I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1526 

To restore employment and educational opportunities in, and improve the 

economic stability of, counties containing National Forest System land, 

while also reducing Forest Service management costs, by ensuring that 

such counties have a dependable source of revenue from National Forest 

System land, to provide a temporary extension of the Secure Rural 

Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington (for himself, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Ms. 

HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 

SOUTHERLAND, Mr. DAINES, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GOHMERT, 

Mr. PEARCE, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, and Mrs. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in 

addition to the Committee on Natural 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 restore employment and educational opportunities in, and 

improve the economic stability of, counties containing 

National Forest System land, while also reducing Forest 

Service management costs, by ensuring that such counties have a dependable source of revenue from National 

Forest System land, to provide a temporary extension 

of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities 

6 Act’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Establishment of Forest Reserve Revenue Areas and annual volume requirements. 

Sec. 4. Management of Forest Reserve Revenue Areas. 

Sec. 5. Distribution of forest reserve revenues. 

Sec. 6. Extension of Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination 

Act of 2000 pending full operation of Forest Reserve Revenue 

Areas. 

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ANNUAL VOLUME REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘annual vol13 ume requirement’’, with respect to a Forest Re14 serve Revenue Area, means a volume of na15 tional forest materials no less than 50 percent 

16 of the sustained yield of the Forest Reserve 

17 Revenue Area. 

18 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—In determining the vol19 ume of national forest materials or the sus20 tained yield of a Forest Reserve Revenue Area, 


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1 the Secretary may not include non-commercial 

2 post and pole sales and personal use firewood. 

3 (2) BENEFICIARY COUNTY.—The term ‘‘bene4 ficiary county’’ means a political subdivision of a 

5 State that, on account of containing National Forest 

6 System land, was eligible to receive payments 

7 through the State under title I of the Secure Rural 

8 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

9 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7111 et seq.). 

10 (3) CATASTROPHIC EVENT.—The term ‘‘cata11 strophic event’’ means an event (including severe 

12 fire, insect or disease infestations, windthrow, or 

13 other extreme weather or natural disaster) that the 

14 Secretary determines will cause or has caused sub15 stantial damage to National Forest System land or 

16 natural resources on National Forest System land. 

17 (4) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION

18 PLAN.—The term ‘‘community wildfire protection 

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

20 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

21 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

22 (5) COVERED FOREST RESERVE PROJECT.— 

23 The terms ‘‘covered forest reserve project’’ and ‘‘cov24 ered project’’ mean a project involving the manage25 ment or sale of national forest materials within a 


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1 Forest Reserve Revenue Area to generate forest re2 serve revenues and achieve the annual volume re3 quirement for the Forest Reserve Revenue Area. 

4 (6) FOREST RESERVE REVENUE AREA.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Forest Re6 serve Revenue Area’’ means National Forest 

7 System land in a unit of the National Forest 

8 System designated for sustainable forest man9 agement for the production of national forest 

10 materials and forest reserve revenues. 

11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Subject to subpara12 graph (C), but otherwise notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, including executive or14 ders and regulations, the Secretary shall include 

15 in Forest Reserve Revenue Areas all National 

16 Forest System lands identified as commercial 

17 forest land capable of producing twenty cubic 

18 feet of timber per acre. 

19 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—A Forest Reserve Rev20 enue Area may not include National Forest 

21 System land— 

22 (i) that is a component of the Na23 tional Wilderness Preservation System; or 


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1 (ii) on which the removal of vegetation 

2 is specifically prohibited by Federal stat3 ute. 

4 (7) FOREST RESERVE REVENUES.—The term 

5 ‘‘forest reserve revenues’’ means revenues derived 

6 from the sale of national forest materials in a Forest 

7 Reserve Revenue Area. 

8 (8) NATIONAL FOREST MATERIALS.—The term 

9 ‘‘national forest materials’’ has the meaning given 

10 that term in section 14(e)(1) of the National Forest 

11 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(e)(1)). 

12 (9) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

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

14 that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range15 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

16 U.S.C. 1609(a)), except that the term does not in17 clude the National Grasslands and land utilization 

18 projects designated as National Grasslands adminis19 tered pursuant to the Act of July 22, 1937 (7 

20 U.S.C. 1010–1012). 

21 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

22 means the Secretary of Agriculture. 

23 (11) SUSTAINED YIELD.—The term ‘‘sustained 

24 yield’’ means the annual growth of the forest cal25 culated on the basis of the culmination of mean anVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:36 Apr 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1526.IH H1526

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1 nual increment using cubic measurement or other 

2 methods at the sole discretion of the Secretary. 

3 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 

4 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

5 (13) 25-PERCENT PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘25- 

6 percent payment’’ means the payment to States re7 quired by the sixth paragraph under the heading of 

8 ‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 

9 (35 Stat. 260; 16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the 

10 Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; 16 U.S.C. 

11 500). 

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST RESERVE REVENUE 

13 AREAS AND ANNUAL VOLUME REQUIRE14 MENTS. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST RESERVE REV16 ENUE AREAS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of 

17 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish one 

18 or more Forest Reserve Revenue Areas within each unit 

19 of the National Forest System. 

20 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a Forest Reserve 

21 Revenue Area is to provide a dependable source of 25-per22 cent payments and economic activity for each beneficiary 

23 county containing National Forest System land. 

24 (c) FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The Secretary 

25 shall have a fiduciary responsibility to beneficiary counties 


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1 to manage Forest Reserve Revenue Areas to satisfy the 

2 annual volume requirement. 

3 (d) DETERMINATION OF ANNUAL VOLUME REQUIRE4 MENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the es5 tablishment of a Forest Reserve Revenue Area, the Sec6 retary shall determine the annual volume requirement for 

7 that Forest Reserve Revenue Area. 

8 (e) LIMITATION ON REDUCTION OF FOREST RE9 SERVE REVENUE AREAS.—Once a Forest Reserve Rev10 enue Area is established under subsection (a), the Sec11 retary may not reduce the number of acres of National 

12 Forest System land included in that Forest Reserve Rev13 enue Area. 

14 (f) MAP.—The Secretary shall provide a map of all 

15 Forest Reserve Revenue Areas established under sub16 section (a) for each unit of the National Forest System 

17 to— 

18 (1) the Committee on Agriculture and the Com19 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep20 resentatives; and 

21 (2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

22 and Forestry and the Committee on Energy and 

23 Natural Resources of the Senate. 

24 (g) RECOGNITION OF VALID AND EXISTING

25 RIGHTS.—Neither the establishment of Forest Reserve 


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1 Revenue Areas under subsection (a) nor any other provi2 sion of this Act shall be construed to limit or restrict— 

3 (1) access to National Forest System land for 

4 hunting, fishing, recreation, and other related pur5 poses; or 

6 (2) valid and existing rights regarding National 

7 Forest System land, including rights of any federally 

8 recognized Indian tribe. 

9 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESERVE REVENUE 

10 AREAS. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ACHIEVE ANNUAL VOLUME

12 REQUIREMENT.—Effective for fiscal year 2014 and each 

13 fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall manage each 

14 Forest Reserve Revenue Area in the manner necessary to 

15 achieve the annual volume requirement for the Forest Re16 serve Revenue Area. The Secretary is authorized and en17 couraged to commence covered forest reserve projects as 

18 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act to begin generating forest reserve revenues. 

20 (b) STANDARDS FOR PROJECTS WITHIN FOREST RE21 SERVE REVENUE AREAS.—The Secretary shall conduct 

22 covered forest reserve projects within Forest Reserve Rev23 enue Areas in accordance with this section, which shall 

24 serve as the sole means by which the Secretary will comply 

25 with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) and other laws applicable to the cov2 ered projects. 

3 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS PROCESS FOR

4 PROJECTS IN FOREST RESERVE REVENUE AREAS.— 

5 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The Sec6 retary shall give published notice and complete an 

7 environmental assessment pursuant to section 

8 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

9 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) for a covered forest re10 serve project proposed to be conducted within a For11 est Reserve Revenue Area, except that the Secretary 

12 is not required to study, develop, or describe any al13 ternative to the proposed agency action. 

14 (2) CUMULATIVE EFFECTS.—The Secretary 

15 shall consider cumulative effects solely by evaluating 

16 the impacts of a proposed covered forest reserve 

17 project combined with the impacts of any other 

18 projects that were approved with a Decision Notice 

19 or Record of Decision before the date on which the 

20 Secretary published notice of the proposed covered 

21 project. The cumulative effects of past projects may 

22 be considered in the environmental assessment by 

23 using a description of the current environmental 

24 conditions. 


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1 (3) LENGTH.—The environmental assessment 

2 prepared for a proposed covered forest reserve 

3 project shall not exceed 100 pages in length. The 

4 Secretary may incorporate in the environmental as5 sessment, by reference, any documents that the Sec6 retary determines, in the sole discretion of the Sec7 retary, are relevant to the assessment of the environ8 mental effects of the covered project. 

9 (4) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—The Sec10 retary shall complete the environmental assessment 

11 for a covered forest reserve project within 180 days 

12 after the date on which the Secretary published no13 tice of the proposed covered project. 

14 (5) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—A covered for15 est reserve project that is proposed in response to a 

16 catastrophic event, is identified within a community 

17 wildfire protection plan, or that covers an area of 

18 10,000 acres or less shall be categorically excluded 

19 from the requirements of the National Environ20 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.). 

21 (d) APPLICATION OF LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGE22 MENT PLAN.—A covered forest reserve project shall be im23 plemented consistent with the standards and guidelines 

24 contained in the land and resource management plan for 


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1 the unit of the National Forest System in which the cov2 ered project will be carried out, except that— 

3 (1) section 6(g)(3)(E)(iv) of the Forest and 

4 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

5 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(g)(3)(E)(iv)) shall not apply; 

6 and 

7 (2) the Secretary may comply with section 

8 14(g) of the National Forest Management Act of 

9 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472(a)(g)) by using designation-by10 prescription. 

11 (e) COMPLIANCE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES

12 ACT.— 

13 (1) NON-JEOPARDY ASSESSMENT.—If the Sec14 retary determines that a concern exists that a pro15 posed covered forest reserve project may affect the 

16 continued existence of any species listed as endan17 gered or threatened under section 4 of the Endan18 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533), the 

19 Secretary shall issue a determination explaining the 

20 view of the Secretary that the proposed covered 

21 project will not jeopardize the continued existence of 

22 the species. 

23 (2) SUBMISSION, REVIEW, AND RESPONSE.— 

24 (A) SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall 

25 submit a determination issued by the Secretary 


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1 under paragraph (1) to the Secretary of the In2 terior or the Secretary of Commerce, as appro3 priate. 

4 (B) REVIEW AND RESPONSE.—Within 30 

5 days after receiving a determination under sub6 paragraph (A), the Secretary of the Interior or 

7 the Secretary of Commerce, as appropriate, 

8 shall provide a written response to the Sec9 retary concurring in or rejecting the Secretary’s 

10 determination. If the Secretary of the Interior 

11 or the Secretary of Commerce rejects the deter12 mination, the written response shall include rec13 ommendations for measures that— 

14 (i) will avoid the likelihood of jeopardy 

15 to, or adverse modification of the habitat 

16 of, an endangered or threatened species; 

17 (ii) can be implemented in a manner 

18 consistent with the intended purpose of the 

19 covered forest reserve project; 

20 (iii) can be implemented consistent 

21 with the scope of the Secretary’s legal au22 thority and jurisdiction; and 

23 (iv) are economically and techno24 logically feasible. 


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1 (3) FORMAL CONSULTATION.—If the Secretary 

2 of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce rejects 

3 a determination issued by the Secretary under para4 graph (1), the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec5 retary of Commerce also is required to engage in 

6 formal consultation with the Secretary. The Secre7 taries shall complete such consultation pursuant to 

8 section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1536) within 90 days after the submission of 

10 the written response under paragraph (2). 

11 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

12 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Administrative 

13 review of a covered forest reserve project shall occur 

14 only in accordance with the special administrative 

15 review process established under section 105 of the 

16 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

17 6515). 

18 (2) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Judicial review of a 

20 covered forest reserve project shall occur in ac21 cordance with section 106 of the Healthy For22 ests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6516). 

23 (B) BOND REQUIRED.—A plaintiff chal24 lenging a covered forest reserve project shall be 

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1 ceptable to the court for the reasonably esti2 mated costs, expenses, and attorneys fees of the 

3 Secretary as defendant. All proceedings in the 

4 action shall be stayed until the security is given. 

5 If the plaintiff has not complied with the order 

6 to post such bond or other security within 90 

7 days after the date of service of the order, then 

8 the action shall be dismissed with prejudice. 

9 (C) RECOVERY.—If the Secretary prevails 

10 in the case, the Secretary shall submit to the 

11 court a motion for payment of all litigation ex12 penses. 

13 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF FOREST RESERVE REVENUES. 

14 Forest reserve revenues generated by a covered forest 

15 reserve project shall be used by the Secretary— 

16 (1) to make deposits into the fund established 

17 under section 3 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (16 

18 U.S.C. 576b; commonly known as the Knutson-Van19 denberg Fund) and the fund established under sec20 tion 14(h) of the National Forest Management Act 

21 of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(h); commonly known as 

22 the salvage sale fund) in contributions equal to the 

23 monies otherwise collected under those Acts for 

24 projects conducted on National Forest System land; 

25 and 


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1 (2) to make 25-percent payments to States for 

2 the benefit of beneficiary counties. 

3 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COM4 MUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000 

5 PENDING FULL OPERATION OF FOREST RE6 SERVE REVENUE AREAS. 

7 The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-De8 termination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is 

9 amended—øto be supplied¿ 

Æ 


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