119-hr1213

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1213 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1213

 To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 
 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 11, 2025

 Ms. Schrier (for herself and Mr. Moore of Alabama) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 
 1978 to modify the forest inventory and analysis program.

 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 ``Forest Data Modernization Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 3

    (e) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642

    (e) ) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1) --
        (A) by striking ``their resources'' and inserting 
 ``the resources of those forests, including forest 
 carbon,'';
        (B) by striking ``In compliance'' and inserting the 
 following:
 ``
        (A) In general.--In compliance''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
        (B) Additional methods.--Under the program under 
 this subsection, the Secretary shall carry out, as a 
 data collection method--
 ``
            (i) a timber products output study; and
 ``
            (ii) a national woodland owner survey.'';

    (2) in paragraph

    (3)
            (C) , by inserting ``including with 
 respect to available forest carbon data,'' after ``2 
 decades,'';

    (3) in paragraph

    (4) --
        (A) in the second sentence, by striking ``The 
 standards'' and inserting the following:
 ``
        (B) Inclusions.--The standards described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) '';
        (B) by striking ``

    (4) National standards and 
 

=== definitions. ===
-To ensure'' and inserting the following:
 ``

    (4) National consistency.--
 ``
        (A) Standards and 

=== definitions. ===
-To ensure''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (C) Terminology.--The Secretary shall include a 
 clear description of the definition of `forest' used 
 for purposes of reporting data from inventories and 
 analyses of forests and the resources of forests under 
 this subsection with--
 ``
            (i) any data or report provided under the 
 program under this subsection;
 ``
            (ii) Renewable Resource Assessments 
 prepared under 

section 3

    (a) of the Forest and 
 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601

    (a) ); and
 ``
            (iii) any data or report provided to an 
 entity outside the United States.'';

    (4) in paragraph

    (6) --
        (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph
        (A) , by 
 striking ``Not later than 180 days after the date of 
 enactment of this subsection,'' and inserting ``In 
 accordance with paragraph

    (7) ,''; and
        (B) by striking subparagraphs
            (D) and
        (E) and 
 inserting the following:
 ``
            (D) the organization and procedures necessary to 
 understand and report on changes in land cover and use;
 ``
        (E) the organization and procedures necessary to 
 evaluate carbon-related data variables, including soil 
 carbon, collected from forest inventory and analysis 
 plots, timber products output studies, and national 
 woodland owner surveys to ensure that carbon accounting 
 information needs can be met; and''; and

    (5) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (7) Updates to strategic plan.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
 the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary 
 shall prepare an update to the strategic plan under 
 paragraph

    (6) to include--
 ``
            (i) a plan to implement nationally 
 consistent data collection protocols and 
 procedures to improve the statistical precision 
 of base program estimates;
 ``
            (ii) pathways to integrate and report on 
 changes in forest carbon, including below-
 ground carbon;
 ``
            (iii) plans, including the identification 
 of challenges, to collaborate with other 
 Federal agencies, non-Federal partners, and the 
 private sector to integrate existing nationally 
 available data sets and best available 
 commercial technologies, such as remote 
 sensing, spatial analysis techniques, and other 
 new technologies;
 ``
            (iv) a plan to increase transparency and 
 clarity in reporting in accordance with 
 paragraph

    (4)
            (C) ;
 ``
            (v) a plan to expand current data 
 collection, further integrate remote sensing 
 technology, or both, to include procedures to 
 improve the statistical precision of estimates 
 at the sub-State level;
 ``
            (vi) a plan to expand current data 
 collection, further integrate remote sensing 
 technology, or both, to include information on 
 renewable biomass supplies and carbon stocks at 
 the local, State, regional, and national 
 levels, including by ownership type; and
 ``
            (vii) such other matters as the Secretary 
 determines to be appropriate based on 
 recommendations of the Forest Inventory and 
 Analysis National User Group.
 ``
        (B) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after 
 the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary 
 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 
 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee 
 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives the 
 update to the strategic plan prepared under 
 subparagraph
        (A) .
 ``
            (C) Further updates.--Not later than 5 years 
 after the date on which the update is submitted under 
 subparagraph
        (B) , and every 5 years thereafter, the 
 Secretary shall--
 ``
            (i) prepare an additional update to the 
 strategic plan; and
 ``
            (ii) submit the additional update to the 
 committees described in subparagraph
        (B) .
 ``

    (8) Accessibility.--The Secretary shall ensure that data 
 collected under this subsection is--
 ``
        (A) easily accessible to all public- and private-
 sector entities; and
 ``
        (B) collected using means that ensure the 
 confidentiality, in accordance with 

section 1770 of the 
 Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276), of--
 ``
            (i) plot locations;
 ``
            (ii) nonaggregated data of woodland 
 owners; and
 ``
            (iii) forest industry information.
 ``

    (9) Biennial compilations.--Biennially, the Secretary 
 shall prepare and make publicly available a compilation of 
 national forest inventory and analysis forest statistics, which 
 shall be similar to the tables contained in the Renewable 
 Resource Assessments prepared under 

section 3

    (a) of the Forest 
 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
 U.S.C. 1601

    (a) ).
 ``

    (10) External complex data requests.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish an 
 office, a data platform, or both to process and respond 
 to complex data requests submitted by external 
 organizations relating to the program under this 
 subsection.
 ``
        (B) Fees.--To cover the costs of processing of 
 and responding to complex data requests described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) , the Secretary may impose fees on the 
 external organizations submitting the requests.
 ``

    (11) Reports.--Each year, the Secretary shall publish as 
 part of the forest inventory and analysis business report a 
 detailed description of the progress of the Secretary in 
 implementing the programmatic elements of the strategic plan 
 described in paragraph

    (6) , including--
 ``
        (A) the costs and priorities of the strategic 
 plan; and
 ``
        (B) how the program under this subsection 
 leverages new technology, improves and standardizes 
 collection protocols, and increases workforce 
 capacity.''.

    (b) Remote Sensing Technologies.--

Section 8632

    (1) of the 
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16 U.S.C. 1642 note; Public Law 
115-334) is amended by striking ``technologies'' and inserting 
``technologies, such as microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, and high-
resolution remote sensing data for data collection, and machine 
learning for improved modeling,''.
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