I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 674 

To codify the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to conduct certain landscape-scale forest restoration 

projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 codify the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and 

the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain landscape-scale forest restoration projects, 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 ‘‘Root and Stem Project 

5 Authorization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ROOT AND STEM PROJECTS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term ‘‘col2 laborative process’’ means a process that— 

3 (A) includes multiple interested persons 

4 representing diverse interests; and 

5 (B)(i) is transparent and nonexclusive; or 

6 (ii) meets the requirements for a resource 

7 advisory committee under subsections (c) 

8 through (f) of section 205 of the Secure Rural 

9 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act 

10 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7125). 

11 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

12 means— 

13 (A) land of the National Forest System (as 

14 defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 

15 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

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

17 (B) public lands (as defined in section 103 

18 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

19 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)). 

20 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec21 retary concerned’’ means, as applicable— 

22 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

23 through the Chief of the Forest Service; or 


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1 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

2 through the Director of the Bureau of Land 

3 Management. 

4 (b) LIST OF CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary con5 cerned shall— 

6 (1) maintain a list of non-Federal, third-party 

7 contractors that the Secretary concerned can hire in 

8 each State to complete the analysis described in sub9 section (c)(1); and 

10 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

11 enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, 

12 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

13 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Nat14 ural Resources of the House of Representatives a 

15 copy of the list described in paragraph (1). 

16 (c) AGREEMENTS.—If a person submits to the Sec17 retary concerned a proposal for a project on Federal land 

18 that was developed through a collaborative process and 

19 that meets local and rural community needs, the Secretary 

20 concerned may enter into an agreement with the person, 

21 under which— 

22 (1) the person initially provides to the Secretary 

23 concerned all, or a portion of, the funding necessary 

24 to complete any analysis that the Secretary con25 cerned determines to be necessary under Federal 


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1 law, including the National Environmental Policy 

2 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the En3 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

4 seq.), for the consideration of the proposed project; 

5 (2) the Secretary concerned uses the funding 

6 provided under paragraph (1) to pay a contractor in7 cluded on the list maintained under subsection 

8 (b)(1) to conduct the analysis described in para9 graph (1); 

10 (3) on completion of the analysis described in 

11 paragraph (1), if the Secretary concerned makes a 

12 decision to proceed with the project, the Secretary 

13 concerned— 

14 (A) solicits bids to carry out the project; 

15 and 

16 (B) enters into a contract or agreement 

17 under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Res18 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) to 

19 carry out the project; and 

20 (4) using any receipts described in subsection 

21 (d)(1), the Secretary concerned, to the maximum ex22 tent practicable, repays to the person the funding 

23 initially provided under paragraph (1). 

24 (d) ADDITIONAL RELATED AUTHORITIES.— 


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1 (1) USE OF RECEIPTS.—Any receipts that are 

2 generated by a project described in subsection (c) 

3 that are normally deposited in the general fund of 

4 the Treasury shall be available for expenditure by 

5 the Secretary concerned, without further appropria6 tion or fiscal year limitation, for the use described 

7 in subsection (c)(4). 

8 (2) CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary concerned 

9 may noncompetitively hire a contractor included on 

10 the list maintained under subsection (b)(1) to con11 duct the analysis described in subsection (c)(1). 

12 (e) SAVINGS CLAUSES.— 

13 (1) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY CON14 CERNED.—The Secretary concerned shall— 

15 (A) determine the sufficiency of any docu16 ments prepared by a contractor under sub17 section (c)(2); and 

18 (B) retain responsibility for any author19 izing decision relating to a proposed project de20 scribed in subsection (c). 

21 (2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF INDEPENDENT

22 THIRD PARTIES.—The Secretary concerned shall 

23 verify that there is no conflict of interest between— 

24 (A) a person that submits a proposal 

25 under subsection (c); and 


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1 (B) a contractor that the Secretary con2 cerned hires under paragraph (2) of that sub3 section to carry out an analysis with respect to 

4 that proposal. 

5 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary 

6 concerned— 

7 (A) shall only use the funding provided to 

8 the Secretary concerned under subsection (c)(1) 

9 to pay a contractor pursuant to subsection 

10 (c)(2); and 

11 (B) shall not use any portion of the fund12 ing provided to the Secretary concerned under 

13 subsection (c)(1) to cover any other expense or 

14 cost incurred by the Secretary concerned, in15 cluding administrative costs. 

16 (4) LIMITATIONS ON REIMBURSEMENTS.—If in17 sufficient receipts are generated by a project de18 scribed in subsection (c) to reimburse the person 

19 that provided funding under paragraph (1) of that 

20 subsection, the Secretary concerned shall not provide 

21 additional funding to the person. 

22 (f) PROMOTION.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned 

24 shall provide guidance to each local field office of the Sec25 retary concerned for— 


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1 (1) making stakeholders aware of the authority 

2 under this Act; and 

3 (2) encouraging use of that authority to meet 

4 land management goals. 

5 (g) TREATMENT OF COLLABORATIVE MEMBERS.— 

6 For purposes of a civil action relating to a project de7 scribed in subsection (c), any person that participated in 

8 the collaborative process to develop the proposal for the 

9 project shall be— 

10 (1) entitled to intervene, as of right, in any sub11 sequent civil action; and 

12 (2) considered to be a full participant in any 

13 settlement negotiation relating to the project. 

14 (h) SUNSET.—The requirements described in sub15 section (b) and the authority to enter into an agreement 

16 under subsection (c) shall expire on January 1, 2033. 

Æ 


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