I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 565 

To require the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

to enter into an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to establish the Community Resilience and Restoration Fund. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. 

STANSBURY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to enter into an agreement with the National 

Fish and Wildlife Foundation to establish the Community Resilience and Restoration Fund. 

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 ‘‘Land Restoration and 

5 Resiliency Act of 2023’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 565 IH

1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND 

2 RESTORATION FUND. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

5 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Foundation 

6 to establish the Community Resilience and Restoration 

7 Fund at the Foundation to— 

8 (1) improve community safety in the face of cli9 mactic extremes through conservation and protection 

10 of restoration and resilience lands; 

11 (2) to protect, conserve, and restore restoration 

12 and resilience lands in order to help communities re13 spond and adapt to natural threats, including wild14 fire, drought, extreme heat, and other threats posed 

15 or exacerbated by the impacts of global climate; 

16 (3) to build the resilience of restoration and re17 silience lands to adapt to, recover from, and with18 stand natural threats, including wildfire, drought, 

19 extreme heat, and other threats posed or exacer20 bated by the impacts of global climate change; 

21 (4) to protect and enhance the biodiversity of 

22 wildlife populations across restoration and resilience 

23 lands; 

24 (5) to support the health of restoration and re25 silience lands for the benefit of present and future 

26 generations; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 565 IH

1 (6) to foster innovative, nature-based solutions 

2 that help meet the goals of this section; and 

3 (7) to enhance the Nation’s natural carbon se4 questration capabilities and help communities 

5 strengthen natural carbon sequestration capacity 

6 where applicable. 

7 (b) MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND.—The Foundation 

8 shall manage the Fund— 

9 (1) pursuant to the National Fish and Wildlife 

10 Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et 

11 seq.); and 

12 (2) in such a manner that, to the greatest ex13 tent practicable and consistent with the purposes for 

14 which the Fund is established— 

15 (A) ensures that amounts made available 

16 through the Fund are accessible to historically 

17 underserved communities, including Tribal com18 munities, communities of color, and rural com19 munities; and 

20 (B) avoids project selection and funding 

21 overlap with those projects and activities that 

22 could otherwise receive funding under— 

23 (i) the National Oceans and Coastal 

24 Security Fund, established under the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:34 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H565.IH H565

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 565 IH

1 tional Oceans and Coastal Security Act (16 

2 U.S.C. 7501); or 

3 (ii) other coastal management focused 

4 programs. 

5 (c) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent amounts are 

7 available in the Fund, the Foundation shall award 

8 grants to eligible entities through a competitive 

9 grant process in accordance with procedures estab10 lished pursuant to the National Fish and Wildlife 

11 Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et 

12 seq.) to carry out eligible projects and activities, in13 cluding planning eligible projects and activities. 

14 (2) PROPOSALS.—The Foundation, in coordina15 tion with the Secretary, shall establish requirements 

16 for proposals for competitive grants under this sec17 tion. 

18 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS IN THE FUND.— 

19 (1) PLANNING.—Not less than 8 percent of 

20 amounts appropriated annually to the Fund may be 

21 used to plan eligible projects and activities, including 

22 capacity building. 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 4 

24 percent of amounts appropriated annually to the 

25 Fund may be used by the Foundation for adminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:34 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H565.IH H565

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 565 IH

1 trative expenses of the Fund or administration of 

2 competitive grants offered under the Fund. 

3 (3) PRIORITY.—Not less than 10 percent of the 

4 funds appropriated in a fiscal year to the Fund or 

5 $10,000,000 (whichever is the lesser amount) shall 

6 be awarded in such fiscal year to support eligible 

7 projects and activities for Indian Tribes. 

8 (4) COORDINATION.—The Secretary and Foun9 dation shall ensure, to the greatest extent prac10 ticable and through meaningful consultation, that 

11 input from Indian Tribes, including traditional eco12 logical knowledge, is incorporated in the planning 

13 and execution of eligible projects and activities. 

14 (e) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Beginning at the end 

16 the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment 

17 of this section, and not later than 60 days after the 

18 end of each fiscal year in which amounts are depos19 ited into the Fund, the Foundation shall submit to 

20 the Secretary a report on the operation of the Fund 

21 including— 

22 (A) an accounting of expenditures made 

23 under the Fund, including leverage and match 

24 where applicable; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 565 IH

1 (B) an accounting of any grants made 

2 under the Fund, including a list of recipients 

3 and a brief description of each project and its 

4 purposes and goals; and 

5 (C) measures and metrics to track benefits 

6 created by grants administered under the Fund, 

7 including enhanced biodiversity, water quality, 

8 natural carbon sequestration, and resilience. 

9 (2) 5-YEAR REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 

10 after the end of the fifth full fiscal year after the 

11 date of enactment of this section, and not later than 

12 90 days after the end every fifth fiscal year there13 after, the Foundation shall submit to the Secretary 

14 a report containing— 

15 (A) a description of any socioeconomic, 

16 biodiversity, community resilience, or climate 

17 resilience or mitigation (including natural car18 bon sequestration), impacts generated by 

19 projects funded by grants awarded by the 

20 Fund, including measures and metrics illus21 trating these impacts; 

22 (B) a description of land health benefits 

23 derived from projects funded by grants awarded 

24 by the Fund, including an accounting of— 

25 (i) lands treated for invasive species; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 565 IH

1 (ii) lands treated for wildfire threat 

2 reduction, including those treated with 

3 controlled burning or other natural fire4 management techniques; and 

5 (iii) lands restored either from wildfire 

6 or other forms or degradation, including 

7 over-grazing and sedimentation; 

8 (C) key findings for Congress, including 

9 any recommended changes to the authorization 

10 or purposes of the Fund; 

11 (D) best practices for other Federal agen12 cies in the administration of funds intended for 

13 land and habitat restoration; 

14 (E) information on the use and outcome of 

15 funds specifically set aside for planning and ca16 pacity building pursuant to section 6; and 

17 (F) any other information that the Foun18 dation considers relevant. 

19 (3) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

20 Not later than 10 days after receiving a report 

21 under this section, the Secretary shall submit the re22 port to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on En24 vironment and Public Works of the Senate. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 565 IH

1 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the 

3 Fund $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

4 through 2029 to carry out this section. 

5 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a Federal 

7 agency, State, the District of Columbia, a territory 

8 of the United States, a unit of local government, an 

9 Indian Tribe, a nonprofit organization, or an accred10 ited institution of higher education. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘eligible projects and activities’’ 

12 means projects and activities carried out by an eligi13 ble entity on public lands, tribal lands, or private 

14 land, or any combination thereof, to further the pur15 poses for which the Fund is established, including 

16 planning and capacity building and projects and ac17 tivities carried out in coordination with Federal, 

18 State, or tribal departments or agencies, or any de19 partment or agency of a subdivision of a State. 

20 (3) The term ‘‘Foundation’’ means the National 

21 Fish and Wildlife Foundation established under the 

22 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establish23 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 565 IH

1 (4) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Community 

2 Resilience and Restoration Fund established under 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (5) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ means the gov5 erning body of any individually identified and feder6 ally recognized Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, 

7 nation, pueblo, village, community, affiliated Tribal 

8 group, or component reservation in the list published 

9 pursuant to section 104(a) of the Federally Recog10 nized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

11 5131(a)). 

12 (6) The term ‘‘restoration and resilience lands’’ 

13 means fish, wildlife, and plant habitats, and other 

14 important natural areas in the United States, on 

15 public lands, private land (after obtaining proper 

16 consent from the landowner), or land of Indian 

17 Tribes, including grasslands, shrublands, prairies, 

18 chapparal lands, forest lands, deserts, and riparian 

19 or wetland areas within or adjacent to these eco20 systems. 

21 (7) The term ‘‘public lands’’ means lands 

22 owned or controlled by the United States. 

23 (8) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

24 of the Interior, acting through the Director of the 

25 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•HR 565 IH

1 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ means a State of the 

2 United States, the District of Columbia, any Indian 

3 Tribe, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses4 sion of the United States. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB