I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5628 
To accelerate the use of wood in buildings, especially tall wood buildings, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 6, 2016 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MCMORRIS 
RODGERS, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To accelerate the use of wood in buildings, especially tall 
wood buildings, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Timber Innovation Act 
of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) wood products play a significant role in the 
United States economy; 
(2) the United States wood products industry 
employs more than 548,000 individuals in manufac-
turing and forestry; 
(3) private forest owners in the United States 
support 
approximately 
2,400,000 
jobs 
and 
$87,000,000,000 in payroll; 
(4) support for wood buildings and growing 
market opportunities for the use of wood products, 
such as tall wood building markets, could— 
(A) help ensure that forests in the United 
States remain healthy; and 
(B) create income streams for private for-
est owners that may help the owners keep their 
land forested instead of selling the land for de-
velopment; 
(5) developing new markets for wood use in 
buildings may drive additional investment in haz-
ardous fuels treatments on forest land; 
(6) innovative wood product technologies and 
building systems— 
(A) have enabled longer wood spans, taller 
walls, and higher buildings; and 
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(B) continue to expand the possibilities for 
wood use in construction; 
(7) wood, because it is a building material that 
sequesters carbon, has the potential to reduce the 
overall carbon footprint of a project that uses wood 
as a building material; 
(8) research helps to modernize building codes 
on an international basis, and that modernization is 
needed in the United States for tall wood buildings; 
(9) building codes specify a level of safety that 
each building material and system shall meet and 
that level of safety is the same regardless of the con-
struction materials used; 
(10) in the case of wood, building codes ensure 
that the allowable size, configuration, and required 
structural and fire protection features of a construc-
tion project allow for the safety of all occupants; 
(11) mass timber buildings, due to the thick, 
solid wood panels of which the buildings are com-
posed, are slow to burn and have inherent fire resist-
ance that, under many configurations, establishes a 
fire performance equal to or better than other con-
struction materials, allowing mass timber to be used 
appropriately for buildings that are significantly tall-
er and larger than traditional wood buildings; and 
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(12) National Forest System lands offer a 
ready source of wood for use in the production of 
mass timber and tall wood buildings. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) MASS TIMBER.—The term ‘‘mass timber’’ 
means a type of building component or system that 
uses large panelized wood construction, including— 
(A) cross-laminated timber; 
(B) nail laminated timber; 
(C) glue laminated timber; 
(D) laminated strand lumber; and 
(E) laminated veneer lumber. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(3) TALL
WOOD
BUILDING.—The term ‘‘tall 
wood building’’ means a building designed to be— 
(A) constructed with mass timber; and 
(B) more than 85 feet in height. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOP-
MENT 
PROGRAM 
FOR 
ADVANCING 
TALL 
WOOD BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 
performance-driven research and development program for 
the purpose of advancing tall wood building construction 
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in the United States (referred to in this section as the 
‘‘program’’). 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the program, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the State and Private For-
estry deputy area of the Forest Service, shall— 
(1) after receipt of input and guidance from, 
and collaboration with, the wood products industry, 
conservation organizations, and institutions of high-
er education, conduct research at the Forest Prod-
ucts Laboratory that meets measurable performance 
goals for the achievement of the priorities described 
in subsection (c); and 
(2) after coordination and collaboration with 
the wood products industry and conservation organi-
zations, make competitive grants to institutions of 
higher education to conduct research that meets 
measurable performance goals for the achievement 
of the priorities described in subsection (c). 
(c) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—The research carried out 
under the program shall give priority to— 
(1) ways to improve the commercialization of 
tall wood building materials; 
(2) analyzing the safety of tall wood building 
materials; 
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(3) calculations by the Forest Products Labora-
tory of the life cycle environmental footprint, from 
extraction of raw materials through the manufac-
turing process, of tall wood building construction; 
(4) identifying the building code modifications 
necessary to construct tall wood buildings; 
(5) analyzing methods to reduce the life cycle 
environmental footprint of tall wood building con-
struction; 
(6) analyzing the potential implications of the 
broad adoption of tall wood building technology and 
architecture in the commercial and residential build-
ing market on wildlife and forest biodiversity; and 
(7) one or more other research areas identified 
by the Secretary, in consultation with the State and 
Private Forestry deputy area of the Forest Service, 
conservation organizations, institutions of higher 
education, and the wood products industry. 
(d) TIMEFRAME.—To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the measurable performance goals for the research 
carried out under the program shall be achievable within 
a 5-year timeframe. 
SEC. 5. TALL WOOD BUILDING COMPETITION. 
Subject to availability of appropriations, not less fre-
quently than once during each fiscal year for the period 
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of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, the Secretary shall 
carry out a competition for a tall wood building design 
in accordance with section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler 
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 
SEC. 6. WOOD INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 
(1) an individual; 
(2) a public or private entity (including a center 
of excellence that consists of one or more partner-
ships between forestry, engineering, architecture, or 
business schools at one or more institutions of high-
er education); or 
(3) a State, local, or tribal government. 
(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary, in car-
rying out the wood innovation grant program of the Sec-
retary described in the notice of the Secretary entitled 
‘‘Request for Proposals: 2016 Wood Innovations Funding 
Opportunity’’ (80 Fed. Reg. 63498 (October 20, 2015)), 
may make a wood innovation grant to one or more eligible 
entities each year for the purpose of the acceleration of 
the adoption of emerging technologies in the development 
of innovative wood products for tall wood building con-
struction. 
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(c) INCENTIVIZING USE OF EXISTING MILLING CA-
PACITY.—In selecting among eligible proposals for the 
wood innovation grant program, the Secretary shall give 
priority to proposals which include the use or retrofitting 
(or both) of existing sawmill facilities located in Counties 
where the average annual unemployment rate exceeded the 
national average by more than 1 percent in the previous 
calendar year. 
(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of re-
ceiving a grant under subsection (b), a recipient shall pro-
vide funds equal to the amount the recipient receives 
under the grant, to be derived from non-Federal sources. 
SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 
with State foresters and State extension directors (or 
equivalent State officials), shall carry out a program of 
education and technical assistance for mass timber appli-
cations (referred to in this section as the ‘‘program’’). 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—Activities under the program shall 
include— 
(1) the provision of assistance to an individual, 
a public or private entity, or a local or tribal govern-
ment in the development of skills and knowledge re-
lating to the use of wood in mass timber applications 
and other wood technologies; 
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(2) the provision of assistance to an individual, 
a public or private entity, or a State, local, or tribal 
government in the identification of opportunities for 
the use of mass timber; and 
(3) activities to increase public understanding 
of— 
(A) the environmental, economic, and so-
cial values associated with using wood in the 
construction of buildings; and 
(B) the relationship between the develop-
ment of markets for wood products and the 
ability to carry out sustainable forest manage-
ment. 
(c) METHODS.—The program may include the devel-
opment and distribution of educational materials and 
holding events designed to transfer knowledge. 
(d) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) maintain, within the Forest Service, suffi-
cient professional expertise relating to the uses of 
wood products to conduct the program; and 
(2) improve that expertise by collaborating with 
other Federal and non-Federal experts on the uses 
of wood products. 
(e) PARTNERS.—The Secretary shall collaborate and 
partner with one or more non-Federal entities, including 
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the governments of other countries, States, local govern-
ments, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and insti-
tutions of higher education— 
(1) to enhance tall wood building commer-
cialization in the United States; 
(2) to develop technical assistance relating to 
tall wood building commercialization; and 
(3) to carry out the program. 
Æ 
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