Special Forest Products Program Reauthorization Act of 2019
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a program of charging and collecting fees for forest botanical products harvested on National Forest System (NFS) lands. Under the program, USDA may not permit forest botanical products to be harvested in excess of sustainable harvest levels.
Collected fees must be in an amount to recover a portion of the fair market value of the harvested forest botanical products and a portion of all of the costs incurred by USDA that are associated with the granting, modifying, or monitoring of the authorization for harvest of the products, including the costs of any environmental or other analysis.
USDA must establish a personal use harvest level for each forest botanical product. The harvesting of a forest botanical product below that level by a person for personal use shall not be subject to the charges and fees under this bill.
USDA shall (1) conduct analyses to determine whether and how the harvest of forest botanical products on NFS lands can be conducted on a sustainable basis, and (2) establish procedures and timeframes for monitoring and revising the harvest levels established for such products.
Funds collected under the program shall be expended at NFS units to pay for the costs of conducting inventories of forest botanical products, determining sustainable levels of harvest, monitoring and assessing the impacts of harvest levels and methods, restoration activities, and authorizing harvest.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4357 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4357
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to
charge and collect not less than the fair market value for forest
botanical products harvested on National Forest System lands, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2019
Ms. Herrera Beutler (for herself and Mr. Schrader) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and
in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to
charge and collect not less than the fair market value for forest
botanical products harvested on National Forest System lands, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Special Forest Products Program
Reauthorization Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. CHARGES AND FEES FOR HARVEST OF FOREST BOTANICAL PRODUCTS.
(a) Recovery of Fair Market Value for Products.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and carry
out a program to charge and collect fees under subsection (b)
for forest botanical products harvested on National Forest
System lands.
(2) Appraisal methods; bidding procedures.--The Secretary
shall establish appraisal methods and bidding procedures to
ensure that the amounts collected for forest botanical products
are not less than fair market value.
(b) Fees.--
(1) Imposition and collection.--The Secretary shall charge
and collect fees from persons who harvest forest botanical
products on National Forest System lands.
(2) Amount of fee.--The fees collected under paragraph (1)
shall be in an amount established by the Secretary to recover
at least a portion of the fair market value of the harvested
forest botanical products and a portion of all the costs
incurred by the Department of Agriculture associated with the
granting, modifying, or monitoring the authorization for
harvest of the forest botanical products, including the costs
of any environmental or other analysis.
(3) Security.--The Secretary may require a person assessed
a fee under this subsection to provide security to ensure that
the Secretary receives the fees imposed under this subsection
from the person.
(c) Sustainable Harvest Levels for Forest Botanical Products.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
(A) conduct appropriate analyses to determine
whether and how the harvest of forest botanical
products on National Forest System lands can be
conducted on a sustainable basis; and
(B) establish procedures and timeframes to monitor
and revise the harvest levels established for forest
botanical products.
(2) Prohibition on harvest in excess of sustainable
levels.--The Secretary may not permit under the program under
this section the harvest of forest botanical products at levels
in excess of sustainable harvest levels, as defined under
section 4 of the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16
U.S.C. 531).
(d) Waiver Authority.--
(1) Personal use.--The Secretary shall establish a personal
use harvest level for each forest botanical product, and the
harvest of a forest botanical product below that level by a
person for personal use shall not be subject to charges and
fees under subsections (a) and (b).
(2) Other exceptions.--The Secretary may also waive the
application of subsection (a) or (b) pursuant to such
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.
(e) Deposit and Use of Funds.--
(1) Deposit.--Funds collected under the program in
accordance with subsections (a) and (b) shall be deposited into
a special account in the Treasury of the United States.
(2) Funds available.--Funds deposited into the special
account in accordance with paragraph (1) shall remain available
until expended without further appropriation.
(3) Authorized uses.--The funds made available under
paragraph (2) shall be expended at units of the National Forest
System in proportion to the charges and fees collected at that
unit under the program under this section to pay for--
(A) the costs of conducting inventories of forest
botanical products, determining sustainable levels of
harvest, monitoring and assessing the impacts of
harvest levels and methods, and for restoration
activities, including any necessary vegetation; and
(B) the costs described in subsection (b)(2).
(4) Treatment of fees.--Funds collected under the program
in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) shall not be taken
into account for the purposes of the following laws:
(A) The sixth paragraph under the heading ``forest
service'' in the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500),
and section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly
known as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C. 500).
(B) The fourteenth paragraph under the heading
``forest service'' in the Act of March 4, 1913 (16
U.S.C. 501).
(C) Section 33 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant
Act (7 U.S.C. 1012).
(D) The Act of August 8, 1937, and the Act of May
24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181a et seq.).
(E) Section 6 of the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly
known as the Recreation and Public Purposes Act; 43
U.S.C. 869-4).
(F) Chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code. (G)
Section 401 of the Act of June 15, 1935 (16 U.S.C.
715s).
(G) Section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a).
(H) Any other provision of law relating to revenue
allocation.
(f) Reporting Requirements.--As soon as practicable after the end
of each fiscal year in which the Secretary collects charges and fees
under the program in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) or expends
funds from the special account under subsection (e), the Secretary
shall submit to the Congress a report summarizing the activities of the
Secretary under the program under this section, including the funds
collected under the program in accordance with subsections (a) and (b),
the expenses incurred to carry out the program under this section, and
the expenditures made from the special account during that fiscal year.
(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Forest botanical product.--The term ``forest botanical
product''--
(A) means any naturally occurring mushroom, fungus,
flower, seed, root, bark, leaf, or other vegetation (or
portion thereof) that grows on National Forest System
lands; and
(B) does not include trees, or portions of trees,
except as provided in regulations issued under this
section by the Secretary.
(2) National forest system.--The term ``National Forest
System'' has the meaning given that term in section 11(a) of
the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of
1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.
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