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Adds a new subparagraph to the definition of "weatherization materials" to include materials resistant to high heat and fire, and redesignates an existing subparagraph.
Adds a new required provision to the weatherization program specifying use of fire- and drought-resistant building materials and incorporation of wildfire and drought prevention and mitigation planning.
Revises the limitations on financial assistance: restructures paragraph formatting, explicitly includes labor and weatherization materials in a subsection title, sets an average cost limit of $13,000 (adjusted annually) with allowance for waiver, and increases a separate amount to $6,000 (adjusted annually).
Adds a new section (607) at the end of title VI directing the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to expedite deployment and permitting of wildfire detection equipment, expand use of remote sensing, review permitting and procurement, support disclosure of nonconfidential wildland fire data under the OPEN Government Data Act, and utilize technologies to analyze fire incident performance.
Updates the table of contents for the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to add an item relating to the new section 607 in title VI.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced January 30, 2025 by Alejandro Padilla · Last progress January 30, 2025
Creates a pilot program to speed large-scale forest restoration on National Forest System lands using “conservation finance agreements,” and directs agencies to expand programs that make communities and critical infrastructure more resilient to wildfires and extreme weather. It also funds and sets up training, workforce, and community grant programs for prescribed fire, forestry workforce development, and local stewardship near National Forest lands. The bill sets rules and limits for private-public restoration agreements, requires agency reporting, directs energy and weatherization actions (including microgrids and fire/drought-resistant weatherization), expands wildfire detection and permitting steps, and establishes grant programs and training centers to scale prescribed fire and local capacity-building for forest and community resilience.
Defines “conservation finance agreement” as a mutual-benefit agreement (not a procurement contract, grant, or cooperative agreement) for a conservation finance project, with a term of not less than 2 and not more than 20 years, may make performance in later years contingent on appropriations, and may provide for a cancellation payment to the project developer.
Defines “conservation finance project” as a project on National Forest System land (and possibly adjoining land) that protects, restores, or improves NFS land, uses debt financing (loaned capital repaid by project beneficiaries), and whose purpose is to conduct ecological restoration treatments tied to specified programs (e.g., Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program).
Defines related terms: conservation finance project beneficiary, developer, and investor; ecological integrity and restoration (by reference to 36 C.F.R. 219.19); low-income community (by reference to IRC section 45D(e)); Secretary (Secretary of Agriculture); and wildland-urban interface (by reference to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act).
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a pilot program to enter into conservation finance agreements with public or private persons (for-profit or nonprofit) to carry out conservation finance projects, provided the Secretary finds specified conditions are met (reasonable expectation of funding requests, sufficient supply of small-diameter material or hazardous fuels, alignment with the title’s purpose, and involvement of a project developer).
The Secretary may enter into agreements that include conservation finance project developer services in return for payments in future years contingent on appropriations, and may include cancellation or termination provisions to protect the United States’ interests.
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Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate