[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3856 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3856

 To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest 
   System to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting 
              improvement report, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 29, 2024

  Mr. Rounds introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest 
   System to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting 
              improvement report, 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 ``Timber Harvesting Restoration Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. HARVESTING IMPROVEMENT ON NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Allowable sale quantity.--The term ``allowable sale 
        quantity'' means the maximum volume of timber potentially 
        available in a unit of the National Forest System as part of 
        regularly scheduled timber sales from land suitable for timber 
        production over a 10-year period.
            (2) Covered nfs unit.--The term ``covered NFS unit'' means 
        a unit of the National Forest System with respect to which, as 
        determined by the Secretary, the actual volume of timber sold 
        from the unit during the fiscal year preceding the date of 
        enactment of this Act is not more than \2/3\ of the allowable 
        sale quantity.
            (3) Forest supervisor.--The term ``forest supervisor'' 
        means a forest supervisor of a unit of the National Forest 
        System.
            (4) Harvesting improvement report.--The term ``harvesting 
        improvement report'' means a harvesting improvement report 
        described in subsection (b)(1).
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
    (b) Harvesting Improvement Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor of a covered NFS 
        unit shall submit to the Secretary a harvesting improvement 
        report that identifies areas of the covered NFS unit that could 
        be used, and any actionable steps that may be taken, to 
        increase the volume of timber sold from the covered NFS unit.
            (2) Consultation.--In preparing a harvesting improvement 
        report, a forest supervisor shall consult with--
                    (A) relevant members of private industry;
                    (B) relevant advisory committees;
                    (C) State, local, and Tribal governments; and
                    (D) relevant stakeholder groups.
            (3) Notification.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify each forest 
        supervisor of whether that forest supervisor is required to 
        file a harvesting improvement report.
    (c) Actionable Steps.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor required to submit a 
harvesting improvement report shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 
the Secretary, that the forest supervisor has taken actionable steps 
toward increasing the volume of timber sold from the applicable covered 
NFS unit.
    (d) Measuring Performance.--
            (1) Review of progress.--1 year after the date on which a 
        forest supervisor submits a harvesting improvement report, the 
        Secretary shall review the progress made toward increasing the 
        volume of timber sold from the applicable covered NFS unit.
            (2) Improvement.--If the Secretary determines, after a 
        review under paragraph (1), that the actual volume of timber 
        sold from the unit is more than \3/4\ of the allowable sale 
        quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of that unit shall 
        not be required to submit any additional harvesting improvement 
        reports under this section.
            (3) Lack of improvement.--If the Secretary determines, 
        after a review under paragraph (1), that the actual volume of 
        timber sold from the unit is not more than \3/4\ of the 
        allowable sale quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of 
        that unit shall, not later than 180 days after the review under 
        paragraph (1), submit to the Secretary another harvesting 
        improvement report.
    (e) Supporting Harvesting Improvements.--With respect to a unit 
described in subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall allocate any 
available resources to that unit for the purpose of increasing the 
volume of timber sold, which resources may include--
            (1) providing additional personnel;
            (2) expanding the use of good neighbor agreements under 
        section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); 
        and
            (3) using any feasible actions and authorities to expedite 
        environmental review processes.
    (f) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive a requirement to submit a 
harvesting improvement report under this section with respect to a unit 
of the National Forest System if the Secretary determines that there is 
a plausible reason, such as a natural disaster, for the lack of 
progress toward increasing the volume of timber sold.
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