118 HR 4228 IH: Fostering Opportunities for Resources and Education Spending through Timber Sales Act of 2023 U.S. House of Representatives 2023-06-20 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 4228IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJune 20, 2023Mrs. Rodgers of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo restore employment and educational opportunities in, and improve the economic stability of, counties containing National Forest System land, while also reducing Forest Service management costs, by ensuring that such counties have a dependable source of revenue from timber sales conducted on National Forest System land, to reduce payments under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to reflect such counties' receipt of timber sale revenues, to strengthen stewardship end result contracting, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Fostering Opportunities for Resources and Education Spending through Timber Sales Act of 2023 or the FORESTS Act of 2023. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows:Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.Sec. 2. Purposes.Title I—Forest Active Management Areas Sec. 101. Definitions.Sec. 102. Establishment of Forest Active Management Areas and annual volume requirements.Sec. 103. Management of Forest Active Management Areas.Sec. 104. Environmental analysis process for covered active management projects.Sec. 105. Expedited compliance with Endangered Species Act.Sec. 106. Administrative review.Sec. 107. Use of arbitration instead of litigation to address challenge to covered active management project developed through collaborative process.Sec. 108. Distribution of forest active management revenues.Sec. 109. Annual report.Title II—Transition of Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 and 25-percent paymentsSec. 201. Prohibition on State retention of portion of 25-percent payments made on behalf of beneficiary counties.Title III—Stewardship end result contracting authority Sec. 301. Maximum authorized duration of stewardship end result contracts.Sec. 302. Payment of portion of stewardship project revenues to county in which stewardship project occurs.Sec. 303. Use of contractors to perform environmental analysis in connection with stewardship end result contracting projects.Title IV—Other MattersSec. 401. Treatment as supplemental funding.Sec. 402. Definition of fire suppression to include certain related activities.Sec. 403. Prohibition on certain actions regarding Forest Service roads and trails.

2.

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are as follows:(1)To restore employment and educational opportunities in, and improve the economic stability of, counties containing National Forest System land.(2)To ensure that such counties have a dependable source of revenue from National Forest System land.(3)To reduce Forest Service management costs while also ensuring the protection of United States forest resources.(4)To reduce the frequency and severity of catastrophic wildfires on Federal lands.