[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8024 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8024

 To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize assistance 
 for emergency measures in response to pine beetle outbreaks, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 16, 2024

Mr. Kelly of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. 
Guest, and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                    to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize assistance 
 for emergency measures in response to pine beetle outbreaks, 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 ``Emergency Pine Beetle Response Act 
of 2024''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO PINE BEETLE OUTBREAKS.

    Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2206) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Emergency Measures in Response to Pine Beetle Outbreaks.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Eligible itemized costs.--The term `eligible 
                itemized costs' means expenses incurred by a timber 
                service business in carrying out contractual services 
                associated with outbreak response measures, including--
                            ``(i) labor or hours for truck drivers or 
                        equipment operators;
                            ``(ii) mileage or hours for use of 
                        equipment, such as transports, bulldozers, and 
                        skidders; and
                            ``(iii) materials, such as gravel, grass 
                        seed, culverts, and mats.
                    ``(B) Outbreak response measures.--The term 
                `outbreak response measures' means measures necessary 
                to address pine beetle outbreaks on nonindustrial 
                private forest land, including--
                            ``(i) timber harvesting or thinning;
                            ``(ii) prescribed burning;
                            ``(iii) debris removal;
                            ``(iv) insecticide treatment;
                            ``(v) establishment of buffer areas; and
                            ``(vi) such other measures as the Secretary 
                        determines to be appropriate.
                    ``(C) Timber service business.--The term `timber 
                service business' means a business that derives gross 
                revenue from--
                            ``(i) cutting or transporting timber from 
                        forest land; or
                            ``(ii) inspecting, planting, pruning, or 
                        removing trees in residential or commercial 
                        areas.
            ``(2) Assistance for owners of nonindustrial private forest 
        land.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make 
                payments to an owner of nonindustrial private forest 
                land who carries out outbreak response measures to 
                restore forest health and forest-related resources 
                after the land is damaged by a pine beetle outbreak.
                    ``(B) Cost share requirement.--Payments made under 
                subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 85 percent of the 
                total cost of the outbreak response measures carried 
                out by an owner of nonindustrial private forest land.
            ``(3) Assistance for timber service businesses.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make 
                payments to a timber service business to cover eligible 
                itemized costs incurred in carrying out contractual 
                services associated with outbreak response measures to 
                restore forest health and forest-related resources on 
                nonindustrial private forest land after the land is 
                damaged by a pine beetle outbreak.
                    ``(B) Cost share requirement.--Payments made under 
                subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 50 percent of the 
                total eligible itemized costs incurred by a timber 
                service business.
            ``(4) Eligibility and provision of payments.--
                    ``(A) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a payment 
                under paragraph (2) or (3), an owner of nonindustrial 
                private forest land or a timber service business, 
                respectively, shall submit to the applicable local 
                office of the Farm Service Agency an application 
                demonstrating that--
                            ``(i) to the satisfaction of the local 
                        office, the nonindustrial private forest land 
                        on which the outbreak response measures are 
                        carried out had tree cover immediately before 
                        the pine beetle outbreak;
                            ``(ii) the nonindustrial private forest 
                        land is located in a county that the Secretary 
                        has designated as a primary natural disaster 
                        area due to drought in the most recent calendar 
                        year; and
                            ``(iii) forest pest surveys conducted by 
                        the Forest Service or a State forestry agency 
                        confirm pine beetle infestations on or within a 
                        reasonable distance from the nonindustrial 
                        private forest land on which the outbreak 
                        response measures are carried out.
                    ``(B) Implementation by local offices.--The local 
                offices of the Farm Service Agency, in consultation 
                with the applicable county committees of the Farm 
                Service Agency, shall--
                            ``(i) determine whether applicants for 
                        payments under paragraphs (2) and (3) are 
                        eligible for the payments; and
                            ``(ii) provide payments to eligible 
                        applicants.
            ``(5) Emergency outbreak public assistance grants.--The 
        Secretary may provide supplemental grants to State, Tribal, and 
        local governments to aid in the response to, and repair of 
        damage caused by, pine beetle outbreaks.''.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY LOANS.

    Section 321 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 1961) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Loans to Owners of Nonindustrial Private Forest Land.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Nonindustrial private forest land.--The term 
                `nonindustrial private forest land' has the meaning 
                given the term in section 407(a) of the Agricultural 
                Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2206(a)).
                    ``(B) Outbreak response measures.--The term 
                `outbreak response measures' has the meaning given the 
                term in section 407(e)(1) of the Agricultural Credit 
                Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2206(e)(1)).
            ``(2) Loans.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
        subtitle, the Secretary may make an emergency loan to an owner 
        of nonindustrial private forest land to carry out outbreak 
        response measures.
            ``(3) Amount.--The amount of an emergency loan under this 
        subsection shall be not less than 75 percent of the estimated 
        total cost of the outbreak response measures to be carried out 
        to address a pine beetle outbreak.
            ``(4) Loan repayment options.--In the case of an owner of 
        nonindustrial private forest land who receives an emergency 
        loan under this subsection and subsequently receives a cost-
        share payment under section 407(e)(2) of the Agricultural 
        Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2206(e)(2)) with respect to the 
        same pine beetle outbreak on the same land, the owner may, at 
        the option of the owner, apply the amount of the cost-share 
        payment to the remaining principal on the emergency loan.''.
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