I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3990 
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act 
of 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2023 
Ms. SCHRIER (for herself, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. CAR-
SON, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 
Research Act of 1978 to modify the forest inventory 
and analysis program. 
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 ‘‘Forest Data Mod-
ernization Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(e) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 
(16 U.S.C. 1642(e)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘their resources’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the resources of those forests, includ-
ing forest carbon,’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘In compliance’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In compliance’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL METHODS.—Under the 
program under this subsection, the Secretary 
shall carry out, as a data collection method— 
‘‘(i) a national timber products output 
survey; and 
‘‘(ii) a national woodland owner sur-
vey.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘including 
with respect to available forest carbon data,’’ after 
‘‘2 decades,’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) in the second sentence, by striking 
‘‘The standards’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The standards de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)’’; 
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(B) by striking ‘‘(4) NATIONAL
STAND-
ARDS AND DEFINITIONS.—To ensure’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(4) NATIONAL CONSISTENCY.— 
‘‘(A) STANDARDS AND DEFINITIONS.—To 
ensure’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) TERMINOLOGY.—The Secretary shall 
include a clear description of the definition of 
‘forest’ used for purposes of reporting data 
from inventories and analyses of forests and the 
resources of forests under this subsection 
with— 
‘‘(i) any data or report provided under 
the program under this subsection; 
‘‘(ii) Renewable Resource Assessments 
prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest 
and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan-
ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)); and 
‘‘(iii) any data or report provided to 
an entity outside the United States.’’; 
(4) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this subsection,’’ and 
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‘‘(ii) pathways to integrate and report 
on status and trends in forest carbon 
pools, including below-ground carbon; 
‘‘(iii) plans, including the identifica-
tion of challenges, to collaborate with other 
Federal agencies, non-Federal partners, 
and the private sector to integrate existing 
nationally available data sets and best 
available commercial technologies, such as 
remote sensing, spatial analysis techniques, 
and other new technologies; 
‘‘(iv) a plan to increase transparency 
and clarity in reporting in accordance with 
paragraph (4)(C); 
‘‘(v) a plan to expand current data 
collection, further integrate remote sensing 
technology, or both, to include procedures 
to improve the statistical precision of esti-
mates at the sub-State level; 
‘‘(vi) a plan to expand current data 
collection, further integrate remote sensing 
technology, or both, to include information 
on renewable biomass supplies and carbon 
stocks at the local, State, regional, and na-
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tional levels, including by ownership type; 
and 
‘‘(vii) such other matters as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate based 
on recommendations of the Forest Inven-
tory and Analysis National User Group. 
‘‘(B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this para-
graph, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
of the Senate and the Committee on Agri-
culture of the House of Representatives the up-
date to the strategic plan prepared under sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(C) FURTHER UPDATES.—Not later than 
5 years after the date on which the update is 
submitted under subparagraph (B), and every 5 
years thereafter, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) prepare an additional update to 
the strategic plan; and 
‘‘(ii) submit the additional update to 
the committees described in subparagraph 
(B). 
‘‘(8) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that data collected under this subsection is— 
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‘‘(A) easily accessible to all public- and pri-
vate-sector entities; and 
‘‘(B) collected and made accessible using 
means that ensure the confidentiality, in ac-
cordance with section 1770 of the Food Secu-
rity Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276), of— 
‘‘(i) plot locations; 
‘‘(ii) nonaggregated data of woodland 
owners; and 
‘‘(iii) nonaggregated data from timber 
product output survey. 
‘‘(9) BIENNIAL COMPILATIONS.—Biennially, the 
Secretary shall prepare and make publicly available 
a compilation of national forest inventory and anal-
ysis forest statistics, which shall be similar to the ta-
bles contained in the Renewable Resource Assess-
ments prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)), accompanied by relevant 
geospatial products. 
‘‘(10) EXTERNAL COMPLEX DATA REQUESTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
establish an office, a data platform, or both to 
process and respond to complex data requests 
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submitted by external organizations relating to 
the program under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) FEES.—To cover the costs of proc-
essing of and responding to complex data re-
quests described in subparagraph (A), the Sec-
retary may impose fees on the external organi-
zations submitting the requests. 
‘‘(11) REPORTS.—Each year, the Secretary 
shall publish as part of the forest inventory and 
analysis business report a detailed description of the 
progress of the Secretary in implementing the pro-
grammatic elements of the strategic plan described 
in paragraph (6), including— 
‘‘(A) the costs and priorities of the stra-
tegic plan; and 
‘‘(B) how the program under this sub-
section leverages new technology, improves and 
standardizes collection protocols, and increases 
workforce capacity.’’. 
(b) REMOTE
SENSING
TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 
8632(1) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16 
U.S.C. 1642 note; Public Law 115–334) is amended by 
striking ‘‘technologies’’ and inserting ‘‘technologies, such 
as microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, and high-resolution 
remote sensing data, and advanced computing tech-
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nologies for improved modeling to provide tabular statis-
tical estimates and geospatial products,’’. 
Æ 
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