[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4717 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4717

 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 with respect to 
 third-party contracts for wildfire hazard fuel removal, to amend the 
   National Forest Management Act with respect to the threshold for 
            advertised timber sales, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2023

  Mr. Lamborn (for himself, Mr. Costa, Mrs. Boebert, and Mr. LaMalfa) 
 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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 with respect to 
 third-party contracts for wildfire hazard fuel removal, to amend the 
   National Forest Management Act with respect to the threshold for 
            advertised timber sales, 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 ``Locally Led Restoration Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTS FOR WILDFIRE HAZARD FUEL REMOVAL.

    (a) In General.--Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ``(including contracts 
        proposed by such entities)'' after ``private entities''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Salvage requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A contract or agreement for a 
                stewardship contracting project proposed by a private 
                person or other public or private entity may only be 
                entered into under subsection (b) if--
                            ``(i) the land management goals of the 
                        project include the removal of vegetation; and
                            ``(ii) at least 10 percent of the 
                        vegetation proposed to be removed is salvage.
                    ``(B) Salvage defined.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the term `salvage' includes wildfire 
                kill, beetle kill, and dead or dying organic material.
            ``(9) Notifications and responses.--
                    ``(A) Notification of opportunity to submit 
                proposals.--Not less than once per year, the Chief and 
                the Director shall publicly notice the opportunity to 
                submit proposals for stewardship contracting projects 
                under subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Response to proposal.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case of a 
                        stewardship contracting project proposed by a 
                        private person or other public or private 
                        entity, the Chief and the Director shall not 
                        later than 120 days after receiving such a 
                        proposal, provide the person or entity 
                        submitting such proposal a response with 
                        respect to such proposal.
                            ``(ii) Notice of denial.--In the case of a 
                        response referred to in clause (i) that is a 
                        denial, such response may--
                                    ``(I) identify the specific factors 
                                that caused, and explain the reasons 
                                that support, the denial; and
                                    ``(II) identify potential courses 
                                of action for overcoming specific 
                                issues that led to the denial.
                    ``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed as requiring the Chief or 
                the Director to enter into a contract or an agreement 
                with respect to a stewardship contracting project 
                proposed by a private person or other public or private 
                entity.
            ``(10) Environmental review.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after 
                the date on which a private person or other public or 
                private entity submits to the Chief or the Director a 
                proposal to enter into a stewardship contracting 
                project under subsection (b), the Chief or the Director 
                may issue public notice of initiation of any necessary 
                environmental review.
                    ``(B) Agreements and contracts.--Following 
                completion of any necessary environmental review, the 
                Chief or the Director may enter into an agreement or 
                contract with the private person or other public or 
                private entity under subsection (b).
            ``(11) Conflicting proposals.--In the case of conflicting 
        proposals for a stewardship contracting project under 
        subsection (b), the Chief and the Director shall have sole 
        discretion in determining which such proposals, if any, are 
        accepted.
            ``(12) Other requirements.--A contract or agreement entered 
        into under this section--
                    ``(A) shall be made on a best value basis, as 
                determined by the Chief and the Director;
                    ``(B) may not be carried out--
                            ``(i) on acres that are--
                                    ``(I) included in the National 
                                Wilderness Preservation System; or
                                    ``(II) located within an 
                                inventoried roadless area; or
                            ``(ii) on any area where removal of 
                        vegetation is prohibited by Federal statute; 
                        and
                    ``(C) may only be carried out if the Chief and the 
                Director determine the stewardship contracting project 
                is in accordance with the forest plan or land and 
                resource management plan applicable to the land on 
                which the project will be carried out.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
a report to Congress that includes, with respect to the preceding 5-
year period, information on--
            (1) the number of project proposals under section 604 of 
        the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) 
        received by the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of 
        the Bureau of Land Management;
            (2) the number of contracts and agreements entered into 
        under such section; and
            (3) the number of acres on which forest thinning and 
        hazardous fuels reduction were carried out pursuant to such 
        contracts and agreements.

SEC. 3. THRESHOLD FOR ADVERTISED SALES.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
threshold above which the Secretary of Agriculture shall advertise 
timber sales, absent extraordinary conditions, established in section 
14(d) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 
472a(d)), is adjusted by the amendments made by subsection (b) to 
reflect the inflation that has occurred since the date of enactment of 
such section and to address any inflation that may occur after the date 
of enactment of this section.
    (b) Threshold Adjustment.--Section 14(d) of the National Forest 
Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a(d)) is amended by--
            (1) striking ``$10,000'' and inserting ``$55,000''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Beginning the 
        first year after the date of enactment of the Locally Led 
        Restoration Act of 2023, the amount in the first sentence of 
        this subsection shall be adjusted annually by the Secretary for 
        changes in the Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers 
        published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department 
        of Labor.''.
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