| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 3990 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | of 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program. |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | JUNE9, 2023 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Ms. S |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | CHRIER(for herself, Mr. MOOREof Alabama, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. CAR- |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | SON, Mr. CARTERof Georgia, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the fol- |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | Research Act of 1978 to modify the forest inventory |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | and analysis program. |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Data Mod-4 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | ernization Act of 2023’’. 5 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS. 6 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | NGENERAL.—Section 3(e) of the Forest and 7 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 8 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | (16 U.S.C. 1642(e)) is amended— 9 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | (A) by striking ‘‘their resources’’ and in-2 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | serting ‘‘the resources of those forests, includ-3 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | ing forest carbon,’’; 4 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | (B) by striking ‘‘In compliance’’ and in-5 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | serting the following: 6 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘(A) I |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | N GENERAL.—In compliance’’; and 7 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(B) A |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | DDITIONAL METHODS .—Under the 9 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | program under this subsection, the Secretary 10 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | shall carry out, as a data collection method— 11 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘(i) a national timber products output 12 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | survey; and 13 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | ‘‘(ii) a national woodland owner sur-14 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | vey.’’; 15 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ‘‘including 16 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | with respect to available forest carbon data,’’ after 17 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | ‘‘2 decades,’’; 18 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (3) in paragraph (4)— 19 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | (A) in the second sentence, by striking 20 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | ‘‘The standards’’ and inserting the following: 21 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | ‘‘(B) I |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | NCLUSIONS.—The standards de-22 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | scribed in subparagraph (A)’’; 23 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | (B) by striking ‘‘(4) NATIONAL STAND-1 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | ARDS AND DEFINITIONS .—To ensure’’ and in-2 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | serting the following: 3 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘(4) N |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | ATIONAL CONSISTENCY.— 4 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(A) S |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | TANDARDS AND DEFINITIONS .—To 5 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | ensure’’; and 6 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | ‘‘(C) T |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | ERMINOLOGY.—The Secretary shall 8 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | include a clear description of the definition of 9 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | ‘forest’ used for purposes of reporting data 10 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | from inventories and analyses of forests and the 11 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | resources of forests under this subsection 12 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | with— 13 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | ‘‘(i) any data or report provided under 14 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | the program under this subsection; 15 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘(ii) Renewable Resource Assessments 16 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest 17 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan-18 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | ning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)); and 19 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘(iii) any data or report provided to 20 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | an entity outside the United States.’’; 21 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | (4) in paragraph (6)— 22 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 23 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | (A), by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 24 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | the date of enactment of this subsection,’’ and 25 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | inserting ‘‘In accordance with paragraph (7),’’; 1 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | and 2 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | (B) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) 3 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | and inserting the following: 4 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(D) the organization and procedures nec-5 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | essary to understand and report on changes in 6 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | land cover and use; 7 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | ‘‘(E) the organization and procedures nec-8 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | essary to evaluate carbon-related data variables, 9 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | including soil carbon, collected from forest in-10 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | ventory and analysis plots, timber products out-11 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | put studies, and national woodland owner sur-12 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | veys to ensure that carbon accounting informa-13 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | tion needs can be met; and’’; and 14 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | (5) by adding at the end the following: 15 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(7) U |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | PDATES TO STRATEGIC PLAN .— 16 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | ‘‘(A) I |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 17 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | days after the date of enactment of this para-18 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | graph, the Secretary shall prepare an update to 19 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | the strategic plan under paragraph (6) to in-20 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | clude— 21 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | ‘‘(i) a plan to implement nationally 22 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | consistent data collection protocols and 23 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | procedures to improve the statistical preci-24 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | sion of base program estimates; 25 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | ‘‘(ii) pathways to integrate and report 1 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | on status and trends in forest carbon 2 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | pools, including below-ground carbon; 3 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | ‘‘(iii) plans, including the identifica-4 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | tion of challenges, to collaborate with other 5 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | Federal agencies, non-Federal partners, 6 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | and the private sector to integrate existing 7 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | nationally available data sets and best 8 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | available commercial technologies, such as 9 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | remote sensing, spatial analysis techniques, 10 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | and other new technologies; 11 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | ‘‘(iv) a plan to increase transparency 12 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | and clarity in reporting in accordance with 13 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | paragraph (4)(C); 14 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(v) a plan to expand current data 15 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | collection, further integrate remote sensing 16 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | technology, or both, to include procedures 17 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | to improve the statistical precision of esti-18 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | mates at the sub-State level; 19 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | ‘‘(vi) a plan to expand current data 20 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | collection, further integrate remote sensing 21 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | technology, or both, to include information 22 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | on renewable biomass supplies and carbon 23 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | stocks at the local, State, regional, and na-24 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | tional levels, including by ownership type; 1 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | and 2 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | ‘‘(vii) such other matters as the Sec-3 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | retary determines to be appropriate based 4 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | on recommendations of the Forest Inven-5 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | tory and Analysis National User Group. 6 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(B) S |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | UBMISSION.—Not later than 180 7 |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | days after the date of enactment of this para-8 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | graph, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-9 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 10 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | of the Senate and the Committee on Agri-11 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | culture of the House of Representatives the up-12 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | date to the strategic plan prepared under sub-13 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | paragraph (A). 14 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | ‘‘(C) F |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | URTHER UPDATES .—Not later than 15 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | 5 years after the date on which the update is 16 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | submitted under subparagraph (B), and every 5 17 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | years thereafter, the Secretary shall— 18 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | ‘‘(i) prepare an additional update to 19 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | the strategic plan; and 20 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(ii) submit the additional update to 21 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | the committees described in subparagraph 22 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | (B). 23 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | ‘‘(8) A |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | CCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en-24 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | sure that data collected under this subsection is— 25 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | ‘‘(A) easily accessible to all public- and pri-1 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | vate-sector entities; and 2 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | ‘‘(B) collected and made accessible using 3 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | means that ensure the confidentiality, in ac-4 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | cordance with section 1770 of the Food Secu-5 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | rity Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276), of— 6 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(i) plot locations; 7 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | ‘‘(ii) nonaggregated data of woodland 8 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | owners; and 9 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(iii) nonaggregated data from timber 10 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | product output survey. 11 |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(9) B |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | IENNIAL COMPILATIONS.—Biennially, the 12 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | Secretary shall prepare and make publicly available 13 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | a compilation of national forest inventory and anal-14 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | ysis forest statistics, which shall be similar to the ta-15 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | bles contained in the Renewable Resource Assess-16 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | ments prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest and 17 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 18 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)), accompanied by relevant 19 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | geospatial products. 20 |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | ‘‘(10) E |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | XTERNAL COMPLEX DATA REQUESTS .— 21 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(A) I |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 22 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | establish an office, a data platform, or both to 23 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | process and respond to complex data requests 24 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | submitted by external organizations relating to 1 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | the program under this subsection. 2 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | ‘‘(B) F |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | EES.—To cover the costs of proc-3 |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | essing of and responding to complex data re-4 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | quests described in subparagraph (A), the Sec-5 |
|---|
| 214 | 214 | | retary may impose fees on the external organi-6 |
|---|
| 215 | 215 | | zations submitting the requests. 7 |
|---|
| 216 | 216 | | ‘‘(11) R |
|---|
| 217 | 217 | | EPORTS.—Each year, the Secretary 8 |
|---|
| 218 | 218 | | shall publish as part of the forest inventory and 9 |
|---|
| 219 | 219 | | analysis business report a detailed description of the 10 |
|---|
| 220 | 220 | | progress of the Secretary in implementing the pro-11 |
|---|
| 221 | 221 | | grammatic elements of the strategic plan described 12 |
|---|
| 222 | 222 | | in paragraph (6), including— 13 |
|---|
| 223 | 223 | | ‘‘(A) the costs and priorities of the stra-14 |
|---|
| 224 | 224 | | tegic plan; and 15 |
|---|
| 225 | 225 | | ‘‘(B) how the program under this sub-16 |
|---|
| 226 | 226 | | section leverages new technology, improves and 17 |
|---|
| 227 | 227 | | standardizes collection protocols, and increases 18 |
|---|
| 228 | 228 | | workforce capacity.’’. 19 |
|---|
| 229 | 229 | | (b) R |
|---|
| 230 | 230 | | EMOTESENSINGTECHNOLOGIES.—Section 20 |
|---|
| 231 | 231 | | 8632(1) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16 21 |
|---|
| 232 | 232 | | U.S.C. 1642 note; Public Law 115–334) is amended by 22 |
|---|
| 233 | 233 | | striking ‘‘technologies’’ and inserting ‘‘technologies, such 23 |
|---|
| 234 | 234 | | as microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, and high-resolution 24 |
|---|
| 235 | 235 | | remote sensing data, and advanced computing tech-25 |
|---|
| 236 | 236 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 237 | 237 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 |
|---|
| 238 | 238 | | •HR 3990 IH |
|---|
| 239 | 239 | | nologies for improved modeling to provide tabular statis-1 |
|---|
| 240 | 240 | | tical estimates and geospatial products,’’. 2 |
|---|
| 241 | 241 | | Æ |
|---|
| 242 | 242 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3990.IH H3990 |
|---|
| 243 | 243 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
|---|