II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2440 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convene a blue ribbon panel 

to review the forest inventory and analysis program of the Forest Service, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2021 

Mr. KING (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convene a blue 

ribbon panel to review the forest inventory and analysis 

program of the Forest Service, 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. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM 

4 BLUE RIBBON PANEL. 

5 Section 3 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 

6 Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM

9 BLUE RIBBON PANEL.— 


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

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Secretary, in consultation with the National Associa4 tion of State Foresters, shall convene a blue ribbon 

5 panel (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Panel’) 

6 to review the forest inventory and analysis program 

7 established under this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Panel shall be com9 posed of not fewer than 20, and not more than 30, 

10 members, including 1 or more of each of the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(A) State foresters. 

13 ‘‘(B) Representatives from the Environ14 mental Protection Agency. 

15 ‘‘(C) Representatives from the Department 

16 of the Interior. 

17 ‘‘(D) Academic experts in forest health, 

18 management, and economics. 

19 ‘‘(E) Forest industry representatives 

20 throughout the supply chain, including rep21 resentatives of large forest landowners and 

22 small forest landowners. 

23 ‘‘(F) Representatives from environmental 

24 groups. 


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1 ‘‘(G) Representatives from regional green2 house gas trading organizations. 

3 ‘‘(H) Experts in carbon accounting and 

4 carbon offset markets. 

5 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) REVIEW.—The Panel shall conduct a 

7 review of the past progress, current priorities, 

8 and future needs of the forest inventory and 

9 analysis program with respect to forest carbon, 

10 climate change, forest health, and sustainable 

11 wood products. 

12 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 

13 2022, the Panel shall submit to the Secretary, 

14 the Secretary of the Interior, and Congress a 

15 report describing the review conducted under 

16 subparagraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR19 PERSON.—The Panel shall select a Chairperson 

20 and Vice Chairperson from among the non21 governmental members of the Panel. 

22 ‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—The Panel may es23 tablish 1 or more committees within the Panel 

24 as the Panel determines to be appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COMPENSATION.—A member of the 

2 Panel shall serve without compensation. 

3 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

4 Secretary shall provide such administrative sup5 port as is necessary for the Panel to carry out 

6 its duties. 

7 ‘‘(E) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

8 ACT.—The Panel shall be exempt from the Fed9 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 

Æ 


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