Title: Accelerating Forest Restoration Act of 2019
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Accelerating Forest Restoration Act of 2019
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to designate a forest restoration byproduct as a low-value or no-value restoration byproduct if it was harvested in accordance with the requirements of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and is within any geographic area of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative.
USDA must permit unprocessed forest restoration byproducts and low-value and no-value restoration byproducts to be exported from the United States. Furthermore, USDA must exclude low-value or no-value restoration byproducts from the requirement to paint, brand, or hammerstamp timber.
The bill also sets forth provisions regarding certain vehicles and equipment used in projects under the restoration program.


[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1849 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1849

   To provide flexibility and improve the effectiveness of the Four 
        Forests Restoration Initiative in the State of Arizona.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2019

  Ms. McSally introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide flexibility and improve the effectiveness of the Four 
        Forests Restoration Initiative in the State of Arizona.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Forest Restoration Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there is an urgent need in the State of Arizona--
                    (A) to restore the ponderosa pine forest 
                ecosystems;
                    (B) to reestablish beneficial natural fire regimes;
                    (C) to sustain native biological diversity; and
                    (D) to protect communities from unnaturally severe 
                fires;
            (2) the low and zero values of forest restoration 
        byproducts undermine the success of establishing and 
        maintaining a private sector wood industry;
            (3) Forest Service appraisal, sale, and accountability 
        procedures for conventional timber production overemphasize 
        capturing marginal wood value at the expense of accelerating 
        treatments and private sector success;
            (4) the economic and natural resource benefits of a 
        restored acre, such as wildfire avoidance, watershed 
        protection, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities, 
        exceed the value of the wood removed and provide greater 
        benefit to taxpayers;
            (5) Forest Service analyses do not capture the low value of 
        timber under 4FRI as a byproduct of restoration or reflect the 
        cost of removal and transportation of that timber to available 
        markets;
            (6) landscape-scale forest restoration under 4FRI can and 
        should be accelerated in an economically and socially viable 
        manner that promotes ecological sustainability, forest 
        resilience, and shared forest stewardship across multiple users 
        of national forests; and
            (7) progress under 4FRI has not kept pace with stated goals 
        to partner with industry to mechanically treat approximately 
        1,000,000 acres of ponderosa pine forests within 20 years.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) 4FRI.--The term ``4FRI'' means the Four Forests 
        Restoration Initiative under the Restoration Program, which--
                    (A) aims to restore 2,400,000 acres of ponderosa 
                pine forests and associated ecosystems in the State of 
                Arizona through a combination of mechanical thinning, 
                prescribed fires, and comprehensive restoration 
                activities;
                    (B) is a joint effort between the Restoration 
                Program administered by the Forest Service and the Four 
                Forests Restoration Initiative Stakeholder Group; and
                    (C) takes place on portions of the Coconino, 
                Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves, and Tonto national forests 
                along the Mogollon Rim in the State of Arizona.
            (2) Forest restoration byproduct.--The term ``forest 
        restoration byproduct'' means a forest product derived from 
        active ecological restoration through commercial timber sales 
        and permits, stewardship contracts, special forest product 
        sales and permits, and woody biomass utilization (as defined in 
        the implementation guidelines of the Restoration Program).
            (3) Low-value restoration byproduct.--The term ``low-value 
        restoration byproduct'' means a forest restoration byproduct 
        the value of which is not more than 25 percent of industry 
        expectations for high value restoration byproducts.
            (4) No-value restoration byproduct.--The term ``no-value 
        restoration byproduct'' means a forest restoration byproduct 
        that has zero or negative value after stumpage, harvest, 
        processing, and transport costs are deducted from the price 
        charged by a mill, power plant, or other processing facility to 
        sell that forest restoration byproduct.
            (5) Partner.--The term ``partner'' means any 4FRI 
        contractor or agent of a contractor that has a contract or 
        agreement with, or permit from, the Forest Service to implement 
        an approved project in accordance with the Restoration Program.
            (6) Project.--The term ``project'' means an activity 
        conducted under any timber-related sale, contract, or 
        stewardship agreement--
                    (A) to which the Forest Service is a party; and
                    (B) that implements an approved 4FRI restoration 
                treatment under a contract, agreement, or permit that 
                complies with the requirements of the Restoration 
                Program.
            (7) Restoration program.--The term ``Restoration Program'' 
        means the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program 
        established under section 4003 of the Omnibus Public Land 
        Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303).
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. CLASSIFICATION OF RESTORATION BYPRODUCTS AS LOW-VALUE OR NO-
              VALUE.

    The Secretary may designate as a low-value or no-value restoration 
byproduct a forest restoration byproduct that is not a low-value or no-
value restoration byproduct if that forest restoration byproduct was 
harvested--
            (1) in a manner consistent with the requirements of the 
        Restoration Program; and
            (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI takes place.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTION TO WHOLE LOG EXPORT LIMITATION FOR PROJECT TIMBER.

    The Secretary shall revise section 223.162 of title 36, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to permit unprocessed forest restoration 
byproducts and low-value and no-value restoration byproducts to be 
exported from the United States if those byproducts were harvested--
            (1) in a manner consistent with the requirements of the 
        Restoration Program; and
            (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI takes place.

SEC. 6. EXEMPTION TO IDENTIFYING AND MARKING PROJECT TIMBER.

    The Secretary shall revise section 223.195 of title 36, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to exclude low-value or no-value forest 
restoration byproducts from the requirement to paint, brand, or 
hammerstamp timber under that section if those byproducts were 
harvested--
            (1) in a manner consistent with the requirements of the 
        Restoration Program; and
            (2) within any geographic area on which 4FRI takes place.

SEC. 7. TRANSPORTATION OF FOREST RESTORATION BYPRODUCTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall not require a partner to weigh 
a vehicle used for a project.
    (b) Average Truck Weight.--The Secretary may assign an average 
truck weight for a truck carrying forest restoration byproducts from a 
project using--
            (1) existing load ticket data; and
            (2) an average product weight that is mutually agreed on by 
        the Forest Service and each partner for that project.
    (c) Maximum Truck Weight.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, on request of the Governor of Arizona, for a logging truck on a 
project--
            (1) the Secretary shall increase the maximum truck weight 
        limit on Forest Service roads and bridges to 91,800 pounds (or 
        the multi-axle equivalent); and
            (2) the Secretary of Transportation shall increase the 
        maximum truck weight limit on any route on the Interstate 
        System in the State of Arizona to 91,800 pounds (or the multi-
        axle equivalent).
    (d) Waiver of Cleaning and Inspection Requirements.--At the request 
of a partner, the Secretary shall waive any applicable cleaning or 
inspection requirement for any piece of equipment or any truck that--
            (1) is used in harvesting under the project; and
            (2) has passed at least 1 prior inspection.

SEC. 8. ADJUSTMENT TO TIME-SINCE-CUT REQUIREMENTS.

    The Secretary shall allow forest restoration byproducts harvested 
under a project to remain at the project site for not more than 120 
days before removal by the partner on that project.
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