‘‘(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 
‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.’’. 
SEC. 4. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 
Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex-
tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 
et seq.) (as amended by section 3) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1473J. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION 
GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means any of the following: 
‘‘(A) A cooperating forestry school. 
‘‘(B) A land-grant college or university. 
‘‘(C) A State agricultural experimental sta-
tion. 
‘‘(D) An organization described in section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 
of that Code. 
‘‘(E) A Federal agency. 
‘‘(2) NOXIOUS WEED; PLANT PEST.—The terms 
‘noxious weed’ and ‘plant pest’ have the meanings 
given those terms in section 403 of the Plant Pro-
tection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702). 
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‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary may award 
grants on a competitive basis under this section to eligible 
entities to support— 
‘‘(1) the implementation of research conducted 
under section 1473I; or 
‘‘(2) any other solution that the committee es-
tablished under subsection (f)(1) of that section de-
termines to be effective in restoring forest tree spe-
cies native to forests in the United States that have 
suffered severe levels of mortality caused by non-
native plant pests or noxious weeds. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking to re-
ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
including a demonstration that the eligible entity has a 
program in effect with a forest restoration strategy that 
incorporates a majority of the following components: 
‘‘(1) Collection and conservation of native tree 
genetic material. 
‘‘(2) Production of propagules of native trees in 
numbers large enough for landscape-scale restora-
tion. 
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‘‘(3) Preparation of planting sites in former 
habitats of the native tree species that are the sub-
jects of the application. 
‘‘(4) Planting of native tree seedlings. 
‘‘(5) Post-planting maintenance of native trees. 
‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se-
lect an eligible entity to receive a grant under this section 
based on the degree to which the application submitted 
by the eligible entity under subsection (c) addresses the 
following criteria: 
‘‘(1) The risk posed to the forests of the State 
in which the work is to be conducted using funding 
received through the grant by nonnative plant pest 
or noxious weed species present in the State. 
‘‘(2) The proportion of the forest land of the 
State composed of species vulnerable to nonnative 
plant pests or noxious weeds present in the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) The rate of spread in the State, through 
natural or human-assisted means, of nonnative plant 
pests or noxious weeds. 
‘‘(4) The environmental and public health safe-
ty of the project proposed to be conducted using 
funding received through the grant, as demonstrated 
by supporting research. 
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‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 
a grant under this section shall provide matching 
funds from non-Federal sources in an amount equal 
to not less than 10 percent of the grant. 
‘‘(2) INDIRECT COSTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Indirect costs charged 
against a grant awarded under this section 
shall not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal 
funds provided under the grant award. 
‘‘(B) 
INCLUSIONS.—Indirect 
costs 
de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include— 
‘‘(i) equipment used in relation to the 
grant; 
‘‘(ii) capital improvements of facilities 
that are necessary to carry out the grant; 
‘‘(iii) 
accounting 
costs, 
personnel 
costs, and administrative costs incurred by 
an eligible entity necessary to carry out the 
grant; and 
‘‘(iv) such other costs as the Secretary 
determines to be appropriate. 
‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds of the Com-
modity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use 
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to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2023 through 2026. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Of the funds made available 
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, not more than 
5 percent may be used by the Secretary for expenses 
relating to the administration of this section.’’. 
SEC. 5. STUDY ON PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM NON-
NATIVE PLANT PESTS AND PATHOGENS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) many Federal agencies have important roles 
to play in addressing nonnative plant pests and 
pathogens in the stewardship and management of 
forests by those Federal agencies; 
(2) because of a lack of national policy, non-
native plant pests and pathogens of forests are a low 
priority for all Federal agencies; and 
(3) efforts to prevent the introduction and 
spread of nonnative plant pests and pathogens, and 
especially to reduce the resulting damage and re-
store tree species to forests, lack coordination and 
action. 
(b) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
seek to enter into an agreement (referred to in this 
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section as the ‘‘Agreement’’) with the National 
Academy of Sciences, or another nongovernmental 
entity that the Secretary determines to be most ap-
propriate, under which the National Academy of 
Sciences or other entity, as applicable, not later than 
1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, shall 
conduct, and submit to Congress a report describing 
the results of, a study to analyze the available re-
sources that Federal agencies have to research, and 
find solutions to, nonnative plant pests and patho-
gens. 
(2) 
RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 
report 
sub-
mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include rec-
ommendations— 
(A) with respect to— 
(i) establishing a national policy to ef-
fectively counter the threat posed by non-
native pests and disease pathogens to tree 
species, including preventing the introduc-
tion and spread of those pests and patho-
gens, minimizing the damage caused by 
those pests and pathogens, and restoring 
affected tree species to the forest; 
(ii) improving coordination and co-
operation among Federal agencies with re-
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sponsibility for management and repair of 
the decimation of tree species affected by 
nonnative pests and disease pathogens and 
associated ecological destruction; 
(iii) addressing the low prioritization 
by the Federal agencies described in clause 
(ii) of nonnative plant pests and pathogens 
affecting forests and trees; 
(iv)(I) identifying expertise and site 
and facility resources within the Federal 
agencies described in clause (ii); and 
(II) improving coordination among 
those agencies with respect to the manage-
ment and repair described in clause (ii), 
including coordination with academic insti-
tutions and other appropriate nonprofit or-
ganizations; 
(v) the establishment of a center for 
nonnative forest pest control, prevention, 
and species restoration within the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, including potential or-
ganizational structures of such a center, 
with an emphasis on including representa-
tion of a wide variety of appropriate agen-
cies within the center, including the Ani-
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mal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 
the Agriculture Research Service, the Na-
tional Institute of Food and Agriculture, 
the Natural Resources Conservation Serv-
ice, the Forest Service, and any other 
agency that the Secretary determines is 
appropriate; and 
(vi)(I) giving priority to the emer-
gency response of the Department of Agri-
culture to an emergency relating to non-
native pests and disease pathogens; 
(II) clarifying the coordination of the 
Department of Agriculture with other Fed-
eral agencies in responding to those emer-
gencies; and 
(III) identifying funding levels suffi-
cient to carry out responses to those emer-
gencies; and 
(B) that— 
(i) take into account existing Federal 
resources; and 
(ii) may be implemented through fur-
ther legislative and administrative action. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—The Agreement shall re-
quire the National Academy of Sciences or other en-
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tity, as applicable, to consult with specialists in ento-
mology, genetics, forest pathology, tree breeding, 
forest and urban ecology, and invasive species man-
agement. 
Æ 
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