I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 674 
To codify the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 
of the Interior to conduct certain landscape-scale forest restoration 
projects, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 31, 2023 
Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To codify the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and 
the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain land-
scape-scale forest restoration projects, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Root and Stem Project 
Authorization Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. ROOT AND STEM PROJECTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management. 
(b) LIST
OF CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary con-
cerned shall— 
(1) maintain a list of non-Federal, third-party 
contractors that the Secretary concerned can hire in 
each State to complete the analysis described in sub-
section (c)(1); and 
(2) not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, 
submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Nat-
ural Resources of the House of Representatives a 
copy of the list described in paragraph (1). 
(c) AGREEMENTS.—If a person submits to the Sec-
retary concerned a proposal for a project on Federal land 
that was developed through a collaborative process and 
that meets local and rural community needs, the Secretary 
concerned may enter into an agreement with the person, 
under which— 
(1) the person initially provides to the Secretary 
concerned all, or a portion of, the funding necessary 
to complete any analysis that the Secretary con-
cerned determines to be necessary under Federal 
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law, including the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the En-
dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), for the consideration of the proposed project; 
(2) the Secretary concerned uses the funding 
provided under paragraph (1) to pay a contractor in-
cluded on the list maintained under subsection 
(b)(1) to conduct the analysis described in para-
graph (1); 
(3) on completion of the analysis described in 
paragraph (1), if the Secretary concerned makes a 
decision to proceed with the project, the Secretary 
concerned— 
(A) solicits bids to carry out the project; 
and 
(B) enters into a contract or agreement 
under section 604 of the Healthy Forests Res-
toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) to 
carry out the project; and 
(4) using any receipts described in subsection 
(d)(1), the Secretary concerned, to the maximum ex-
tent practicable, repays to the person the funding 
initially provided under paragraph (1). 
(d) ADDITIONAL RELATED AUTHORITIES.— 
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(1) USE OF RECEIPTS.—Any receipts that are 
generated by a project described in subsection (c) 
that are normally deposited in the general fund of 
the Treasury shall be available for expenditure by 
the Secretary concerned, without further appropria-
tion or fiscal year limitation, for the use described 
in subsection (c)(4). 
(2) CONTRACTORS.—The Secretary concerned 
may noncompetitively hire a contractor included on 
the list maintained under subsection (b)(1) to con-
duct the analysis described in subsection (c)(1). 
(e) SAVINGS CLAUSES.— 
(1) AUTHORITY
OF
THE
SECRETARY
CON-
CERNED.—The Secretary concerned shall— 
(A) determine the sufficiency of any docu-
ments prepared by a contractor under sub-
section (c)(2); and 
(B) retain responsibility for any author-
izing decision relating to a proposed project de-
scribed in subsection (c). 
(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF INDEPENDENT 
THIRD
PARTIES.—The Secretary concerned shall 
verify that there is no conflict of interest between— 
(A) a person that submits a proposal 
under subsection (c); and 
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(B) a contractor that the Secretary con-
cerned hires under paragraph (2) of that sub-
section to carry out an analysis with respect to 
that proposal. 
(3) ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS.—The Secretary 
concerned— 
(A) shall only use the funding provided to 
the Secretary concerned under subsection (c)(1) 
to pay a contractor pursuant to subsection 
(c)(2); and 
(B) shall not use any portion of the fund-
ing provided to the Secretary concerned under 
subsection (c)(1) to cover any other expense or 
cost incurred by the Secretary concerned, in-
cluding administrative costs. 
(4) LIMITATIONS ON REIMBURSEMENTS.—If in-
sufficient receipts are generated by a project de-
scribed in subsection (c) to reimburse the person 
that provided funding under paragraph (1) of that 
subsection, the Secretary concerned shall not provide 
additional funding to the person. 
(f) PROMOTION.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned 
shall provide guidance to each local field office of the Sec-
retary concerned for— 
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(1) making stakeholders aware of the authority 
under this Act; and 
(2) encouraging use of that authority to meet 
land management goals. 
(g) TREATMENT OF COLLABORATIVE MEMBERS.— 
For purposes of a civil action relating to a project de-
scribed in subsection (c), any person that participated in 
the collaborative process to develop the proposal for the 
project shall be— 
(1) entitled to intervene, as of right, in any sub-
sequent civil action; and 
(2) considered to be a full participant in any 
settlement negotiation relating to the project. 
(h) SUNSET.—The requirements described in sub-
section (b) and the authority to enter into an agreement 
under subsection (c) shall expire on January 1, 2033. 
Æ 
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