiction as a forest health emergency or high risk area

7 pursuant to subsection (a)(2). The petition shall contain

8 a reasonably precise description of the boundaries of the

9 area and the reasons why the petitioner believes the condi10 tions set forth in subsection (b)(1)(A) or subsection

11 (b)(2)(A) exist in such area. The Secretary to which the

12 petition is submitted shall make a decision within 45 days

13 of the date of submission of the petition whether the des14 ignation sought by the petition may be warranted. If the

15 Secretary determines that the designation may be war16 ranted, the Secretary shall accept the petition and render

17 a final decision whether to make such designation pursu18 ant to subsection (a)(2) within 90 days of the date of sub19 mission in the case of a petition to designate a forest

20 health emergency area or 150 days of the date of submis21 sion in the case of a petition to designate a forest health

22 high risk area. If the Secretary decides not to accept the

23 petition, the Secretary shall provide promptly to the peti24 tioner a written statement of the decision and the reasons

25 therefor.
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1 SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR THE DECISION TO

2 DESIGNATE AN AREA AND SELECT AND AU3 THORIZE ACTIVITIES.

4 (a) NOTICE.—(1) Each Secretary shall publish in the

5 Federal Register notice of the prospective decision to des6 ignate a forest health emergency or high risk area and

7 select and authorize a forest health management activity

8 or activities therefor pursuant to section 3(a)(2).

9 (2) The notice shall—

10 (A) set forth the location of the affected area;

11 (B) describe the forest health conditions in such

12 area;

13 (C) provide the reasons for proposing to des14 ignate such area; and

15 (D) contain a detailed description of the forest

16 health management activity or activities which the

17 Secretary proposes to select for such area (and

18 which shall constitute the preferred alternative in

19 any documentation prepared pursuant to section

20 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act

21 and subsection (b)(1) of this section).

22 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN LAWS.—(1) Except

23 as provided in paragraph (2), if the decision of a Secretary

24 designating a forest health emergency or high risk area

25 and selecting and authorizing a forest health management

26 activity or activities therefor pursuant to section 3(a)(2)
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1 requires documentation pursuant to section 102(2) of the

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

3 4332(2))—

4 (A) in the case of a forest health emergency

5 area, the document required shall be an environ6 mental assessment prepared pursuant to subpara7 graph (E) of such section 102(2); or

8 (B) in the case of a forest health high risk area,

9 the Secretary, in his or her discretion, may prepare

10 such an environmental assessment.

11 (2) Each Secretary shall provide by regulation a pol12 icy establishing categorical exclusions from the docu13 mentation requirements of section 102(2) of the National

14 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for decisions pursuant

15 to section 3(a)(2) for forest health management activities

16 which remove 250,000 board feet or less of merchantable

17 wood products or salvage 1,000,000 board feet or less of

18 merchantable wood products, which require one mile or

19 less of standard road construction, and which assure re20 generation of harvested or salvaged areas, where required.

21 (3) If the decision of a Secretary designating a forest

22 health emergency or high risk area and selecting and au23 thorizing a forest health management activity or activities

24 therefor pursuant to section 3(a)(2) requires formal con25 sultation pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered Species
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1 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536), such consultation shall be

2 concluded within 45 days of the publication of the Federal

3 Register notice of the prospective decision pursuant to

4 subsection (a).

5 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary concerned

6 shall provide a period of 30 days from the date of publica7 tion of a Federal Register notice pursuant to subsection

8 (a) for submission of public comment on the prospective

9 decision pursuant to section 3(a)(2). The Secretary may

10 hold a hearing on such decision during such period. The

11 Secretary shall respond in writing to the public comment

12 received during such period in the document containing

13 the Secretary’s final decision.

14 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—(1) Any decision of

15 a Secretary pursuant to section 3(a)(2) which includes

16 designation of a forest health emergency area shall be a

17 final agency action and shall not be subject to administra18 tive review.

19 (2) Administrative review of any decision by a Sec20 retary pursuant to section 3(a)(2) which includes designa21 tion of a forest health risk area shall be governed by appli22 cable existing statutory or regulatory administrative ap23 peal requirements, including, for Federal lands described

24 in section 2(1)(C), the administrative appeal provisions

25 section 322 of the Fiscal Year 1993 Interior and Related
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1 Agencies Appropriation Act (106 Stat. 1419): Provided,

2 That no extension of the 30-day period for disposition of

3 the appeal authorized by subsection (d)(3) of such section

4 322 may be granted, and subsection (d)(4) of such section

5 322 shall apply at the conclusion of the 30-day period.

6 (e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—(1) Any decision by a Sec7 retary pursuant to section 3(a)(2) to designate a forest

8 health emergency or high risk area and to select and au9 thorize a forest health management activity or activities

10 therefor, or any decision by a Secretary pursuant to sec11 tion 3(d) not to accept a petition to designate such an

12 area shall be subject to judicial review only by the United

13 States District Court for the District in which the affected

14 Federal lands are located.

15 (2) Any action brought pursuant to this subsection

16 shall be filed not later than 45 days after the date of publi17 cation of the final decision of the Secretary or, for those

18 decisions for which administrative review is available and

19 undertaken, 30 days after the publication of the decision

20 on review.

21 (3) Any appeal from the final decision of a District

22 Court in an action brought pursuant to this subsection

23 shall be filed not later than 30 days after the date of the

24 decision.
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1 (4) In an action brought pursuant to this subsection,

2 the District Court shall render a final decision and dis3 solve any temporary restraining order or preliminary in4 junction not later than 90 days after the date of the filing

5 of the action when the action concerns a forest health

6 emergency area, or 120 days after the date of filing of

7 the action when the action concerns a forest health high

8 risk area.

9 (5) In any appeal brought pursuant to this sub10 section, the Court of Appeals shall render a final decision

11 on the appeal and dissolve any injunction pending appeal

12 not later than 90 days after the date of the filing of the

13 appeal when the appeal concerns a forest health emer14 gency area, or 120 days after the date of filing of the ap15 peal when the appeal concerns a forest health high risk

16 area.

17 SEC. 5. EXCLUDED LANDS.

18 Neither Secretary may select, authorize, or undertake

19 any forest health management activity pursuant to section

20 3(a)(2) on any Federal lands located within—

21 (1) any unit of the National Wilderness Preser22 vation System;

23 (2) any roadless area designated by the Con24 gress for wilderness study;
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1 (3) any roadless area recommended by the Bu2 reau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Serv3 ice, or Forest Service for wilderness designation; or

4 (4) any other area in which implementation of

5 the specific forest health management activity for

6 any purpose is expressly prohibited by law or by any

7 applicable land management plan, unless the plan is

8 amended to permit the activity to occur in accord9 ance with section 202 of the Federal Land Policy

10 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) or

11 section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable

12 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604).

13 SEC. 6. ANNUAL FOREST HEALTH REPORT.

14 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte15 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare jointly

16 an annual Forest Health Report to evaluate forest health

17 on the Federal lands.

18 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—Each report required to

19 subsection (a) shall contain—

20 (1) qualitative and quantitative data on forest

21 health on the Federal lands;

22 (2) assessment of the factors generally respon23 sible for forest problems;
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1 (3) judgment of each Secretary on the status of

2 and trend in forest health of the Federal lands

3 under such Secretary’s jurisdiction;

4 (4) maps disclosing the status of forest health

5 on all Federal lands at a scale sufficient to display

6 discrete areas, including areas designated as forest

7 health emergency or high risk areas, in each unit of

8 the Federal lands;

9 (5) identification of the forest health emergency

10 areas and high risk areas designated pursuant to

11 section 3(a)(2) during the previous fiscal year and

12 the reasons for such designations;

13 (6) identification of areas in which adverse for14 est health conditions are equal to or more severe

15 than the areas identified in paragraph (5) and a de16 tailed discussion of the reasons of the Secretary con17 cerned for not designating such areas as forest

18 health emergency or high risk areas pursuant to sec19 tion 3(a)(2);

20 (7) discussion of any expenditures or actions,

21 other than any forest health management activities,

22 made or taken by the Bureau of Land Management,

23 Fish and Wildlife Service, or Forest Service in the

24 areas identified in paragraph (6) and a statement of

25 the reasons therefor;
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1 (8) a description of the forest health manage2 ment activities selected and authorized pursuant to

3 section 3(a)(2) during the previous fiscal year;

4 (9) a description of all forest health activities

5 undertaken in designated forest health emergency or

6 high risk areas in the previous fiscal year;

7 (10) a summary of the estimated impacts, in

8 terms of changed conditions or risks, resulting from

9 each forest health management activity described in

10 paragraph (8);

11 (11) a report on the timeliness, effectiveness

12 and cost of each forest health management activity

13 described in paragraph (8);

14 (12) the total of the acres treated under this

15 Act at the end of the previous fiscal years and a

16 comparison thereof to the total acres planned for,

17 and total acres requiring, forest health management

18 activities both within and outside of designated for19 est health emergency or high risk areas;

20 (13) a discussion of any delays encountered in

21 the previous fiscal years and likely in the present fis22 cal year in meeting the schedules established pursu23 ant to section 3(c)(3), for initiating, accomplishing,

24 and monitoring forest health management activities

25 in designated forest health emergency or high risk
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1 areas, the reasons for such delays, and the specific

2 steps which the Secretary concerned has directed to

3 be taken to ensure timely adherence to the estab4 lished schedules or any changes in such schedules

5 which the Secretary concerned has made;

6 (14) identification of forest health emergency

7 areas and high risk areas which no longer require

8 forest health management activities pursuant to this

9 Act and from which the Secretaries will remove the

10 emergency area or high risk area designations 60

11 days after submission of the report;

12 (15) an estimate of the funding needs in future

13 years to address fully the forest health conditions

14 disclosed in paragraphs (1) and (3) to ensure that

15 all Federal lands are capable of supporting and sus16 taining the uses within the historic range of varia17 bility as determined in the applicable land manage18 ment plans; and

19 (16) a description of additional authorities, if

20 any, needed to carry out the purposes of this Act.

21 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The report required

22 by subsection (a) shall be completed not later than April

23 1 of each year beginning in the first year after the first

24 full fiscal year following the date of enactment of this Act

25 and shall cover conditions and activities during the pre-
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1 vious fiscal years. The Secretary of the Interior and the

2 Secretary of Agriculture shall submit the report to Chairs

3 and ranking members of the Senate Energy and Natural

4 Resources and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and

5 House Resources and Agriculture Committees.

6 SEC. 7. BUDGET DISCLOSURES.

7 Beginning with the fiscal budget for the first full fis8 cal year following the date of enactment of this Act, re9 quests presented by the President to the Congress govern10 ing activities of the Bureau of Land Management, Fish

11 and Wildlife Service, or Forest Service shall summarize

12 the current forest health situation as described in the re13 port prepared pursuant to section 6, report on costs in14 curred and revenues generated through forest health ac15 tivities conducted pursuant to this Act, and express in

16 qualitative and quantitative terms the extent to which the

17 projected activities under the budget fully achieve the pur18 poses, and implement the provisions, of this Act. The reve19 nues generated by forest health activities conducted pursu20 ant to this Act shall be displayed as offsetting Federal

21 costs in current and future fiscal years.

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated in fiscal

24 years 1996 through 2006 such sums as may be necessary

25 to carry out the provisions of this Act.
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Lands Forest

3 Health Protection and Restoration Act.’’

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS.

5 (a) PURPOSES.—(1) The purposes of this Act are to

6 arrest the dramatic decline in forest health on the Federal

7 lands and restore forest health to a condition capable of sup8 porting and sustaining the uses of those lands within the

9 lands’ historic ranges of variability; safeguard human life,

10 property, and communities on and near the Federal lands,

11 particularly in wildland/urban interface areas; protect air

12 and water quality, wildlife, recreation and visual values,

13 and other forest resources of the Federal lands placed at

14 risk by declining forest health; restore, maintain or enhance

15 the integrity of ecosystems, watersheds, and habitats on the

16 Federal lands damaged or placed at risk by declining forest

17 health; protect existing Federal investments in the forest re18 sources of the Federal lands, and future Federal, State, and

19 local revenues from those lands that otherwise will be fore20 gone if forest health trends continue; and provide opportu21 nities to accomplish similar purposes on adjacent non-Fed22 eral lands with similar forest health conditions.

23 (2) Congress recognizes that the management of the

24 Federal lands has been characterized by large cyclical vari25 ations in fire suppression policies, timber harvesting levels,

26 and the attention paid to commodity and non-commodity
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1 values. The inconsistent management of the Federal lands

2 is not in the long-term interest of the nation. Management

3 of the Federal lands should be conducted through the enact4 ment of authorizing legislation, and through the faithful

5 implementation of that legislation by the executive branch.

6 (3) It is the purpose of this authorizing legislation to

7 manage the Federal lands in a more consistent manner by

8 establishing a rational system for selecting and implement9 ing forest health activities to provide a long-term approach

10 to addressing forest health concerns.

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act, the term—

12 (1) ‘‘Federal lands’’ means—

13 (A) public lands as defined in section

14 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage15 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e));

16 (B) lands within the National Forest Sys17 tem as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and

18 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of

19 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)); and

20 (C) lands within the Kenai National Wild21 life Refuge, as redesignated by section 303(4) of

22 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation

23 Act (94 Stat. 2391, 16 U.S.C. 668dd noted);

24 (2) ‘‘forest health management activity’’ means

25 any thinning, salvage, timber stand improvement, re-
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1 forestation, prescribed burning (including natural ig2 nition) or other fuels management, insect or disease

3 control, riparian or other habitat improvement, soil

4 stabilization or other water quality improvement, or

5 other activity, the purpose of which is to meet one or

6 more of the objectives set forth in section 3(a)(1)(C);

7 (3) ‘‘land management plan’’ means—

8 (A) with respect to Federal lands adminis9 tered by the Secretary of the Interior, a land use

10 plan prepared by the Bureau of Land Manage11 ment pursuant to section 202 of the Federal

12 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

13 U.S.C. 1712), or other multiple-use plan cur14 rently in effect;

15 (B) with respect to Federal lands adminis16 tered by the Secretary of Agriculture, a land and

17 resource management plan (or, if no final plan

18 is currently in effect, a draft land and resource

19 management plan) prepared by the Forest Serv20 ice pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and

21 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of

22 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); or

23 (C) a comprehensive conservation plan for

24 the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge pursuant to

25 section 304(g) of the Alaska National Interest
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1 Lands Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2394), and a

2 determination of compatibility with the purpose

3 for which the Refuge was established pursuant to

4 the National Wildlife Refuge System Adminis5 tration Act and

6 (4) ‘‘Secretary’’ means—

7 (A) with respect to Federal lands described

8 in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1),

9 the Secretary of the Interior, or, except for sec10 tion 6, the Secretary’s designee; and

11 (B) with respect to Federal lands described

12 in paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of Agri13 culture, or, except for section 6, the Secretary’s

14 designee.

15 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AREAS AND SELECTION AND AU16 THORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES.

17 (a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—(1) The Secretary of the

18 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture are each directed

19 to review the forest health conditions on the Federal lands

20 and—

21 (A) identify on or before March 1 of each year,

22 those areas on the Federal lands on which the forest

23 health conditions described in subsection (b) exist;

24 and
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1 (B) subsequent to the identification of areas

2 under paragraph (A), and in accordance with the

3 priorities prescribed in subsection (b)(3), designate in

4 a timely fashion as forest health emergency areas or

5 forest health high risk areas those areas on the Fed6 eral lands on which the forest health conditions de7 scribed in subsection (b) exist; and

8 (C) select and authorize the proposed forest

9 health management activities to be undertaken in

10 such areas in order to—

11 (i) arrest the decline of forest health and re12 store forest health to a condition capable of sup13 porting and sustaining the uses of such areas

14 within the historic ranges of variability of such

15 areas or as determined in the applicable land

16 management plan or plans;

17 (ii) safeguard human life, property, and

18 communities on and near the Federal lands, par19 ticularly in wildland/urban interface areas;

20 (iii) protect the various forest resources of

21 the Federal lands placed at risk by the forest

22 health conditions, including air and water qual23 ity, wildlife, and recreation and visual values;

24 (iv) restore, maintain, or enhance the integ25 rity of ecosystems, watersheds, and habitats dam-
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1 aged or placed at risk by the forest health condi2 tions; or

3 (v) protect existing Federal investments in

4 the forest resources of the Federal lands, and fu5 ture Federal, State, and local revenues that oth6 erwise will be foregone.

7 (2) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1),

8 each Secretary shall designate a forest health emergency

9 area or a forest health high risk area and select and author10 ize a forest health management activity or activities where

11 the forest health conditions described in subsection (b) of

12 this section exist for any area of Federal lands of more than

13 500 acres on which a wildlife or catastrophic event occurs,

14 within 120 days of the termination of the wildfire or cata15 strophic event.

16 (3) Prior to designating a forest health emergency area

17 or a forest health high risk area pursuant to this subsection,

18 the Secretary concerned shall consult with the head of the

19 forestry agency in the State in which such area is located.

20 (b) FOREST HEALTH EMERGENCY AND HIGH RISK

21 AREAS.—(1) An area of the Federal lands shall be des22 ignated as a forest health emergency area pursuant to sub23 section (a) if the Secretary concerned finds that—

24 (i) forests on such lands have experienced dis25 turbances from wildfires, insect infestations, disease,
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1 or other natural causes that have caused more than

2 50 percent of the trees to be dead or to exhibit phys3 ical evidence of imminent mortality, and will suffer

4 further environmental degradation, such as soil ero5 sion, stream damage, or habitat loss; and

6 (ii) implementation of one or more forest health

7 management activities on such lands is likely to re8 duce or eliminate such degradation.

9 (2) An area of the Federal lands shall be designated

10 as a forest health high risk area pursuant to subsection (a)

11 if the Secretary concerned finds that—

12 (A) the forest structure, function, or composition

13 on such lands has been so altered by human or natu14 ral causes as to increase substantially the risk of in15 sect infestation, disease, or wildfire and the con16 sequent risks of significant ecosystem, watershed, or

17 habitat damage or loss of life or property; and

18 (B) implementation of one or more forest health

19 management activities on such lands is likely to re20 duce or eliminate such risks.

21 (3) Each Secretary shall accord priority in the des22 ignation of forest health emergency areas and forest high

23 risk areas to—

24 (A) wildland/urban interface areas where the

25 Secretary determines human life and property are
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1 threatened by wildfire from the affected Federal lands;

2 or

3 (B) areas where the Secretary determines the

4 need to reduce or eliminate the degradation or risk

5 specified in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) is the

6 greatest.

7 (c) FOREST HEALTH MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—(1)

8 The forest health management activity or activities selected

9 and authorized for each forest health emergency area or for10 est health high risk area pursuant to subsection (a) shall

11 be those activities which the Secretary determines are des12 ignated to address the specific site conditions of the areas

13 with the combination of management practices, treatment,

14 and protection needed to meet the objectives set forth in sub15 section (a)(1)(C).

16 (2) The generation of revenues should not be the pri17 mary consideration of any forest health management activ18 ity selected and authorized pursuant to subsection (a).

19 (3) The Secretary concerned shall publish a schedule

20 for initiating, completing, and monitoring the forest health

21 management activity or activities in each forest health

22 emergency area or forest health high risk area in the docu23 ment containing the Secretary’s final decision designating

24 the area and selecting and authorizing the activity or ac25 tivities pursuant to subsection (a).
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1 (4) Whenever the harvest of live trees is expected to

2 occur in a forest health management activity, the Secretary

3 concerned shall provide in the document containing the Sec4 retary’s final decision selecting and authorizing such activ5 ity pursuant to subsection (a) a statement of whether jus6 tification as to why the removal of live trees is necessary

7 to meet one or more of the objectives set forth in subsection

8 (a)(1)(C).

9 (d) EFFECT ON EXISTING SALVAGE AUTHORITIES.—

10 Except as provided in section 11 of this Act, nothing in

11 this Act shall affect or limit any existing authority of the

12 Secretary to undertake forest health management or timber

13 salvage activities on Federal lands.

14 (e) PETITION PROCESS.—In addition to the require15 ments of subsection (a)(1), after March 1 of the first full

16 year following the date of enactment of this Act, any inter17 ested person may petition either Secretary to designate a

18 specific area of lands comprising not less than 500 acres

19 in size within the Secretary’s jurisdiction as a forest health

20 emergency area or high risk area pursuant to this sub21 section. The petition shall contain a detailed description of

22 the boundaries of the area and the reasons why the peti23 tioner believes the conditions set forth in subsection

24 (b)(1)(A)(i) or subsection (b)(2)(A) exist in such area. The

25 Secretary to which the petition is submitted shall, within
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1 45 days of the date of submission of the petition, make a

2 decision whether the designation sought by the petitioner

3 is warranted and provide to the petitioner a written state4 ment of the decision and the reasons therefor. If the Sec5 retary determines that the designation is warranted, the

6 Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register pur7 suant to section 4(a). A decision that a designation is not

8 warranted shall not be subject to administrative appeal or

9 judicial review.

10 SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR THE DECISION TO

11 DESIGNATE AN AREA AND SELECT AND AU12 THORIZE ACTIVITIES.

13 (a) NOTICE.—(1) Each Secretary shall publish in the

14 Federal Register notice of the prospective decision to des15 ignate a forest health emergency area or forest health high

16 risk area and select and authorize a forest health manage17 ment activity or activities therefor pursuant to section 3.

18 (2) The notice shall—

19 (A) set forth the location of the affected area;

20 (B) describe the forest health conditions in such

21 area;

22 (C) provide the reasons for proposing to des23 ignate such area; and
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1 (D) contain a brief description of the forest

2 health management activity or activities which the

3 Secretary proposes to select for such area.

4 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary concerned shall

5 provide a period of 30 days from the date of publication

6 of draft environmental documents required by subsection

7 (d)(1) of this section for submission of public comment on

8 the prospective decision pursuant to section 3. The Sec9 retary may hold a hearing on such decision during the com10 ment period.

11 (c) AGENCY RESPONSE.—The Secretary concerned

12 shall respond in writing to any public comment received

13 pursuant to subsection (b) in the document containing the

14 Secretary’s final decision.

15 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN LAWS.—(1) Prior to

16 the identification of the first list of areas pursuant to sec17 tion 3(a)(1)(A) of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall,

18 with the assistance of the Council on Environmental Qual19 ity, provide expedited procedures to prepare the documenta20 tion pursuant to section 102(2) required for a decision des21 ignating a forest health emergency or high risk area and

22 selecting and authorizing a forest health management activ23 ity or activities therefore pursuant to section 3(a): Provided

24 further, That in no instance involving the designating of

25 a forest health emergency area shall the time necessary for
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1 the preparation of such final documents exceed 120 days

2 from the date of notice of proposed designation or initiation

3 of such preparation, whichever is earlier. Existing regula4 tions and Council on Environmental Quality guidelines

5 shall be modified as necessary to conform to this time pe6 riod.

7 (2) No documentation pursuant to section 102(2) of

8 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 shall be re9 quired for the identification of areas pursuant to section

10 3(a)(1)(A) or for decisions pursuant to section 3 for forest

11 health management activities which—

12 (A) remove 250,000 board feet of less of mer13 chantable wood products or salvage 1,000,000 board

14 feet or less of merchantable wood products; and

15 (B) require one mile or less of standard road

16 construction; and

17 (C) assure regeneration of harvested or salvaged

18 areas, where required.

19 (3) The Secretary, as defined in section 2(b)(4) of this

20 Act, shall consult or confer with the appropriate agency

21 pursuant to section 7(a)(2) or section 7(a)(4) of the Endan22 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2) or (4)) on

23 a decision designating a forest health emergency area or

24 forest health high risk area and selecting and authorizing

25 a forest health management activity or activities therefor
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1 pursuant to section 3(a) only if such Secretary determines

2 that such decision is likely to significantly and adversely

3 affect a species determined or proposed to be an endangered

4 species or a threatened species pursuant to section 4(a) of

5 such Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)). Such consultation or con6 ferencing shall be concluded within 90 days of the publica7 tion of the Federal Register notice of the prospective deci8 sion pursuant to subsection (a). The Secretary, as defined

9 in section 3(15) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1532(15)), shall ac10 cord priority to consultation or conferencing on a decision

11 pursuant to section 3(a) over any other agency actions sub12 mitted to such Secretary for consultation or conferencing.

13 The Secretary as defined in section 2(b)(4) of this Act shall

14 not consult in fulfilling the requirements of section

15 3(a)(1)(A) of this Act.

16 (4) The documents prepared pursuant to section

17 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

18 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) and under the provisions of this sub19 section must be reviewed by the Secretary concerned at least

20 every three years. If the Secretary concerned determines that

21 conditions in the area designated have significantly

22 changed and are not reflected in the existing documents,

23 appropriate supplements or new documents shall be pre24 pared pursuant to the requirements of this subsection: Pro25 vided, That any forest health management activities al-
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1 ready underway pursuant to a decision of the Secretary

2 under section 3(a) of this Act shall not be suspended, halted,

3 or otherwise enjoined, except at the sole discretion of the

4 Secretary concerned, during the development of supplements

5 or new documents pursuant to the subsection.

6 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—(1) Any decision of a

7 Secretary pursuant to section 3 which includes designation

8 of a forest health emergency area, or the selection of forest

9 health management activities pursuant to paragraph (d)(2)

10 of this section, shall be a final agency action and shall not

11 be subject to administrative review.

12 (2) Administrative review of any decision by a Sec13 retary pursuant to section 3 which includes designation of

14 a forest health high risk area shall be governed by applicable

15 existing statutory or regulatory administrative appeal re16 quirements, including, for Federal lands described in sec17 tion 2(b)(1)(B), the administrative appeal provisions of sec18 tion 322 of the Fiscal Year 1993 Interior and Related Agen19 cies Appropriation Act (106 Stat. 1419): Provided, That

20 no extension of the 30-day period for disposition of the ap21 peal authorized by subsection (d)(3) of such section 322 may

22 be granted, and subsection (d)(4) of such section 322 shall

23 apply at the conclusion of the 30-day period.

24 (f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—(1) Any decision by a Sec25 retary pursuant to section 3 to designate a forest health
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1 emergency area or forest health high risk area and to select

2 and authorize a forest health management activity or ac3 tivities therefor shall be subject to judicial review only by

4 the United States District Court for the District in which

5 the affected Federal lands are located.

6 (2)(A) Any action brought pursuant to this subsection

7 shall be filed not later than 45 days after the date of publi8 cation of the final decision of the Secretary or, for those

9 decisions for which administrative review is available and

10 undertaken, 30 days after the publication of the decision

11 on review.

12 (B) Any appeal from the final decision of a district

13 court in an action brought pursuant to this subsection shall

14 be filed not later than 30 days after the date of the decision.

15 (3) Administrative stays may be imposed during, and

16 shall not be extended beyond, the periods provided in para17 graph (2) for filing and appealing actions brought pursu18 ant to this subsection.

19 (4)(A) In an action brought pursuant to this sub20 section, the District Court is encouraged to render a final

21 decision not later than 90 days after the date of the filing

22 of the action when the action concerns a forest health emer23 gency area, or 120 days after the date of filing of the action

24 when the action concerns a forest health high risk area.
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1 (B) In any appeal of an action brought pursuant to

2 this subsection, the court of appeals is encouraged to render

3 a final decision on the appeal not later than 90 days after

4 the date of the filing of the appeal when the action concerns

5 a forest health emergency area, or 120 days after the date

6 of filing of the appeal when the action concerns a forest

7 health high risk area.

8 SEC. 5. EXCLUDED LANDS AND ACTIVITIES.

9 (a) Neither Secretary may select, authorize, or under10 take pursuant to this Act any forest health management ac11 tivity on any Federal lands located within—

12 (1) any unit of the National Wilderness Preser13 vation System;

14 (2) any roadless area designated by the Congress

15 for wilderness study;

16 (3) any roadless area recommended by the Bu17 reau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service,

18 or Forest Service for wilderness designation; or

19 (4) any other area in which implementation of

20 the specific forest health management activity for any

21 purpose is prohibited by law or a court order, or by

22 an applicable land management plan, unless the plan

23 is amended to permit the activity to occur in accord24 ance with section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and

25 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) or section
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1 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources

2 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604).

3 (b) Any forest health management activity which (i)

4 is a salvage timber sale as defined under subsection (a)(4),

5 or a timber sale described in subsection (d), and has a deci6 sion notice or record of decision completed prior to the date

7 set forth in subsection (j), of section 2001 of Public Law

8 104–19 (109 Stat. 194, 240), or (ii) is a timber sale con9 tract identified in subsection (k) of such section, shall be

10 conducted under the authority, and in accordance with the

11 applicable provisions, of such section and not be subject to

12 this Act.

13 SEC. 6. FOREST HEALTH REPORTS.

14 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—(1) The Secretary of the Inte15 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each prepare an

16 Annual Forest Health Report which shall provide, for the

17 Federal lands within the Secretary’s jurisdiction—

18 (A) identification of the total area of forest

19 health emergency areas and forest health high risk

20 areas designated pursuant to section 3 in each unit

21 of the Federal lands during the previous fiscal year

22 and the forest health conditions thereof;

23 (B) identification of areas which are not des24 ignated as forest health emergency areas or forest

25 heath high risk areas and which have adverse forest
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1 health conditions equal to or more severe than the des2 ignated areas, and a discussion of the reasons of the

3 Secretary for not designating such areas as forest

4 health emergency areas or forest health high risk areas

5 pursuant to section 3;

6 (C) a summary of all forest health management

7 activities undertaken in designated forest health emer8 gency areas or forest health high risk areas in the pre9 vious fiscal year;

10 (D) a discussion of any significant delays en11 countered in the previous fiscal year and likely to

12 occur in the present fiscal year in meeting the sched13 ules established pursuant to section 3(c)(3) for initiat14 ing, accomplishing, and monitoring forest health

15 management activities in designated forest health

16 emergency areas or forest health high risk areas, the

17 reasons for such delays, and any specific steps which

18 the Secretary has directed to be taken to ensure timely

19 adherence to the established schedules or any changes

20 in such schedules which the Secretary has made;

21 (E) identification of any forest health emergency

22 areas and forest health high risk areas which no

23 longer require forest health management activities

24 pursuant to this Act and from which the Secretary

25 shall remove the emergency area or high risk area des-
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1 ignations by publication of notice in the Federal Reg2 ister no later than 60 days after submission of the re3 port pursuant to paragraph (2).

4 (2) For the Forest Service the report required by para5 graph (1) shall be completed and accompany the Annual

6 Report of the Forest Service in the first fiscal year after

7 the full fiscal year following the date of enactment of this

8 Act and shall cover conditions and activities during the pre9 vious fiscal year. For the Bureau of Land Management, the

10 report required by paragraph (1) shall be completed not

11 later than April 1 of each year beginning in the first fiscal

12 year after the full fiscal year following the date of enactment

13 of this Act and shall cover conditions and activities during

14 the previous fiscal year.

15 (B) FOUR YEAR REPORT.—(1) The Secretary of the

16 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each prepare

17 at the end of each period of four full fiscal years after the

18 date of enactment of this Act a Comprehensive Forest

19 Health Report to evaluate forest health conditions on the

20 Federal lands within the Secretary’s jurisdiction.

21 (2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall pro22 vide, for the Federal lands within the Secretary’s jurisdic23 tion,—

24 (A) qualitative and quantitative data on forest

25 health;
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1 (B) an assessment of the factors generally re2 sponsible for forest health problems;

3 (C) the judgment of the Secretary on the status

4 of and trend in forest health;

5 (D) maps generally disclosing the status of forest

6 health;

7 (E) a summary of the estimated impacts, in

8 terms of changed conditions or risk, resulting from

9 forest health management activities undertaken pur10 suant to this Act;

11 (F) a report on the timeliness, effectiveness and

12 cost of such forest health management activities; and

13 (G) a description of additional authorities, if

14 any, needed to carry out the purposes of this Act.

15 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The

16 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture

17 shall submit the reports required by this section to the

18 Chairs and ranking members of the Energy and Natural

19 Resources Committee and Agriculture, Nutrition, and For20 estry Committee of the Senate and the Resources Committee

21 and Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives.

22 SEC. 7. BUDGET DISCLOSURES.

23 Beginning with the fiscal budget for the first full fiscal

24 year following the date of enactment of this Act, requests

25 presented by the President to the Congress governing activi-
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1 ties of the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife

2 Service, or Forest Service shall summarize the information

3 and the current forest health situation on Federal lands,

4 and report on costs incurred and revenues generated

5 through forest health management activities conducted pur6 suant to this Act, and express in qualitative and quan7 titative terms the extent to which the projected activities

8 under the budget fully achieve the purposes, and implement

9 the provisions, of this Act. The revenues generated by forest

10 health management activities conducted pursuant to this

11 Act and not distributed to State or local governments pur12 suant to other law shall be displayed as offsetting Federal

13 costs in current and future fiscal years.

14 SEC. 8. SPECIAL FUNDS.

15 (a) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary

16 of the Interior shall maintain a special fund established

17 pursuant to Public Law 102–381, which shall be derived

18 from the Federal share of moneys received from the disposal

19 of salvage timber from all lands administered by the Bu20 reau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, and

21 which shall be available, without further appropriation, for

22 the purposes of planning and preparing of salvage timber

23 for disposal, the administration of salvage timber sales, and

24 subsequent site preparation and reforestation, and forest

25 health enhancement activities, including, but not limited to,
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1 prescribed burning (including natural ignition) or other

2 fuel, site preparation, tree planting, protection of seedlings

3 from animals and other environmental elements, release

4 from competing vegetation, and stand thinning.

5 (b) FOREST SERVICE.—All funds received from the

6 disposal of salvage timber from lands within the National

7 Forest System may be credited to the Forest Service Perma8 nent Appropriations to be expended for timber salvage sales

9 from any national forest, and for timber sales preparation

10 to replace sales lost to fire or other causes, and sales prepa11 ration to replace sales inventory on the shelf for any na12 tional forest to a level sufficient to maintain new sales

13 availability equal to a rolling five-year average of the total

14 sales offerings, and for design, engineering, and supervision

15 of construction of roads lost to fire or other causes associated

16 with the timber sales programs described above, for water17 shed assessment activities, and for forest health enhance18 ment activities, including, but not limited to, prescribed

19 burning (including natural ignition) or other fuel manage20 ment, site preparation, tree planting, protection of seedlings

21 from animals and other environmental elements, release

22 from competing vegetation, and stand thinning.

23 (c) PAYMENTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Moneys re24 ceived from the disposal of salvage timber pursuant to this

25 section shall be considered as money received for purposes
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1 of computing and distributing payments to State or local

2 governments under other law concerning the distribution of

3 revenues derived from timber resources from the affected

4 lands.

5 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE TO OWNERS OF ADJACENT NONINDUS6 TRIAL PRIVATE FOREST LANDS.

7 SEC. 10. FOREST HEALTH CREDITS IN TIMBER SALE.

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE FOREST HEALTH CRED9 ITS.—

10 (1) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec11 retary of the Interior are each authorized to require,

12 as a condition of the sale of timber or other forest

13 products from the Federal lands under the Secretary’s

14 jurisdiction, that the purchaser undertake a forest

15 health management activity or activities which—

16 (A) are selected and authorized pursuant to

17 section 3; and

18 (B) address effects of the operation of the

19 sale or past sales of timber or other forest prod20 ucts or involve vegetation management within

21 the area of the sale or the area in which such ef22 forts are located.

23 (2) A condition described in paragraph (1) may

24 be included in a contract for the sale of timber or
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1 other forest products only when the Secretary deter2 mines that—

3 (A) the land management objectives of the

4 forest health management activity or activities

5 can be accomplished most efficiently when per6 formed as part of the sale contract; and

7 (B) it is unlikely that the forest health man8 agement activity or activities would be per9 formed except under the authority of this section.

10 (3) The term of any sale contract with a condi11 tion described in paragraph (4) shall not exceed 3

12 years.

13 (b) FINANCING AND SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING.—

14 (1) Financing of the forest health management

15 activity or activities in a sale contract authorized by

16 subsection (a) shall be accomplished by including pro17 visions in the contract for amortization of the cost of

18 such activity or activities through issuance of forest

19 health credits to the purchaser which offset such cost

20 against the purchaser’s payment for the timber or

21 other forest products.

22 (2) Appropriated funds may be used to assist the

23 forest health management activity or activities in a

24 sale contract authorized by subsection (a) if such

25 funds are provided by the resource function or func-
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1 tions that directly benefit from the performance of the

2 activity or activities. Such funds must be available

3 from the annual appropriation of the benefited func4 tion or functions during the fiscal year in which the

5 sale is offered. The amount to be paid for each for

6 health management activity shall be included in the

7 prospectus and published in the advertisement, for the

8 sale contract.

9 (c) DETERMINING FOREST HEALTH CREDITS.—Prior

10 to the advertisement of a sale authorized by subsection (a),

11 the Secretary concerned shall determine the amount of forest

12 health credits to be allocated to each forest health manage13 ment activity to be performed by the purchaser under the

14 contract. A description of the forest health management ac15 tivity to be performed by the purchaser under the contract.

16 A description of the forest health management activity or

17 activities to be performed by the purchaser, and amount

18 of the forest health credits allocated to each activity, shall

19 be included in the prospectus, and published in the adver20 tisement, for the sale.

21 (d) TRANSFER OF FOREST HEALTH CREDITS.—Each

22 Secretary may permit the transfer of unused forest health

23 credits from one sale authorized by subsection (a) to another

24 such sale held by the same purchaser if such other applies
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1 to Federal lands that are under the jurisdiction of such Sec2 retary and located in the same state as the original sale.

3 (e) EXISTING PROCEDURES.—To the extent feasible, in

4 preparing, awarding, and administering sales authorized

5 by subsection (a), each Secretary shall adhere to the proce6 dures and requirements developed by the Forest Service for

7 timber sales requiring road construction by timber pur8 chasers pursuant to section 4(2) of the National Forest

9 Roads and Trails Act (16 U.S.C. 535(2)). Nothing in this

10 section shall be deemed to require or authorize any alter11 ation in the procedures or requirements for timber sales

12 under such section 4(2) including the applicable provisions

13 of the small business set-aside program and procedure for

14 calculating payments to counties of a portion of timber sale

15 receipts.

16 (f) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority to

17 offer sales of timber and other forest products pursuant to

18 this section shall terminate five years after the date of en19 actment of this Act. Any sale contract issued under the au20 thority of subsection (a) and in effect at the end of such

21 five year period shall remain in effect under its terms there22 after.

23 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

24 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on the date

25 of enactment of this Act. No decision or action required or
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1 authorized by this Act shall be delayed pending promulga2 tion of any regulation to implement this Act. Effective, Jan3 uary 1, 1997, the provisions of section 2001 of the Emer4 gency Supplemental Appropriations Act are repealed and,

5 except as provided under section 5(b) of this Act, any subse6 quent timber salvage sales on federal lands shall be carried

7 out in accordance with the provisions of this Act and other

8 applicable law.

9 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated in fiscal years

11 1997 through 2007 such sums as may be necessary to carry

12 out the provisions of this Act.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize

and direct the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture

to undertake certain activities to halt and reverse the decline in forest health on Federal lands, and for other purposes.’’.