I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5335 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to charge 

and collect not less than the fair market value for forest botanical 

products harvested on National Forest System lands, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 

Ms. PEREZ (for herself and Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER) 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 require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to charge and collect not less than the fair market 

value for forest botanical products harvested on National 

Forest System lands, 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 ‘‘Special Forest Prod5 ucts Program Reauthorization Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHARGES AND FEES FOR HARVEST OF FOREST BO2 TANICAL PRODUCTS. 

3 (a) RECOVERY OF FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR PROD4 UCTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

6 and carry out a program to charge and collect fees 

7 under subsection (b) for forest botanical products 

8 harvested on National Forest System lands. 

9 (2) APPRAISAL METHODS; BIDDING PROCE10 DURES.—The Secretary shall establish appraisal 

11 methods and bidding procedures to ensure that the 

12 amounts collected for forest botanical products are 

13 not less than fair market value. 

14 (b) FEES.— 

15 (1) IMPOSITION AND COLLECTION.—The Sec16 retary shall charge and collect fees from persons who 

17 harvest forest botanical products on National Forest 

18 System lands. 

19 (2) AMOUNT OF FEE.—The fees collected under 

20 paragraph (1) shall be in an amount established by 

21 the Secretary to recover at least a portion of the fair 

22 market value of the harvested forest botanical prod23 ucts and a portion of all the costs incurred by the 

24 Department of Agriculture associated with the 

25 granting, modifying, or monitoring the authorization 


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1 for harvest of the forest botanical products, includ2 ing the costs of any environmental or other analysis. 

3 (3) SECURITY.—The Secretary may require a 

4 person assessed a fee under this subsection to pro5 vide security to ensure that the Secretary receives 

6 the fees imposed under this subsection from the per7 son. 

8 (c) SUSTAINABLE HARVEST LEVELS FOR FOREST

9 BOTANICAL PRODUCTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

11 (A) conduct appropriate analyses to deter12 mine whether and how the harvest of forest bo13 tanical products on National Forest System 

14 lands can be conducted on a sustainable basis; 

15 and 

16 (B) establish procedures and timeframes to 

17 monitor and revise the harvest levels established 

18 for forest botanical products. 

19 (2) PROHIBITION ON HARVEST IN EXCESS OF

20 SUSTAINABLE LEVELS.—The Secretary may not per21 mit under the program under this section the har22 vest of forest botanical products at levels in excess 

23 of sustainable harvest levels, as defined under sec24 tion 4 of the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 

25 1960 (16 U.S.C. 531). 


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1 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

2 (1) PERSONAL USE.—The Secretary shall es3 tablish a personal use harvest level for each forest 

4 botanical product, and the harvest of a forest botan5 ical product below that level by a person for personal 

6 use shall not be subject to charges and fees under 

7 subsections (a) and (b). 

8 (2) OTHER EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary may 

9 also waive the application of subsection (a) or (b) 

10 pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may 

11 prescribe. 

12 (e) DEPOSIT AND USE OF FUNDS.— 

13 (1) DEPOSIT.—Funds collected under the pro14 gram in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) 

15 shall be deposited into a special account in the 

16 Treasury of the United States. 

17 (2) FUNDS AVAILABLE.—Funds deposited into 

18 the special account in accordance with paragraph (1) 

19 shall remain available until expended without further 

20 appropriation. 

21 (3) AUTHORIZED USES.—The funds made avail22 able under paragraph (2) shall be expended at units 

23 of the National Forest System in proportion to the 

24 charges and fees collected at that unit under the 

25 program under this section to pay for— 


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1 (A) the costs of conducting inventories of 

2 forest botanical products, determining sustain3 able levels of harvest, monitoring and assessing 

4 the impacts of harvest levels and methods, and 

5 for restoration activities, including any nec6 essary vegetation; and 

7 (B) the costs described in subsection 

8 (b)(2). 

9 (4) TREATMENT OF FEES.—Funds collected 

10 under the program in accordance with subsections 

11 (a) and (b) shall not be taken into account for the 

12 purposes of the following laws: 

13 (A) The sixth paragraph under the head14 ing ‘‘forest service’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 

15 (16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act of 

16 March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks 

17 Act; 16 U.S.C. 500). 

18 (B) The fourteenth paragraph under the 

19 heading ‘‘forest service’’ in the Act of March 4, 

20 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501). 

21 (C) Section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones 

22 Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1012). 

23 (D) The Act of August 8, 1937, and the 

24 Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181a et seq.). 


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1 (E) Section 6 of the Act of June 14, 1926 

2 (commonly known as the Recreation and Public 

3 Purposes Act; 43 U.S.C. 869–4). 

4 (F) Chapter 69 of title 31, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (G) Section 401 of the Act of June 15, 

7 1935 (16 U.S.C. 715s). 

8 (H) Section 4 of the Land and Water Con9 servation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l– 

10 6a). 

11 (I) Any other provision of law relating to 

12 revenue allocation. 

13 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—As soon as prac14 ticable after the end of each fiscal year in which the Sec15 retary collects charges and fees under the program in ac16 cordance with subsections (a) and (b) or expends funds 

17 from the special account under subsection (e), the Sec18 retary shall submit to the Congress a report summarizing 

19 the activities of the Secretary under the program under 

20 this section, including the funds collected under the pro21 gram in accordance with subsections (a) and (b), the ex22 penses incurred to carry out the program under this sec23 tion, and the expenditures made from the special account 

24 during that fiscal year. 

25 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 


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1 (1) FOREST BOTANICAL PRODUCT.—The term 

2 ‘‘forest botanical product’’— 

3 (A) means any naturally occurring mush4 room, fungus, flower, seed, root, bark, leaf, or 

5 other vegetation (or portion thereof) that grows 

6 on National Forest System lands; and 

7 (B) does not include trees, or portions of 

8 trees, except as provided in regulations issued 

9 under this section by the Secretary. 

10 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

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

12 that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range13 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

14 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Æ 


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