[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E126-E127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF COLORADO FOREST INSECT EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT

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                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing an 
additional bill to address the danger to Colorado's communities, water 
supplies, and infrastructure from the increasing risk of very severe 
wildfires on our forested lands.
  I have put a priority on reducing those risks since I was elected to 
Congress. In 2000, with our then-colleague, Representative Hefley, I 
introduced legislation to facilitate reducing the buildup of fuel in 
the parts of Colorado that the Forest Service, working with State and 
local partners, identified at greatest risk of fire--the so-called 
``red zones.''
  Concepts from that legislation were included in the National Fire 
Plan developed by the Clinton Administration and were also incorporated 
into the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. As a Member of the 
Resources Committee, I had worked to develop the version of that 
legislation that the committee approved in 2002, and while I could not 
support the different version initially passed by the House in 2003, I 
voted for the revised version developed in conference with the Senate 
later that year--the version that President Bush signed into law.
  Since then welcome progress has been made--in Colorado, at least--in 
developing community wildfire protection plans and focusing fuel-
reduction projects in the priority ``red zone'' areas, two important 
aspects of the new law. But at the same time nature has continued to 
add to the buildup of fuel in the form of both new growth and dead and 
dying mature trees.
  In recognition of the serious nature of the problem, the entire 
Colorado delegation--both here in the House and in the Senate, too--
worked together to reach consensus on a broad-scale legislative 
response. The result was legislation--H.R. 3072 and S. 1797, the 
Colorado Forest Management Improvement Act of 2007--which I introduced 
last year in the House with the cosponsorship of the entire Colorado 
delegation and which Senators Salazar and Allard introduced in the 
Senate. Together with two bills I introduced last week--H.R. 5216, the 
Wildfire Risk Reduction and Renewable Biomass Utilization Act and H.R. 
5218, the Fire Safe Community Act--the bill I am introducing today is 
designed to complement the Colorado Forest Management Act to respond to 
the increasingly widespread extent to which our State's forests are 
being altered by infestations of bark beetles and other insects.
  These insects help to balance tree densities and set the stage for 
fires and thereby the generation of new tree growth. And when forests 
are healthy and there are adequate supplies of water, their effects are 
relatively low-scale and isolated. But under the right conditions--such 
as drought, unusually warm winters, or when there are dense stands of 
even-aged trees--the insects can cause large-scale tree mortality, 
turning whole mountainsides and valleys rust red. And that is happening 
now in many parts of Colorado, as was made unmistakably clear recently 
when Federal and State foresters reported that the beetle infestation 
first detected in 1996 grew by a half-million acres last year, bringing 
the total number of acres attacked by bark beetles to 1.5 million, and 
has spread further into Front Range counties east of the Continental 
Divide.
  My goal in introducing legislation dealing with this issue is not to 
eradicate insects in our forests--nor should it be, because insects are 
a natural part of forest ecosystems. Instead, I seek to make it 
possible for there to be more rapid responses to the insect epidemic in 
those areas where such responses are needed in order to protect 
communities from increased wildfire dangers.
  The bill I am introducing today would add a new section to the 
Healthy Forests Act. which would apply only to Colorado, to 
specifically address insect epidemics. It would authorize the Forest 
Service or Interior Department to identify as ``insect emergency 
areas'' Federal lands that have already been slated for fuel-reduction 
work in community wildfire protection plans and that have so many 
insect-killed trees that there is an urgent need for work to reduce the 
fire-related risks to human life and property or municipal water 
supply.
  The Forest Service or Interior Department could do this on its own 
initiative or in response to a request from a State agency or a 
Colorado political subdivision (such as a county, city, or other local 
government). After receipt of such a request, a decision must be made 
within 90 days.
  In any such emergency areas, the Forest Service or Interior 
Department would be authorized to remove dead or dying trees on an 
expedited basis, including use of a ``categorical exclusion'' from 
normal review under the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA. 
Although categorical exclusions from NEPA are controversial, I believe 
they are appropriate for these emergency situations.
  For the information of our colleagues, here is a more detailed 
outline of the bill:


             colorado forest insect emergency response act

  This bill, based on provisions in the Udall-Salazar bill (H.R. 4875) 
of 2006, will add a new section to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
to specifically address the forest insect epidemic in Colorado.
  It would authorize the Forest Service or the Interior Department, as 
relevant, to identify as ``insect emergency areas'' Federal lands in 
Colorado that have already been slated for fuel-reduction work in 
community wildfire protection plans and that have so many insect-killed 
trees that there is an urgent need for work to reduce the fire-related 
risks to human life and property or municipal water supplies.
  The Forest Service or Interior Department could make such a 
determination on its own initiative or in response to a request from 
any Colorado State agency or any Colorado political subdivision (such 
as a county, city, or other local government). The relevant Federal 
agency must respond to such a request by making a decision within 90 
days.
  The bill would reduce the extent to which analysis under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, NEPA, must be done prior to 
implementing fuel-reduction--i.e., thinning or tree-removal projects in 
insect-emergency areas. This would be done in two ways:
  (1) by allowing the abbreviated NEPA reviews to be used for projects 
on any lands covered by a wildfire protection plan for a Colorado 
community in or adjacent to an insect-emergency area (the Act now 
allows this only for projects on lands within 1.5 miles of a 
community's boundaries); and
  (2) by allowing the Forest Service or Interior Department to forego 
NEPA analysis entirely through use of a ``categorical exclusion'' with 
regard to a project involving only lands that are both within an 
insect-emergency area and covered by a community wildfire protection 
plan.

[[Page E127]]

  Before making a decision to exempt a project from NEPA review, the 
Forest Service or Interior Department would have to consult with 
relevant Federal and State agencies, seek comments from the public, and 
follow existing procedures for such decisions.

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