II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1731 

To address the forest health crisis on National Forest System land, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To address the forest health crisis on National Forest System 

land, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Management 

5 Improvement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘cat9 egorical exclusion’’ means an exclusion from the re10 quirement to prepare an environmental assessment 


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1 or an environmental impact statement under section 

2 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

3 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) for a category of forest man4 agement activities. 

5 (2) FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY.—The 

6 term ‘‘forest management activity’’ means a project 

7 or activity carried out by the Secretary on National 

8 Forest System land. 

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

10 means a land and resource management plan pre11 pared by the Forest Service in accordance with sec12 tion 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re13 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

14 (4) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

15 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 

16 the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range17 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

18 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

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

20 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

21 Chief of the Forest Service. 

22 SEC. 3. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CATEGORICAL EXCLU24 SIONS.— 


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1 (1) EARLY SERAL HABITAT CREATION.—A cat2 egorical exclusion is available to the Secretary to 

3 conduct a forest management activity the purpose of 

4 which is the creation of an early seral habitat forest. 

5 (2) WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT.—A cat6 egorical exclusion is available to the Secretary to 

7 conduct a forest management activity the purpose of 

8 which is the improvement of wildlife habitat. 

9 (3) FOREST THINNING.—A categorical exclu10 sion is available to the Secretary to conduct a forest 

11 management activity the purpose of which is com12 mercial thinning of forest stands on suited 

13 timberland, including— 

14 (A) the incidental removal of trees for 

15 landings, skid trails, and road clearing; and 

16 (B) the construction of a temporary road 

17 that is not longer than 1 mile to carry out that 

18 commercial thinning. 

19 (4) SALVAGE OF DEAD AND DYING TREES.—A 

20 categorical exclusion is available to the Secretary to 

21 conduct a forest management activity the purpose of 

22 which is the salvage of trees that are dead, dying, 

23 or both, and were damaged by wind, an ice storm, 

24 fire, or another event, including— 


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1 (A) the incidental removal of trees for 

2 landings, skid trails, and road clearing; and 

3 (B) the construction of a temporary road 

4 that is not longer than 1 mile to carry out that 

5 salvage of trees. 

6 (b) ACREAGE LIMITATIONS.—Forest management 

7 activities using the categorical exclusions under each of 

8 paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (a) may be con9 ducted on not more than 10,000 acres of National Forest 

10 System land for each categorical exclusion. 

11 (c) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Sec12 retary may apply the extraordinary circumstances proce13 dures under section 220.6 of title 36, Code of Federal 

14 Regulations (or successor regulations), in determining 

15 whether to use a categorical exclusion under subsection 

16 (a). 

17 (d) CONSISTENCY.—In carrying out forest manage18 ment activities using the categorical exclusions under sub19 section (a), the Secretary shall ensure that the forest man20 agement activities are consistent with the applicable forest 

21 plans. 

22 (e) CUMULATIVE IMPACTS.—The Secretary shall not 

23 be required to conduct a cumulative impact analysis in an 

24 environmental document prepared under the National En25 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 


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1 for a forest management activity carried out using a cat2 egorical exclusion made available to the Secretary under 

3 subsection (a) or any other provision of law (including reg4 ulations). 

5 (f) EXPANSION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR

6 INSECT AND DISEASE INFESTATION.— 

7 (1) PERMANENT AUTHORITY.—Section 602(f) 

8 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

9 U.S.C. 6591a(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘each of 

10 fiscal years 2014 through 2024.’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘each fiscal year.’’. 

12 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Section 603 of 

13 the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

14 U.S.C. 6591b) is amended— 

15 (A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre16 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘described in 

17 subsection (b)’’; 

18 (B) by striking subsection (b); 

19 (C) by redesignating subsections (c) 

20 through (g) as subsections (b) through (f), re21 spectively; and 

22 (D) in subsection (b) (as so redesig23 nated)— 

24 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 

25 ‘‘3000’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

2 ‘‘shall be’’ in the matter preceding sub3 paragraph (A) and all that follows through 

4 the period at the end of subparagraph (B) 

5 and inserting ‘‘may be carried out in any 

6 area designated under section 602(b), in7 cluding areas in Fire Regime Groups IV 

8 and V.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. EXPEDITED ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW. 

10 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.—In an 

11 environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to sec12 tion 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

13 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) for a forest management activ14 ity, the Secretary shall be required to study, develop, and 

15 describe only the following 2 alternatives: 

16 (1) The forest management activity. 

17 (2) The alternative of no action. 

18 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS.—In an environ19 mental assessment prepared pursuant to section 102(2) 

20 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

21 U.S.C. 4332(2)) for a forest management activity, the 

22 Secretary shall not be required to study, develop, and de23 scribe the alternative of no action. 


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1 SEC. 5. GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8206(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 

3 Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a(a)(3)(B)(i)) 

4 is amended by striking ‘‘or permanent’’. 

5 (b) REPEAL.—Section 331 of the Department of the 

6 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 

7 (16 U.S.C. 1011 note) is repealed. 

8 SEC. 6. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING 

9 PROJECTS. 

10 Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

11 of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(8) Retention of existing wood products infra15 structure.’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ‘‘, or low17 est-cost-technically-acceptable,’’ after ‘‘best-value’’; 

18 and 

19 (3) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘, sub20 ject to the condition that 25 percent of the gross re21 ceipts shall be disbursed to the county in which the 

22 project site is located’’ before ‘‘; and’’. 

23 SEC. 7. LITIGATION RELIEF. 

24 Section 106 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

25 of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6516) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (c) 

2 as subsections (b) through (d), respectively; 

3 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re4 designated) the following: 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROJECT.—In this 

6 section, the term ‘covered project’ means— 

7 ‘‘(1) with respect to a project on land of the 

8 National Forest System described in section 3(1)(A), 

9 any vegetation management project carried out by 

10 the Secretary of Agriculture, except on land on 

11 which vegetation management is prohibited by law 

12 or the applicable land and resource management 

13 plan described in section 101(13)(A); and 

14 ‘‘(2) with respect to public lands described in 

15 section 3(1)(B), an authorized hazardous fuels re16 duction project conducted under this title.’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘an authorized hazardous 

19 fuels reduction project conducted under this 

20 title’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered project’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘the authorized hazardous 

22 fuels reduction project’’ and inserting ‘‘the cov23 ered project’’; 


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1 (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by 

2 striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

3 (b)’’; 

4 (5) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘an au6 thorized hazardous fuel reduction project car7 ried out under this title’’ and inserting ‘‘a cov8 ered project’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘au10 thorized hazardous fuel reduction project’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘covered project’’; and 

12 (C) in paragraph (3), in the matter pre13 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘an au14 thorized hazardous fuel reduction project’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘a covered project’’; and 

16 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) FOREST SERVICE PILOT ARBITRATION PRO18 GRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Ag21 riculture (referred to in this subsection as the 

22 ‘Secretary’) shall establish within the Forest 

23 Service a pilot arbitration program (referred to 

24 in this subsection as the ‘program’) to des25 ignate any of the projects described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Aug 16, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1731.IS S1731

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1 graph (2) for an alternative dispute resolution 

2 procedure to replace judicial review of the 

3 projects. 

4 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION PROCESS AND ARBI5 TRATION PROCEDURE.—The Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) establish a process for the des7 ignation of projects and an alternative dis8 pute resolution procedure for the program 

9 in accordance with this subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) publish in the Federal Register 

11 the process and procedure described in 

12 clause (i). 

13 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS.—The Sec14 retary may designate for the program projects for— 

15 ‘‘(A) vegetation management; 

16 ‘‘(B) forest thinning; 

17 ‘‘(C) hazardous fuels reduction; and 

18 ‘‘(D) any other project, as determined by 

19 the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(f) COSTS AND FEES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding fees or other 

22 expenses under section 2412 of title 28, United 

23 States Code, for a civil action relating to a covered 

24 project, the court shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) restrict the award to reasonable hour2 ly reimbursements; and 

3 ‘‘(B) ensure that the award is not granted 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(i) a party other than a prevailing 

6 party; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) a person that has substantial fi8 nancial resources. 

9 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro10 mulgate regulations for what constitutes— 

11 ‘‘(A) reasonable hourly reimbursements 

12 under paragraph (1)(A); and 

13 ‘‘(B) substantial financial resources under 

14 paragraph (1)(B)(ii).’’. 

Æ 


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