[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 785 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 785

To establish a grant program to encourage retooling of entities in the 
           timber industry in Alaska, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 2, 2009

  Ms. Murkowski (for herself and Mr. Begich) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to encourage retooling of entities in the 
           timber industry in Alaska, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Southeast Alaska Timber Industry 
Retooling and Restructuring Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to assist entities involved in the 
timber industry in Alaska--
            (1) to deal with the adverse impacts of Federal timber 
        policy;
            (2) to facilitate the economic adjustment of those 
        entities; and
            (3) to retain jobs and lessen the impact of unemployment in 
        communities where those entities are located.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal timber policy.--The term ``Federal timber 
        policy'' means any law or regulation of the United States 
        relating to the timber industry, including any policy of the 
        United States Forest Service and any land management plans 
        related to the timber industry.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

    The Secretary, through an economic development program carried out 
by the Chief of the Forest Service, may provide grants to eligible 
entities described in section 5 for retooling projects described in 
section 6.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES DESCRIBED.

    An eligible entity described in this section is any entity, 
including sawmills, logging companies, and road construction companies, 
that--
            (1) operated in the timber industry in Alaska on January 1, 
        2009; and
            (2) prior to the date described in paragraph (1), operated 
        in the timber industry in Alaska for not less than 10 years.

SEC. 6. RETOOLING PROJECTS DESCRIBED.

    (a) In General.--A retooling project described in this section is a 
project designed to facilitate the economic adjustment of an eligible 
entity by allowing the eligible entity--
            (1) to improve or alter the business and practices of the 
        eligible entity to allow the eligible entity to become more 
        competitive within the timber industry; or
            (2) to shift to a type of business that is not related to 
        the timber industry.
    (b) Additional Requirement.--An eligible entity seeking a grant for 
a retooling project shall commit, to the extent practicable, to 
continue to employ substantially the same number of employees employed 
by the eligible entity on January 1, 2009, for a reasonable period 
after the completion of the retooling project, as determined by the 
Secretary.

SEC. 7. APPLICATION PROCESS.

    (a) In General.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under this Act 
shall submit an application to the Secretary in such form and in such 
manner as the Secretary considers appropriate.
    (b) Contents.--An application submitted under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) a description of the retooling project for which the 
        eligible entity is seeking a grant;
            (2) a business plan and budget, including start-up costs, 
        for the retooling project; and
            (3) a demonstration of the likelihood of success of the 
        retooling project.
    (c) Approval.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
Secretary receives an application under subsection (a) from an eligible 
entity, the Secretary shall determine whether to award a grant to the 
eligible entity.
    (d) Denial.--If the Secretary determines not to award a grant to an 
eligible entity that submitted an application under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall afford the eligible entity a reasonable opportunity to 
address any deficiencies in the application.

SEC. 8. AMOUNT OF GRANT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
Secretary determines to award a grant to an eligible entity, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) approve the business plan and the budget for the 
        retooling project of the eligible entity; and
            (2) determine the amount of the grant to award the eligible 
        entity.
    (b) Determination.--In determining the amount of the grant to award 
to an eligible entity, the Secretary shall consider the budget for the 
retooling plan approved under subsection (a)(1). The amount of the 
grant--
            (1) shall cover 75 percent of the cost of the budget, not 
        including any debt reimbursement costs; and
            (2) may cover up to 100 percent of the cost of the budget 
        if the Secretary determines appropriate based on the extent of 
        unemployment in the community in which the retooling project 
        will be based.

SEC. 9. USE OF GRANT FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--An eligible entity receiving a grant under this 
Act--
            (1) may use the grant--
                    (A) to pay for start-up costs necessary for the 
                retooling project, including equipment, worker 
                training, facility acquisition, technical assistance, 
                and raw materials; and
                    (B) to reimburse the eligible entity for the 
                unamortized portion of debt described in subsection 
                (b); and
            (2) may not use the grant for the ongoing operational and 
        maintenance costs of the eligible entity.
    (b) Reimbursement of Debt.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible entity may use a grant under 
        this Act for the reimbursement of debt under subsection 
        (a)(1)(B), without regard to whether the debt is held by 
        Federal or private lenders, if--
                    (A) the eligible entity demonstrates that the debt 
                was incurred--
                            (i) to acquire or improve infrastructure or 
                        equipment related to the timber industry, 
                        including sawmills, logging equipment, and road 
                        construction equipment, as a result of Federal 
                        timber policy; and
                            (ii) on or after January 1, 1998, and 
                        before January 1, 2009; and
                    (B) the lender certifies and notarizes the amount 
                of unamortized debt.
            (2) Reduction.--The amount of a grant to be used for the 
        reimbursement of debt under subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be 
        reduced by the amount of any proceeds from the sale by the 
        eligible entity of any infrastructure or equipment described in 
        paragraph (1)(A).

SEC. 10. DURATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.

    The grant program under this Act shall be carried out during the 2-
year period beginning on the date on which the Secretary prescribes the 
regulations under section 12.

SEC. 11. TREATMENT AS A MINORITY SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN UNDER THE SMALL 
              BUSINESS ACT.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an eligible entity 
receiving a grant under this Act shall be treated as a small business 
concern owned or controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged 
individuals (as that term is defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C))) for purposes of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) for 3 years after the date on 
which the Secretary approves the application of the eligible entity for 
a grant under section 7.

SEC. 12. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out the grant 
program under this Act.

SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
$40,000,000 to carry out the grant program under this Act for fiscal 
years 2010 and 2011.
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