Restoring Environments, Soils, Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural Economy Act of 2021 or the RESTORE Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA), at the request of a governor of a state, to select a forest landscape in the state on which to conduct a forest landscape project. For a project, USDA must carry out one or more specified management activities, including installing fuel breaks, conducting controlled burns, and removing dead trees.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2612 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2612
To provide for forest landscape projects, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2021
Mr. LaMalfa (for himself, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota,
Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Crawford) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in
addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, 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 provide for forest landscape projects, 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 ``Restoring Environments, Soils,
Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural Economy Act of 2021'' or the
``RESTORE Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FOREST LANDSCAPE PROJECTS.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, at the request
of a Governor of a State, select a forest landscape in the
State on which to conduct a forest landscape project described
in subsection (b)(1).
(2) Process.--
(A) Proposals.--To request a forest landscape
project be carried out in a State under paragraph (1),
the Governor of such State may submit to the Secretary
a proposal for a forest landscape project in such
State.
(B) Selection.--The Secretary may only select a
proposal submitted under subparagraph (A) if the
proposal will be conducted on a forest landscape.
(3) Applicability of nepa.--The selection of a forest
landscape under this subsection shall not be subject to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.).
(b) Forest Landscape Projects.--
(1) In general.--A forest landscape project carried out by
the Secretary under this section is a project--
(A) for which the Secretary carries out 1 or more
covered management activities described in paragraph
(2); and
(B) that takes place--
(i) on a forest landscape; and
(ii) on not more than 75,000 acres of--
(I) Federal land; or
(II) non-Federal land adjacent to
Federal land on which the project is
also carried out.
(2) Covered management activity.--A covered management
activity described in this paragraph is a forest management
activity to--
(A) install fuel breaks (including shaded fuel
breaks) not more than \1/2\-mile wide across a forest
landscape in a strategic system that maximizes the
reduction of wildfire risk to communities or
watersheds;
(B) carry out mechanical thinning (including
restoration thinning) of a forest landscape to clear--
(i) surface fuels, such as slash;
(ii) ladder fuels, such as small and medium
diameter trees and shrubs; or
(iii) both of the fuels described in
clauses (i) and (ii);
(C) conduct controlled burns; and
(D) remove dead trees, dying trees, or trees at
high-risk of dying.
(3) Requirements.--In carrying out a covered management
activity under a forest landscape project, the Secretary--
(A) shall--
(i) maximize the retention of old-growth
stands and large trees, as appropriate for the
forest type, to the extent that the trees
promote stands that are resilient to wildfire
and increased average temperature; and
(ii) consider the best available scientific
information to maintain or restore the
ecological integrity of the forest landscape;
and
(B) may not establish a permanent road.
(c) Environmental Analysis.--
(1) Application to certain environmental assessments and
environmental impact statements.--This subsection shall apply
in any case in which the Secretary prepares an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement pursuant to
section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C.4332(2)) for a forest landscape project--
(A) that--
(i) is developed through a collaborative
process; or
(ii) is covered by a community wildfire
protection plan; and
(B) the primary purpose of which is--
(i) to reduce the risk of wildfire in the
forest landscape;
(ii) to restore ecological health to the
forest landscape; or
(iii) to adapt the forest landscape to the
increased risk of wildfire due to climate
change.
(2) Consideration of alternatives.--In an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement described in
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall study, develop, and describe
only the following alternatives:
(A) The proposed agency action.
(B) The alternative of no action.
(3) Waiver.--In preparing an environmental impact statement
for a forest landscape project described in paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall not be required to comply with section
1502.11(g) or 1502.17 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations
(or successor regulations).
(d) Judicial Review in United States District Courts.--
(1) Venue.--Notwithstanding section 1391 of title 28,
United States Code, or other applicable law, a forest landscape
project for which an environmental assessment or an
environmental impact statement is prepared shall be subject to
judicial review only in--
(A) the United States district court for a district
in which the Federal land to be treated under the
forest landscape project is located; or
(B) the United States district court for the
District of Columbia.
(2) Expeditious completion of judicial review.--In the
judicial review of an action challenging a forest landscape
project described in paragraph (1), Congress encourages a court
of competent jurisdiction to expedite, to the maximum extent
practicable, the proceedings in the action with the goal of
rendering a final determination on jurisdiction, and, if
jurisdiction exists, a final determination on the merits, as
soon as practicable after the date on which a complaint or
appeal is filed to initiate the action.
(e) Exclusions.--The authorities provided under this section may
not apply to--
(1) any component of the National Wilderness Preservation
System, except with respect to wilderness study areas
determined, before the date of the enactment of this Act, to
not be suitable for wilderness designation;
(2) any congressionally designated wilderness study area;
(3) National Forest System lands--
(A) on which the removal of vegetation is
prohibited by Act of Congress;
(B) that are located within a national or State-
specific inventoried roadless area established by the
Secretary through regulation, unless--
(i) the forest management activity to be
carried out under such authority is consistent
with the forest plan applicable to the area;
(ii) the Secretary determines the forest
management activity is permissible under the
applicable roadless rule governing such lands;
or
(iii) the inventoried roadless area was not
recommended for wilderness designation as a
result of--
(I) the second roadless area review
and evaluation program (RARE II); or
(II) a subsequent revision of a
land and resources management plan
under section 6 of the Forest and
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning
Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); or
(C) on which timber harvesting for any purpose is
prohibited by Federal statute.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Collaborative process.--The term ``collaborative
process'' means a collaborative process described in section
4003(b)(2) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009
(16 U.S.C. 7303(b)(2)).
(2) Forest landscape.--The term ``forest landscape'' means
an area that--
(A) primarily or entirely contains land that has a
high or very high wildfire hazard potential;
(B) due to a fuel management activity in the area,
would have a reduced risk, as determined by the
Secretary--
(i) of wildfire endangering a nearby at-
risk community (as defined in section 101 of
the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16
U.S.C. 6511));
(ii) of wildfire damaging a municipal
watershed or infrastructure that serves an at-
risk community described in clause (i); or
(iii) of the transmission of a high
intensity wildfire from the applicable
wildland-urban interface or forest landscape to
a nearby community; and
(C) to the extent practicable, is conducive to the
development and implementation of projects relating to
wildfire resilience and forest health or removal of
dead or dying trees that are carried out through a
collaborative process.
(3) Forest landscape project.--The term ``forest landscape
project'' means a project described in subsection (b)(1).
(4) Forest plan.--The term ``forest plan'' means a land and
resource management plan prepared by the Forest Service for a
unit of the National Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974
(16 U.S.C. 1604).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for fiscal year
2021 and each fiscal year thereafter.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, 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 Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, 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 Committees on Natural Resources, and the Judiciary, 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.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
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