II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2768 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to expand the use 

of categorical exclusions for hazardous fuel reduction projects. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. HELLER (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. RISCH, Mr. BARRASSO, and Mr. 

HATCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

to expand the use of categorical exclusions for hazardous 

fuel reduction projects. 

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 ‘‘Emergency Fuel Re5 duction Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to expedite wildfire prevention projects to 

9 reduce the chances of wildfire on certain high-risk 


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1 Federal land adjacent to communities, private prop2 erty, and critical infrastructure; 

3 (2) to improve forest and wildland health; and 

4 (3) to promote the recovery of threatened and 

5 endangered species, or other species under consider6 ation for listing under the Endangered Species Act 

7 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including sage8 grouse, whose habitat is negatively impacted by 

9 wildland fire. 

10 SEC. 3. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF PROJECTS ON FEDERAL 

11 LAND. 

12 Section 104 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

13 of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6514) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 

15 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 

16 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘sub17 section (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (g)’’; and 

18 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(e) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN

21 PROJECTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ADJACENT FEDERAL

23 LAND.—In this subsection, the term ‘adjacent Fed24 eral land’ means an area of Federal land— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that, while not located in the 

2 wildland-urban interface, is located within not 

3 more than 2 miles of non-Federal land; and 

4 ‘‘(B) on which the Secretary determines 

5 that conditions, such as the risk of wildfire, an 

6 insect or disease epidemic, or the presence of 

7 invasive species, pose a risk to the adjacent 

8 non-Federal land. 

9 ‘‘(2) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN

10 PROJECTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An authorized haz12 ardous fuel reduction project shall be categori13 cally excluded from the requirements of the Na14 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

15 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) if the project— 

16 ‘‘(i) involves the removal of insect-in17 fected trees, dead or dying trees, trees pre18 senting a threat to public safety or elec19 trical reliability, or the removal of other 

20 hazardous fuels within 500 feet of utility 

21 or communications infrastructure, a mu22 nicipal water supply system, campground, 

23 roadside, heritage site, recreation site, 

24 school, or other infrastructure; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is intended to treat 10,000 acres 

2 or less of public land or National Forest 

3 System land that— 

4 ‘‘(I) contains threatened and en5 dangered species habitat; or 

6 ‘‘(II) provides conservation bene7 fits to species that are not listed as 

8 endangered or threatened under sec9 tion 4 of the Endangered Species Act 

10 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533) but are a 

11 State-listed species, a special concern 

12 species, or candidates for a listing 

13 under the Endangered Species Act of 

14 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(iii) is proposed to be conducted on 

16 adjacent Federal land or is recommended 

17 in a community wildfire protection plan 

18 if— 

19 ‘‘(I) the Secretary determines 

20 that the project is consistent with the 

21 applicable resource management plan; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) the decision to categorically 

24 exclude the project is made in accord25 ance with applicable extraordinary cirVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:46 Aug 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2768.IS S2768

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1 cumstances procedures established 

2 pursuant to section 1508.4 of title 40, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations (or a 

4 successor regulation). 

5 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In determining 

6 whether an area contains trees or other haz7 ardous fuels described in clause (i), the Sec8 retary shall consult with any utility or other en9 tity that manages the area. 

10 ‘‘(C) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.— 

11 In providing categorical exclusions under sub12 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall give priority 

13 to authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects 

14 and other projects recommended in a commu15 nity wildfire protection plan. 

16 ‘‘(D) EXCLUSIONS.—National Forest Sys17 tem land or public land eligible for treatment 

18 under this subsection shall not include land— 

19 ‘‘(i) that is a component of the Na20 tional Wilderness Preservation System; 

21 ‘‘(ii) on which the removal of vegeta22 tion is specifically prohibited by Federal 

23 law; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) that is within a National Monu25 ment as of the date of the enactment of 


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1 the Emergency Fuel Reduction Act of 

2 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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