I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 636 

To establish an arbitration process pilot program as an alternative dispute 

resolution process for certain objections or protests to qualified forest 

management activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2023 

Mr. ROSENDALE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish an arbitration process pilot program as an alternative dispute resolution process for certain objections 

or protests to qualified forest management activities, 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 Litigation Re5 form Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NO ATTORNEY FEES FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT 

2 ACTIVITY CHALLENGES. 

3 Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, United 

4 States Code, no award may be made under section 2412 

5 of title 28, United States Code, and no amounts may be 

6 obligated or expended from the Claims and Judgment 

7 Fund of the United States Treasury to pay any fees or 

8 other expenses under such sections to any plaintiff related 

9 to an action challenging a qualified forest management ac10 tivity. 

11 SEC. 3. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. 

12 (a) BALANCING SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS

13 OF FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES IN CONSIDERING

14 INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—As part of its weighing the equities 

15 while considering any request for an injunction that ap16 plies to any agency action as part of a qualified forest 

17 management activity, the court reviewing the agency ac18 tion shall balance the impact to the ecosystem likely af19 fected by the forest management activity of— 

20 (1) the short- and long-term effects of under21 taking the agency action; against 

22 (2) the short- and long-term effects of not un23 dertaking the action. 

24 (b) TIME LIMITATIONS FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

26 the length of any preliminary injunctive relief and 


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1 stays pending appeal that applies to any agency ac2 tion as part of a forest management activity, shall 

3 not exceed 60 days. 

4 (2) RENEWAL.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A court of competent 

6 jurisdiction may issue one or more renewals of 

7 any preliminary injunction, or stay pending ap8 peal, granted under paragraph (1). 

9 (B) UPDATES.—In each renewal of an in10 junction in an action, the parties to the action 

11 shall present the court with updated informa12 tion on the status of the authorized forest man13 agement activity. 

14 SEC. 4. USE OF ARBITRATION INSTEAD OF LITIGATION TO 

15 ADDRESS CHALLENGES TO FOREST MANAGE16 MENT ACTIVITIES. 

17 (a) DISCRETIONARY ARBITRATION PROCESS PILOT

18 PROGRAM.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri20 culture, with respect to National Forest System 

21 lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect 

22 to public lands, shall each establish a discretionary 

23 arbitration pilot program as an alternative dispute 

24 resolution process for the activities described in 

25 paragraph (2). Such arbitration pilot program shall 


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1 take place in lieu of judicial review for the activities 

2 described in paragraph (2). 

3 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The Secretary 

4 concerned, at the sole discretion of the Secretary, 

5 may designate objections or protests to qualified for6 est management activities for arbitration under the 

7 arbitration pilot program established under para8 graph (1). 

9 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ARBITRATIONS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the arbitration 

11 pilot program, the Secretary concerned may not 

12 arbitrate more than 10 objections or protests to 

13 qualified forest management activities in a fis14 cal year in— 

15 (i) each Forest Service Region; and 

16 (ii) each State Region of the Bureau 

17 of Land Management. 

18 (B) NOT SUBJECT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

19 A determination made by the Secretary con20 cerned that an objection or protest to a quali21 fied forest management activity is an activity 

22 described under paragraph (2) shall not be sub23 ject to judicial review. 

24 (4) DETERMINING AMOUNT OF ARBITRA25 TIONS.—An objection or protest to a qualified forest 


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1 management activity shall not be counted towards 

2 the limitation on number of arbitrations under para3 graph (3) unless— 

4 (A) on the date such objection or protest 

5 is designated for arbitration, the qualified forest 

6 management activity for which such objection 

7 or protest is filed has not been the subject of 

8 arbitration proceedings under the pilot pro9 gram; and 

10 (B) the arbitration proceeding has com11 menced with respect to such objection or pro12 test. 

13 (5) TERMINATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The pilot programs es15 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall ter16 minate on the date that is 7 years after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (B) ACTIVITY IN ARBITRATION.—An objec19 tion or protest to a qualified forest management 

20 activity that has commenced but has not com21 pleted arbitration on the date of termination 

22 under subparagraph (A) shall continue until 

23 such arbitration is completed. 

24 (b) INTERVENING PARTIES.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Any person that sub2 mitted a public comment on the qualified forest 

3 management activity that is subject to arbitration 

4 may intervene in the arbitration— 

5 (A) by endorsing— 

6 (i) the qualified forest management 

7 activity; or 

8 (ii) the modification proposal sub9 mitted under subparagraph (B); or 

10 (B) by submitting a proposal to further 

11 modify the qualified forest management activ12 ity. 

13 (2) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—With respect 

14 to an objection or protest that is designated for arbi15 tration under this subsection (a), a request to inter16 vene in an arbitration must be submitted not later 

17 than the date that is 30 days after the date on 

18 which such objection or protest was designated for 

19 arbitration. 

20 (3) MULTIPLE PARTIES.—Multiple intervening 

21 parties may submit a joint proposal so long as each 

22 intervening party meets the eligibility requirements 

23 of paragraph (1). 

24 (c) APPOINTMENT OF ARBITRATOR.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of Agri2 culture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly 

3 develop and publish a list of not fewer than 20 indi4 viduals eligible to serve as arbitrators for the pilot 

5 programs under this section. 

6 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—In order to be eligible to 

7 serve as an arbitrator under this subsection, an indi8 vidual shall be, on the date of the appointment of 

9 such arbitrator— 

10 (A) certified by the American Arbitration 

11 Association; and 

12 (B) not a registered lobbyist. 

13 (3) SELECTION OF ARBITRATOR.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each arbitration 

15 commenced under this section, the Secretary 

16 concerned and each applicable objector or 

17 protestor shall agree, not later than 14 days 

18 after the agreement process is initiated, on a 

19 mutually acceptable arbitrator from the list 

20 published under this subsection. 

21 (B) APPOINTMENT AFTER 14 DAYS.—In 

22 the case of an agreement with respect to a mu23 tually acceptable arbitrator not being reached 

24 within the 14-day limit described in subpara25 graph (A), the Secretary concerned shall apVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H636.IH H636

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1 point an arbitrator from the list published 

2 under this subsection. 

3 (d) SELECTION OF PROPOSALS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The arbitrator appointed 

5 under subsection (c)— 

6 (A) may not modify any of the proposals 

7 submitted with the objection, protest, or request 

8 to intervene; and 

9 (B) shall select to be conducted— 

10 (i) the qualified forest management 

11 activity, as approved by the Secretary; or 

12 (ii) a proposal submitted by an objec13 tor or an intervening party. 

14 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—An arbitrator shall, 

15 when selecting a proposal, consider— 

16 (A) whether the proposal is consistent with 

17 the applicable forest plan, laws, and regula18 tions; 

19 (B) whether the proposal can be carried 

20 out by the Secretary concerned; and 

21 (C) the effect of each proposal on— 

22 (i) forest health; 

23 (ii) potential losses of life and prop24 erty; 

25 (iii) habitat diversity; 


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1 (iv) wildfire potential; 

2 (v) insect and disease potential; 

3 (vi) timber production; and 

4 (vii) the implications of a resulting de5 cline in forest health, loss of habitat diver6 sity, wildfire, or insect or disease infesta7 tion, given fire and insect and disease his8 toric cycles, on— 

9 (I) potential losses of life and 

10 property; 

11 (II) domestic water costs; 

12 (III) wildlife habitat loss; and 

13 (IV) other economic and social 

14 factors. 

15 (e) EFFECT OF DECISION.—The decision of an arbi16 trator with respect to the qualified forest management ac17 tivity shall— 

18 (1) not be considered a major Federal action; 

19 (2) be binding; and 

20 (3) not be subject to judicial review, except as 

21 provided in section 10(a) of title 9, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (f) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—Not later than 90 

24 days after the date on which the arbitration is filed with 


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1 respect to the qualified forest management activity, the 

2 arbitration process shall be completed. 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col6 laborative process’’ means a process relating to the 

7 management of National Forest System lands or 

8 public lands by which a project or forest manage9 ment activity is developed and implemented by the 

10 Secretary concerned through collaboration with mul11 tiple interested persons representing diverse inter12 ests. 

13 (2) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION

14 PLAN.—The term ‘‘community wildfire protection 

15 plan’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

16 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

17 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

18 (3) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

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

20 that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range21 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

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

23 (4) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

24 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 

25 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 


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1 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term in2 cludes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Or3 egon and California Railroad Grant lands. 

4 (5) QUALIFIED FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIV5 ITY.—The term ‘‘qualified forest management activ6 ity’’ means any forest management activity that— 

7 (A) will occur on lands identified as the 

8 Secretary concerned as suitable for timber pro9 duction; and 

10 (B) meets at least one of the following con11 ditions: 

12 (i) The forest management activity 

13 will occur on lands designated by the Sec14 retary (or designee thereof) pursuant to 

15 section 602(b) of the Healthy Forests Res16 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

17 6591a(b)), notwithstanding whether such 

18 forest management activity is initiated 

19 prior to the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (ii) The forest management activity is 

21 developed through a collaborative process. 

22 (iii) The forest management activity is 

23 proposed by a resource advisory committee. 


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1 (iv) The forest management activity is 

2 covered by a community wildfire protection 

3 plan. 

4 (6) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 

5 term ‘‘resource advisory committee’’ has the mean6 ing given that term in section 201 of the Secure 

7 Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination 

8 Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121). 

Æ 


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