II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2798 

To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire through the facilitation of insect 

and disease infestation treatment of National Forest System and adjacent 

land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire through the facilitation of insect and disease infestation treatment of National Forest System and adjacent land, 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 ‘‘National Forest Insect 

5 and Disease Emergency Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to ensure that adequate emphasis is placed 

2 on the mitigation of hazards posed by large-scale in3 festations of bark beetles and other insects through 

4 the establishment of insect and disease emergency 

5 areas; 

6 (2) to ensure that increased resources are avail7 able within each designated insect and disease emer8 gency area to mitigate hazards associated with— 

9 (A) falling trees; 

10 (B) increased fire hazards; and 

11 (C) the restoration of National Forest Sys12 tem land; and 

13 (3) to make permanent, as of the date of enact14 ment of this Act, existing good neighbor and stew15 ardship contracting authorities. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) AFFECTED STATE.—The term ‘‘affected 

19 State’’ includes each of the States of— 

20 (A) Arizona; 

21 (B) California; 

22 (C) Colorado; 

23 (D) Idaho; 

24 (E) Montana; 

25 (F) Nevada; 


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1 (G) New Mexico; 

2 (H) Oregon; 

3 (I) South Dakota; 

4 (J) Utah; 

5 (K) Washington; and 

6 (L) Wyoming. 

7 (2) INSECT AND DISEASE EMERGENCY AREA.— 

8 The term ‘‘insect and disease emergency area’’ 

9 means an area of National Forest System land— 

10 (A) that is located in an affected State 

11 that is not— 

12 (i) designated as wilderness; or 

13 (ii) an area recommended for wilder14 ness in a forest land and resource manage15 ment plan; 

16 (B) in which an insect and disease infesta17 tion emergency exists, as determined by the 

18 Secretary; and 

19 (C) that is designated by— 

20 (i) section 4(a); or 

21 (ii) the Secretary under section 4(c). 

22 (3) INSECT AND DISEASE INFESTATION EMER23 GENCY.—The term ‘‘insect and disease infestation 

24 emergency’’ means an insect or disease infestation 

25 that has resulted in— 


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1 (A) a current or future increased risk of 

2 catastrophic wildland fire; or 

3 (B) an increased threat posed by hazard 

4 trees to— 

5 (i) utility corridors; 

6 (ii) communication sites; 

7 (iii) roads; 

8 (iv) recreation sites; 

9 (v) water structures (such as res10 ervoirs and water conveyance systems); or 

11 (vi) other infrastructure. 

12 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en13 titled ‘‘Insect Emergency Areas’’. 

14 (5) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

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

16 the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range17 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

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

19 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

21 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF INSECT AND DISEASE EMER22 GENCY AREAS. 

23 (a) DESIGNATION.—Each area depicted on the map 

24 is designated as an insect and disease emergency area 

25 under this Act. 


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1 (b) MAP.— 

2 (1) DUTY OF SECRETARY.—As soon as prac3 ticable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

4 Secretary shall file the map for insect and disease 

5 emergency areas designated by subsection (a) with— 

6 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

7 Resources of the Senate; 

8 (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri9 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 

10 (C) the Committee on Natural Resources 

11 of the House of Representatives; and 

12 (D) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

13 House of Representatives. 

14 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The map filed under 

15 paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect 

16 as if included in this subsection, except that the Sec17 retary may correct typographical errors in the map 

18 and the legal descriptions. 

19 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The map filed 

20 under paragraph (1) shall be on file and available 

21 for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 

22 Forest Service. 

23 (c) DESIGNATION BY SECRETARY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may des25 ignate additional insect and disease emergency areas 


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1 in accordance with each requirement described in 

2 this subsection. 

3 (2) INITIATION.—The designation of an insect 

4 and disease emergency area may be made by the 

5 Secretary— 

6 (A) on the initiative of the Secretary; or 

7 (B) in response to a request by any Gov8 ernor of an affected State. 

9 (3) DEADLINE.—If the Governor of a State de10 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) requests the Secretary 

11 to designate as an insect and disease emergency area 

12 an area located in the State, the Secretary shall ac13 cept or deny the request by a date that is not later 

14 than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary 

15 receives the request. 

16 (4) LIMITATION ON DELEGATION.—With re17 spect to National Forest System land, the Secretary, 

18 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, may 

19 delegate the authority to make a designation under 

20 this subsection only to a Regional Forester of the 

21 National Forest System land. 

22 (5) PROCEDURE.—If the Secretary designates 

23 an additional insect and disease emergency area 

24 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) publish a notice of the designation of 

2 the insect and disease emergency area (includ3 ing a map of the insect and disease emergency 

4 area) in the Federal Register; and 

5 (B) notify— 

6 (i) each appropriate State; and 

7 (ii) the appropriate committees of 

8 Congress. 

9 (6) APPLICABILITY.—A designation made by 

10 the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall not be sub11 ject to— 

12 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

13 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

14 (B) section 322 of the Department of the 

15 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 

16 Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 

17 2681–289); or 

18 (C) any other applicable law (including 

19 regulations). 

20 SEC. 5. RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

21 (a) PRIORITY TREATMENTS.—In carrying out the 

22 management of an insect and disease emergency area, the 

23 Secretary shall give priority consideration to— 

24 (1) the removal of hazardous fuels and hazard 

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1 tional Forest System land located in the insect and 

2 disease emergency area; and 

3 (2) the provision of assistance to State and 

4 local governments, Indian tribes, and private land5 owners for the removal of hazardous fuels and haz6 ard trees on, and the restoration of the health of, 

7 each parcel of land located in the insect and disease 

8 emergency area— 

9 (A) that is under the jurisdiction of the 

10 State or local government or Indian tribe; or 

11 (B) the title of which is held by a private 

12 landowner; and 

13 (3) the making of payments under section 

14 9011(d)(1)(B) of the Farm Security and Rural In15 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8111(d)(1)(B)) to 

16 each individual or entity that collects or harvests re17 newable biomass from a parcel of National Forest 

18 System land located in an insect and disease emer19 gency area. 

20 (b) EMERGENCY FOREST RESTORATION.—In imple21 menting the emergency forest restoration program under 

22 section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 

23 U.S.C. 2206), the Secretary may make payments to an 

24 owner of a parcel of nonindustrial private forest land that 

25 is located in an insect and disease emergency area to carry 


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1 out emergency measures in response to an insect and dis2 ease infestation emergency under this Act. 

3 (c) BIOMASS.—Any biomass removed from a parcel 

4 of land located in an insect and disease emergency area 

5 shall be considered to be renewable biomass for purposes 

6 of the renewable fuel standard under section 211(o) of the 

7 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)). 

8 (d) HEALTHY FOREST RESTORATION.— 

9 (1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec10 retary may apply each requirement described in sec11 tions 104 and 105 of the Healthy Forests Restora12 tion Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6514, 6515) to projects 

13 that are carried out to remove hazardous fuels and 

14 hazard trees on, and to restore the health of, Na15 tional Forest System land that is located in an in16 sect and disease emergency area. 

17 (2) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 106 of the 

18 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

19 6516) shall apply to each project described in para20 graph (1). 

21 SEC. 6. GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY. 

22 (a) STATE FOREST SERVICES.— 

23 (1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Notwith24 standing chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, 

25 and any provisions of law related to competition, the 


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1 Secretary may enter into a contract (including a sole 

2 source contract) or agreement (including an agree3 ment for the mutual benefit of the Secretary and the 

4 State), as appropriate and consistent with all appli5 cable general and specific operating procedures es6 tablished by the Forest Service for such contracts 

7 and agreements (including labor and wage require8 ments), with a State to permit the State to perform 

9 watershed restoration and protection services on Na10 tional Forest System land located in the State if the 

11 State is carrying out similar and complementary wa12 tershed restoration and protection services on adja13 cent State or private land. 

14 (2) AUTHORIZED SERVICES.—Watershed res15 toration and protection services described in para16 graph (1) include— 

17 (A) the treatment of insect-infested trees; 

18 (B) the reduction of hazardous fuels; and 

19 (C) any other activity that is carried out to 

20 restore or improve watersheds or fish and wild21 life habitat across ownership boundaries. 

22 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

23 (1) NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT OF

24 1976.—Subsections (d) and (g) of section 14 of the 

25 National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 


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1 U.S.C. 472a) shall not apply to services performed 

2 under a contract or other agreement under sub3 section (a)(1). 

4 (2) ASSUMPTION OF LIABILITY.—The State 

5 shall assume liability, to the extent allowed by Fed6 eral, State, and local law, for the actions or omis7 sions of employees or subcontractors of the State in 

8 preparing or implementing a contract or agreement 

9 under this title. 

10 (3) SUBCONTRACTS.—A State may subcontract, 

11 to the extent allowed by State and local law, to pre12 pare or implement a contract or agreement under 

13 this title. 

14 (4) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—Any dispute under 

15 a contract or agreement under subsection (a)(1) 

16 shall be resolved in accordance with, as applicable— 

17 (A) the dispute clause of the contract or 

18 agreement; 

19 (B) the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 

20 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 

21 (C) section 1491 of title 28, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (c) RETENTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER NA24 TIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.—With 

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1 ice on National Forest System land that is proposed to 

2 be carried out by a State under subsection (a), any deci3 sion required to be made under the National Environ4 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) may 

5 not be delegated to the State or any officer or employee 

6 of the State. 

7 (d) APPLICABILITY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 the authority provided by this section applies only to 

10 National Forest System land located in affected 

11 States. 

12 (2) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—With re13 spect to public land that is located in an affected 

14 State and administered by the Secretary of the Inte15 rior (acting through the Bureau of Land Manage16 ment), the Secretary of the Interior may carry out 

17 activities under this section on the public land. 

18 SEC. 7. STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING. 

19 (a) CANCELLATION COSTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of law, including section 304B of the Fed22 eral Property and Administrative Services Act of 

23 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254c), the Secretary may not obli24 gate funds to cover the cost of canceling a Forest 

25 Service multiyear stewardship contract under section 


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1 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related 

2 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 

3 note; Public Law 105–277) until the date on which 

4 the multiyear stewardship contract is cancelled. 

5 (2) COSTS OF CANCELLATION OR TERMI6 NATION.—The costs of any cancellation or termi7 nation of a multiyear stewardship contract described 

8 in paragraph (1) may be paid from any appropria9 tions that are made available to the Forest Service. 

10 (3) ANTI-DEFICIENCY ACT.—In the case in 

11 which the appropriations described in paragraph (2) 

12 are exhausted— 

13 (A) the exhaustion shall not be considered 

14 to be a violation of section 1341 of title 31, 

15 United States Code; and 

16 (B) the Secretary shall seek a supple17 mental appropriation. 

18 (b) PERMANENT AUTHORITY.—Section 347(a) of the 

19 Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appro20 priations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 

21 105–277) is amended by striking ‘‘Until September 30, 

22 2013, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. EFFECT. 

2 Nothing in this Act affects or diminishes the rights 

3 of any owner of private property. 

Æ 


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