[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 96 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8741-S8746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 1352. A bill to expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction 
activities and restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President: Today, I introduce, for myself and Mrs. 
Feinstein, the Community and Forest Protection Act. I ask unanimous 
consent that the text of the bill to be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:
       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,
       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that:
       (1) In 2002, approximately six and one half million acres 
     of forest lands in the U.S. 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 billion fighting these 
     fires.
       (2) 73 million 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 U.S. 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 non-native species that create fuel ladders which 
     allow fires to reach the crowns of large old trees and cause 
     catastrophic fire.
       (4) The U.S. 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.

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

     SEC. 2. 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 million acres of 
     federal land.
       (1) These projects shall be conducted on the priority lands 
     identified in subsection (d), using the expedited procedures 
     in section 3.
       (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

[[Page S8742]]

     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; and
       (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; and
       (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 3(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:
       (1) shall not undertake any hazardous fuels reduction 
     projects in wilderness study areas or components of the 
     National Wilderness Preservation System;
       (2) shall not construct new roads in inventoried roadless 
     areas as part of any hazardous fuels reduction project;
       (3) shall 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. 3. 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 subsection 
     2(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 2(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; and (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

[[Page S8743]]

     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 2(e)(1) on the 
     ecological and economic effects of individual salvage 
     hazardous fuels projects.

     SEC. 4. 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 28 U.S.C. 1391 
     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. 5. 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 2(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 2(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, non-profit 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. 6. 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

[[Page S8744]]

     Agriculture shall jointly submit to the Congress a report 
     that describes the interim results of the programs authorized 
     under this section.

     SEC. 7. 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. 8. 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; and
       (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 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. 9. 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 non-flammable building materials for roofs and 
     other critical structures; or
       (3) otherwise improve the defensibility of their homes 
     against catastrophic fire.

     SEC. 10. 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. 11. 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 USC 2106c/PL-171 Sec. l0A(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. 12. 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. 13. 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 five-fiscal year period beginning 
     October 1, 2003. Subject to section 12, 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 five-fiscal year period 
     beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 12, 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. 14. DEFINITIONS.

       (a) Land Types and Fire Regime Areas.--In this Act 
     definitions of land types and fire regimes originate from the 
     U.S. 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 IP' 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

[[Page S8745]]

     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.
       (1) 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 
     one-half mile from the community boundary.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I rise to introduce with Senator Wyden a bill to 
reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in our country's magnificent 
national forests.
  No one who watched last week as Arizona's community of Summerhaven on 
Mount Lemmon burned can doubt the importance of this issue. My heart 
goes out to the residents of Summerhaven, and to the others who will be 
displaced by the fires yet to come this summer.
  Americans know that there is something wrong with our national 
forests. For too long we have suppressed fires, gradually letting brush 
and small trees multiply until many of our forests are now choked by a 
dense thicket.
  Today, there are 57 million acres of Federal lands at the highest 
risk of catastrophic forest fires. If we do not take action now, these 
forests could go up in smoke. This bill we are introducing today is 
balancing, and it will reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in our 
country's magnificent national forests.
  This legislation would speed up the environmental review process--
without sacrificing the most important environmental protections. It 
also would protect the communities which face the highest risk and 
safeguard old growth stands and large trees. And it would include 
sensible provisions on judicial review that will help projects go 
forward quickly without compromising our independent judiciary. These 
are provisions that makes sense, and I hope that my colleagues will 
support the bill.
  We have crafted our bill around three fundamental principles:
  We should focus limited Federal resources on protecting communities 
and on the forest lands truly most at risk;
  We should speed up the environmental review process, but without 
sacrificing the most important environmental protections; and
  We should protect old growth stands and large trees.
  Let me show how the bill achieves these three goals.
  First, the bill prioritizes our efforts. Many people believe that we 
should protect communities first. The bill does so. Seventy percent of 
the funding is directed to the wildland-urban interface near 
communities.
  Of course, conditions vary by State. The bill allows Governors to 
adjust the percentage of work that is to be done within the wildland--
urban interface for their State, up to a maximum of 75 percent, or down 
to a minimum of 50 percent.
  By way of contrast, H.R. 1904, which passed the House, includes no 
focus on protecting communities. All the money can be spent far from 
communities under H.R. 1904, even if the Governor of a State wishes 
otherwise.
  Senator Wyden and I believe that in addition to protecting 
communities, there are some forest lands that should be thinned to 
ensure that catastrophic fires do not devastate the forest and 
eliminate habitat for the species that have there.
  In the last century, Americans have rigorously suppressed fires, 
stamping them out whenever they start. In certain forests like 
ponderosa pine, these fires would naturally have cleared out the brush 
and small trees every 10 or 20 years or so.
  In the absence of these fires, brush has grown into ``doghair 
thickets'' with dangerous levels of fuel loadings. When fires burn now 
in these forests, they will be so hot that they won't just clear out 
the brush but will kill the large trees and often scorch the soil.
  These are the forests where we need to focus our efforts. We thus 
target thinning projects to forests that are both Fire Regime I and 
Condition Class 3. Fire Regime I forests are those that used to have 
low-intensity, brush-clearing fires; and Condition Class 3 forests are 
the most altered from their natural condition. The combination of Fire 
Regime I and Condition Class 3 are the highest priority lands for 
treatment.
  We also direct projects to municipal watersheds and diseased or 
windblown forests that are in Condition Class 3. If we don't protect 
the municipal watersheds, catastrophic fires could strip off the tree 
cover that prevents soils from eroding into creeks and lakes. 
Municipalities' water quality could suffer.
  In contrast to our bill, H.R. 1904 fails to prioritize brush-clearing 
projects for the areas that need it the most. Instead, H.R. 1904 
provides expedited processes for lands that are only moderately altered 
by fire suppression--Condition Class 2 lands in addition to Condition 
Class 3.
  In many of the forests where H.R. 1904 would direct brush-clearing 
work, there naturally would have been severe fires that burned all the 
trees in the stand. After a thinning project, fires in these forests 
will still behave the same way, scorching and killing most of the 
trees. Thus, much of the thinning called for in H.R. 1904 would have 
little effect on the fire behavior or forest health.
  Senator Wyden and I have worked very hard to develop a bill that 
speeds up the review process so important work can get done without 
sacrificing environmental protections.
  Almost everyone agrees that we need to work quickly to protect the 
areas immediately around communities. There is little controversy or 
debate over these projects.
  The Forest Service has proposed an analytical short-cut for these 
projects, which requires very little environmental analysis and no 
formal pubic comment process or administrative appeal.
  There is some uncertainty, however, over the Forest Service's 
proposed approach. People can claim that laws Congress has previously 
passed will require some of these projects to be held up by more 
environmental analysis or administrative appeals.
  Our bill eliminates this uncertainty. When the Forest Service works 
in the immediate vicinity of a community, the bill would make 
absolutely clear that there need to be no environmental analysis or 
administrative appeals. The only exception is where there might be 
extraordinary circumstances, such as a major threat to endangered 
species. We also prohibit the Forest Service from conducting clearcuts 
around communities, requiring them to focus on clearing out the brush.
  By way of comparison, the House-passed bill does not provide any 
assistance to thinning projects in the immediate vicinity of 
communities, even though everyone agrees on the need for these 
projects.
  Senator Wyden and I have also sped up the process for projects 
outside the immediate vicinity of communities. These projects are more 
controversial, so we want to make sure that the public has some 
opportunity for input.
  In the past, the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior 
have been able to conduct the majority of brush-clearing mechanical 
treatment following a National Environmental Policy Act process known 
as environmental assessments. Our bill simplified these environmental 
assessments in several ways.

  The bill provides one round of public comment--the administrative 
appeal process--rather than two.
  The bill shortens the time frame for administrative appeals from 90 
to 60 days.
  Finally, the appeal deciding offer can make necessary changes rather 
than having to send the project back to the original decisionmaker for 
further time-consuming review.
  Together, these changes will likely speed up the process by a few 
months or more. We do all this without eliminating public comment or 
gutting core parts of the environmental analysis.
  In contrast, the House-passed bill would eliminate the requirement 
that the Forest Service consider alternatives to the proposed project 
as part of its environmental analysis. In other

[[Page S8746]]

words, the Forest Service doesn't have to study other, less damaging 
ways of undertaking the project--it can just do the project the way it 
wants.
  Many people think that public debate over alternatives is the core of 
the National Environmental Policy Act. Our bill does not eliminate this 
important environmental protection.
  Another important part of our bill is its protection of magnificent 
old growth stands. The remaining groves of these trees provide a 
connection to nature untrammeled by human activity, a connection that 
many of us cherish.
  Our bill would require full protection of these old growth stands. In 
addition, outside old growth stands, the bill focuses on small-diameter 
trees and protects large trees that promote fire-resistant stands and 
species diversity.
  By way of contrast, H.R. 1904 provides no protection for these 
magnificent resources.
  Let me now talk about judicial review. No one wants court cases to go 
on too long. In addition, people should not be able to tie up projects 
by gaming the system and picking and choosing the friendliest courts to 
hear their lawsuits.
  Our bill addresses these problems. The bill encourages courts, to the 
maximum extent practicable, to resolve lawsuits over brush-clearing 
projects quickly. These are important projects for the safety of our 
communities and our forests, and it is appropriate to give them some 
priority.
  In addition, we require that potential litigants file suit in the 
same judicial district where a fuels reduction project takes place, No 
one can game the system by looking for a friendly judge somewhere else.
  Finally, we limit temporary injunctions that are typically issued at 
the outset of a case to 60 days. They can be renewed if necessary--but 
the challengers to a projects must submit updates explaining why the 
injunctions should be extended. This provision prevents projects from 
being held up any longer than is strictly necessary.
  These changes will expedite the process--but they still respect our 
court system's essential autonomy. As a member of the Judiciary 
Committee, I spend much of my time trying to make sure our court system 
is as fair as possible.
  Americans count on a judiciary independent of the executive branch to 
preserve their liberties and to right any wrongs that their government 
commits. I think it is very important that we do not interfere with the 
independence of our judiciary.

  The House-passed bill would require the courts to give weight to 
certain findings by the Forest Service and the Department of the 
Interior. Even if projects had been found to violate the environmental 
laws, courts would be told to give weight to the agencies' findings and 
allow many of the projects to go ahead anyway.
  This is a dangerous provision for a bill to include, and I cannot 
support it. I believe our bill includes more sensible provisions on 
judicial review that will help projects go forward quickly without 
compromising the independence of our judiciary.
  Our bill includes several provisions to address forest health 
problems on private and State lands.
  We authorize $50 million annually in emergency grants to States and 
localities where lives are at risk. The last few years have seen vast 
insect epidemics killing millions of trees in Southern California, 
Arizona, and elsewhere.
  In places like Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear and Idyllwild in Southern 
California, communities are surrounded by dead and dying trees that are 
perfect kindling for a catastrophic fire. There is a real threat to 
people's lives that we must address.
  There is now no good funding source for clearing evacuation routes 
and clearing around schools and other emergency shelters that are on 
State and private lands. The emergency grants in the bill would 
authorize funds for these essential purposes.
  The bill also includes two measures to encourage homeowners to clear 
brush around their houses and install non-flammable roofs. A study of 
Southern California fires by Forest Service researcher Jack Cohen has 
shown that these measures could reduce a blaze's threat to homes by as 
much as 85 to 95 percent.
  Our bill would encourage these home-saving practices in two ways:
  The bill would prioritize grants to those communities that encourage 
brush-clearing and use of non-flammable roofs or develop comprehensive 
fire plans.
  The bill would record the Sense of Congress that insurers should 
offer lower premiums to homeowners who take steps to protect their 
homes.
  Our bill would also include grants to encourage the use of woody 
material, or biomass, for energy production. Biomass-to-energy plants 
serve multiple beneficial purposes: one, they are a clean and renewable 
source of energy; and two, they make brush-clearing projects more cost-
effective, so we can protect more with the finite Federal dollars 
available.
  Finally, our bill would also include contracting provisions to 
benefit rural communities. The Forest Service and the Department of the 
Interior would be required to use ``best value contracting'' for brush-
clearing projects under the Act.
  This contracting approach requires the agencies to consider other 
factors besides the price of the bid in awarding contractors. Bidders 
would be rewarded for such factors as their commitment to hire local 
workers, and their past record of environmental stewardship.
  I would like to close by saying that this is truly a bipartisan 
issue. All of us, Democrat and Republican, have an interest in clearing 
out dangerous accumulations of brush in our national forests. All of us 
have an interest as well in protecting the magnificent old growth 
stands and species habitat that Americans cherish, and in upholding our 
environmental laws.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to pass a bill as soon as possible.
                                 ______