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Directs the Forest Service to speed and prioritize hazardous-fuel reduction and insect/disease treatments in specially designated treatment areas by specifying when a streamlined NEPA categorical exclusion can be used, when fuller environmental review is required, and by excluding certain protected lands. It also requires annual public reporting of treated acreage. Separately, it requires Governors to keep revenue from timber sales made under Good Neighbor Agreements and use that money first for restoration services under the same agreement, and then for other Good Neighbor Agreement restoration work in the State.
Defines “insect and disease treatment area” as either (i) an area designated by the Secretary as an insect and disease treatment area under this title, or (ii) an area designated as at‑risk or a hazard on the most recent National Insect and Disease Risk Map published by the Forest Service.
Defines the term “Secretary” by reference to the meaning given in section 101(14)(A).
If carrying out a hazardous fuel or insect and disease risk reduction project in an insect and disease treatment area, the Secretary must apply the categorical exclusion established by section 603 when the project is in an area that (i) is designated as suitable for timber production within the applicable forest plan, or (ii) is an area where timber harvest activities are not prohibited.
The Secretary must conduct environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements (EISs) under this subsection when a project is carried out in (i) an insect and disease treatment area that is outside the areas described for the section 603 categorical exclusion or where other significant resource concerns exist (as determined exclusively by the Secretary), or (ii) an insect and disease treatment area equivalent to not less than a Hydrologic Unit Code 5 watershed (as defined by USGS).
For any other hazardous fuel or insect and disease risk reduction project, the Secretary must ensure the EA or EIS prepared under subsection (b) studies, develops, and describes (i) the proposed agency action and (ii) the alternative of no action.
Federal agencies (the Forest Service) will gain clearer statutory direction to carry out prioritized hazardous-fuel and insect/disease risk-reduction projects in specified treatment areas, including a defined path to use categorical NEPA exclusions for qualifying actions. That change can speed project planning and on-the-ground treatments, potentially reducing wildfire risk and insect/disease spread, while leaving fuller environmental review in place for excluded or higher-impact areas. State governments (Governors) will see a change in timber-revenue handling: revenue from timber sales under Good Neighbor Agreements must be retained by the Governor and spent first on restoration under the same agreement, then on other Good Neighbor Agreement restoration within the State, which can concentrate funds locally for additional restoration work. Local communities, rural residents, and forestry-related workers and contractors could benefit from faster treatments, more local restoration funding, and increased project activity (contracts, jobs, and forest-health outcomes). Environmental and conservation stakeholders may be concerned about any expansion of categorical exclusions from NEPA; however, the bill preserves environmental review for protected lands and for projects not meeting the exclusion conditions. Administrative effects include new reporting duties for the Forest Service and altered fund-management practices for State executives, but no direct new large-scale federal spending is created by these provisions.
Strikes existing subparagraph (C) of 16 U.S.C. 2113a(b)(2) and inserts a new subparagraph (C) specifying that funds received from the sale of timber by a Governor under a good neighbor agreement shall be retained and used by the Governor to (i) carry out authorized restoration services under that agreement and (ii) if funds remain, to carry out authorized restoration services within the State under other good neighbor agreements.
Adds a new subsection (i) to 16 U.S.C. 6514 that defines 'insect and disease treatment area' and directs the Forest Service on when to apply categorical exclusions, when to conduct environmental assessments or EISs, prioritization of reducing insect/disease infestation and wildfire risks, inclusion of Fire Regime Group IV in a categorical exclusion, exclusions for wilderness and inventoried roadless areas (with limited exceptions), and an annual public reporting requirement for acreage treated.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text: CR S794)
Introduced February 6, 2025 by John Thune · Last progress February 6, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text: CR S794)
Introduced in Senate