I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4402
To amend the Export Administration Act of 1979 to require the Secretary
of Commerce to monitor domestic supplies and exports of unprocessed
timber and to impose export controls on such timber when a critical
short supply of such timber exists for domestic manufacturing purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 12, 1994
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr.
STUDDS, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr.
WILSON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. STARK, Mr. GORDON, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,
Mr. BOEHLERT, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BARLOW, Mr.
TORRES, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. LEWIS of Geor-
gia, Ms. WATERS, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To amend the Export Administration Act of 1979 to require
the Secretary of Commerce to monitor domestic supplies
and exports of unprocessed timber and to impose export
controls on such timber when a critical short supply
of such timber exists for domestic manufacturing pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Timber Fair Trade
and Forest Conservation Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. EXPORT CONTROLS ON UNPROCESSED TIMBER.
Section 7 of the Export Administration Act of 1979
(50 U.S.C. App. 2406) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(1) UNPROCESSED TIMBER.—
‘‘(1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall mon-
itor—
‘‘(A) exports of, and contracts to export,
unprocessed timber, and
‘‘(B) domestic supplies of such unproc-
essed timber for domestic manufacturing pur-
poses, for the purpose of determining whether
a critical shortage of unprocessed timber, or of
any species or grade of unprocessed timber, ex-
ists for domestic manufacturing purposes.
‘‘(2) EXPORT RESTRICTIONS.—If the Secretary
finds that a critical shortage of unprocessed timber
for domestic manufacturing purposes exists in any
State or region, then the Secretary shall impose re-
strictions on the export of such unprocessed timber
sufficient to ensure that there is an adequate supply
of such unprocessed timber to meet domestic manu-
facturing needs in that State or region. The Sec-
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retary may remove such restrictions upon reporting
to Congress, under paragraph (3)(A), that such re-
strictions are no longer required under this sub-
section.
‘‘(3) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—(A) The Sec-
retary shall submit to Congress, not later than 30
days after the end of each calendar quarter, a report
on the results of the monitoring conducted under
paragraph (1), the Secretary’s determination of
whether a critical shortage of unprocessed timber for
domestic manufacturing purposes exists in any State
or region, and any export restrictions imposed as a
result of such determination.
‘‘(B) Each report under subparagraph (A)
shall—
‘‘(i) specify the quantity of exports, by
port, of unprocessed timber during the period
covered by the report, and the quantity of un-
processed timber to be exported under contracts
to export entered into during such period;
‘‘(ii) estimate, as of the date of the report,
the domestic supplies, by State, of unprocessed
timber available for domestic manufacturing
purposes;
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‘‘(iii) specify whether such unprocessed
timber originated from Federal lands, State
lands, or private lands;
‘‘(iv) determine whether such supplies of
unprocessed timber were sufficient to meet the
needs of domestic manufacturers;
‘‘(v) include a formal finding as to whether
a critical shortage of unprocessed timber for do-
mestic manufacturing purposes exists in any
State or region; and
‘‘(vi) if such a shortage or shortages exist,
specify the export restrictions deemed necessary
to satisfy domestic needs.
‘‘(4) SMALL WOODLANDS.—Whenever the Sec-
retary imposes export restrictions under this sub-
section, the Secretary shall give preference in the al-
location of any available export licenses to persons
who own or have ownership interests in fewer than
3,000 acres of forest land and are exporting timber
from that ownership, or persons who can dem-
onstrate in a manner to be prescribed by the Sec-
retary that the timber to be exported under such li-
censes originates from such ownerships.
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section—
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‘‘(A) the term ‘unprocessed timber’ has the
meaning given that term in section 493(7) of
the Forest Resources Conservation and Short-
age Relief Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 620e(7));
‘‘(B) the term ‘private lands’ means lands
held or owned by a person, except that such
term does not include Federal lands or State
lands, or any lands the title to which is—
‘‘(i) held in trust by the United States
for the benefit of any Indian tribe or indi-
vidual,
‘‘(ii) held by any Indian tribe or indi-
vidual subject to a restriction by the Unit-
ed States against alienation, or
‘‘(iii) held by any Native Corporation
as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Na-
tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.
1602);
‘‘(C) the term ‘Federal lands’ means lands
that are owned by the United States, but does
not include any lands described in clause (i),
(ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (B);
‘‘(D) the term ‘State lands’ means lands
that are held or owned by a State or political
subdivision thereof, but does not include any
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lands described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of sub-
paragraph (B);
‘‘(E)(i) a ‘critical shortage of unprocessed
timber for domestic manufacturing purposes’
includes any period in which the volume of ex-
ports of such unprocessed timber in relation to
supplies for domestic manufacturing purposes is
contributing to a significant inflationary in-
crease in domestic wood products prices or a
shortage of such unprocessed timber for domes-
tic manufacturing purposes, and such price in-
crease or shortage has, or may have, a serious
impact on the economy or any sector thereof;
‘‘(ii) for purposes of clause (i), a ‘serious
impact on the economy or any sector thereof’
may include a situation in which domestic lum-
ber, paper or wood products mills are terminat-
ing or curtailing operations due to a shortage of
unprocessed timber;
‘‘(F) the term ‘person’ means any individ-
ual, partnership, corporation, association, or
other legal entity and includes any subsidiary,
subcontractor, or parent company, and business
affiliates where 1 affiliate controls or has the
power to control the other or when both are
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controlled directly or indirectly by a third per-
son; and
‘‘(G) the term ‘forest land’ means land
that is at least 10 percent stocked by live trees
or land formerly having such tree cover and not
currently developed for nonforest use.
‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS.—
Unprocessed timber shall not be considered to be an
agricultural commodity for the purposes of sub-
section (g) of this section.
‘‘(7) INAPPLICABILITY OF TERMINATION PROVI-
SION.—The provisions of section 20 do not apply to
this subsection, or to any authority under this Act
that is necessary to carry out this subsection.
‘‘(8) PRESIDENTIAL
AUTHORITY.—The Presi-
dent is authorized, after suitable notice and a public
comment period of not less than 90 days, to suspend
any export restrictions imposed under paragraph (2)
if a ruling is issued under the formal dispute resolu-
tion procedures of the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade finding that such restrictions violate Arti-
cle XI prohibitions on export restrictions and are not
allowable under the exceptions to Article XI.’’.
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SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF EXPORT CONTROLS ON CERTAIN
STATES.
(a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that a critical
shortage of unprocessed timber for domestic manufactur-
ing purposes exists, within the meaning of section 7(1)
of the Export Administration Act of 1979, in the States
of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana.
(b) EXPORT CONTROLS.—The Secretary of Com-
merce shall, upon the enactment of this Act, impose quan-
titative restrictions under section 7(1) of the Export Ad-
ministration Act of 1979, on exports of unprocessed tim-
ber from each State referred to in subsection (a).
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