Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB179 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 179
5	5	To direct the Secretary concerned to coordinate with impacted parties when
6	6	conducting a forest management activity, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	JANUARY3, 2025
9	9	Mr. M
10	10	CCLINTOCK(for himself, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. VALADAO,
11	11	Mr. S
12	12	TAUBER, and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; which was re-
13	13	ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee
14	14	on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
15	15	Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
16	16	the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To direct the Secretary concerned to coordinate with im-
19	19	pacted parties when conducting a forest management
20	20	activity, and for other purposes.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Proven Forest Man-4
25	25	agement Act of 2025’’. 5
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28	28	•HR 179 IH
29	29	SEC. 2. FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES FOR NATIONAL 1
30	30	FOREST SYSTEM LAND. 2
31	31	(a) C
32	32	OORDINATION.—In conducting a forest manage-3
33	33	ment activity on National Forest System land, the Sec-4
34	34	retary concerned shall, as appropriate, coordinate with im-5
35	35	pacted parties to increase efficiency and maximize the 6
36	36	compatibility of management practices across National 7
37	37	Forest System land. 8
38	38	(b) F
39	39	ORESTMANAGEMENTACTIVITIES.— 9
40	40	(1) I
41	41	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-10
42	42	graph (2), in conducting a forest management activ-11
43	43	ity on National Forest System land, the Secretary 12
44	44	concerned shall conduct such activity in a manner 13
45	45	that attains multiple ecosystem benefits, including— 14
46	46	(A) reducing forest fuels; 15
47	47	(B) maintaining biological diversity; 16
48	48	(C) improving wetland and water quality, 17
49	49	including in Stream Environment Zones; and 18
50	50	(D) increasing resilience to changing water 19
51	51	temperature and precipitation. 20
52	52	(2) E
53	53	XCEPTION FOR COST .—Paragraph (1) 21
54	54	shall not apply if the Secretary concerned deter-22
55	55	mines that the costs associated with attaining mul-23
56	56	tiple ecosystem benefits are excessive. 24
57	57	(c) G
58	58	ROUNDDISTURBANCE.—Consistent with appli-25
59	59	cable Federal law and the forest plan developed for the 26
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62	62	•HR 179 IH
63	63	relevant National Forest System land, the Secretary con-1
64	64	cerned shall— 2
65	65	(1) establish any post-program ground condi-3
66	66	tion criteria for a ground disturbance caused by a 4
67	67	forest management activity required by such plan; 5
68	68	and 6
69	69	(2) provide for monitoring to ascertain the at-7
70	70	tainment of relevant post-program conditions. 8
71	71	(d) A
72	72	VAILABILITY OFCATEGORICALEXCLUSION FOR 9
73	73	C
74	74	ERTAINFORESTMANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—A forest 10
75	75	management activity conducted on National Forest Sys-11
76	76	tem land for the purpose of reducing forest fuels is cat-12
77	77	egorically excluded from the requirements of the National 13
78	78	Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 14
79	79	seq.) if the forest management activity— 15
80	80	(1) notwithstanding section 423 of the Depart-16
81	81	ment of the Interior, Environment, and Related 17
82	82	Agencies Appropriations Act, 2009 (division E of 18
83	83	Public Law 111–8; 123 Stat. 748), does not exceed 19
84	84	10,000 acres, including not more than 3,000 acres 20
85	85	of mechanical thinning; 21
86	86	(2) is developed— 22
87	87	(A) in coordination with impacted parties, 23
88	88	specifically including representatives of local 24
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91	91	•HR 179 IH
92	92	governments, such as county supervisors or 1
93	93	county commissioners; and 2
94	94	(B) in consultation with other interested 3
95	95	entities; and 4
96	96	(3) is consistent with the forest plan developed 5
97	97	for the relevant National Forest System land. 6
98	98	(e) C
99	99	OOPERATIVE AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary 7
100	100	concerned, in conjunction with land adjustment programs, 8
101	101	may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with 9
102	102	a qualified entity to provide for fuel reduction, erosion 10
103	103	control, reforestation, Stream Environment Zone restora-11
104	104	tion, and similar management activities on Federal land 12
105	105	and non-Federal land within the programs. 13
106	106	(f) D
107	107	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14
108	108	(1) I
109	109	NTERESTED ENTITIES .—The term ‘‘inter-15
110	110	ested entities’’ includes— 16
111	111	(A) the Administrator of the National Oce-17
112	112	anic and Atmospheric Administration; 18
113	113	(B) State, local, and Tribal governments; 19
114	114	(C) local fire departments; and 20
115	115	(D) other relevant volunteer groups. 21
116	116	(2) F
117	117	OREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY .—The 22
118	118	term ‘‘forest management activity’’ means a project 23
119	119	or activity carried out by the Secretary concerned on 24
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122	122	•HR 179 IH
123	123	National Forest System land and consistent with the 1
124	124	forest plan covering such land. 2
125	125	(3) N
126	126	ATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM .—The term 3
127	127	‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 4
128	128	that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range-5
129	129	land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 6
130	130	U.S.C. 1609(a)). 7
131	131	(4) P
132	132	UBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 8
133	133	has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 9
134	134	the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 10
135	135	1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term in-11
136	136	cludes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Or-12
137	137	egon and California Railroad Grant lands. 13
138	138	(5) S
139	139	ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-14
140	140	retary concerned’’ means— 15
141	141	(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-16
142	142	spect to National Forest System land; and 17
143	143	(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-18
144	144	spect to public lands. 19
145	145	(6) S
146	146	TREAM ENVIRONMENT ZONE .—The term 20
147	147	‘‘Stream Environment Zone’’ means an area that 21
148	148	generally owes the biological and physical character-22
149	149	istics of the area to the presence of surface water or 23
150	150	groundwater. 24
151	151	Æ
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