I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5335 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to charge 
and collect not less than the fair market value for forest botanical 
products harvested on National Forest System lands, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 
Ms. PEREZ (for herself and Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition 
to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a pro-
gram to charge and collect not less than the fair market 
value for forest botanical products harvested on National 
Forest System lands, 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 ‘‘Special Forest Prod-
ucts Program Reauthorization Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. CHARGES AND FEES FOR HARVEST OF FOREST BO-
TANICAL PRODUCTS. 
(a) RECOVERY OF FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR PROD-
UCTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out a program to charge and collect fees 
under subsection (b) for forest botanical products 
harvested on National Forest System lands. 
(2) APPRAISAL
METHODS; BIDDING
PROCE-
DURES.—The Secretary shall establish appraisal 
methods and bidding procedures to ensure that the 
amounts collected for forest botanical products are 
not less than fair market value. 
(b) FEES.— 
(1) IMPOSITION AND COLLECTION.—The Sec-
retary shall charge and collect fees from persons who 
harvest forest botanical products on National Forest 
System lands. 
(2) AMOUNT OF FEE.—The fees collected under 
paragraph (1) shall be in an amount established by 
the Secretary to recover at least a portion of the fair 
market value of the harvested forest botanical prod-
ucts and a portion of all the costs incurred by the 
Department of Agriculture associated with the 
granting, modifying, or monitoring the authorization 
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for harvest of the forest botanical products, includ-
ing the costs of any environmental or other analysis. 
(3) SECURITY.—The Secretary may require a 
person assessed a fee under this subsection to pro-
vide security to ensure that the Secretary receives 
the fees imposed under this subsection from the per-
son. 
(c) SUSTAINABLE HARVEST LEVELS FOR FOREST 
BOTANICAL PRODUCTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 
(A) conduct appropriate analyses to deter-
mine whether and how the harvest of forest bo-
tanical products on National Forest System 
lands can be conducted on a sustainable basis; 
and 
(B) establish procedures and timeframes to 
monitor and revise the harvest levels established 
for forest botanical products. 
(2) PROHIBITION ON HARVEST IN EXCESS OF 
SUSTAINABLE LEVELS.—The Secretary may not per-
mit under the program under this section the har-
vest of forest botanical products at levels in excess 
of sustainable harvest levels, as defined under sec-
tion 4 of the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 
1960 (16 U.S.C. 531). 
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(d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 
(1) PERSONAL USE.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish a personal use harvest level for each forest 
botanical product, and the harvest of a forest botan-
ical product below that level by a person for personal 
use shall not be subject to charges and fees under 
subsections (a) and (b). 
(2) OTHER EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary may 
also waive the application of subsection (a) or (b) 
pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may 
prescribe. 
(e) DEPOSIT AND USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) DEPOSIT.—Funds collected under the pro-
gram in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) 
shall be deposited into a special account in the 
Treasury of the United States. 
(2) FUNDS AVAILABLE.—Funds deposited into 
the special account in accordance with paragraph (1) 
shall remain available until expended without further 
appropriation. 
(3) AUTHORIZED USES.—The funds made avail-
able under paragraph (2) shall be expended at units 
of the National Forest System in proportion to the 
charges and fees collected at that unit under the 
program under this section to pay for— 
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(A) the costs of conducting inventories of 
forest botanical products, determining sustain-
able levels of harvest, monitoring and assessing 
the impacts of harvest levels and methods, and 
for restoration activities, including any nec-
essary vegetation; and 
(B) the costs described in subsection 
(b)(2). 
(4) TREATMENT
OF
FEES.—Funds collected 
under the program in accordance with subsections 
(a) and (b) shall not be taken into account for the 
purposes of the following laws: 
(A) The sixth paragraph under the head-
ing ‘‘forest service’’ in the Act of May 23, 1908 
(16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act of 
March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks 
Act; 16 U.S.C. 500). 
(B) The fourteenth paragraph under the 
heading ‘‘forest service’’ in the Act of March 4, 
1913 (16 U.S.C. 501). 
(C) Section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones 
Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1012). 
(D) The Act of August 8, 1937, and the 
Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181a et seq.). 
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