[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2639 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2639

  To expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and 
  restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2003

Ms. Hooley of Oregon introduced the following bill; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on 
 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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and 
  restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Community and 
Forest Protection Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Hazardous fuels reduction projects.
Sec. 4. Expedited process.
Sec. 5. Judicial review in the United States District Courts.
Sec. 6. Contracting.
Sec. 7. Biomass grants.
Sec. 8. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program.
Sec. 9. Emergency fuels reduction grants.
Sec. 10. Market incentives for home protection.
Sec. 11. Ongoing projects and existing authorities.
Sec. 12. Preference to communities that have ordinances on fire 
                            prevention.
Sec. 13. Sunset.
Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 15. Definitions.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2002, approximately six and one half million acres 
        of forest lands in the United States burned with varying 
        degrees of severity, 21 people lost their lives, and over 3000 
        structures were destroyed. The Forest Service and Bureau of 
        Land Management spent more than $1,000,000,000 fighting these 
        fires.
            (2) 73,000,000 acres of public lands are classified as 
        condition class 3 fire risks. This includes 23 million acres 
        that are in strategic areas designated by the United States 
        Forest Service for emergency treatment to withstand 
        catastrophic fire.
            (3) The forest management policy of fire suppression has 
        resulted in an accumulation of fuel loads, dead and dying 
        trees, and nonnative species that create fuel ladders which 
        allow fires to reach the crowns of large old trees and cause 
        catastrophic fire.
            (4) The United States Forest Service and the Department of 
        the Interior should immediately undertake an emergency program 
        to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire.
            (5) This emergency program should prioritize the protection 
        of homes and communities and the restoration of forest health 
        on lands at the highest risk of catastrophic fire. All fuel 
        reduction treatments should protect old growth stands and large 
        trees to ensure a rich and continued species diversity in the 
        Nation's forests.

SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior 
shall conduct immediately and to completion hazardous fuels reduction 
projects consistent with the Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative 
Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the 
Environment on an aggregate area of 20,000,000 acres of Federal land:
            (1) These projects shall be conducted on the priority lands 
        identified in subsection (d), using the expedited procedures in 
        section 4.
            (2) The Secretaries shall protect old growth stands and 
        large trees pursuant to subsection (h).
    (b) Selection of Projects.--The Secretaries of Agriculture and the 
Interior shall jointly select hazardous fuels reduction projects 
identified by the Implementation Plan of the Comprehensive Strategy.
    (c) Consistency With Existing Forest Management Plans and 
Environmental Laws.--Any project carried out pursuant to this Act shall 
be consistent with the applicable forest plan, resource management 
plan, or other applicable agency plans or environmental laws except as 
specifically amended by this Act.
    (d) Priority Lands.--In implementing projects under this Act, the 
Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall give highest priority 
to:
            (1) Wildland-urban interface: Condition class 3 or 
        condition class 2 Federal lands or, where appropriate, non-
        Federal lands.
            (2) Municipal watersheds: Condition class 3 Federal lands 
        located in such proximity to a municipal water supply system 
        that a hazardous fuels reduction project must be carried out to 
        reduce the risk of harm to such system resulting from wildfire.
            (3) Fire Regime I lands: Federal lands that are condition 
        class 3.
            (4) Fire Regimes II and III lands: Condition class 3 
        Federal lands identified by the Secretary as an area where 
        windthrow or blowdown, or the existence of disease or insect 
        infestation, pose a significant threat to forest health or 
        adjacent private lands.
    (e) Public Notice and Public Response.--
            (1) Quarterly notice.--The Secretary shall provide 
        quarterly notice of each hazardous fuels reduction project 
        which uses the streamlined processes established by this Act. 
        The quarterly notice shall be provided for all projects in the 
        Federal Register and on an agency website and in a local paper 
        of record for local projects. The Secretary may combine this 
        quarterly notice with other quarterly notices otherwise issued 
        regarding Federal forest management.
            (2) Content.--For each hazardous fuels reduction project 
        for which the processes established by this Act are to be used 
        the notice required by paragraph (1) shall include at a 
        minimum:
                    (A) Identification of each project as a hazardous 
                fuels reduction project for which the processes 
                established by this Act are to be used.
                    (B) A description of the project, including as much 
                information on its geographic location as practicable.
                    (C) The approximate date on which scoping for the 
                project will begin.
                    (D) Information regarding how interested members of 
                the public can take part in the development of the 
                project, including, but not limited to, project related 
                public meeting notification.
            (3) Public meeting.--Following publication of each 
        quarterly notice under paragraph (1), but before the beginning 
        of scoping under section 4(a), the Secretary shall conduct a 
        public meeting at an appropriate location in each 
        administrative unit of the Federal lands regarding those 
        hazardous fuels reduction projects contained in the quarterly 
        notice that are proposed to be conducted in that administrative 
        unit. The Secretary shall provide advance notice of the date 
        and time of the meeting in the quarterly notice or using the 
        same means described in paragraph (1).
            (4) Public response to notice of projects.--
                    (A) In general.--A federally formed resource 
                advisory committee may petition, with supporting 
                evidence, the Secretary to better assess ground 
                conditions of land to be covered by projects, during 
                scoping or public comment on specific hazardous fuels 
                reduction projects identified under subsection (b).
                    (B) Priority lands included in the projects.--For 
                specific hazardous fuels reduction projects the 
                petitioner may seek to correct the inclusion or 
                exclusion of priority lands identified in subsection 
                (d). The petitioner may also seek designation of large 
                trees or old growth stands to be protected under 
                subsection (h).
                    (C) Secretarial response.--The Secretary must 
                respond to the petition within 30 days by public notice 
                by the same means described in paragraph (1). The 
                Secretary shall provide a public viewing of the area in 
                question if requested in the petition within 90 days of 
                receipt of the petition, with the petitioner and any 
                other interested parties.
                    (D) Determination of petition.--The Secretary must 
                accept or deny the petition within 120 days of its 
                receipt, based on site-specific review of historic 
                ecological conditions, forest type, present fuel loads, 
                and determination of whether the area properly 
                qualifies as priority lands under subsection (d).
            (5) Final agency action.--The Secretary shall provide 
        notice by the same means described in paragraph (1) of any 
        final agency action regarding a hazardous fuels reduction 
        project for which the processes established by this Act are 
        used.
    (f) Priority Hazardous Fuels Reduction Funding.--The Secretaries 
shall expend no less than 70 percent of funds under this Act on 
projects within the wildland-urban interface, provided that the 
Secretaries may adjust this funding formula for a particular State at 
the request of its governor. In no event shall the Secretaries expend 
less than 50 percent or greater than 75 percent of funds within the 
wildland-urban interface for a particular State.
    (g) Monitoring.--The Secretaries shall establish a multiparty 
monitoring process with representation from resource industries, 
environmentalists, independent scientists, community-based 
organizations, and other interested parties in order for Congress to 
assess a representative sampling of the hazardous fuels reduction 
projects implemented pursuant to this Act.
    (h) Limitations.--In implementing hazardous fuels reduction 
projects under this Act the Secretary shall--
            (1) not undertake any hazardous fuels reduction projects in 
        wilderness study areas or components of the National Wilderness 
        Preservation System;
            (2) not construct new roads in inventoried roadless areas 
        as part of any hazardous fuels reduction project;
            (3) fully maintain the structure, function, processes and 
        composition of structurally complex older forests (old growth) 
        according to each ecosystem type; and
            (4) outside old growth stands--
                    (A) shall focus on small diameter trees and thin 
                from below to modify fire behavior as measured by rate 
                of spread, height to live crown, and flame length; and
                    (B) shall maximize the retention of large trees to 
                the extent that they promote fire-resistant stands and 
                species diversity as appropriate for the forest type 
                and site.

SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCESS.

    (a) Scoping.--The Secretary shall conduct scoping for each 
hazardous fuels reduction project implemented pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Categorical Exclusions in the Wildland-Urban Interface.--
            (1) In general.--The wildland-urban interface hazardous 
        fuels reduction projects authorized by this Act are 
        conclusively determined to be categorically excluded from 
        further analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
        1969 (``NEPA'') (42 U.S.C. 4332), and the Secretary need not 
        make any findings as to whether the projects individually or 
        cumulatively have a significant effect on the environment.
            (2) Varied treatments.--The Secretary shall vary the 
        treatments and avoid clear cuts inside the wildland-urban 
        interface to ensure forest health. The Secretary shall also 
        protect old growth and large trees pursuant to section 3(h).
            (3) Extraordinary circumstances exception.--For all 
        hazardous fuels reduction projects implemented pursuant to this 
        subsection, if there are extraordinary circumstances, the 
        Secretary shall follow agency procedures related to categorical 
        exclusions and extraordinary circumstances. For the purposes of 
        this subsection, a project's location within a municipal 
        watershed shall not be considered an extraordinary 
        circumstance.
            (4) Appeals.--No hazardous fuels reduction projects 
        implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to 
        appeal requirements of the Appeals Reform Act (section 322 of 
        Public Law 102-381) or the Department of the Interior Office of 
        Hearings and Appeals.
    (c) Environmental Assessments Outside the Wildland-Urban 
Interface.--
            (1) In general.--For hazardous fuels reduction projects 
        implemented pursuant to this Act on priority lands identified 
        in section 3(d), if a categorical exclusion does not apply, the 
        Secretary shall determine, consistent with NEPA, whether an 
        environmental assessment is sufficient and use the procedures 
        set forth in the Council on Environmental Quality ``Guidance 
        for Environmental Assessments of Forest Health Projects,'' of 
        December 9, 2002, or as amended.
            (2) Issuance of documentation and shortened appeals.--
        Notwithstanding the Appeals Reform Act, section 322 of the 
        Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 1993 (Public Law 102-381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note), or 
regulations pertaining to the Department of the Interior Office of 
Hearings and Appeals procedures, for hazardous fuels reduction projects 
implemented by environmental assessments pursuant to subsection (c)(1):
                    (A) The Secretary may issue the environmental 
                documentation and the decision document for the project 
                simultaneously without public comment. Such issuance 
                shall begin the administrative appeals process 
                immediately.
                    (B) Persons must file any administrative appeal of 
                projects under this subsection within 30 days after the 
                date of issuance of a decision.
                    (C) The Secretary shall resolve any appeal not 
                later than 30 days after the closing date for filing an 
                appeal.
                    (D) If the review officer determines that an appeal 
                has merit, in lieu of remanding the proposed agency 
                action, the review officer, in consultation with the 
                parties, may sign a new decision.
                    (E) The Secretary shall stay implementation of the 
                project for 15 days beginning on the date on which the 
                Secretary resolves any administrative appeal that 
                complies with the requirements in subsection (d).
    (d) Standing to Appeal.--If a draft document prepared pursuant to 
NEPA for a hazardous fuels reduction project was available for public 
comment, or the project had scoping, the Secretary may require that a 
person filing an administrative appeal with respect to the project must 
have been involved in the public comment process for the project by 
submitting specific and substantive written comments with regard to the 
project or must have participated in the scoping of the project.
    (e) Salvage Monitoring Pilot Program.--
            (1) Salvage pilot.--The Secretary is authorized to use the 
        administrative appeals authorities under this subsection, 
        pursuant to paragraph (2), for salvage hazardous fuels 
        reduction projects in the area popularly known as the Biscuit 
        Fire and reference on the map entitled ____ and dated ____ on 
        file at the Forest Service ____ office.
            (2) Monitoring.--The Secretary shall require that any 
        salvage hazardous fuels reduction project on the Biscuit Fire 
        be subject to ecological and economic monitoring of its 
        effects, including on-site evaluation and inspections. The 
        monitoring shall be conducted by a group with representation 
        from independent scientists, industry representatives, 
        environmentalists, community-based organizations, and other 
        interested parties. Group selection shall be through the 
        Western Governors Association Collaborative process. The group 
        shall report to the public under section 3(e)(1) on the 
        ecological and economic effects of individual salvage hazardous 
        fuels projects.

SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS.

    (a) Venue.--A hazardous fuels reduction project conducted under 
this Act shall be subject to judicial review only in the United States 
district court for the district in which the Federal lands to be 
treated by the hazardous fuels reduction project are located, 
notwithstanding section 1391 of title 28, United States Code, or any 
other applicable venue statutes.
    (b) Expeditious Completion of Judicial Review.--Congress intends 
and encourages any court in which is filed a lawsuit or appeal of a 
lawsuit concerning an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to 
expedite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings in such 
lawsuit or appeal with the goal of rendering a final determination on 
jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a final determination on the 
merits, as soon as possible from the date the complaint or appeal is 
filed.
    (c) Duration of Injunction.--Any temporary injunctive relief 
granted regarding a project undertaken pursuant to this Act shall be 
limited to 60 days, with authority to renew each temporary injunction 
without limitation. For each injunctive renewal the parties shall 
present the court with updates on the status of the project.
    (d) Standard of Review.--Nothing in this section shall change the 
standards of judicial review for any action concerning a project 
authorized under this Act.

SEC. 6. CONTRACTING.

    (a) Best Value Contracting.--The Secretary shall use best value 
contracting criteria in awarding at least fifty percent of contracts 
and agreements for hazardous fuels reduction projects pursuant to this 
Act. Best value contract criteria will include, but not be limited to--
            (1) the ability of the contractor to meet the ecological 
        goals of the projects;
            (2) the use of equipment that will minimize or eliminate 
        impacts on soils; and
            (3) benefit to local economies in performing the 
        restorative treatments and ensuring that wood by-products are 
        processed locally.
    (b) Monitoring.--The Forest Service shall monitor the business and 
employment impacts of hazardous fuels reduction projects including the 
total dollar value of contracts and agreements awarded to qualifying 
entities.
    (c) Public Lands Corps.--
            (1) Contracts and agreements.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretaries are authorized to 
                enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with a 
                Public Lands Corps--
                            (i) to implement and complete projects 
                        prioritized in section 3(b) and (d) of this 
                        Act; and
                            (ii) to perform appropriate rehabilitation, 
                        enhancement, or beautification projects with 
                        the Department of Natural Resources, Department 
                        of Forestry or Department of Agriculture of any 
                        State.
                    (B) Indian lands.--Such projects may also be 
                carried out on Indian lands with the approval of the 
                relevant Indian tribe.
                    (C) Preference.--The Secretaries shall give 
                preference to those projects which take place on lands 
                identified as priorities in section 3(d) of this Act 
                and can be planned and initiated promptly.
                    (D) Supportive services.--The Secretaries are 
                authorized to provide such services as the Secretaries 
deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
                    (E) Technical assistance.--The Secretaries shall 
                work with the National Association of Service and 
                Conservation Corps to provide technical assistance, 
                oversight, monitoring, and evaluation to the United 
                States Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, 
                State Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture, 
                and Public Lands Corps.
            (2) Nondisplacement.--The nondisplacement requirements of 
        section 177 of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 
        1990 shall be applicable to all activities carried out under 
        this Act by the Public Lands Corps.
            (3) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of 
        this subsection there are authorized to be appropriated 
        $12,500,000 annually for 5 years after the enactment of this 
        Act.
    (d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
            (1) Contracts and agreements.--The term ``contracts and 
        agreements'' means service contracts, timber sale contracts, 
        construction contracts, supply contracts, emergency equipment 
        rental agreements, architectural and engineering contracts, 
        challenge cost-share agreements, cooperative agreements, and 
        participating agreements.
            (2) Qualifying entity.--The term ``qualifying entity'' 
        means--
                    (A) a natural-resource related small or micro-
                enterprise;
                    (B) a Youth Conservation Corps or Public Lands 
                Corps crew or related partnership with State, local and 
                other non-Federal conservation corps;
                    (C) an entity that will hire and train local people 
                to complete the contract or agreement;
                    (D) an entity that will re-train non-local 
                traditional forest workers to complete the contract or 
                agreement; or
                    (E) a local entity that meets the criteria to 
                qualify for the Historically Underutilized Business 
                Zone Program under section 32 of the Small Business Act 
                (15 U.S.C. 657a).
            (3) Public lands corps.--The term ``Public Lands Corps'' 
        means any organization established by a state or local 
        government, nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe that:
                    (A) has demonstrated the ability:
                            (i) to provide labor intensive productive 
                        work to individuals;
                            (ii) to recruit and train economically 
                        disadvantaged or at-risk youth;
                            (iii) to give participants a combination of 
                        work experience, basic and life skills, 
                        education, training and support services; and
                            (iv) to provide participants with the 
                        opportunity to develop- citizenship values 
                        through service to their communities and the 
                        United States; and
                    (B) has also successfully completed, or is engaged 
                in, a peer-reviewed, standards based program assessment 
                process.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the 
        Virgin Islands of the United States, or the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands.

SEC. 7. BIOMASS GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
            (1) Eligible operation.--The term ``eligible operation'' 
        means a facility that is located within the boundaries of an 
        eligible community and uses biomass from Federal or Tribal 
        lands as a raw material to produce electric energy, sensible 
        heat, transportation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based 
        products.
            (2) Biomass.--The term ``biomass'' means pre-commercial 
        thinnings of trees and woody plants, or non-merchantable 
        material, from hazardous fuels reduction projects.
            (3) Green ton.--The term ``green ton'' means 2,000 pounds 
        of biomass that has not been mechanically or artificially 
        dried.
            (4) Eligible community.--The term ``eligible community'' 
        means any Indian Reservation, or any county, town, township, 
        municipality, or other similar unit of local government that 
        has a population of not more than 50,000 individuals and is 
        determined by the Secretary to be located in an area near 
        Federal or Tribal lands which is at significant risk of 
        catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation or which 
        suffers from disease or insect infestation.
            (5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
    (b) Biomass Commercial Utilization Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may make grants to any 
        individual, community, Indian tribe, small business or 
        corporation, or nonprofit that owns or operates an eligible 
        operation to offset capital expenses and costs incurred to 
        purchase biomass for use by such eligible operation with 
        priority given to operations using biomass from the highest 
        risk areas.
            (2) Limitation.--No grant provided under this subsection 
        shall be paid at a rate that exceeds $20 per green ton of 
        biomass delivered.
            (3) Records.--Each grant recipient shall keep such records 
        as the Secretary may require to fully and correctly disclose 
        the use of the grant funds and all transactions involved in the 
        purchase of biomass. Upon notice by the Secretary, the grant 
        recipient shall provide the Secretary reasonable access to 
        examine the inventory and records of any eligible operation 
        receiving grant funds.
            (4) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of 
        this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated 
        $12,500,000 each to the Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture for each fiscal year for five years 
        after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Improved Biomass Utilization Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may make grants to persons 
        in eligible communities to offset the costs of developing or 
        researching proposals to improve the use of biomass or add 
        value to biomass utilization.
            (2) Selection.--Grant recipients shall be selected based on 
        the potential for the proposal to--
                    (A) develop affordable thermal or electric energy 
                resources for the benefit of an eligible community;
                    (B) provide opportunities for the creation or 
                expansion of small businesses within an eligible 
                community;
                    (C) create new job opportunities within an eligible 
                community, and
                    (D) reduce the hazardous fuels from the highest 
                risk areas.
            (3) Limitation.--No grant awarded under this subsection 
        shall exceed $500,000.
            (4) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of 
        this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated 
        $12,500,000 each to the Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture for each fiscal year for the five 
        years after enactment of this Act.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall jointly submit to the Congress a report that 
describes the interim results of the programs authorized under this 
section.

SEC. 8. FOREST STANDS INVENTORY AND MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 
the Interior shall carry out, in conjunction with the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration and other relevant agencies and 
research facilities (including the Forest Service Research Stations and 
academic institutions), a comprehensive program to inventory and assess 
forest stands on federal forest land and, with the consent of the 
owner, private forest land. The objective of this program shall be to 
evaluate current and future forest health conditions and address 
ecological impacts of insect, disease, invasive species, fire and 
weather-related episodic events. Emphasis shall be placed upon 
coordinating, reconciling, and field verification of existing data 
(including remotely sensed and modeled data utilized to characterize 
vegetation/cover types, density, fire regimes, fire effects, and 
condition classes), and improving the accuracy of such data to assist 
in management activities.
    (b) Location.--The facility for this program shall be located at 
the Ochoco National Forest Headquarters in Prineville, Oregon.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purposes of this 
section, there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 each fiscal 
year for the five years after enactment of this Act.

SEC. 9. EMERGENCY FUELS REDUCTION GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an 
Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program to provide State and local 
agencies with financial assistance for hazardous fuels reduction 
projects addressing threats of catastrophic fire that have been 
determined by the United States Forest Service to pose a serious threat 
to human life.
    (b) Eligibility.--Fuels reduction projects eligible for funding 
under the Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program shall--
            (1) be surrounded by or immediately adjacent to national 
        forest boundaries;
            (2) have been determined to be of paramount urgency by 
        virtue of declarations of emergency by both local officials and 
        the governor of the State in which they are located; and
            (3) remove fuel loading determined to pose a serious threat 
        to human life by the United States Forest Service.-
    (c) Use of Grant Funds.--Funds authorized under this section shall 
be limited to the following uses:
            (1) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential fuels 
        adjacent to primary evacuation routes.
            (2) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential fuels 
        adjacent to emergency response centers, emergency communication 
        facilities or sites designated as shelter-in-place facilities.
            (3) evacuation drills and preparation.
    (d) Revolving Fund.--For work done on private property and county 
lands, the grant recipients shall deposit into a revolving fund any 
proceeds from sale of the timber or biomass from the projects funded 
under this section. The revolving fund shall be used to assist with 
subsequent grants under this section.
    (e) Emergency Fuels Reduction Grants.--For the purposes of funding 
the Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program under this Act, there are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture 
$50,000,000 each fiscal year that this Act is in effect. Subject to 
section 14, amounts appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated 
before the end of that fiscal year shall remain available for use in 
subsequent fiscal years.

SEC. 10. MARKET INCENTIVES FOR HOME PROTECTION.

    It is the Sense of Congress that insurers should reduce premiums 
for homeowners in condition class 2 and condition class 3 areas within 
the wildland-urban interface who--
            (1) clear brush and other flammable material in the 
        vicinity of their homes;
            (2) use nonflammable building materials for roofs and other 
        critical structures;
            (3) otherwise improve the defensibility of their homes 
        against catastrophic fire.

SEC. 11. ONGOING PROJECTS AND EXISTING AUTHORITIES.

    Nothing in this Act shall affect projects begun prior to enactment 
of this Act or affect authorities otherwise granted to the Secretaries 
under existing law.

SEC. 12. PREFERENCE TO COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE ORDINANCES ON FIRE 
              PREVENTION.

    (a) In General.--In determining the allocation of funding for the 
Community and Private Land Fire Assistance Program (16 U.S.C. 2106c/PL-
171 section 10A(b)), the Secretary shall prioritize funding to those 
communities which have taken proactive steps through the enactment of 
ordinances and other means, including those that have developed a 
comprehensive fire protection plan encompassing all ownerships, to 
encourage property owners to reduce fire risk on private property.
    (b) Private Lands.--Nothing in this Act shall affect existing 
authorities to use appropriations authorized by this Act to carry out 
the provisions under this Act on non-Federal lands with the consent of 
the land owner.

SEC. 13. SUNSET.

    The provisions of this Act shall expire five years after the date 
of enactment, except that projects for which a decision notice has been 
issued by that date may continue to be implemented.

SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) National Forest System Lands.--For the purposes of planning and 
conducting hazardous fuels reduction projects under this Act on 
National Forest System Lands, there are authorized to be appropriated 
to the Secretary of Agriculture $1,943,100,000 during the 5-year period 
beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, amounts appropriated 
in one fiscal year and unobligated before the end of that fiscal year 
shall remain available for use in subsequent fiscal years.
    (b) BLM Lands.--For the purpose of planning and conducting 
hazardous fuels reduction projects under this Act on Federal lands 
managed by the Secretary of the Interior, there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior $1,888,000,000 during the 
5-year period beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, amounts 
appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated before the end of that 
fiscal year shall remain available for use in subsequent fiscal years.

SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Land Types and Fire Regime Areas.--In this Act, definitions of 
land types and fire regimes originate from the United States Forest 
Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, as follows:
            (1) Condition class 2.--The term ``condition class 2'' 
        refers to lands on which--
                    (A) fire frequencies have been moderately altered 
                and have departed from historic fire return frequencies 
                (either increased or decreased) by one or more return 
                interval, which results in moderate changes to fire 
                size, frequency, intensity, severity or landscape 
                patterns;
                    (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing key 
                ecosystem components; and
                    (C) vegetation attributes have been moderately 
                altered from their historic range.
            (2) Condition class 3.--The term ``condition class 3'' 
        refers to lands on which--
                    (A) fire regimes have been significantly altered 
                from their historic range, which results in dramatic 
                changes to fire size, frequency, intensity, severity, 
                or landscape patterns;
                    (B) there exists a high risk of losing key 
                ecosystem components; and
                    (C) vegetation attributes have been significantly 
                altered from their historic range.
            (3) Fire regime i.--The term ``fire regime I'' refers to 
        lands on which historically fire recurs in 0-35 year intervals 
        and burns with low severity.
            (4) Fire regime ii.--The term ``fire regime II'' refers to 
        lands on which historically fire recurs in 0-35 year intervals 
        and replaces existing vegetation.
            (5) Fire regime iii.--The term ``fire regime III'' refers 
        to lands on which historically fire recurs in 35-100 year 
        intervals and burns with mixed severity.
    (b) At-Risk Community.--The term ``at-risk community'' means a 
geographic area designated by the Secretary as any area--
            (1) defined as an interface community in Volume 66, page 
        753, of the January 4, 2001 Federal Register;
            (2) on which conditions are conducive to large-scale 
        wildland fire disturbance events; and
            (3) for which a significant threat to human life exists as 
        a result of wildland fire disturbance events.
    (c) Best Value Contracting.--The term ``best value contracting'' 
means the contracting process described in section 15.101 of title 48, 
Code of Federal Regulations, which allows the inclusion of non-cost 
factors in the federal contract process.
    (d) Comprehensive Strategy.--The term ``Comprehensive Strategy'' 
means the Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative Approach for 
Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated 
May 2002, including by reference the related Implementation Plan, which 
was developed pursuant to the conference report to accompany the 
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 
(House Report 106-646).
    (e) Federal Lands.--The term ``Federal lands'' means National 
Forest System lands and public forested lands administered by the 
Secretary of the Interior acting through the Bureau of Land Management.
    (f) Geographic Feature.--The term ``geographic feature'' means a 
ridge top, road, stream, or other landscape feature which can serve 
naturally as a firebreak, staging ground for firefighting, or boundary 
affecting fire behavior.
    (g) Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.--The term ``hazardous fuels 
reduction project'' means a project--
            (1) undertaken for the purpose of reducing the amount of 
        hazardous fuels resulting from alteration of a natural fire 
        regime as a result of fire suppression or other management 
        activities; and
            (2) accomplished through the use of prescribed burning or 
        mechanical treatment, or a combination thereof.
    (h) Inventoried Roadless Area.--The term ``inventoried roadless 
area'' means one of the areas identified in the set of inventoried 
roadless area maps contained in the Forest Service Roadless Areas 
Conservation, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated 
November, 2000.
    (i) Local Preference Contracting.--The term ``local preference 
contracting'' means the Federal contracting process that gives 
preference to local businesses described in section 333 of the 
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 
(division F of Public Law 108-7, 117 Stat. 277).
    (j) Municipal Water Supply System.--The term ``municipal water 
supply system'' means reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, 
pipes, pipelines, or other surface facilities and systems constructed 
or installed for the impoundment, storage, transportation, or 
distribution of drinking water for a community.
    (k) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
Agriculture, or the Secretary's designee, with respect to National 
Forest System lands; and the Secretary of the Interior, or the 
Secretary's designees, with respect to public lands administered by the 
Secretary through the Bureau of Land Management.
    (l) Wildland-Urban Interface.--The term ``wildland-urban 
interface'' means the area either within an at-risk community or within 
the area--
            (1) extending out to a geographic feature, if there is such 
        a feature within approximately three-quarters of a mile of the 
        community boundary; or
            (2) if there is no such geographic feature, extending out 
        \1/2\ mile from the community boundary.
                                 <all>