II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3696 

To establish a grant program to encourage retooling of entities in the timber 

industry in Alaska, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 

Mr. STEVENS (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to encourage retooling of entities in the timber industry in Alaska, 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 ‘‘Alaska Timber Indus5 try Fairness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to assist entities involved 

8 in the timber industry in Alaska— 


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1 (1) to deal with the adverse impacts of Federal 

2 timber policy; 

3 (2) to facilitate the economic adjustment of 

4 those entities; and 

5 (3) to retain jobs and lessen the impact of un6 employment in communities where those entities are 

7 located. 

8 SEC. 3. FEDERAL TIMBER POLICY DEFINED. 

9 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal timber policy’’ means 

10 any law or regulation of the United States relating to the 

11 timber industry, including any policy of the United States 

12 Forest Service and any land management plans completed 

13 pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

14 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) related to the timber industry. 

15 SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

16 The Assistant Secretary for Economic Development 

17 of the Department of Commerce (in this Act referred to 

18 as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) may provide grants to eligi19 ble entities described in section 5 for retooling projects 

20 described in section 6. 

21 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES DESCRIBED. 

22 An eligible entity described in this section is any enti23 ty, including sawmills, logging companies, and road con24 struction companies, that— 


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1 (1) operated in the timber industry in Alaska 

2 on January 1, 2008; 

3 (2) operated in the timber industry in Alaska 

4 for not less than 10 years; and 

5 (3) can demonstrate that the entity has been 

6 harmed by Federal timber policy. 

7 SEC. 6. RETOOLING PROJECTS DESCRIBED. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—A retooling project described in 

9 this section is a project designed to facilitate the economic 

10 adjustment of an eligible entity by allowing the eligible en11 tity— 

12 (1) to improve or alter the business and prac13 tices of the eligible entity to allow the eligible entity 

14 to become more competitive within the timber indus15 try; or 

16 (2) to shift to a type of business that is not re17 lated to the timber industry. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity 

19 seeking a grant for a retooling project shall commit, to 

20 the extent practicable, to continue to employ substantially 

21 the same number of employees employed by the eligible 

22 entity on January 1, 2008, for a reasonable period after 

23 the completion of the retooling project, as determined by 

24 the Assistant Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 7. APPLICATION PROCESS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 

3 under this Act shall submit an application to the Assistant 

4 Secretary in such form and in such manner as the Assist5 ant Secretary considers appropriate. 

6 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under 

7 subsection (a) shall include— 

8 (1) a description of the retooling project for 

9 which the eligible entity is seeking a grant; 

10 (2) a business plan and budget, including start11 up costs, for the retooling project; and 

12 (3) a demonstration of the likelihood of success 

13 of the retooling project. 

14 (c) APPROVAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

15 date on which the Assistant Secretary receives an applica16 tion under subsection (a) from an eligible entity, the As17 sistant Secretary shall determine whether to award a 

18 grant to the eligible entity. 

19 (d) DENIAL.—If the Assistant Secretary determines 

20 not to award a grant to an eligible entity that submitted 

21 an application under subsection (a), the Assistant Sec22 retary shall afford the eligible entity a reasonable oppor23 tunity to address any deficiencies in the application. 

24 SEC. 8. AMOUNT OF GRANT. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

26 date on which the Assistant Secretary determines to 


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1 award a grant to an eligible entity, the Assistant Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 (1) approve the business plan and the budget 

4 for the retooling project of the eligible entity; and 

5 (2) determine the amount of the grant to award 

6 the eligible entity. 

7 (b) DETERMINATION.—In determining the amount of 

8 the grant to award to an eligible entity, the Assistant Sec9 retary shall consider the budget for the retooling plan ap10 proved under subsection (a)(1). The amount of the 

11 grant— 

12 (1) shall cover 75 percent of the cost of the 

13 budget, not including any debt reimbursement costs; 

14 and 

15 (2) may cover up to 100 percent of the cost of 

16 the budget if the Assistant Secretary determines ap17 propriate based on— 

18 (A) the severity of the harm to the eligible 

19 entity related to Federal timber policy; and 

20 (B) the extent of unemployment in the 

21 community in which the retooling project will be 

22 based. 

23 SEC. 9. USE OF GRANT FUNDS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 

25 grant under this Act— 


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1 (1) may use the grant— 

2 (A) to pay for start-up costs necessary for 

3 the retooling project, including equipment, 

4 worker training, facility acquisition, technical 

5 assistance, and raw materials; and 

6 (B) to reimburse the eligible entity for the 

7 unamortized portion of debt described in sub8 section (b); and 

9 (2) may not use the grant for the ongoing oper10 ational and maintenance costs of the eligible entity. 

11 (b) REIMBURSEMENT OF DEBT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may use a 

13 grant under this Act for the reimbursement of debt 

14 under subsection (a)(1)(B), without regard to 

15 whether the debt is held by Federal or private lend16 ers, if— 

17 (A) the eligible entity demonstrates that 

18 the debt was incurred— 

19 (i) to acquire or improve infrastruc20 ture or equipment related to the timber in21 dustry, including sawmills, logging equip22 ment, and road construction equipment, as 

23 a result of Federal timber policy; and 

24 (ii) on or after January 1, 1998, and 

25 before January 1, 2008; and 


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1 (B) the lender certifies and notarizes the 

2 amount of unamortized debt. 

3 (2) REDUCTION.—The amount of a grant to be 

4 used for the reimbursement of debt under subsection 

5 (a)(1)(B) shall be reduced by the amount of any 

6 proceeds from the sale by the eligible entity of any 

7 infrastructure or equipment described in paragraph 

8 (1)(A). 

9 SEC. 10. DURATION OF GRANT PROGRAM. 

10 The grant program under this Act shall be carried 

11 out during the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

12 which the Assistant Secretary prescribes the regulations 

13 under section 12. 

14 SEC. 11. TREATMENT AS A MINORITY SMALL BUSINESS 

15 CONCERN UNDER THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an eligi17 ble entity receiving a grant under this Act shall be treated 

18 as a small business concern owned or controlled by socially 

19 and economically disadvantaged individuals (as that term 

20 is defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)) for purposes of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) for 3 years after the 

23 date on which the Assistant Secretary approves the appli24 cation of the eligible entity for a grant under section 7. 


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1 SEC. 12. REGULATIONS. 

2 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall prescribe 

4 regulations to carry out the grant program under this Act. 

5 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary of Commerce $40,000,000 to carry out the grant 

8 program under this Act for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. 

Æ 


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