H.R.1904
Burgess voted YES
Title:An act to improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands aimed at protecting communities, watersheds, and certain other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep McInnis, Scott [CO-3] (introduced 5/1/2003) Cosponsors: 137 Committees: House Agriculture; House Resources; House Judiciary; Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Senate Energy and Natural Resources House Reports: 108-96 Part 1, 108-96 Part 2; Senate Reports: 108-121; Conference Reports: 108-386 Related Bills: H.RES.239, H.RES.457, S.1449 Latest Major Action: 12/3/2003 Became Public Law No: 108-148 [Text, PDF] SUMMARY AS OF: 7/31/2003--Reported to Senate, amended. (There are 2 other summaries) Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 - Title I: Hazardous Fuels Reduction on Federal Land - (Sec. 102) Permits the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, to plan and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects (fuels projects) on specified types of Federal lands, including on certain lands that contain threatened and endangered species habitat. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary concerned to give priority to fuels projects that provide for the protection of communities and watersheds. (Sec. 104) Requires the Secretary concerned to plan and conduct fuels projects in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other applicable laws, except that the Secretary concerned shall be exempt from specified provisions of such Act pertaining to analysis of alternative options to proposed agency actions. Directs the Secretary concerned to provide for collaboration among governments, Indian tribes, and interested persons during the formulation of each fuels project in a manner consistent with standards in the Western Governors Association's ten-year wildfire management strategy. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to issue final regulations establishing a process that shall serve as the sole means by which an eligible individual shall be able to seek administrative review regarding a fuels project. (Sec. 106) Sets forth special requirements regarding judicial review of fuels projects. (Sec. 107) Provides injunctive relief for agency actions on Federal lands, including fuels projects, to restore fire-adapted forests or rangeland systems. (Sec. 108) States that nothing in this title shall be construed to affect or limit the use by the Secretary concerned of authorities other than this Act to plan or conduct a fuels project on Federal lands. Title II: Biomass - (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to make grants to: (1) improve the commercial value of forest biomass to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transportation fuels, substitutes for petroleum-based products, wood-based products, pulp, or other commercial products; and (2) offset the cost of projects to add value to biomass. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 204) Establishes reporting requirements. (Sec. 205) Amends the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 to expand certain research by developing new tools for land managers, including tools to estimate the cost to deliver varying quantities of wood to a particular location. (Sec. 206) Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to allow the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service and in collaboration with eligible institutions, to: (1) accelerate adoption of biomass technologies; (2) create community-based enterprises; and (3) establish small-scale business enterprises to make use of biomass. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Watershed Forestry Assistance - (Sec. 302) Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to permit the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, to provide assistance to State foresters and officials for the purpose of expanding State forest capacities and activities to address watershed issues on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested lands. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop, with relevant parties, a program of technical assistance to protect water quality; and (2) establish a watershed forestry cost-share program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, to provide assistance to Indian tribes for the purpose of expanding tribal stewardship capacities through tribal forestry best management practices to improve watershed health. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Insect Infestations and Related Diseases - (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary concerned to establish an accelerated program to plan, conduct, and promote comprehensive and systematic information gathering on forest-damaging insects and associated diseases. (Sec. 404) Allows the Secretary concerned to conduct applied silvicultural assessments on Federal lands that are infested with forest-damaging insects or that are at risk of such infestation. (Sec. 405) States that the authority provided to each Secretary in this title is supplemental to, and not in lieu of, any authority provided to the Secretaries in any other law. (Sec. 406) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 to 2008. Title V: Healthy Forests Reserve Program - (Sec. 501) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the healthy forests reserve program (the program) within the Forest Service for the purpose of restoring and enhancing forest ecosystems to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species as well as improve biodiversity and enhance carbon sequestration. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce, to designate rare forest ecosystems to be eligible for the program. Sets forth eligibility criteria (for private lands). Specifies that lands may be enrolled pursuant to: (1) a 10-year cost-share agreement; (2) a 30-year easement; or (3) a long-term easement with a buyback option. (Sec. 503) Subjects lands enrolled in the program to a restoration plan, which shall be developed jointly by the land owner and the Secretary of Agriculture. (Sec. 504) Sets forth the payment structures for the various methods of enrollment in the program. (Sec. 505) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide landowners with the technical assistance necessary to comply with the terms of plans under the program. (Sec. 506) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide safe harbor under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to landowners who enroll land in the program when such enrollment will result in a net conservation benefit for listed, candidate, or other species. (Sec. 508) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008. Title VI: Public Land Corps - (Sec. 603) Establishes the Public Land Corps, consisting of individuals who are enrolled as members of a service or conservation corps. Allows the Secretary concerned to enter into contracts or agreements with any service or conservation corps, or with State agencies that have agreements with a service or conservation corps, to perform rehabilitation, enhancement, or beautification projects on Federal and State lands and on Indian, Hawaiian, and Alaska native lands (with approval). (Sec. 604) Declares that the nondisplacement requirements of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 shall apply to activities carried out by the Corps under this title. (Sec. 605) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008. Title VII: Rural Community Forestry Enterprise Program - (Sec. 703) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, to establish the Rural Community Forestry Enterprise Program to enhance necessary skills and establish organizations to promote forest-related products and activities. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish at least one Forest Enterprise Center at each Research Station of the Forest Service. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 801) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a comprehensive plan to inventory, monitor, characterize, assess, and identify forest stands and potential forest stands in specified locations. States that issues to be addressed shall include: (1) the early detection, identification, and assessment of environmental threats; and (2) the loss or degradation of forests. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a comprehensive early warning system for potential catastrophic threats to forests. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009. (Sec. 802) Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to establish a program to provide local governments, tribal governments, and other entities with grants for use in hazardous fuels reduction projects that address the threat of wildfire caused by nonnative invasive plants. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 803) Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to expand the relevance and function of the Semiarid Agroforestry Research Center, which shall be renamed the USDA National Agroforestry Center. (Sec. 804) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Upland Hardwood Research Center which shall, in conjunction with the Southern Forest Research Station of the Department of Agriculture, provide a broad research and development program for the upland hardwood resources of the Ozark Mountains and the South. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008. (Sec. 805) Reaffirms the importance of the enhanced community fire protection program under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978.