108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1904
AN ACT
To improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Secretary of the Interior to plan
and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects
on National Forest System lands and Bureau of
Land Management lands aimed at protecting
communities, watersheds, and certain other at-
risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance
efforts to protect watersheds and address threats
to forest and rangeland health, including cata-
strophic wildfire, across the landscape, and for
other purposes.
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1904
AN ACT
To improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture
and the Secretary of the Interior to plan and conduct
hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest
System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands
aimed at protecting communities, watersheds, and certain
other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance
efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to for-
est and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire,
across the landscape, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purpose.
TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LANDS
Sec. 101. Definitions.
Sec. 102. Authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects.
Sec. 103. Prioritization for communities and watersheds.
Sec. 104. Environmental analysis.
Sec. 105. Special Forest Service administrative review process.
Sec. 106. Special requirements regarding judicial review of authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction projects.
Sec. 107. Injunctive relief for agency action to restore fire-adapted forest or
rangeland ecosystems.
Sec. 108. Rules of construction.
TITLE II—BIOMASS
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Definitions.
Sec. 203. Grants to improve the commercial value of forest biomass for electric
energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, and petroleum-based
product substitutes.
Sec. 204. Reporting requirement.
TITLE III—WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE
Sec. 301. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 302. Establishment of watershed forestry assistance program.
TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTATIONS
Sec. 401. Definitions, findings, and purpose.
Sec. 402. Accelerated information gathering regarding bark beetles, including
Southern pine beetles, hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash
borers, red oak borers, and white oak borers.
Sec. 403. Applied silvicultural assessments.
Sec. 404. Relation to other laws.
Sec. 405. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS RESERVE PROGRAM
Sec. 501. Establishment of healthy forests reserve program.
Sec. 502. Eligibility and enrollment of lands in program.
Sec. 503. Conservation plans.
Sec. 504. Financial assistance.
Sec. 505. Technical assistance.
Sec. 506. Safe harbor.
Sec. 507. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program to improve detection
of and response to environmental threats.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is—
(1) to reduce the risks of damage to commu-
nities, municipal water supplies, and some at-risk
Federal lands from catastrophic wildfires;
(2) to authorize grant programs to improve the
commercial value of forest biomass for electric en-
ergy, useful heat, transportation fuels, petroleum-
based product substitutes and other commercial pur-
poses;
(3) to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and
address threats to forest and rangeland health, in-
cluding catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape;
(4) to promote systematic information gath-
ering to address the impact of insect infestations on
forest and rangeland health;
(5) to improve the capacity to detect insect and
disease infestations at an early stage, particularly
with respect to hardwood forests; and
(6) to protect, restore, and enhance degraded
forest ecosystem types in order to promote the recov-
ery of threatened and endangered species as well as
improve biological diversity and enhance carbon se-
questration.
TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUELS RE-
DUCTION 
ON 
FEDERAL
LANDS
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) AUTHORIZED
HAZARDOUS
FUELS
REDUC-
TION
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘authorized hazardous
fuels reduction project’’ means a hazardous fuels re-
duction project described in subsection (a) of section
102, subject to the remainder of such section, that
is planned and conducted using the process author-
ized by section 104.
(2) CONDITION CLASS 2.—The term ‘‘condition
class 2’’, with respect to an area of Federal lands,
refers to the condition class description developed by
the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Sta-
tion in the general technical report entitled ‘‘Devel-
opment of Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland
Fire and Fuel Management’’ (RMRS–87), dated
April 2000, under which—
(A) fire regimes on the lands have been
moderately altered from their historical range;
(B) there exists a moderate risk of losing
key ecosystem components from fire;
(C) fire frequencies have departed (either
increased or decreased) from historical fre-
quencies by one or more return interval, which
results in moderate changes to fire size, fre-
quency, intensity, severity, or landscape pat-
terns; and
(D) vegetation attributes have been mod-
erately altered from their historical range.
(3) CONDITION CLASS 3.—The term ‘‘condition
class 3’’, with respect to an area of Federal lands,
refers to the condition class description developed by
the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general
technical report referred to in paragraph (2), under
which—
(A) fire regimes on the lands have been
significantly altered from their historical range;
(B) there exists a high risk of losing key
ecosystem components from fire;
(C) fire frequencies have departed from
historical frequencies by multiple return inter-
vals, which results in dramatic changes to fire
size, frequency, intensity, severity, or landscape
patterns; and
(D) vegetation attributes have been signifi-
cantly altered from their historical range.
(4) DAY.—The term ‘‘day’’ means a calendar
day, except that, if a deadline imposed by this title
would expire on a nonbusiness day, the deadline will
be extended to the end of the next business day.
(5) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘decision
document’’ means a decision notice or a record of
decision, as those terms are used in applicable regu-
lations of the Council on Environmental Quality and
the Forest Service Handbook.
(6) FEDERAL
LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal
lands’’ means—
(A) National Forest System lands; and
(B) public lands administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu-
reau of Land Management.
(7) 
HAZARDOUS
FUELS
REDUCTION
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction
project’’ refers to the measures and methods de-
scribed in the definition of ‘‘appropriate tools’’ con-
tained in the glossary of the Implementation Plan.
(8) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im-
plementation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan
for the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy for a Col-
laborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire
Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated
May 2002, which was developed pursuant to the con-
ference report for the Department of the Interior
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001
(House Report 106–646).
(9) INTERFACE
COMMUNITY
AND
INTERMIX
COMMUNITY.—The terms ‘‘interface community’’
and ‘‘intermix community’’ have the meanings given
those terms on page 753 of volume 66 of the Fed-
eral Register, as published on January 4, 2001.
(10) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The
term ‘‘municipal water supply system’’ means the
reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, pipes,
pipelines, or other surface facilities and systems con-
structed or installed for the impoundment, storage,
transportation, or distribution of drinking water for
a community.
(11) 
SECRETARY
CONCERNED.—The 
term
‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means the Secretary of Agri-
culture with respect to National Forest System lands
and the Secretary of the Interior with respect to
public lands administered by the Bureau of Land
Management. Any reference in this title to the ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’, the ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’,
or the ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’ includes the des-
ignee of the Secretary concerned.
(12) THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES
HABITAT.—The term ‘‘threatened and endangered
species habitat’’ means Federal lands identified in
the listing decision or critical habitat designation as
habitat for a threatened species or an endangered
species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION
PROJECTS.
(a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—Subject to the remain-
der of this section, the Secretary concerned may utilize
the process authorized by section 104 to plan and conduct
hazardous fuels reduction projects on any of the following
Federal lands:
(1) Federal lands located in an interface com-
munity or intermix community.
(2) Federal lands located in such proximity to
an interface community or intermix community that
there is a significant risk that the spread of a fire
disturbance event from those lands would threaten
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1533) or in a decision document under such
section determining a species to be an endan-
gered species or a threatened species or desig-
nating critical habitat;
(B) the project will provide enhanced pro-
tection from catastrophic wildfire for the spe-
cies or its habitat; and
(C) the Secretary complies with any appli-
cable guidelines specified in the species recovery
plan prepared under the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
(b) RELATION TO AGENCY PLANS.—An authorized
hazardous fuels reduction project shall be planned and
conducted in a manner consistent with the land and re-
source management plan or land use plan applicable to
the Federal lands covered by the project.
(c) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Not more than a total
of 20,000,000 acres of Federal lands may be included in
authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects.
(d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS.—The
Secretary concerned may not plan or conduct an author-
ized hazardous fuels reduction project that would occur
on any of the following Federal lands:
(1) A component of the National Wilderness
Preservation System.
(2) Federal lands where, by Act of Congress or
Presidential proclamation, the removal of vegetation
is prohibited or restricted.
(3) Wilderness Study Areas.
SEC. 103. PRIORITIZATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND WATER-
SHEDS.
As provided for in the Implementation Plan, the Sec-
retary concerned shall give priority to authorized haz-
ardous fuel reduction projects that provide for the protec-
tion of communities and watersheds.
SEC. 104. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
this title, the Secretary concerned shall plan and conduct
authorized hazardous fuels reduction projects in accord-
ance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) and any other applicable laws.
The Secretary concerned shall prepare an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement for each
authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
(b) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO ELIMINATE AL-
TERNATIVES.—In the case of an authorized hazardous
fuels reduction project, the Secretary concerned is not re-
quired to study, develop, or describe any alternative to the
proposed agency action in the environmental assessment
or environmental impact statement prepared for the pro-
posed agency action pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na-
tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)).
(c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—
(1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned
shall provide notice of each authorized hazardous
fuels reduction project in accordance with applicable
regulations and administrative guidelines.
(2) PUBLIC
MEETING.—During the planning
stage of each authorized hazardous fuels reduction
project, the Secretary concerned shall conduct a
public meeting at an appropriate location proximate
to the administrative unit of the Federal lands in
which the authorized hazardous fuels reduction
project will be conducted. The Secretary concerned
shall provide advance notice of the date and time of
the meeting.
(d) PUBLIC COLLABORATION.—In order to encourage
meaningful public participation in the identification and
development of authorized hazardous fuels reduction
projects, the Secretary concerned shall facilitate collabora-
tion among governments and interested persons during
the formulation of each authorized fuels reduction project
in a manner consistent with the Implementation Plan.
(e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM-
MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2))
and the applicable regulations and administrative guide-
lines in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary concerned shall provide an opportunity for
public input during the preparation of any environmental
assessment or environmental impact statement for pro-
posed agency action for an authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project.
(f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary concerned
shall sign a decision document for each authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project and provide notice of the
decision document.
(g) PROJECT MONITORING.—As provided for in the
Implementation Plan, the Secretary concerned shall mon-
itor the implementation of authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction projects.
SEC. 105. SPECIAL FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE RE-
VIEW PROCESS.
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue final
regulations to establish an administrative process that will
serve as the sole means by which a person described in
subsection (b) can seek administrative redress regarding
an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
(b) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—To be eligible to partici-
pate in the administrative process developed pursuant to
subsection (a) regarding an authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project, a person must have submitted specific and
substantive written comments during the preparation
stage of that authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that, during the
preparation stage of each authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project, notice and comment is provided in a man-
ner sufficient to permit interested persons a reasonable
opportunity to satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
(c) RELATION TO APPEALS REFORM ACT.—Section
322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agen-
cies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–381; 16
U.S.C. 1612 note), does not apply to an authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project.
SEC. 106. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL
REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUELS
REDUCTION PROJECTS.
(a) FILING DEADLINE.—
(1) TIME LIMIT ESTABLISHED FOR FILING.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to be
timely, an action in a court of the United States
challenging an authorized hazardous fuels reduction
project shall be filed in the court before the end of
the 15-day period beginning on the date on which
the Secretary concerned publishes, in the local paper
of record, notice of the final agency action regarding
the authorized hazardous fuels reduction project.
This time limitation supersedes any notice of intent
to file suit requirement or filing deadline otherwise
applicable to a challenge under any provision of law.
(2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary con-
cerned may not agree to, and a district court may
not grant, a waiver of the requirements of this sub-
section.
(b) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—
(1) DURATION; EXTENSION.—Any preliminary
injunction granted regarding an authorized haz-
ardous fuels reduction project shall be limited to 45
days. A court may renew the preliminary injunction,
taking into consideration the goal expressed in sub-
section (c) for the expeditious resolution of cases re-
garding 
authorized 
hazardous 
fuels 
reduction
projects.
final determination on the merits, within 100 days from
the date the complaint or appeal is filed.
SEC. 107. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR AGENCY ACTION TO RE-
STORE FIRE-ADAPTED FOREST OR RANGE-
LAND ECOSYSTEMS.
(a) COVERED PROJECTS.—This section applies with
respect to a motion for an injunction in an action brought
against the Secretary concerned under section 703 of title
5, United States Code, that involves an agency action on
Federal lands, including an authorized hazardous fuels re-
duction project, that is necessary to restore a fire-adapted
forest or rangeland system.
(b) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—When considering a mo-
tion described in subsection (a), in determining whether
there would be harm to the defendant from the injunction
and whether the injunction would be in the public interest,
the court reviewing the agency action shall—
(1) balance the impact to the ecosystem of the
short-term and long-term effects of undertaking the
agency action against the short-term and long-term
effects of not undertaking the agency action; and
(2) give weight to a finding by the Secretary
concerned in the administrative record of the agency
action concerning the short-term and long-term ef-
fects of undertaking the agency action and of not
undertaking the agency action, unless the court
finds that the finding was arbitrary and capricious.
SEC. 108. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in
this title shall be construed to affect, or otherwise bias,
the use by the Secretary concerned of other statutory or
administrative authorities to plan or conduct a hazardous
fuels reduction project on Federal lands, including Federal
lands identified in section 102(e), that is not planned or
conducted using the process authorized by section 104.
(b) RELATION TO LEGAL ACTION.—Nothing in this
title shall be construed to prejudice or otherwise affect the
consideration or disposition of any legal action concerning
the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, part 294 of title 36,
Code of Federal Regulations, as amended in the final rule
and record of decision published in the Federal Register
on January 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244).
TITLE II—BIOMASS
SEC. 201. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Thousands of communities in the United
States, many located near Federal lands, are at risk
to wildfire. Approximately 190,000,000 acres of land
managed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic
fire in the near future. The accumulation of heavy
forest and rangeland fuel loads continues to increase
as a result of disease, insect infestations, and
drought, further raising the risk of fire each year.
(2) In addition, more than 70,000,000 acres
across all land ownerships are at risk to higher than
normal mortality over the next 15 years from insect
infestation and disease. High levels of tree mortality
from insects and disease result in increased fire risk,
loss of old growth, degraded watershed conditions,
and changes in species diversity and productivity, as
well as diminished fish and wildlife habitat and de-
creased timber values.
(3) Preventive treatments such as removing fuel
loading, ladder fuels, and hazard trees, planting
proper species mix and restoring and protecting
early successional habitat, and other specific restora-
tion treatments designed to reduce the susceptibility
of forest and rangeland to insect outbreaks, disease,
and catastrophic fire present the greatest oppor-
tunity for long-term forest and rangeland health by
creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribu-
tion. Such prevention treatments are widely acknowl-
edged to be more successful and cost effective than
suppression treatments in the case of insects, dis-
ease, and fire.
(4) The by-products of preventive treatment
(wood, brush, thinnings, chips, slash, and other haz-
ardous fuels) removed from forest and rangelands
represent an abundant supply of biomass for bio-
mass-to-energy facilities and raw material for busi-
ness. There are currently few markets for the ex-
traordinary volumes of by-products being generated
as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive
treatment activities.
(5) The United States should—
(A) promote economic and entrepreneurial
opportunities in using by-products removed
through preventive treatment activities related
to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect
infestation; and
(B) develop and expand markets for tradi-
tionally underused wood and biomass as an out-
let for by-products of preventive treatment ac-
tivities.
SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ means
trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, nee-
dles, and other woody parts, and by-products of pre-
ventive treatment, such as wood, brush, thinnings,
chips, and slash, that are removed—
(A) to reduce hazardous fuels; or
(B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis-
ease or insect infestation.
(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’
has the meaning given the term in section 4(e) of
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
(3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes—
(A) an individual;
(B) a community (as determined by the
Secretary concerned);
(C) an Indian tribe;
(D) a small business, micro-business, or a
corporation that is incorporated in the United
States; and
(E) a nonprofit organization.
(4) PREFERRED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘pre-
ferred community’’ means—
(A) any town, township, municipality, or
other similar unit of local government (as deter-
mined by the Secretary concerned) that—
(i) has a population of not more than
50,000 individuals; and
(ii) the Secretary concerned, in the
sole discretion of the Secretary concerned,
determines contains or is located near
land, the condition of which is at signifi-
cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease,
or insect infestation or which suffers from
disease or insect infestation; or
(B) any county that—
(i) is not contained within a metro-
politan statistical area; and
(ii) the Secretary concerned, in the
sole discretion of the Secretary concerned,
determines contains or is located near
land, the condition of which is at signifi-
cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease,
or insect infestation or which suffers from
disease or insect infestation.
(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re-
spect to National Forest System lands; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior with re-
spect to Federal lands under the jurisdiction of
the Secretary of the Interior and Indian lands.
SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE THE COMMERCIAL VALUE
OF FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY,
USEFUL 
HEAT, 
TRANSPORTATION 
FUELS,
AND 
PETROLEUM-BASED 
PRODUCT 
SUB-
STITUTES.
(a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL USE GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned
may make grants to any person that owns or oper-
ates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material
to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor-
tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod-
ucts to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass
for use by such facility.
(2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass
delivered.
(3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI-
TIES.—As a condition of a grant under this sub-
section, the grant recipient shall keep such records
as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and
correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all
transactions involved in the purchase of biomass.
Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary
concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the rep-
resentative reasonable access to the facility that pur-
chases or uses biomass and an opportunity to exam-
ine the inventory and records of the facility.
(b) VALUE ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned
may make grants to persons to offset the cost of
projects to add value to biomass. In making such
grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference
to persons in preferred communities.
(2) SELECTION.—The Secretary concerned shall
select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after
giving consideration to the anticipated public bene-
fits of the project, opportunities for the creation or
expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses,
and the potential for new job creation.
(3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $100,000.
(c) RELATION
TO OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES
AND RIPARIAN PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary concerned
shall comply with applicable endangered species and ripar-
ian protections in making grants under this section.
Projects funded using grant proceeds shall be required to
comply with such protections.
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out this section.
SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than October 1,
2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with
the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agri-
culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report
describing the results of the grant programs authorized
by section 203.
(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall include
the following:
(1) An identification of the size, type, and the
use of biomass by persons that receive grants under
section 203.
(2) The distance between the land from which
the biomass was removed and the facility that used
the biomass.
(3) The economic impacts, particularly new job
creation, resulting from the grants to and operation
of the eligible operations.
TITLE III—WATERSHED
FORESTRY ASSISTANCE
SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) There has been a dramatic shift in public
attitudes and perceptions about forest management,
particularly in the understanding and practice of
sustainable forest management.
(2) It is commonly recognized that the proper
stewardship of forest lands is essential to sustaining
and restoring the health of watersheds.
(3) Forests can provide essential ecological
services in filtering pollutants, buffering important
rivers and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which
makes its restoration worthy of special focus.
(4) Strengthened education, technical assist-
ance, and financial assistance to nonindustrial pri-
vate forest landowners and communities, relating to
the protection of watershed health, is needed to real-
ize the expectations of the general public.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to—
(1) improve landowner and public under-
standing of the connection between forest manage-
ment and watershed health;
(2) encourage landowners to maintain tree
cover on their property and to utilize tree plantings
and vegetative treatments as creative solutions to
watershed problems associated with varying land
uses;
(3) enhance and complement forest manage-
ment and buffer utilization for watersheds, with an
emphasis on urban watersheds;
(4) establish new partnerships and collaborative
watershed approaches to forest management, stew-
ardship, and conservation;
(5) provide technical and financial assistance to
States to deliver a coordinated program that en-
hances State forestry best-management practices
programs, as well as conserves and improves for-
ested lands and potentially forested lands through
technical, financial, and educational assistance to
qualifying individuals and entities; and
(6) maximize the proper management and con-
servation of wetland forests and to assist in their
restoration as necessary.
SEC. 302. ESTABLISHMENT OF WATERSHED FORESTRY AS-
SISTANCE PROGRAM.
The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is
amended by inserting after section 5 the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE.
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY
AND PURPOSE.—The
Secretary, acting through the Forest Service, may provide
technical, financial, and related assistance to State for-
esters and equivalent State officials for the purpose of ex-
panding State forest stewardship capacities and activities
through State forestry best-management practices and
other means at the State level to address watershed issues
on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested
lands.
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER
QUALITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera-
tion with State foresters or equivalent State officials,
shall engage interested members of the public, in-
cluding nonprofit organizations and local watershed
councils, to develop a program of technical assist-
ance to protect water quality, as described in para-
graph (2).
‘‘(2) PURPOSE
OF
PROGRAM.—The program
under this subsection shall be designed—
‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed
partnerships that focus on forested landscapes
at the local, State, and regional levels;
‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-man-
agement practices and water quality technical
assistance directly to nonindustrial private for-
est landowners;
‘‘(C) to provide technical guidance to land
managers and policy makers for water quality
protection through forest management;
‘‘(D) to complement State and local efforts
to protect water quality and provide enhanced
opportunities for consultation and cooperation
among Federal and State agencies charged with
responsibility for water and watershed manage-
ment; and
‘‘(E) to provide enhanced forest resource
data and support for improved implementation
and monitoring of State forestry best-manage-
ment practices.
‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program of tech-
nical assistance shall be implemented by State for-
esters or equivalent State officials.
‘‘(c) WATERSHED
FORESTRY
COST-SHARE
PRO-
GRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a watershed forestry cost-share program to be
administered by the Forest Service and implemented
by State foresters or equivalent State officials.
Funds or other support provided under such pro-
gram shall be made available for State forestry best-
management practices programs and watershed for-
estry projects.
‘‘(2) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROJECTS.—The
State forester or equivalent State official of a State,
in coordination with the State Forest Stewardship
Coordinating Committee established under section
19(b) for that State, shall annually make awards to
communities, nonprofit groups, and nonindustrial
private forest landowners under the program for wa-
tershed forestry projects described in paragraph (3).
‘‘(3) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A
watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical
forest stewardship, watershed protection, and res-
toration needs within a State by demonstrating the
value of trees and forests to watershed health and
condition through—
‘‘(A) the use of trees as solutions to water
quality problems in urban and rural areas;
‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve-
ment, and action through State, local and non-
profit partnerships;
‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of
monitoring information on forestry best-man-
agement practices relating to watershed for-
estry;
‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management
activities and conservation planning; and
‘‘(E) the restoration of wetland (as defined
by the States) and stream-side forests and the
establishment of riparian vegetative buffers.
‘‘(4) COST-SHARING.—Funds provided under
this subsection for a watershed forestry project may
not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the project.
Other Federal funding sources may be used to cover
a portion of the remaining project costs, but the
total Federal share of the costs may not exceed 90
percent. The non-Federal share of the costs of a
project may be in the form of cash, services, or other
in-kind contributions.
‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew-
ardship Coordinating Committee for a State shall
prioritize watersheds in that State to target water-
shed forestry projects funded under this subsection.
‘‘(6) WATERSHED
FORESTER.—Financial and
technical assistance shall be made available to the
State Forester or equivalent State official to create
a State best-management practice forester to lead
statewide programs and coordinate small watershed-
level projects.
‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devote
at least 75 percent of the funds appropriated for a
fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of appro-
priations in subsection (e) to the cost-share program
under subsection (c) and the remainder to the task
of delivering technical assistance, education, and
planning on the ground through the State Forester
or equivalent State official.
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution
of these funds by the Secretary among the States
shall be made only after giving appropriate consider-
ation to—
‘‘(A) the acres of nonindustrial private
forestland and highly erodible land in each
State;
‘‘(B) each State’s efforts to conserve for-
ests;
‘‘(C) the acres of forests in each State that
have been lost or degraded or where forests can
play a role in restoring watersheds; and
‘‘(D) the number of nonindustrial private
forest landowners in each State.
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through
2008.’’.
TITLE IV—INSECT
INFESTATIONS
SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this title:
(1) APPLIED
SILVICULTURAL
ASSESSMENT.—
The term ‘‘applied silvicultural assessment’’ means
any vegetative or other treatment, for the purposes
described in section 402, including timber harvest,
thinning, prescribed burning, and pruning, as single
treatment or any combination of these treatments.
(2) FEDERAL
LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal
lands’’ means—
(A) National Forest System lands; and
(B) public lands administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior, acting through the Bu-
reau of Land Management.
(3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means—
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting
through the Forest Service, with respect to Na-
tional Forest System lands; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through appropriate offices of the United States
Geological Survey, with respect to federally
owned land administered by the Secretary of
the Interior.
(4) 1890 INSTITUTIONS.—The term ‘‘1890 In-
stitution’’ means a college or university eligible to
receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (7
U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) High levels of tree mortality due to insect
infestation result in—
(A) increased fire risk;
(B) loss of old growth;
(C) loss of threatened and endangered spe-
cies;
(D) loss of species diversity;
(E) degraded watershed conditions;