Topic: Public Lands — Public Lands
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2009-11-18 00:00:00

National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act of 2010 - (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to identify high-risk areas within the National Forest System in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming (the affected states). Defines "high-risk area" to mean a road, trail, or other area that poses a high risk to public health or safety due to hazard trees resulting from landscape-scale tree mortality caused by an insect or disease epidemic. Requires the Secretary to develop educational materials describing the risk posed by hazard trees in high-risk areas and the measures that can be taken by the public in avoiding or reducing such risk. Directs the Secretary to identify insect or disease epidemic areas within the National Forest System in the affected states and to include with such information an estimate of the annual mortality caused by the epidemic and a projection of future tree mortality resulting from such epidemic. Requires the information identified pursuant to this section to be made available to affected communities, fire departments, and the public. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts or provide financial assistance through cooperative agreements to help in the collection, development, monitoring, and distribution of such information and materials. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary to assist state and local governments, Indian tribes, private landowners, and other persons from an insect or disease epidemic area within the National Forest System in an affected state with the collection, harvest, storage, and transportation of eligible material to a biomass conversion facility in accordance with the Business Crop Assistance Program. Authorizes the Secretary to make payments to owners of nonindustrial private forest land in affected states to carry out emergency measures to restore their land after an insect or disease infestation. Directs the Secretary to carry out authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects in affected states on National Forest System land. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior to enter into good neighbor agreements with governors to coordinate the procurement and implementation of authorized restoration services. Defines a "good neighbor agreement" as a nonfunding master cooperative agreement between the Secretary and a governor or a memorandum of agreement or understanding between the Secretary and a governor. Requires contracts and subcontracts for authorized restoration services under this section to be in compliance with small business assistance and protection provisions. Terminates the authority of the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and contracts under this section on September 30, 2019, and prohibits the termination date of such an agreement from extending beyond September 30, 2020. Repeals separate authorities for cooperative services on National Forest System lands in Colorado and Utah. (Sec. 7) Authorizes appropriations.