I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2343

To amend the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of

1990 to permit States to adopt timber export programs, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mrs. UNSOELD (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DICKS, Ms.

DUNN, Ms. FURSE, Mr. HAMBURG, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr.

KREIDLER, Mr. LAROCCO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr.

SWIFT, Mr. WILLIAMS, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage

Relief Act of 1990 to permit States to adopt timber

export programs, 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 ‘‘Forest Resources Con5 servation and Shortage Relief Amendments Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON EXPORTS OF UNPROCESSED TIM2 BER FROM STATE AND OTHER PUBLIC

3 LANDS.

4 Section 491 of the Forest Resources Conservation

5 and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 620c) is

6 amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g)’’;

9 and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘in the amounts specified’’

11 and inserting ‘‘as provided’’;

12 (2) in subsection (b)—

13 (A) in paragraph (1)—

14 (i) by inserting ‘‘, notwithstanding

15 any other provision of law,’’ after ‘‘pro16 hibit’’; and

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘not later than 21

18 days after the date of the enactment of

19 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘, effective June 1,

20 1993’’;

21 (B) in paragraph (2)—

22 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and

23 inserting the following new subparagraph:

24 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of Commerce shall

25 issue an order referred to in subsection (a) to

26 prohibit, notwithstanding any other provision of
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1 law, the export of unprocessed timber originat2 ing from public lands, effective during the pe3 riod beginning on June 1, 1993, and ending on

4 December 31, 1995.’’;

5 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) and

6 (C); and

7 (iii) in subparagraph (D)—

8 (I) by redesignating such sub9 paragraph as subparagraph (B); and

10 (II) by striking ‘‘total annual

11 sales volume’’ and inserting ‘‘annual

12 sales volume in that State of unproc13 essed timber originating from public

14 lands’’;

15 (C) in paragraph (3)—

16 (i) by redesignating such paragraph

17 as paragraph (4); and

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘States pursuant to

19 this title’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of

20 Commerce pursuant to this title and the

21 effectiveness of State programs authorized

22 under subsection (d)’’; and

23 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the

24 following new paragraph:

25 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON SUBSTITUTION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), each order of the Secretary of Com3 merce under paragraph (1) or (2) shall also

4 prohibit, notwithstanding any other provision of

5 law, any person from purchasing, directly or in6 directly, unprocessed timber originating from

7 public lands in a State if—

8 ‘‘(i) such unprocessed timber would be

9 used in substitution for exported unproc10 essed timber originating from private lands

11 in that State; or

12 ‘‘(ii) such person has, during the pre13 ceding 24-month period, exported unproc14 essed timber originating from private lands

15 in that State.

16 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—The prohibitions re17 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall not apply in

18 a State on or after the date on which—

19 ‘‘(i) the Governor of that State pro20 vides the Secretary of Commerce with noti21 fication of a prior program under subpara22 graph (C) of subsection (d)(2),

23 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Commerce ap24 proves a program of that State under sub25 paragraph (A) of subsection (d)(2), or
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1 ‘‘(iii) regulations of the Secretary of

2 Commerce issued under subsection (c) to

3 carry out this section take effect,

4 whichever occurs first.’’;

5 (3) by redesignating subsections (e) through (j)

6 as subsections (g) through (l), respectively; and

7 (4) by striking subsections (c) and (d) and in8 serting the following:

9 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL PROGRAM.—

10 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION BY THE SECRETARY OF

11 COMMERCE.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), the Secretary of Commerce shall, as

14 soon as possible after the date of the enactment

15 of the Forest Resources Conservation and

16 Shortage Relief Amendments Act of 1993—

17 ‘‘(i) determine the species, grades,

18 and geographic origin of unprocessed tim19 ber to be prohibited from export in each

20 State that is subject to an order issued

21 under subsection (a);

22 ‘‘(ii) administer the prohibitions con23 sistent with this title;

24 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the species, grades,

25 and geographic origin of unprocessed tim-
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1 ber prohibited from export within each

2 State is representative of the species,

3 grades, and geographic origin of timber

4 comprising the total timber sales program

5 of the State; and

6 ‘‘(iv) issue such regulations as are

7 necessary to carry out this section.

8 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—The actions and regu9 lations of the Secretary under subparagraph

10 (A) shall not apply with respect to a State that

11 is administering and enforcing a program under

12 subsection (d).

13 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—

14 The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to enter

15 into agreements with Federal and State agencies

16 with appropriate jurisdiction to assist the Secretary

17 in carrying out this title.

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED STATE PROGRAMS.—

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF NEW STATE

20 PROGRAMS.—Notwithstanding subsection (c), the

21 Governor of any State may submit a program to the

22 Secretary of Commerce for approval that—

23 ‘‘(A) implements, with respect to unproc24 essed timber originating from public lands in

25 that State, the prohibition on exports set forth
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1 in the Secretary’s order under subsection (a);

2 and

3 ‘‘(B) ensures that the species, grades, and

4 geographic origin of unprocessed timber prohib5 ited from export within the State is representa6 tive of the species, grades, and geographic ori7 gin of timber comprising the total timber sales

8 program of the State.

9 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF STATE PROGRAMS.—

10 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM APPROVAL.—Not later

11 than 30 days after the submission of a program

12 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Com13 merce shall approve the program unless the

14 Secretary finds that the program will result in

15 the export of unprocessed timber from public

16 lands in violation of this title and publishes that

17 finding in the Federal Register.

18 ‘‘(B) STATE PROGRAM IN LIEU OF FED19 ERAL PROGRAM.—If the Secretary of Commerce

20 approves a program submitted under paragraph

21 (1), the Governor of the State for which the

22 program was submitted, or such other official

23 of that State as the Governor may designate,

24 may administer and enforce the program, which
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1 shall apply in that State in lieu of the regula2 tions issued under subsection (c).

3 ‘‘(C) PRIOR STATE PROGRAMS.—Not later

4 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of

5 the Forest Resources Conservation and Short6 age Relief Amendments Act of 1993, the Gov7 ernor of any State that had, before May 4,

8 1993, issued regulations under this subsection

9 as in effect before May 4, 1993, may provide

10 the Secretary of Commerce with written notifi11 cation that the State has a program that was

12 in effect on May 3, 1993, and that meets the

13 requirements of paragraph (1). Upon such noti14 fication, that State may administer and enforce

15 that program in that State until the end of the

16 9-month period beginning on the date on which

17 the Secretary of Commerce issues regulations

18 under subsection (c), and that program shall,

19 during that 9-month period, apply in that State

20 in lieu of the regulations issued under sub21 section (c). Such Governor may submit, with

22 such notification, the program for approval by

23 the Secretary under paragraph (1).

24 ‘‘(e) PRIOR CONTRACTS.—Nothing in this section

25 shall apply to—
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1 ‘‘(1) any contract for the purchase of unproc2 essed timber from public lands that was entered into

3 before October 24, 1990; or

4 ‘‘(2) any contract under which exports of un5 processed timber were permitted pursuant to an

6 order of the Secretary of Commerce in effect under

7 this section before October 23, 1992.

8 ‘‘(f) WESTERN RED CEDAR.—Nothing in this section

9 shall be construed to supersede section 7(i) of the Export

10 Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2406(i)).’’.

11 SEC. 3. MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT.

12 (a) MONITORING.—Section 492(a) of the Forest Re13 sources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 (16

14 U.S.C. 620d(a)) is amended—

15 (1) paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end

16 of the paragraph;

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at

18 the end of the paragraph and inserting a semicolon;

19 and

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraphs:

22 ‘‘(3) each person who acquires, either directly

23 or indirectly, unprocessed timber originating from

24 public lands in a State that is subject to an order

25 issued by the Secretary of Commerce under section
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1 491(a), other than a State that is administering and

2 enforcing a program under section 491(d), shall re3 port the receipt and disposition of the timber to the

4 Secretary of Commerce, in such form as the Sec5 retary may by rule prescribe, except that nothing in

6 this paragraph shall be construed to hold any person

7 responsible for reporting the disposition of any tim8 ber held by subsequent persons; and

9 ‘‘(4) each person who transfers to another per10 son unprocessed timber originating from public

11 lands in a State that is subject to an order issued

12 by the Secretary of Commerce under section 491(a),

13 other than a State that is administering and enforc14 ing a program under section 491(d), shall, before

15 completing the transfer—

16 ‘‘(A) provide to such other person a writ17 ten notice, in such form as the Secretary of

18 Commerce may prescribe, that shall identify the

19 public lands from which the timber originated;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) receive from such other person—

22 ‘‘(i) a written acknowledgment of the

23 notice, and
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1 ‘‘(ii) a written agreement that the re2 cipient of the timber will comply with the

3 requirements of this title,

4 in such form as the Secretary of Commerce

5 may prescribe; and

6 ‘‘(C) provide to the Secretary of Commerce

7 copies of all notices, acknowledgments, and

8 agreements referred to in subparagraphs (A)

9 and (B).’’.

10 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 492(c) of the Forest

11 Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of

12 1990—

13 (1) in paragraph (1)—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘If the Sec15 retary’’; and

16 (B) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), if the Secretary of

18 Commerce finds, on the record and after an oppor19 tunity for a hearing, that a person, with willful dis20 regard for the restrictions contained in an order of

21 the Secretary under section 491(a) on exports of un22 processed timber from public lands, exported or

23 caused to be exported unprocessed timber originat24 ing from public lands in violation of such order, the

25 Secretary may assess against such person a civil
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1 penalty of not more than $500,000 for each viola2 tion, or 3 times the gross value of the unprocessed

3 timber involved in the violation, whichever amount is

4 greater.

5 ‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to

6 exports of unprocessed timber originating from pub7 lic lands in a State that is administering and enforc8 ing a program under section 491(d).’’; and

9 (2) in paragraph (2)—

10 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A),

11 (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), re12 spectively;

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘If the Sec14 retary’’; and

15 (C) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), if the Secretary

17 finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a

18 hearing, that a person has violated, on or after June

19 1, 1993, any provision of this title or any regulation

20 issued under this title relating to the export of un21 processed timber originating from public lands

22 (whether or not the violation caused the export of

23 unprocessed timber from public lands in violation of

24 this title), the Secretary may assess against such

25 person a civil penalty to the same extent as the Sec-
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1 retary concerned may impose a penalty under clause

2 (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A).

3 ‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to

4 unprocessed timber originating from public lands in

5 a State that is administering and enforcing a pro6 gram under section 491(d).’’.

7 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

8 If any provision of this Act or the amendments made

9 by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or

10 circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and

11 such amendments and the application of such provision

12 to other persons not similarly situated or to other cir13 cumstances shall not be affected by such invalidation.

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