I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 3009
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to facilitate
tree planting that reduces residential energy consumption, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL24, 2025
Ms. M
ATSUI(for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant pro-
gram to facilitate tree planting that reduces residential
energy consumption, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trees for Residential 4
Energy and Economic Savings Act of 2025’’ or the 5
‘‘TREES Act of 2025’’. 6
SEC. 2. TREE PLANTING GRANT PROGRAM. 7
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 8
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-9
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tablish a program under which the Secretary may award 1
grants to eligible entities to facilitate covered projects in 2
accordance with this section. 3
(b) C
ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the Program, 4
the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Agri-5
culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service. 6
(c) A
PPLICATIONS.—To receive a grant under the 7
Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 8
an application at such time, in such form, and containing 9
such information as the Secretary may require, including 10
the following: 11
(1) A description of how the proposed covered 12
project will reduce residential energy consumption. 13
(2) An estimate of the expected reduction in 14
residential energy consumption to be achieved by the 15
covered project. 16
(3) A description of the total eligible costs of 17
the project and other sources of funding for the cov-18
ered project. 19
(4) A description of anticipated community en-20
gagement in the covered project. 21
(5) A description of the tree species to be plant-22
ed under the covered project and the suitability of 23
such species to the local environment. 24
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(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro-1
gram, the Secretary shall give priority to covered projects 2
that— 3
(1) provide the largest potential reduction in 4
residential energy consumption for households with a 5
high energy burden; 6
(2) provide maximum amounts of— 7
(A) shade during periods when residences 8
are exposed to the most sun intensity; and 9
(B) wind protection during periods when 10
residences are exposed to the most wind inten-11
sity; 12
(3) are located in a neighborhood with a low 13
percentage of tree canopy cover; 14
(4) are located in a neighborhood with a high 15
percentage of senior citizens or children; 16
(5) are located in an area where the average 17
annual income is below the regional median; 18
(6) will collaboratively engage community mem-19
bers to be affected by the tree planting; and 20
(7) will employ local residents as a substantial 21
percentage of the workforce of the covered project, 22
with a focus on local residents who are unemployed 23
or underemployed. 24
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(e) TREEPLANTINGGOALS.—Subject to the avail-1
ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall, to the max-2
imum extent practicable, award grants under the Program 3
in a manner that facilitates the planting of at least 4
300,000 trees each year. 5
(f) F
EDERALSHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 6
of a covered project assisted by a grant awarded under 7
the Program shall be 90 percent. 8
(g) A
UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Program, 10
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 11
(h) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12
(1) C
OVERED PROJECT .—The term ‘‘covered 13
project’’ means a tree planting project carried out to 14
reduce residential energy consumption. 15
(2) E
LIGIBLE COST.—The term ‘‘eligible cost’’ 16
means, with respect to a covered project— 17
(A) the cost of carrying out the project, in-18
cluding— 19
(i) planning and design activities; 20
(ii) establishing nurseries to supply 21
trees; 22
(iii) purchasing trees; and 23
(iv) preparing sites and planting trees; 24
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(B) the cost of maintaining and monitoring 1
planted trees for a period of not more than 3 2
years; 3
(C) the cost of training activities; and 4
(D) any other cost determined appropriate 5
by the Secretary. 6
(3) E
LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-7
ty’’ means each of the following: 8
(A) A State government entity. 9
(B) A local government entity. 10
(C) An Indian Tribe. 11
(D) A nonprofit organization. 12
(E) A retail power provider. 13
(4) E
NERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘energy bur-14
den’’ means the percentage of household income 15
spent on residential energy bills. 16
(5) I
NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 17
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 18
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 19
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 20
(6) L
OCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITY .—The term 21
‘‘local government entity’’ means any municipal gov-22
ernment or county government entity with jurisdic-23
tion over local land use decisions. 24
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(7) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION .—The term 1
‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de-2
scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 3
Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 4
501(a) of such Code. 5
(8) P
ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 6
the program established under subsection (a). 7
(9) R
ETAIL POWER PROVIDER .—The term ‘‘re-8
tail power provider’’ means any entity authorized 9
under State or Federal law to generate, distribute, 10
or provide retail electricity, natural gas, or fuel oil 11
service. 12
(10) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 13
means the Secretary of Energy. 14
Æ
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