119-s2221

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2221 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2221

To establish requirements under which the Secretary of Agriculture and 
 the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out the Timber Production 
 Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 9, 2025

Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
 Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To establish requirements under which the Secretary of Agriculture and 
 the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out the Timber Production 
 Expansion Guaranteed Loan 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 ``Supporting American Wood and Mill 
Infrastructure with Loans for Longevity Act'' or the ``SAWMILL Act''.

SEC. 2. TIMBER PRODUCTION EXPANSION GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an 
 individual or entity that owns or operates a sawmill or other 
 wood-processing facility located in a rural area (as defined in 
 

section 343

    (a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
 Act (7 U.S.C. 1991

    (a) )) of the United States.

    (2) Eligible federal land.--The term ``eligible Federal 
 land'' means any unit of Federal land, including Indian forest 
 land or rangeland, that has been identified by the Secretary, 
 in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, as high or 
 very high priority for ecological restoration involving 
 vegetation removal under subsection

    (b) .

    (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Timber 
 Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program of the Department 
 of Agriculture.

    (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of Agriculture.

    (b) Identification of Eligible Federal Land.--Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 
once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Secretary of the Interior, shall--

    (1) review Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 
 Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior; and

    (2) identify units of Federal land that, as determined by 
 the Secretaries, are high or very high priority for ecological 
 restoration involving vegetation removal.
            (c) Loan Guarantees.--

    (1) In general.--The Secretary, in coordination with the 
 Secretary of the Interior, shall provide loan guarantees under 
 the Program to eligible entities seeking to establish, reopen, 
 retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing 
 facility located within a 250-mile radius of, a unit of 
 eligible Federal land, if the presence of a sawmill or other 
 wood-processing facility would, or does, substantially decrease 
 the cost of conducting ecological restoration projects 
 involving vegetation removal on the eligible Federal land, as 
 determined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary 
 of the Interior.

    (2) Conditions.--A loan guarantee under the Program shall 
 be provided in accordance with such conditions as the Secretary 
 determines to be necessary.

    (3) Maximum amount.--The Secretary may provide a total of 
 not more than $220,000,000 in loan guarantees under the 
 Program.
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