119-hr3637

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3637 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3637

 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 with respect to 
 third-party contracts for wildfire hazard fuel removal, to amend the 
 National Forest Management Act with respect to the threshold for 
 advertised timber sales, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 29, 2025

 Mr. LaMalfa (for himself, Mr. Costa, and Mr. Carter of Georgia) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 with respect to 
 third-party contracts for wildfire hazard fuel removal, to amend the 
 National Forest Management Act with respect to the threshold for 
 advertised timber sales, 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 ``Locally Led Restoration Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTS FOR WILDFIRE HAZARD FUEL REMOVAL.

    (a) In General.--

Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (b) , by inserting ``(including contracts 
 proposed by such entities)'' after ``private entities''; and

    (2) in subsection
            (d) , by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (8) Salvage requirements.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--A contract or agreement for a 
 stewardship contracting project proposed by a private 
 person or other public or private entity may only be 
 entered into under subsection

    (b) if--
 ``
            (i) the land management goals of the 
 project include the removal of vegetation; and
 ``
            (ii) at least 10 percent of the 
 vegetation proposed to be removed is salvage.
 ``
        (B) Salvage defined.--For purposes of 
 subparagraph
        (A) , the term `salvage' includes wildfire 
 kill, beetle kill, and dead or dying organic material.
 ``

    (9) Notifications and responses.--
 ``
        (A) Notification of opportunity to submit 
 proposals.--Not less than once per year, the Chief and 
 the Director shall publicly notice the opportunity to 
 submit proposals for stewardship contracting projects 
 under subsection

    (b) .
 ``
        (B) Response to proposal.--
 ``
            (i) In general.--In the case of a 
 stewardship contracting project proposed by a 
 private person or other public or private 
 entity, the Chief and the Director shall not 
 later than 120 days after receiving such a 
 proposal, provide the person or entity 
 submitting such proposal a response with 
 respect to such proposal.
 ``
            (ii) Notice of denial.--In the case of a 
 response referred to in clause
            (i) that is a 
 denial, such response may--
 ``
            (I) identify the specific factors 
 that caused, and explain the reasons 
 that support, the denial; and
 ``
            (II) identify potential courses 
 of action for overcoming specific 
 issues that led to the denial.
 ``
            (C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
 paragraph shall be construed as requiring the Chief or 
 the Director to enter into a contract or an agreement 
 with respect to a stewardship contracting project 
 proposed by a private person or other public or private 
 entity.
 ``

    (10) Environmental review.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after 
 the date on which a private person or other public or 
 private entity submits to the Chief or the Director a 
 proposal to enter into a stewardship contracting 
 project under subsection

    (b) , the Chief or the Director 
 may issue public notice of initiation of any necessary 
 environmental review.
 ``
        (B) Agreements and contracts.--Following 
 completion of any necessary environmental review, the 
 Chief or the Director may enter into an agreement or 
 contract with the private person or other public or 
 private entity under subsection

    (b) .
 ``

    (11) Conflicting proposals.--In the case of conflicting 
 proposals for a stewardship contracting project under 
 subsection

    (b) , the Chief and the Director shall have sole 
 discretion in determining which such proposals, if any, are 
 accepted.
 ``

    (12) Other requirements.--A contract or agreement entered 
 into under this section--
 ``
        (A) shall be made on a best value basis, as 
 determined by the Chief and the Director;
 ``
        (B) may not be carried out--
 ``
            (i) on acres that are--
 ``
            (I) included in the National 
 Wilderness Preservation System; or
 ``
            (II) located within an 
 inventoried roadless area; or
 ``
            (ii) on any area where removal of 
 vegetation is prohibited by Federal statute; 
 and
 ``
            (C) may only be carried out if the Chief and the 
 Director determine the stewardship contracting project 
 is in accordance with the forest plan or land and 
 resource management plan applicable to the land on 
 which the project will be carried out.''.

    (b) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
a report to Congress that includes, with respect to the preceding 5-
year period, information on--

    (1) the number of project proposals under 

section 604 of 
 the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) 
 received by the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of 
 the Bureau of Land Management;

    (2) the number of contracts and agreements entered into 
 under such section; and

    (3) the number of acres on which forest thinning and 
 hazardous fuels reduction were carried out pursuant to such 
 contracts and agreements.

SEC. 3. THRESHOLD FOR ADVERTISED SALES.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
threshold above which the Secretary of Agriculture shall advertise 
timber sales, absent extraordinary conditions, established in 

section 14
            (d) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 
472a
            (d) ), is adjusted by the amendments made by subsection

    (b) to 
reflect the inflation that has occurred since the date of enactment of 
such section and to address any inflation that may occur after the date 
of enactment of this section.

    (b) Threshold Adjustment.--

Section 14
            (d) of the National Forest 
Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a
            (d) ) is amended by--

    (1) striking ``$10,000'' and inserting ``$55,000''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Beginning the 
 first year after the date of enactment of the Locally Led 
 Restoration Act of 2025, the amount in the first sentence of 
 this subsection shall be adjusted annually by the Secretary for 
 changes in the Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers 
 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department 
 of Labor.''.
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