I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 865 
To make a categorical exclusion available to the Secretary of Agriculture 
and the Secretary of the Interior to develop and carry out a forest 
management activity on National Forest system lands derived from the 
public domain or public lands to address insect or disease infestation 
declared as an emergency in a State by the Governor of such State, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 3, 2017 
Mr. MCCLINTOCK (for himself, Mr. COOK, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 
VALADAO, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 
WESTERMAN, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. NUNES, Mr. DENHAM, and Mr. 
KNIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Re-
sources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To make a categorical exclusion available to the Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to de-
velop and carry out a forest management activity on 
National Forest system lands derived from the public 
domain or public lands to address insect or disease infes-
tation declared as an emergency in a State by the Gov-
ernor of such State, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Emergency Forest 
Restoration Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION TO ADDRESS A DE-
CLARED EMERGENCY. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT FOREST MANAGEMENT 
ACTIVITY.—The Secretary concerned may develop and 
carry out a forest management activity on National Forest 
System lands or public lands in a State when the primary 
purpose of the forest management activity is to address 
a declared emergency. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.— 
Except as provided in section 4, a categorical exclusion 
is available to the Secretary concerned to develop and 
carry out a forest management activity described in sub-
section (a). 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur-
poses of this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary concerned $300,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2018 through 2025. 
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SEC. 3. USE OF TIMBER SALE REVENUES TO OFFSET FUNDS 
APPROPRIATED TO ADDRESS A DECLARED 
EMERGENCY. 
(a) TIMBER SALES REQUIRED.— 
(1) IDENTIFICATION
OF
AMOUNTS
APPRO-
PRIATED.—For fiscal year 2019 and each fiscal year 
thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall identify 
the amount of funds, if any, appropriated in the 
prior fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of ap-
propriations in section 2(c). 
(2) SALES.—Not later than 5 years after the 
end of the fiscal year in which an identification is 
made under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall sell (in the manner provided for under 
section 14 of the National Forest Management Act 
of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a)) an amount of timber the 
sale of which is sufficient to recoup the amount 
identified under paragraph (1) and any costs associ-
ated with such sale. 
(3) PROCEEDS.—Proceeds from the sale of tim-
ber described under paragraph (2) shall be deposited 
as follows: 
(A) An amount equal to the appropriated 
amount identified under paragraph (1) shall be 
deposited in the general fund of the Treasury of 
the United States as miscellaneous receipts. 
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(B) An amount equal to the costs associ-
ated with the sale shall be deposited in a des-
ignated fund from which sums are to be used, 
to cover the cost to the United States for de-
sign, engineering, and supervision of the con-
struction of needed roads and the cost for For-
est Service sale preparation and supervision of 
the harvesting of such timber. 
(C) Any amounts not described under sub-
paragraph (A) or (B) shall be deposited in the 
general fund of the Treasury of the United 
States as miscellaneous receipts. 
(b) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—Except as provided 
in section 4, a categorical exclusion is available to the Sec-
retary of Agriculture for timber sales conducted pursuant 
to subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION. 
A categorical exclusion under this Act may not be 
used on National Forest System lands or public lands— 
(1) that are included in the National Wilderness 
Preservation System; 
(2) that are located within an inventoried 
roadless area unless the reforestation activity is con-
sistent with the forest plan applicable to the area; or 
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(3) on which timber harvesting for any purpose 
is prohibited by statute. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘cat-
egorical exclusion’’ means an exception to the re-
quirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) for a project 
or activity relating to the management of National 
Forest System lands or public lands that would oth-
erwise be considered a major Federal action. 
(2) DECLARED
EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘de-
clared emergency’’ means an insect or disease infes-
tation in a State that has been declared an emer-
gency by the Governor of such State. 
(3) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—The 
term ‘‘National Forest System lands’’ means Fed-
eral lands derived from the public domain that are 
included in the National Forest System (as such 
term is defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))), including such lands 
within the boundaries of a national monument man-
aged by the Forest Service. 
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(4) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-
spect to National Forest System lands; or 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-
spect to public lands. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other terri-
tory or possession of the United States. 
Æ 
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