II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 391

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

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.

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act, the term—

3 (1) ‘‘Federal lands’’ means—

4 (A) public lands as defined in section

5 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage6 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e));

7 (B) lands reserved or withdrawn from the

8 public domain and designated to the National

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

10 668dd(a); and

11 (C) lands within the National Forest Sys12 tem as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest

13 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning

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

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

16 any thinning, salvage, timber stand improvement, re17 forestation, controlled burning or other fuels man18 agement, insect or disease control, riparian or other

19 habitat improvement, soil stabilization or other

20 water quality improvement, or other activity, the

21 purpose of which is to meet one or more of the ob22 jectives set forth in section 3(c)(1);

23 (3) ‘‘land management plan’’ means—

24 (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bu25 reau of Land Management pursuant to section

26 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
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1 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712), or other

2 multiple use plan currently in effect, for a unit

3 of the Federal lands described in paragraph

4 (1)(A); or

5 (B) a land and resource management plan

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

7 draft land and resource management plan) pre8 pared by the Forest Service pursuant to section

9 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re10 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604)

11 for one or more units of the Federal lands de12 scribed in paragraph (1)(C); and

13 (4) ‘‘Secretary’’ means—

14 (A) with respect to Federal lands described

15 in paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of the Inte16 rior, or, except for section 6, a designee;

17 (B) with respect to Federal lands described

18 in paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of the Inte19 rior, or except for section 6, a designee; and

20 (C) with respect to Federal lands described

21 in paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary of Agri22 culture, or, except for section 6, a designee.
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1 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AREAS AND SELECTION AND AU2 THORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES.

3 (a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—The Secretary of the In4 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture are each directed—

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

6 annually, to review the forest health conditions on

7 the federal lands; and

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

9 submitted in accordance with subsection (d), when

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

11 to designate a specific area of the Federal lands as

12 a forest health emergency or high risk area and se13 lect and authorize the forest health management ac14 tivity or activities to be undertaken in such area.

15 (b) FOREST HEALTH EMERGENCY AND HIGH RISK

16 AREAS.—(1) An area of the Federal lands shall be des17 ignated as a forest health emergency area pursuant to

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

19 (A) forests on such lands have experienced dis20 turbances, from wildfires, insect infestations, dis21 ease, or other natural causes that have caused more

22 than 50 percent of the trees to be dead or dying,

23 and will suffer further environmental degradation,

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

25 and
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1 (B) implementation of one or more forest

2 health management activities on such lands can re3 duce or eliminate such degradation.

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

5 as a forest health high risk area pursuant to subsection

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

7 (A) the forest structure, function, or composi8 tion on such lands has been so altered by human or

9 natural causes as to increase substantially the risk

10 of insect infestation, disease, or wildfire and the con11 sequent risks of significant ecosystem, watershed, or

12 habitat damage or loss of life or property; and

13 (B) implementation of one or more forest

14 health management activities on such lands can re15 duce or eliminate such risks.

16 (3) Each Secretary shall accord priority in the des17 ignation of forest health emergency and high risk areas

18 to—

19 (A) areas where the Secretary determines the

20 need to reduce or eliminate the degradation or risk

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

22 greatest; and

23 (B) wildland/urban interface areas where the

24 Secretary determines human life and property are
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1 threatened by wildfire from the affected Federal

2 lands.

3 (c) FOREST HEALTH MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—

4 (1) The forest health management activity or activities se5 lected and authorized for each forest health emergency or

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

7 activities which the Secretary determines are designated

8 to address the specific site conditions of the areas with

9 the combination of management practices, treatment, and

10 protection needed to arrest the decline in forest health and

11 restore forest health to a condition capable of supporting

12 and sustaining the uses within the historic range of varia13 bility of the area as determined in the applicable land

14 management plan or plans, and to meet the following addi15 tional objectives:

16 (A) safeguard human life, property, and com17 munities;

18 (B) protect the various forest resources placed

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

20 recreation and visual values;

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

22 of ecosystems, watersheds and habitats damaged or

23 placed at risk; and

24 (D) protect previous Federal investments in the

25 Federal land resources and environmental values,
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1 and future Federal, State, and local revenues that

2 otherwise will be foregone.

3 (2) No forest health management activity shall be

4 precluded because the costs thereof are likely to exceed

5 the revenues therefrom.

6 (3) The Secretary concerned shall publish a schedule

7 for initiating, completing, and monitoring the forest health

8 management activity or activities in each forest health

9 emergency or high risk area in the document containing

10 the Secretary’s final decision designating the area and se11 lecting and authorizing the activity or activities pursuant

12 to subsection (a)(2).

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

14 occur in a forest health management activity, the Sec15 retary concerned shall provide in the document containing

16 the Secretary’s final decision selecting and authorizing

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

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

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

20 this subsection.

21 (5) Each Secretary may undertake forest health man22 agement activities not selected and authorized pursuant

23 to subsection (a)(2) in accordance with applicable provi24 sions of law other than this Act.
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1 (d) PETITION PROCESS.—Any interested person may

2 petition either Secretary to designate a specific area of

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

4 jurisdiction as a forest health emergency or high risk area

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

6 a reasonably precise description of the boundaries of the

7 area and the reasons why the petitioner believes the condi8 tions set forth in subsection (b)(1)(A) or subsection

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

10 petition is submitted shall make a decision within 45 days

11 of the date of submission of the petition whether the des12 ignation sought by the petition may be warranted. If the

13 Secretary determines that the designation may be war14 ranted, the Secretary shall accept the petition and render

15 a final decision whether to make such designation pursu16 ant to subsection (a)(2) within 90 days of the date of sub17 mission in the case of a petition to designate a forest

18 health emergency area or 150 days of the date of submis19 sion in the case of a petition to designate a forest health

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

21 petition, the Secretary shall provide promptly to the peti22 tioner a written statement of the decision and the reasons

23 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.
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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated in fiscal

3 years 1996 through 2006 such sums as may be necessary

4 to carry out the provisions of this Act.

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