I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1522

To safeguard communities, lives, and property from catastrophic wildfire

by authorizing contracts to reduce hazardous fuels buildups on forested

Federal lands in wildland/urban interface areas while also using such

contracts to undertake forest management projects to protect noncommodity resources, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mrs. CHENOWETH (for herself, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. HERGER, and Mr.

DOOLITTLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources,

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 safeguard communities, lives, and property from catastrophic wildfire by authorizing contracts to reduce hazardous fuels buildups on forested Federal lands in

wildland/urban interface areas while also using such contracts to undertake forest management projects to protect noncommodity resources, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Community Protection and Hazardous Fuels Reduction

4 Act of 1999’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—COMMUNITY PROTECTION AND HAZARDOUS FUELS

REDUCTION

Sec. 101. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Identification of wildland/urban interface areas.

Sec. 104. Contracting to reduce hazardous fuels buildups and undertake forest

management projects in wildland/urban interface areas.

Sec. 105. Monitoring requirements.

Sec. 106. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 107. Termination of authority.

Sec. 108. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 201. Establishment of forest fire research centers.

7 TITLE I—COMMUNITY PROTEC8 TION AND HAZARDOUS FUELS

9 REDUCTION

10 SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

11 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

12 (1) Management of Federal lands has been

13 characterized by large cyclical variations in fire sup14 pression policies, timber harvesting levels, and the

15 attention paid to commodity and noncommodity val16 ues.
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1 (2) Forests on Federal lands are experiencing

2 significant disease epidemics and insect infestations.

3 (3) The combination of inconsistent manage4 ment and natural effects has resulted in a hazardous

5 fuels buildup on Federal lands that threatens cata6 strophic wildfire.

7 (4) While the long-term effect of catastrophic

8 wildfire on forests and forest systems is a matter of

9 debate, there should be no question that forests

10 must be managed to prevent catastrophic wildfire in

11 areas of the Federal lands where wildlands abut, or

12 are located in close proximity to, communities, resi13 dences, and other private and public facilities on

14 non-Federal lands.

15 (5) Wildfire resulting from hazardous fuels

16 buildup in such wildland/urban interface areas

17 threatens the destruction of communities, puts

18 human life and property at risk, threatens commu19 nity water supplies with erosion that follows wildfire,

20 destroys wildlife habitat, and diminishes ambient air

21 quality.

22 (6) The Secretary of the Interior and the Sec23 retary of Agriculture must assign a high priority and

24 undertake aggressive management to reduce the risk

25 of wildfire in wildland/urban interface areas on Fed-
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1 eral lands through the elimination of hazardous fuels

2 buildups in such areas. The protection of human life

3 and property and the protection of water supplies

4 and ambient air quality in wildland/urban interface

5 areas must be given the highest priority.

6 (7) The noncommodity resources of wildland/

7 urban interface areas on Federal lands, including

8 such resources as riparian zones and wildlife habi9 tats, which must be protected to provide recreational

10 opportunities, clean water, and other amenities to

11 neighboring communities and the public suffer from

12 a backlog of forest management projects designed to

13 provide such protection.

14 (8) In a period of fiscal austerity characterized

15 by shrinking budgets and personnel levels, Congress

16 must provide the Secretary of the Interior and the

17 Secretary of Agriculture with innovative tools to ac18 complish the required reduction in hazardous fuels

19 buildup and to undertake other forest management

20 projects in the wildland/urban interface areas on the

21 Federal lands at the least cost.

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to provide

23 new authority and innovative tools to the Secretary of the

24 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture—
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1 (1) to safeguard communities, lives, and prop2 erty by reducing or eliminating the threat of cata3 strophic wildfire in wildland/urban interface areas on

4 Federal lands; and

5 (2) to undertake needed forest management

6 projects in such areas.

7 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this title:

9 (1) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term

10 ‘‘congressional committees’’ means the Committee

11 on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of

12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on

13 Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee

14 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen15 ate.

16 (2) ELIGIBLE FOREST PRODUCTS SALE.—The

17 term ‘‘eligible forest products sale’’ means a sale of

18 forest products in a wildland/urban interface area

19 identified under section 103 that is conducted for

20 the primary purpose of reducing hazardous fuels

21 buildups in the area and is supplemental to the ex22 isting timber sale program for the Federal lands

23 containing the area.

24 (3) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal

25 lands’’ means—
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1 (A) federally managed lands administered

2 by the Bureau of Land Management under the

3 Secretary of the Interior; and

4 (B) federally managed forest lands created

5 from the public domain and administered by

6 the Secretary of Agriculture.

7 (4) FOREST MANAGEMENT PROJECT.—The

8 term ‘‘forest management project’’ means a project

9 designed to protect one or more noncommodity re10 sources on or in close proximity to Federal lands.

11 Such projects may include riparian zone enhance12 ment, habitat improvement, noncommercial haz13 ardous fuels reduction, and soil stabilization or other

14 water quality improvement project.

15 (5) FOREST PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘forest prod16 ucts’’ means any tree or tree part that can be used

17 for a commercial purpose.

18 (6) FUELS.—The term ‘‘fuels’’ includes forage,

19 woody debris, duff, needle cast, brush, understory,

20 ladder fuels, and dead or dying overstory.

21 (7) HAZARDOUS FUELS BUILDUP.—The term

22 ‘‘hazardous fuels buildup’’ means the level of fuels

23 accumulation on Federal lands at which an ignition,

24 together with the right combination of weather and

25 topographic conditions, can result in—
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1 (A) a dangerous exposure of risk to fire2 fighters and the public; or

3 (B) a high potential to cause risk of loss

4 to key components that define ecological re5 sources, capital investments, and private prop6 erty.

7 (8) LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term

8 ‘‘land management plan’’ means the following:

9 (A) With respect to Federal lands de10 scribed in paragraph (3)(A), a land use plan

11 prepared by the Bureau of Land Management

12 pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land

13 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.

14 1712), or other multiple-use plan currently in

15 effect.

16 (B) With respect to Federal lands de17 scribed in paragraph (3)(B), a land and re18 source management plan (or if no final plan is

19 in effect, a draft land and resource manage20 ment plan) prepared by the Forest Service pur21 suant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland

22 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16

23 U.S.C. 1604).

24 (9) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec25 retary concerned’’ means—
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1 (A) with respect to the Federal lands de2 scribed in paragraph (3)(A), the Secretary of

3 the Interior; and

4 (B) with respect to the Federal lands de5 scribed in paragraph (3)(B), the Secretary of

6 Agriculture.

7 (10) WILDLAND/URBAN INTERFACE AREA.—

8 The term ‘‘wildland/urban interface area’’ means a

9 sufficient area or zone between structures or other

10 human development and undeveloped wildland or

11 vegetative fuel, as defined in the definitions of the

12 Secretary concerned in effect as of the date of the

13 enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 103. IDENTIFICATION OF WILDLAND/URBAN INTER15 FACE AREAS.

16 (a) IDENTIFICATION DEADLINE.—On or before Feb17 ruary 28 of each year, each District Manager of the Bu18 reau of Land Management and each Forest Supervisor of

19 the Forest Service shall identify those areas on Federal

20 lands within the jurisdiction of the District Manager or

21 Forest Supervisor that the District Manager or Forest Su22 pervisor determines—

23 (1) are wildland/urban interface areas; and

24 (2) have hazardous fuels buildups and other

25 forest management needs that would benefit from
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1 the use of forest management projects as provided in

2 section 104.

3 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—At the end of the third

4 full fiscal year during which contracts are entered into

5 under section 104, each District Manager of the Bureau

6 of Land Management and each Forest Supervisor of the

7 Forest Service shall solicit recommendations from the pub8 lic regarding Federal lands within the jurisdiction of the

9 District Manager or Forest Supervisor that members of

10 the public feel qualify for identification as wildland/urban

11 interface areas and that have hazardous fuels buildups

12 and other forest management needs that would benefit

13 from the use of forest management projects as provided

14 in section 104.

15 SEC. 104. CONTRACTING TO REDUCE HAZARDOUS FUELS

16 BUILDUPS AND UNDERTAKE FOREST MAN17 AGEMENT PROJECTS IN WILDLAND/URBAN

18 INTERFACE AREAS.

19 (a) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—

20 (1) REDUCTION OF HAZARDOUS FUELS.—The

21 Secretary concerned is authorized to enter into con22 tracts under this section for the sale of forest prod23 ucts, the primary purpose of which is to reduce haz24 ardous fuels buildups in a wildland/urban interface

25 area identified under section 103.
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1 (2) INCLUSION OF FOREST MANAGEMENT

2 PROJECTS.—As a condition of an eligible forest

3 products sale, the Secretary concerned may require

4 the purchaser of such products to undertake one or

5 more forest management projects in the wildland/

6 urban interface area. The Secretary concerned may

7 include a forest management project as a condition

8 in an eligible forest products sale only if the Sec9 retary determines that—

10 (A) the forest management project is con11 sistent with the applicable land management

12 plan; and

13 (B) the objectives of the forest manage14 ment project can be accomplished most cost ef15 ficiently and effectively when the project is per16 formed as part of the sale contract.

17 (b) FINANCING OF FOREST MANAGEMENT

18 PROJECTS.—

19 (1) FINANCING THROUGH SALES.—To finance a

20 forest management project required as a condition of

21 a contract for an eligible forest products sale under

22 subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall include

23 in the contract a clause that reduces the amount

24 otherwise required to be paid to the United States

25 by the purchaser of forest products sold under the
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1 contract. The amount of the reduction shall be de2 termined under paragraph (2) to offset costs in3 curred by the purchaser in carrying out the required

4 forest management project.

5 (2) AMOUNT OF REDUCTION OF PAYMENT.—

6 The amount of the price reduction in paragraph (1)

7 shall be equal to—

8 (A) the costs incurred by the purchaser in

9 carrying out the required forest management

10 project; minus

11 (B) any assistance paid to the purchaser

12 under subsection (c) to cover those costs.

13 (c) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING USING APPROPRIATED

14 FUNDS.—The Secretary concerned may use appropriated

15 funds to assist the purchaser of forest products in a con16 tract for an eligible forest products sale to undertake a

17 forest management project required as a condition of the

18 contract, if the funds are provided from the resource func19 tion or functions that directly benefit from the perform20 ance of the project and the funds are available from the

21 annual appropriation for such function or functions during

22 the fiscal year in which the sale is offered. The amount

23 of assistance to be provided for each forest management

24 project shall be included in the prospectus, and published

25 in the advertisement, for the eligible forest products sale.
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1 (d) DETERMINATION OF FOREST MANAGEMENT

2 OFFSETS.—Prior to the advertisement of an eligible forest

3 products sale, the Secretary concerned shall determine the

4 maximum price reduction to be allowed under subsection

5 (b) for each forest management project to be required as

6 a condition of the sale contract. A description of the forest

7 management project, and the cost of the project that may

8 be offset against the purchaser’s payment for forest prod9 ucts in the sale, shall be included in the prospectus, and

10 published in the advertisement, for the sale.

11 (e) EFFECT ON MONEYS RECEIVED.—Only the

12 amounts actually paid by a purchaser under a contract

13 for an eligible forest products sale shall be considered to

14 be money received for purposes of title II of the Act of

15 August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 875; 43 U.S.C. 1181f), the

16 first section of the Act of May 24, 1939 (53 Stat. 753;

17 43 U.S.C. 1181f–1), the sixth paragraph under the head18 ing ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908

19 (35 Stat. 260; 16 U.S.C. 500), section 13 of the Act of

20 March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; commonly known as the

21 Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C. 500), or other applicable law con22 cerning the distribution of receipts from the sale of forest

23 products on Federal lands.

24 (f) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF OFFSETS.—The

25 total amount by which purchase payments under contracts
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1 for eligible forest products sales may be reduced under

2 subsection (b) each fiscal year—

3 (1) under contracts awarded by the Secretary of

4 the Interior, may not exceed $20,000,000; and

5 (2) under contracts awarded by the Secretary of

6 Agriculture, may not exceed $20,000,000.

7 SEC. 105. MONITORING REQUIREMENTS.

8 The Secretary concerned shall monitor the prepara9 tion and offering of contracts for eligible forest products

10 sales under section 104, and the performance of forest

11 management projects under the contracts to determine the

12 effectiveness of the contracts and forest management

13 projects in achieving the purpose of this title.

14 SEC. 106. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

15 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after

16 the end of each full fiscal year during which contracts are

17 entered into under section 104, the Secretary concerned

18 shall submit to the congressional committees a report,

19 which shall provide for the Federal lands within the juris20 diction of the Secretary concerned the following:

21 (1) A list of the wildland/urban interface areas

22 identified on or before February 28 of the previous

23 fiscal year pursuant to section 103.

24 (2) A summary of all contracts entered into,

25 and all forest management projects performed, pur-
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1 suant to section 104 during the preceding fiscal

2 year.

3 (3) A discussion of any delays in excess of three

4 months encountered during the preceding fiscal year,

5 and likely to occur in the fiscal year in which the re6 port is submitted, in preparing and offering the

7 sales, and in performing the forest management

8 projects, pursuant to section 104.

9 (4) The results of the monitoring required by

10 section 105 of the contracts authorized, and the for11 est management projects performed, pursuant to

12 section 104.

13 (5) Any anticipated problems in the implemen14 tation of this title.

15 (b) FOUR YEAR REPORT.—The fourth report pre16 pared by the Secretary concerned under subsection (a)

17 shall contain, in addition to the matters required by sub18 section (a), an assessment by the Secretary concerned re19 garding whether the contracting authority provided in sec20 tion 104 should be reauthorized beyond the period speci21 fied in section 108(a). If the Secretary concerned feels

22 that reauthorization is warranted, the Secretary shall also

23 include such recommendations as the Secretary considers

24 appropriate regarding changes in the authority to better

25 achieve the purpose of this title.
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1 SEC. 107. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

2 (a) TERMINATION DATE.—The authority of the Sec3 retary concerned to offer eligible forest products sales

4 under section 104, and to require the purchasers of such

5 products to undertake forest management projects as a

6 condition of such sales, shall terminate at the end of the

7 five-fiscal year period beginning on the first October 1st

8 occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act.

9 (b) EFFECT ON EXISTING SALES.—Any contract for

10 an eligible forest products sale under section 104 entered

11 into before the end of the period specified in subsection

12 (a), and still in effect at the end of such period, shall re13 main in effect after the end of such period pursuant to

14 the terms of the contract.

15 SEC. 108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of

17 the first five fiscal years beginning after the date of the

18 enactment of this Act such sums as may be necessary to

19 carry out this title.

20 TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS

21 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST FIRE RESEARCH

22 CENTERS.

23 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

24 (1) There is an increasing threat of fire to mil25 lions of acres of forestlands and rangelands through26 out the United States.
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1 (2) Today’s forests and rangelands are the con2 sequence of land management practices that have

3 emphasized the control and prevention of fires.

4 (3) As a result of these management practices,

5 forestlands and rangelands in the United States are

6 no longer naturally functioning ecosystems, and

7 drought cycles and the invasion of insects and dis8 ease have resulted in vast areas of dead or dying

9 trees, overstocked stands, and the invasion of unde10 sirable species.

11 (4) Population movement into wildland/urban

12 interface areas (as defined in section 102) exacer13 bate the fire danger.

14 (5) The budgets and resources of local, State,

15 and Federal entities supporting firefighting efforts

16 have been stretched to their limits.

17 (6) Diminishing Federal resources (including

18 personnel) have limited the ability of Federal fire re19 searchers to respond to management needs, and to

20 utilize technological advancements for analyzing fire

21 management costs.

22 (7) The Federal fire research program is funded at approximately 1 23 ⁄3 of what is required to ad24 dress emerging fire problems.
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1 (8) In light of current fiscal constraints, there

2 is a critical need for cost-effective investments in im3 proved fire management technologies.

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH CENTERS.—

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT REQUIRED.—The Sec6 retary of Agriculture shall establish at least two for7 est fire research centers at institutions of higher

8 education that have expertise in natural resource de9 velopment and are located in close proximity to other

10 Federal natural resource, forest management, and

11 land management agencies.

12 (2) DESIGNATED LOCATIONS.—Of the forest

13 fire research centers established pursuant to para14 graph (1), at least one center shall be located in—

15 (A) Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho,

16 or Nevada; and

17 (B) Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah,

18 Arizona, or New Mexico.

19 (c) PURPOSE OF RESEARCH CENTERS.—The forest

20 fire research centers established pursuant to subsection

21 (b) shall—

22 (1) conduct integrative, interdisciplinary re23 search into the ecological, socio-economic, and envi24 ronmental impacts of fire control and use in man25 aging ecosystems and landscapes; and
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1 (2) develop mechanisms to rapidly transfer new

2 fire control and management technologies to fire and

3 land managers.

4 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Secretary of Agri5 culture, in consultation with the Secretary of Interior,

6 shall establish a committee composed of fire and land

7 managers and fire researchers to determine the areas of

8 emphasis and establish priorities for research projects con9 ducted at forest fire research centers established pursuant

10 to subsection (b). The Federal Advisory Committee Act

11 (5 U.S.C. App.) and title XVIII of the National Agricul12 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

13 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2281 et seq.) shall not apply to the com14 mittee.

Æ