II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1849 

To provide flexibility and improve the effectiveness of the Four Forests 

Restoration Initiative in the State of Arizona. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Ms. MCSALLY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide flexibility and improve the effectiveness of the 

Four Forests Restoration Initiative in the State of Arizona. 

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 ‘‘Accelerating Forest 

5 Restoration Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) there is an urgent need in the State of Ari9 zona— 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1849 IS

1 (A) to restore the ponderosa pine forest 

2 ecosystems; 

3 (B) to reestablish beneficial natural fire re4 gimes; 

5 (C) to sustain native biological diversity; 

6 and 

7 (D) to protect communities from unnatu8 rally severe fires; 

9 (2) the low and zero values of forest restoration 

10 byproducts undermine the success of establishing 

11 and maintaining a private sector wood industry; 

12 (3) Forest Service appraisal, sale, and account13 ability procedures for conventional timber production 

14 overemphasize capturing marginal wood value at the 

15 expense of accelerating treatments and private sector 

16 success; 

17 (4) the economic and natural resource benefits 

18 of a restored acre, such as wildfire avoidance, water19 shed protection, wildlife habitat, and recreational op20 portunities, exceed the value of the wood removed 

21 and provide greater benefit to taxpayers; 

22 (5) Forest Service analyses do not capture the 

23 low value of timber under 4FRI as a byproduct of 

24 restoration or reflect the cost of removal and trans25 portation of that timber to available markets; 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1849 IS

1 (6) landscape-scale forest restoration under 

2 4FRI can and should be accelerated in an economi3 cally and socially viable manner that promotes eco4 logical sustainability, forest resilience, and shared 

5 forest stewardship across multiple users of national 

6 forests; and 

7 (7) progress under 4FRI has not kept pace 

8 with stated goals to partner with industry to me9 chanically treat approximately 1,000,000 acres of 

10 ponderosa pine forests within 20 years. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) 4FRI.—The term ‘‘4FRI’’ means the Four 

14 Forests Restoration Initiative under the Restoration 

15 Program, which— 

16 (A) aims to restore 2,400,000 acres of 

17 ponderosa pine forests and associated eco18 systems in the State of Arizona through a com19 bination of mechanical thinning, prescribed 

20 fires, and comprehensive restoration activities; 

21 (B) is a joint effort between the Restora22 tion Program administered by the Forest Serv23 ice and the Four Forests Restoration Initiative 

24 Stakeholder Group; and 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1849 IS

1 (C) takes place on portions of the 

2 Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves, and 

3 Tonto national forests along the Mogollon Rim 

4 in the State of Arizona. 

5 (2) FOREST RESTORATION BYPRODUCT.—The 

6 term ‘‘forest restoration byproduct’’ means a forest 

7 product derived from active ecological restoration 

8 through commercial timber sales and permits, stew9 ardship contracts, special forest product sales and 

10 permits, and woody biomass utilization (as defined 

11 in the implementation guidelines of the Restoration 

12 Program). 

13 (3) LOW-VALUE RESTORATION BYPRODUCT.— 

14 The term ‘‘low-value restoration byproduct’’ means a 

15 forest restoration byproduct the value of which is 

16 not more than 25 percent of industry expectations 

17 for high value restoration byproducts. 

18 (4) NO-VALUE RESTORATION BYPRODUCT.— 

19 The term ‘‘no-value restoration byproduct’’ means a 

20 forest restoration byproduct that has zero or nega21 tive value after stumpage, harvest, processing, and 

22 transport costs are deducted from the price charged 

23 by a mill, power plant, or other processing facility to 

24 sell that forest restoration byproduct. 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1849 IS

1 (5) PARTNER.—The term ‘‘partner’’ means any 

2 4FRI contractor or agent of a contractor that has 

3 a contract or agreement with, or permit from, the 

4 Forest Service to implement an approved project in 

5 accordance with the Restoration Program. 

6 (6) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means an 

7 activity conducted under any timber-related sale, 

8 contract, or stewardship agreement— 

9 (A) to which the Forest Service is a party; 

10 and 

11 (B) that implements an approved 4FRI 

12 restoration treatment under a contract, agree13 ment, or permit that complies with the require14 ments of the Restoration Program. 

15 (7) RESTORATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Res16 toration Program’’ means the Collaborative Forest 

17 Landscape Restoration Program established under 

18 section 4003 of the Omnibus Public Land Manage19 ment Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303). 

20 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

22 SEC. 4. CLASSIFICATION OF RESTORATION BYPRODUCTS 

23 AS LOW-VALUE OR NO-VALUE. 

24 The Secretary may designate as a low-value or no25 value restoration byproduct a forest restoration byproduct 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1849 IS

1 that is not a low-value or no-value restoration byproduct 

2 if that forest restoration byproduct was harvested— 

3 (1) in a manner consistent with the require4 ments of the Restoration Program; and 

5 (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI 

6 takes place. 

7 SEC. 5. EXCEPTION TO WHOLE LOG EXPORT LIMITATION 

8 FOR PROJECT TIMBER. 

9 The Secretary shall revise section 223.162 of title 36, 

10 Code of Federal Regulations, to permit unprocessed forest 

11 restoration byproducts and low-value and no-value restora12 tion byproducts to be exported from the United States if 

13 those byproducts were harvested— 

14 (1) in a manner consistent with the require15 ments of the Restoration Program; and 

16 (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI 

17 takes place. 

18 SEC. 6. EXEMPTION TO IDENTIFYING AND MARKING 

19 PROJECT TIMBER. 

20 The Secretary shall revise section 223.195 of title 36, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations, to exclude low-value or no22 value forest restoration byproducts from the requirement 

23 to paint, brand, or hammerstamp timber under that sec24 tion if those byproducts were harvested— 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1849 IS

1 (1) in a manner consistent with the require2 ments of the Restoration Program; and 

3 (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI 

4 takes place. 

5 SEC. 7. TRANSPORTATION OF FOREST RESTORATION BY6 PRODUCTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require 

8 a partner to weigh a vehicle used for a project. 

9 (b) AVERAGE TRUCK WEIGHT.—The Secretary may 

10 assign an average truck weight for a truck carrying forest 

11 restoration byproducts from a project using— 

12 (1) existing load ticket data; and 

13 (2) an average product weight that is mutually 

14 agreed on by the Forest Service and each partner 

15 for that project. 

16 (c) MAXIMUM TRUCK WEIGHT.—Notwithstanding 

17 any other provision of law, on request of the Governor of 

18 Arizona, for a logging truck on a project— 

19 (1) the Secretary shall increase the maximum 

20 truck weight limit on Forest Service roads and 

21 bridges to 91,800 pounds (or the multi-axle equiva22 lent); and 

23 (2) the Secretary of Transportation shall in24 crease the maximum truck weight limit on any route 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1849 IS

1 on the Interstate System in the State of Arizona to 

2 91,800 pounds (or the multi-axle equivalent). 

3 (d) WAIVER OF CLEANING AND INSPECTION RE4 QUIREMENTS.—At the request of a partner, the Secretary 

5 shall waive any applicable cleaning or inspection require6 ment for any piece of equipment or any truck that— 

7 (1) is used in harvesting under the project; and 

8 (2) has passed at least 1 prior inspection. 

9 SEC. 8. ADJUSTMENT TO TIME-SINCE-CUT REQUIREMENTS. 

10 The Secretary shall allow forest restoration byprod11 ucts harvested under a project to remain at the project 

12 site for not more than 120 days before removal by the 

13 partner on that project. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS