Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB140 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 140
5	5	To address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public
6	6	lands, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JANUARY16, 2025
9	9	Mr. B
10	10	ARRASSO(for himself, Mr. DAINES, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. SHEEHY, and Mr.
11	11	R
12	12	ISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
13	13	to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To address the forest health crisis on the National Forest
16	16	System and public lands, and for other purposes.
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
20	20	(a) S
21	21	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
22	22	‘‘Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025’’. 5
23	23	(b) T
24	24	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
25	25	this Act is as follows: 7
26	26	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
27	27	Sec. 2. Definitions.
28	28	TITLE I—ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER RHETORIC
29	29	Sec. 101. Accelerating treatments on Federal land.
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33	33	Sec. 102. Annual reports.
34	34	Sec. 103. Transparency in hazardous fuels reduction activity reporting.
35	35	Sec. 104. Regional forest carbon accounting.
36	36	Sec. 105. Wildland fire performance metrics.
37	37	TITLE II—FOREST MANAGEMENT
38	38	Sec. 201. Vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and main-
39	39	tenance relating to electric transmission and distribution facil-
40	40	ity rights-of-way.
41	41	Sec. 202. Timber sales on National Forest System land.
42	42	Sec. 203. Categorical exclusion for high-priority hazard trees.
43	43	Sec. 204. Intervenor status.
44	44	Sec. 205. Utilizing grazing for wildfire risk reduction.
45	45	TITLE III—CULTURAL CHANGE IN AGENCIES
46	46	Sec. 301. Mandatory use of existing authorities.
47	47	Sec. 302. Public-private wildfire technology deployment and testbed partner-
48	48	ship.
49	49	Sec. 303. Repeal of FLAME reports.
50	50	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
51	51	1
52	52	In this Act: 2
53	53	(1) F
54	54	EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 3
55	55	means— 4
56	56	(A) land of the National Forest System; 5
57	57	and 6
58	58	(B) public lands (as defined in section 103 7
59	59	of the Federal Land Policy and Management 8
60	60	Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)), the surface of 9
61	61	which is administered by the Secretary of the 10
62	62	Interior, acting through the Director of the Bu-11
63	63	reau of Land Management. 12
64	64	(2) H
65	65	AZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ACTIV -13
66	66	ITY.— 14
67	67	(A) I
68	68	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘hazardous 15
69	69	fuels reduction activity’’ means any vegetation 16
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73	73	management activity to reduce the risk of wild-1
74	74	fire, including mechanical treatments and pre-2
75	75	scribed burning. 3
76	76	(B) E
77	77	XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘hazardous 4
78	78	fuels reduction activity’’ does not include the 5
79	79	awarding of a contract to conduct any activity 6
80	80	described in subparagraph (A). 7
81	81	(3) N
82	82	ATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM .— 8
83	83	(A) I
84	84	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 9
85	85	Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 10
86	86	in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 11
87	87	Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 12
88	88	U.S.C. 1609(a)). 13
89	89	(B) E
90	90	XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 14
91	91	Forest System’’ does not include any forest re-15
92	92	serve not created from the public domain. 16
93	93	(4) S
94	94	ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-17
95	95	retary concerned’’ means— 18
96	96	(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 19
97	97	through the Chief of the Forest Service, with 20
98	98	respect to Federal land described in paragraph 21
99	99	(1)(A); and 22
100	100	(B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 23
101	101	through the Director of the Bureau of Land 24
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105	105	Management, with respect to Federal land de-1
106	106	scribed in paragraph (1)(B). 2
107	107	(5) W
108	108	ILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE .—The term 3
109	109	‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ has the meaning given 4
110	110	the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res-5
111	111	toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 6
112	112	TITLE I—ACCOMPLISHMENTS 7
113	113	OVER RHETORIC 8
114	114	SEC. 101. ACCELERATING TREATMENTS ON FEDERAL 9
115	115	LAND. 10
116	116	(a) B
117	117	ASELINETREATMENTS FOR FUELSREDUCTION 11
118	118	ANDFORESTHEALTH.—For Federal land, the Secretary 12
119	119	concerned shall determine— 13
120	120	(1) for each of fiscal years 2019 through 14
121	121	2023— 15
122	122	(A) the number of acres mechanically 16
123	123	thinned, for acres commercially thinned and for 17
124	124	acres pre-commercially thinned; and 18
125	125	(B) the number of acres treated by pre-19
126	126	scribed fire; and 20
127	127	(2) the average of the numbers described in 21
128	128	subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) over 22
129	129	the period of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. 23
130	130	(b) A
131	131	NNUALGOALS.— 24
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135	135	(1) IN GENERAL.—For Federal land for fiscal 1
136	136	year 2025 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Sec-2
137	137	retary concerned shall establish annual— 3
138	138	(A) mechanical thinning goals for acres 4
139	139	commercially thinned and for acres pre-com-5
140	140	mercially thinned; and 6
141	141	(B) prescribed fire goals. 7
142	142	(2) R
143	143	EQUIREMENTS.— 8
144	144	(A) F
145	145	ISCAL YEARS 2025 AND 2026 .—For 9
146	146	each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the goals 10
147	147	established under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 11
148	148	paragraph (1) shall be not less than the number 12
149	149	of acres described in subsection (a)(2). 13
150	150	(B) F
151	151	ISCAL YEARS 2027 AND 2028 .—For 14
152	152	each of fiscal years 2027 and 2028, the goals 15
153	153	established under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 16
154	154	paragraph (1) shall be not less than 20 percent 17
155	155	more than the number of acres described in 18
156	156	subsection (a)(2). 19
157	157	(C) F
158	158	ISCAL YEAR 2029 AND SUBSEQUENT 20
159	159	FISCAL YEARS.—For fiscal year 2029 and each 21
160	160	fiscal year thereafter, the goals established 22
161	161	under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 23
162	162	(1) shall be not less than 40 percent more than 24
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166	166	the number of acres described in subsection 1
167	167	(a)(2). 2
168	168	(c) R
169	169	EGIONALALLOTMENTS.—Not later than 90 3
170	170	days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 4
171	171	thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall assign annual 5
172	172	acreage allotments for mechanical thinning and prescribed 6
173	173	fire on Federal land, categorized by National Forest Sys-7
174	174	tem region or by State, as appropriate. 8
175	175	(d) P
176	176	UBLICATION.—The Secretary concerned shall 9
177	177	make publicly available the data described in subsections 10
178	178	(a), (b), and (c), including by publishing that data on the 11
179	179	website of the Forest Service and the website of the Bu-12
180	180	reau of Land Management. 13
181	181	(e) S
182	182	AVINGSPROVISION.—Nothing in this section 14
183	183	shall be construed to supersede or conflict with any other 15
184	184	provision of law, including— 16
185	185	(1) section 40803(b) of the Infrastructure In-17
186	186	vestment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(b)); and 18
187	187	(2) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 19
188	188	seq.). 20
189	189	(f) A
190	190	PPLICABILITY OFNEPA.—The establishment of 21
191	191	annual goals under subsection (b)(1) and the assignment 22
192	192	of regional allotments under subsection (c) shall not be 23
193	193	subject to the requirements of the National Environmental 24
194	194	Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 25
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198	198	SEC. 102. ANNUAL REPORTS. 1
199	199	Not later than September 30, 2025, and annually 2
200	200	thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall publish on a pub-3
201	201	lic website of the Forest Service and a public website of 4
202	202	the Bureau of Land Management the following informa-5
203	203	tion with respect to the Federal land during the preceding 6
204	204	fiscal year: 7
205	205	(1) The number of acres treated pursuant to 8
206	206	section 40803(b) of the Infrastructure Investment 9
207	207	and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(b)). 10
208	208	(2)(A) The number of acres mechanically 11
209	209	thinned; 12
210	210	(B) the number of acres treated by prescribed 13
211	211	fire; and 14
212	212	(C) whether the number of acres described in 15
213	213	subparagraphs (A) and (B) met or exceeded the 16
214	214	acres described in section 101(b)(2). 17
215	215	(3) Any limitations or challenges, including liti-18
216	216	gation or delays in the preparation of environmental 19
217	217	documentation, that hindered the Secretary con-20
218	218	cerned from meeting or exceeding the annual goals 21
219	219	established under section 101(b)(1), if applicable. 22
220	220	(4) The number of acres that have undergone 23
221	221	a regeneration harvest. 24
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225	225	(5) The number of acres described in subpara-1
226	226	graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) and paragraph 2
227	227	(4) that are in an area identified as having— 3
228	228	(A) the expectation that, without remedi-4
229	229	ation, at least 25 percent of standing live basal 5
230	230	area greater than 1 inch in diameter may die 6
231	231	over a 15-year time frame due to insects and 7
232	232	diseases, as depicted on the National Insect and 8
233	233	Disease Composite Risk Map; or 9
234	234	(B) a very high or high wildfire hazard po-10
235	235	tential. 11
236	236	(6) The number of acres described in subpara-12
237	237	graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) and paragraph 13
238	238	(4) that use either of the following streamlined au-14
239	239	thorities for environmental review: 15
240	240	(A) A categorical exclusion. 16
241	241	(B) An emergency action authority of the 17
242	242	Secretary concerned. 18
243	243	(7) The number of acres described in subpara-19
244	244	graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) and paragraph 20
245	245	(4) with respect to which partners are used to carry 21
246	246	out the work through— 22
247	247	(A) a good neighbor agreement under sec-23
248	248	tion 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 24
249	249	U.S.C. 2113a); 25
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253	253	(B) a master stewardship agreement; 1
254	254	(C) a contract or agreement entered into 2
255	255	under the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 3
256	256	(25 U.S.C. 3115a); or 4
257	257	(D) a stewardship end-result contract. 5
258	258	SEC. 103. TRANSPARENCY IN HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUC-6
259	259	TION ACTIVITY REPORTING. 7
260	260	(a) I
261	261	NCLUSION OFHAZARDOUSFUELSREDUCTION 8
262	262	R
263	263	EPORT INMATERIALSSUBMITTED INSUPPORT OF THE 9
264	264	P
265	265	RESIDENT’SBUDGET.— 10
266	266	(1) I
267	267	N GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 11
268	268	shall include in the materials submitted in support 12
269	269	of the President’s budget pursuant to section 1105 13
270	270	of title 31, United States Code, a report describ-14
271	271	ing— 15
272	272	(A) for each of fiscal years 2025 through 16
273	273	2030, the number of acres of Federal land on 17
274	274	which the Secretary concerned carried out haz-18
275	275	ardous fuels reduction activities during each of 19
276	276	the preceding 6 fiscal years, as assessed by the 20
277	277	Secretary concerned using— 21
278	278	(i) the methodology of the Secretary 22
279	279	concerned in effect on the day before the 23
280	280	date of enactment of this Act; and 24
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284	284	(ii) the methodology described in 1
285	285	paragraph (2); and 2
286	286	(B) for fiscal year 2031 and each fiscal 3
287	287	year thereafter, the number of acres of Federal 4
288	288	land on which the Secretary concerned carried 5
289	289	out hazardous fuels reduction activities during 6
290	290	each of the preceding 6 fiscal years, as assessed 7
291	291	by the Secretary concerned using the method-8
292	292	ology described in paragraph (2). 9
293	293	(2) R
294	294	EQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the re-10
295	295	ports required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 11
296	296	concerned shall— 12
297	297	(A) in determining the number of acres of 13
298	298	Federal land on which the Secretary concerned 14
299	299	carried out hazardous fuels reduction activities 15
300	300	during each fiscal year covered by the report— 16
301	301	(i) record acres of Federal land on 17
302	302	which hazardous fuels reduction activities 18
303	303	were completed during each such fiscal 19
304	304	year; and 20
305	305	(ii) record each acre described in 21
306	306	clause (i) once in the report with respect to 22
307	307	a fiscal year, regardless of whether mul-23
308	308	tiple hazardous fuels reduction activities 24
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312	312	were carried out on such acre during such 1
313	313	fiscal year; and 2
314	314	(B) with respect to the acres of Federal 3
315	315	land recorded in the report, include information 4
316	316	on— 5
317	317	(i) which such acres are located in the 6
318	318	wildland-urban interface; 7
319	319	(ii) the level of wildfire risk (high, 8
320	320	moderate, or low) on the first and last day 9
321	321	of each fiscal year covered by the report; 10
322	322	(iii) the types of hazardous fuels re-11
323	323	duction activities completed for such acres, 12
324	324	delineating between whether such activities 13
325	325	were conducted— 14
326	326	(I) in a wildfire managed for re-15
327	327	source benefits; or 16
328	328	(II) through a planned project; 17
329	329	(iv) the cost per acre of hazardous 18
330	330	fuels reduction activities carried out during 19
331	331	each fiscal year covered by the report; 20
332	332	(v) the region or System unit in which 21
333	333	the acres are located; and 22
334	334	(vi) the effectiveness of the hazardous 23
335	335	fuels reduction activities on reducing the 24
336	336	risk of wildfire. 25
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340	340	(3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary concerned 1
341	341	shall make each report submitted under paragraph 2
342	342	(1) publicly available on the website of the Depart-3
343	343	ment of Agriculture and the Department of the Inte-4
344	344	rior, as applicable. 5
345	345	(b) A
346	346	CCURATEDATACOLLECTION.— 6
347	347	(1) I
348	348	N GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 7
349	349	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary con-8
350	350	cerned shall implement standardized procedures for 9
351	351	tracking data relating to hazardous fuels reduction 10
352	352	activities carried out by the Secretary concerned. 11
353	353	(2) E
354	354	LEMENTS.—The standardized procedures 12
355	355	required under paragraph (1) shall include— 13
356	356	(A) regular, standardized data reviews of 14
357	357	the accuracy and timely input of data used to 15
358	358	track hazardous fuels reduction activities; 16
359	359	(B) verification methods that validate 17
360	360	whether such data accurately correlates to the 18
361	361	hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out 19
362	362	by the Secretary concerned; 20
363	363	(C) an analysis of the short- and long-term 21
364	364	effectiveness of the hazardous fuels reduction 22
365	365	activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and 23
366	366	(D) for hazardous fuels reduction activities 24
367	367	that occur partially within the wildland-urban 25
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371	371	interface, methods to distinguish which acres 1
372	372	are located within the wildland-urban interface 2
373	373	and which acres are located outside the 3
374	374	wildland-urban interface. 4
375	375	(3) R
376	376	EPORT.—Not later than 14 days after im-5
377	377	plementing the standardized procedures required 6
378	378	under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 7
379	379	submit to Congress a report that describes— 8
380	380	(A) such standardized procedures; and 9
381	381	(B) program and policy recommendations 10
382	382	to Congress to address any limitations in track-11
383	383	ing data relating to hazardous fuels reduction 12
384	384	activities under this subsection. 13
385	385	SEC. 104. REGIONAL FOREST CARBON ACCOUNTING. 14
386	386	Not later than September 30, 2025, and every 3 15
387	387	years thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 16
388	388	through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall— 17
389	389	(1) using data from the forest inventory and 18
390	390	analysis program, determine the net forest carbon 19
391	391	balance on the land in the National Forest System 20
392	392	of each Forest Service region, including whether the 21
393	393	National Forest System land is— 22
394	394	(A) a carbon source; or 23
395	395	(B) a carbon sink; and 24
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399	399	(2) publish the information described in para-1
400	400	graph (1) on the website of the Forest Service. 2
401	401	SEC. 105. WILDLAND FIRE PERFORMANCE METRICS. 3
402	402	(a) I
403	403	NGENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 4
404	404	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned 5
405	405	shall submit to the committees of Congress described in 6
406	406	subsection (c) a report on existing key performance indica-7
407	407	tors and potential outcome-based performance measures 8
408	408	to reduce wildfire risk on Federal land. 9
409	409	(b) I
410	410	NCLUSIONS.—The report submitted under sub-10
411	411	section (a) shall identify solutions to track the implemen-11
412	412	tation and effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction ac-12
413	413	tivities and forest restoration treatments, including strate-13
414	414	gies— 14
415	415	(1) to track whether land management activities 15
416	416	are reducing wildfire hazards and ways to quantify 16
417	417	and track acres in maintenance status; 17
418	418	(2) to track place-based and locally led out-18
419	419	comes; 19
420	420	(3) to standardize national-level monitoring 20
421	421	measures; 21
422	422	(4) to quantify catastrophic wildfire risk reduc-22
423	423	tion; 23
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427	427	(5) to identify modeling and data challenges 1
428	428	that are preventing the transition to annual wildfire 2
429	429	risk mapping updates; and 3
430	430	(6) to integrate advanced technologies or a 4
431	431	combination of technologies and analyses that will 5
432	432	benefit the quality of information reported. 6
433	433	(c) C
434	434	OMMITTEES OF CONGRESSDESCRIBED.—The 7
435	435	committees of Congress referred to in subsection (a) are— 8
436	436	(1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-9
437	437	sources of the Senate; 10
438	438	(2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 11
439	439	and Forestry of the Senate; 12
440	440	(3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 13
441	441	House of Representatives; and 14
442	442	(4) the Committee on Agriculture of the House 15
443	443	of Representatives. 16
444	444	TITLE II—FOREST MANAGEMENT 17
445	445	SEC. 201. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC-18
446	446	TION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 19
447	447	RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND 20
448	448	DISTRIBUTION FACILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 21
449	449	(a) H
450	450	AZARDTREESWITHIN50 FEET OFELECTRIC 22
451	451	P
452	452	OWERLINE.—Section 512(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Federal 23
453	453	Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 24
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457	457	1772(a)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘10’’ and in-1
458	458	serting ‘‘50’’. 2
459	459	(b) P
460	460	ERMITS ANDAGREEMENTSWITHOWNERS AND 3
461	461	O
462	462	PERATORS OFELECTRICTRANSMISSION ORDISTRIBU-4
463	463	TIONFACILITIES.—Section 512 of the Federal Land Pol-5
464	464	icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772) is 6
465	465	amended— 7
466	466	(1) in the section heading, by striking 8
467	467	‘‘
468	468	MANAGMENT ’’ and inserting ‘‘MANAGEMENT ’’; 9
469	469	(2) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 10
470	470	subsections (k) and (l), respectively; and 11
471	471	(3) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-12
472	472	lowing: 13
473	473	‘‘(j) P
474	474	ERMITS ANDAGREEMENTSWITHOWNERS AND 14
475	475	O
476	476	PERATORS OFELECTRICTRANSMISSION ORDISTRIBU-15
477	477	TIONFACILITIES.— 16
478	478	‘‘(1) I
479	479	N GENERAL.—In any special use permit 17
480	480	or easement on National Forest System or Bureau 18
481	481	of Land Management land provided to the owner or 19
482	482	operator of an electric transmission or distribution 20
483	483	facility, the Secretary concerned may provide per-21
484	484	mission to cut and remove trees or other vegetation 22
485	485	from within the vicinity of the electric transmission 23
486	486	or distribution facility without requiring a separate 24
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490	490	timber sale, if that cutting and removal is consistent 1
491	491	with— 2
492	492	‘‘(A) the applicable plan; 3
493	493	‘‘(B) the applicable land and resource 4
494	494	management plan or land use plan; and 5
495	495	‘‘(C) other applicable environmental laws 6
496	496	(including regulations). 7
497	497	‘‘(2) U
498	498	SE OF PROCEEDS.—A special use permit 8
499	499	or easement that includes permission for cutting and 9
500	500	removal described in paragraph (1) shall include a 10
501	501	requirement that, if the owner or operator of the 11
502	502	electric transmission or distribution facility sells any 12
503	503	portion of the material removed under the permit or 13
504	504	easement, the owner or operator shall provide to the 14
505	505	Secretary concerned any proceeds received from the 15
506	506	sale, less any transportation costs incurred in the 16
507	507	sale. 17
508	508	‘‘(3) E
509	509	FFECT.—Nothing in paragraph (2) shall 18
510	510	require the sale of any material removed under a 19
511	511	permit or easement that includes permission for cut-20
512	512	ting and removal described in paragraph (1).’’. 21
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516	516	SEC. 202. TIMBER SALES ON NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM 1
517	517	LAND. 2
518	518	Section 14(d) of the National Forest Management 3
519	519	Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(d)) is amended, in the first 4
520	520	sentence, by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$55,000’’. 5
521	521	SEC. 203. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR HIGH-PRIORITY 6
522	522	HAZARD TREES. 7
523	523	(a) D
524	524	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
525	525	(1) H
526	526	IGH-PRIORITY HAZARD TREE .—The term 9
527	527	‘‘high-priority hazard tree’’ means a standing tree 10
528	528	that— 11
529	529	(A) presents a visible hazard to people or 12
530	530	Federal property due to conditions such as de-13
531	531	terioration of or damage to the root system, 14
532	532	trunk, stem, or limbs of the tree, or the direc-15
533	533	tion or lean of the tree, as determined by the 16
534	534	Secretary; 17
535	535	(B) is determined by the Secretary to be 18
536	536	highly likely to fail and, if it failed, would be 19
537	537	highly likely to cause injury to people or dam-20
538	538	age to Federal property; and 21
539	539	(C) is— 22
540	540	(i) within 300 feet of a National For-23
541	541	est System road with a maintenance level 24
542	542	of 3, 4, or 5; 25
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546	546	(ii) along a National Forest System 1
547	547	trail; or 2
548	548	(iii) in a developed recreation site on 3
549	549	National Forest System land that is oper-4
550	550	ated and maintained by the Secretary. 5
551	551	(2) H
552	552	IGH-PRIORITY HAZARD TREE ACTIVITY .— 6
553	553	(A) I
554	554	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘high-pri-7
555	555	ority hazard tree activity’’ means a forest man-8
556	556	agement activity that mitigates the risks associ-9
557	557	ated with high-priority hazard trees, which may 10
558	558	include pruning, felling, and disposal of those 11
559	559	high-priority hazard trees. 12
560	560	(B) E
561	561	XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘high-pri-13
562	562	ority hazard tree activity’’ does not include— 14
563	563	(i) any activity conducted in a wilder-15
564	564	ness area or wilderness study area; 16
565	565	(ii) any activity for the construction of 17
566	566	a permanent road or permanent trail; 18
567	567	(iii) any activity conducted on Federal 19
568	568	land on which, by Act of Congress or Pres-20
569	569	idential proclamation, the removal of vege-21
570	570	tation is restricted or prohibited; 22
571	571	(iv) any activity conducted in an area 23
572	572	in which activities described in subpara-24
573	573	graph (A) would be inconsistent with the 25
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577	577	applicable land and resource management 1
578	578	plan; or 2
579	579	(v) any activity conducted in an inven-3
580	580	toried roadless area. 4
581	581	(3) S
582	582	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5
583	583	the Secretary of Agriculture. 6
584	584	(b) C
585	585	ATEGORICALEXCLUSION.— 7
586	586	(1) I
587	587	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 8
588	588	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 9
589	589	shall develop a categorical exclusion (as defined in 10
590	590	111 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 11
591	591	1969 (42 U.S.C. 4336e)) for high-priority hazard 12
592	592	tree activities. 13
593	593	(2) A
594	594	DMINISTRATION.—In developing and ad-14
595	595	ministering the categorical exclusion under para-15
596	596	graph (1), the Secretary shall— 16
597	597	(A) comply with the National Environ-17
598	598	mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 18
599	599	seq.); and 19
600	600	(B) apply the extraordinary circumstances 20
601	601	procedures under section 220.6 of title 36, Code 21
602	602	of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-22
603	603	tions), in determining whether to use the cat-23
604	604	egorical exclusion. 24
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608	608	(3) PROJECT SIZE LIMITATION.—A project car-1
609	609	ried out using the categorical exclusion developed 2
610	610	under paragraph (1) may not exceed 3,000 acres. 3
611	611	SEC. 204. INTERVENOR STATUS. 4
612	612	(a) I
613	613	NGENERAL.—For purposes of a civil action re-5
614	614	lating to a qualified project described in subsection (b), 6
615	615	a unit of local government or an Indian Tribe shall be— 7
616	616	(1) entitled to intervene, as of right, in any sub-8
617	617	sequent civil action; and 9
618	618	(2) considered to be a full participant in any 10
619	619	settlement negotiation relating to the qualified 11
620	620	project if the unit of local government or Indian 12
621	621	Tribe, as applicable, intervenes. 13
622	622	(b) D
623	623	ESCRIPTION OFQUALIFIEDPROJECT.—A quali-14
624	624	fied project referred to in subsection (a) is a project that— 15
625	625	(1) is located on Federal land adjacent, or with 16
626	626	sufficient minimum contacts, as determined by the 17
627	627	Secretary concerned, to the land under the jurisdic-18
628	628	tion of the unit of local government or Indian Tribe, 19
629	629	as applicable; 20
630	630	(2) has been approved by the Secretary con-21
631	631	cerned; and 22
632	632	(3)(A) reduces the risk posed by wildfire, insect, 23
633	633	or disease; or 24
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637	637	(B) generates revenue from the harvesting of 1
638	638	timber. 2
639	639	SEC. 205. UTILIZING GRAZING FOR WILDFIRE RISK REDUC-3
640	640	TION. 4
641	641	(a) I
642	642	NGENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 5
643	643	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned 6
644	644	shall develop and submit to the Committee on Energy and 7
645	645	Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 8
646	646	Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a 9
647	647	strategy to analyze and identify opportunities to use live-10
648	648	stock grazing as a wildfire risk reduction tool on Federal 11
649	649	land, consistent with the laws applicable to the Secretary 12
650	650	concerned. 13
651	651	(b) I
652	652	NCLUSIONS.—The strategy developed under sub-14
653	653	section (a) shall include an analysis of— 15
654	654	(1) opportunities— 16
655	655	(A) to increase the use of any authorities 17
656	656	applicable to livestock grazing, including modi-18
657	657	fications to grazing permits or leases to allow 19
658	658	variances; 20
659	659	(B) to use targeted grazing to reduce haz-21
660	660	ardous fuels; 22
661	661	(C) to integrate advanced technologies to 23
662	662	dynamically adjust livestock placement; 24
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666	666	(D) to increase the use of livestock grazing 1
667	667	to eradicate invasive annual grasses and as a 2
668	668	post-fire restoration and recovery strategy, as 3
669	669	appropriate; and 4
670	670	(E) to facilitate and expedite the tem-5
671	671	porary use of vacant allotments during extreme 6
672	672	weather events or natural disasters; and 7
673	673	(2) any other opportunities determined to be 8
674	674	appropriate by the Secretary concerned. 9
675	675	(c) E
676	676	FFECT ONEXISTINGGRAZINGPROGRAMS.— 10
677	677	Nothing in this section affects— 11
678	678	(1) any livestock grazing program carried out 12
679	679	by the Secretary concerned as of the date of enact-13
680	680	ment of this Act; or 14
681	681	(2) any statutory authority for any program de-15
682	682	scribed in paragraph (1). 16
683	683	TITLE III—CULTURAL CHANGE 17
684	684	IN AGENCIES 18
685	685	SEC. 301. MANDATORY USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES. 19
686	686	Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 20
687	687	of this Act, with respect to each unit of Federal land that 21
688	688	contains land described in section 102(5), the Secretary 22
689	689	concerned shall use not fewer than 1 of the following 23
690	690	streamlined authorities for environmental review: 24
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694	694	(1) Section 603(a) of the Healthy Forests Res-1
695	695	toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(a)). 2
696	696	(2) Section 605(a) of the Healthy Forests Res-3
697	697	toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591d(a)). 4
698	698	(3) Section 606(b) of the Healthy Forests Res-5
699	699	toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591e(b)). 6
700	700	(4) Section 40806(b) of the Infrastructure In-7
701	701	vestment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592b(b)). 8
702	702	(5) Section 40807 of the Infrastructure Invest-9
703	703	ment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592c). 10
704	704	(6) Section 207 of the Wildfire Suppression 11
705	705	Funding and Forest Management Activities Act (16 12
706	706	U.S.C. 6591c note; Public Law 115–141). 13
707	707	SEC. 302. PUBLIC-PRIVATE WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY DE-14
708	708	PLOYMENT AND TESTBED PARTNERSHIP. 15
709	709	(a) D
710	710	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 16
711	711	(1) A
712	712	PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES .—The term 17
713	713	‘‘appropriate committees’’ means— 18
714	714	(A) the Committees on Agriculture, Nutri-19
715	715	tion, and Forestry, Energy and Natural Re-20
716	716	sources, and Commerce, Science, and Transpor-21
717	717	tation of the Senate; and 22
718	718	(B) the Committees on Agriculture, Nat-23
719	719	ural Resources, and Science, Space, and Tech-24
720	720	nology of the House of Representatives. 25
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724	724	(2) COVERED AGENCY .—The term ‘‘covered 1
725	725	agency’’ means— 2
726	726	(A) each Federal land management agency 3
727	727	(as defined in section 802 of the Federal Lands 4
728	728	Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 5
729	729	6801)); 6
730	730	(B) the Department of Defense; 7
731	731	(C) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 8
732	732	Administration; 9
733	733	(D) the United States Fire Administration; 10
734	734	(E) the Federal Emergency Management 11
735	735	Agency; 12
736	736	(F) the National Aeronautics and Space 13
737	737	Administration; 14
738	738	(G) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 15
739	739	(H) any other Federal agency involved in 16
740	740	wildfire response. 17
741	741	(3) C
742	742	OVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en-18
743	743	tity’’ means— 19
744	744	(A) a private entity; 20
745	745	(B) a nonprofit organization; and 21
746	746	(C) an institution of higher education (as 22
747	747	defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 23
748	748	Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 24
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752	752	(4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pilot Pro-1
753	753	gram’’ means the deployment and testbed pilot pro-2
754	754	gram established under subsection (b). 3
755	755	(5) S
756	756	ECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 4
757	757	means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-5
758	758	retary of the Interior, acting jointly. 6
759	759	(b) E
760	760	STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 7
761	761	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, in co-8
762	762	ordination with the heads of the covered agencies, shall 9
763	763	establish a deployment and testbed pilot program for new 10
764	764	and innovative wildfire prevention, detection, communica-11
765	765	tion, and mitigation technologies. 12
766	766	(c) F
767	767	UNCTIONS.—In carrying out the Pilot Program, 13
768	768	the Secretaries shall— 14
769	769	(1) incorporate the Pilot Program into an exist-15
770	770	ing interagency coordinating group on wildfires; 16
771	771	(2) in consultation with the heads of covered 17
772	772	agencies, identify key technology priority areas with 18
773	773	respect to the deployment of wildfire prevention, de-19
774	774	tection, communication, and mitigation technologies, 20
775	775	including— 21
776	776	(A) hazardous fuels reduction activities or 22
777	777	treatments; 23
778	778	(B) dispatch communications; 24
779	779	(C) remote sensing and tracking; 25
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783	783	(D) safety equipment; and 1
784	784	(E) common operating pictures or oper-2
785	785	ational dashboards; and 3
786	786	(3) connect each covered entity selected to par-4
787	787	ticipate in the Pilot Program with the appropriate 5
788	788	covered agency to coordinate real-time and on-the- 6
789	789	ground testing of technology during wildland fire 7
790	790	mitigation activities and training. 8
791	791	(d) A
792	792	PPLICATIONS.—To participate in the Pilot Pro-9
793	793	gram, a covered entity shall submit to the Secretaries an 10
794	794	application at such time, in such manner, and containing 11
795	795	such information as the Secretaries may require, which 12
796	796	shall include a proposal to test technologies specific to key 13
797	797	technology priority areas identified under subsection 14
798	798	(c)(2). 15
799	799	(e) P
800	800	RIORITIZATION OF EMERGING TECH-16
801	801	NOLOGIES.—In selecting covered entities to participate in 17
802	802	the Pilot Program, the Secretaries shall give priority to 18
803	803	covered entities developing and applying emerging tech-19
804	804	nologies that address issues identified by the Secretaries, 20
805	805	including artificial intelligence, quantum sensing, com-21
806	806	puting and quantum-hybrid applications, augmented re-22
807	807	ality, and 5G private networks and device-to-device com-23
808	808	munications supporting nomadic mesh networks, for wild-24
809	809	fire mitigation. 25
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813	813	(f) OUTREACH.—The Secretaries, in coordination 1
814	814	with the heads of the covered agencies, shall make publicly 2
815	815	available the key technology priority areas identified under 3
816	816	subsection (c)(2) and invite covered entities to apply to 4
817	817	test and demonstrate their technologies to address those 5
818	818	priority areas. 6
819	819	(g) R
820	820	EPORTS ANDRECOMMENDATIONS .—Not later 7
821	821	than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 8
822	822	each year thereafter for the duration of the Pilot Program, 9
823	823	the Secretaries shall submit to the appropriate committees 10
824	824	a report that includes the following with respect to the 11
825	825	Pilot Program: 12
826	826	(1) A list of participating covered entities. 13
827	827	(2) A brief description of the technologies test-14
828	828	ed by such covered entities. 15
829	829	(3) An estimate of the cost of acquiring the 16
830	830	technology tested in the Pilot Program and applying 17
831	831	it at scale. 18
832	832	(4) Outreach efforts by Federal agencies to cov-19
833	833	ered entities developing wildfire technologies. 20
834	834	(5) Assessments of, and recommendations relat-21
835	835	ing to, new technologies with potential adoption and 22
836	836	application at-scale in the wildfire prevention, detec-23
837	837	tion, communication, and mitigation efforts of Fed-24
838	838	eral land management agencies (as defined in sec-25
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842	842	tion 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhance-1
843	843	ment Act (16 U.S.C. 6801)). 2
844	844	(h) T
845	845	ERMINATION.—The Pilot Program shall expire 3
846	846	on the date that is 7 years after the date of enactment 4
847	847	of this Act. 5
848	848	SEC. 303. REPEAL OF FLAME REPORTS. 6
849	849	Section 502 of the FLAME Act of 2009 (43 U.S.C. 7
850	850	1748a) is amended— 8
851	851	(1) by striking subsection (h); and 9
852	852	(2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 10
853	853	(h). 11
854	854	Æ
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