119-s480

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 480 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 480

 To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest 
 System to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting 
 improvement report, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025

 Mr. Rounds introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require certain forest supervisors of units of the National Forest 
 System to submit to the Chief of the Forest Service a harvesting 
 improvement report, 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 ``Timber Harvesting Restoration Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. HARVESTING IMPROVEMENT ON NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.

    (a) 

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

    (1) Allowable sale quantity.--The term ``allowable sale 
 quantity'' means the maximum volume of timber potentially 
 available in a unit of the National Forest System as part of 
 regularly scheduled timber sales from land suitable for timber 
 production over a 10-year period.

    (2) Covered nfs unit.--The term ``covered NFS unit'' means 
 a unit of the National Forest System with respect to which, as 
 determined by the Secretary, the actual volume of timber sold 
 from the unit during the fiscal year preceding the date of 
 enactment of this Act is not more than \2/3\ of the allowable 
 sale quantity.

    (3) Forest supervisor.--The term ``forest supervisor'' 
 means a forest supervisor of a unit of the National Forest 
 System.

    (4) Harvesting improvement report.--The term ``harvesting 
 improvement report'' means a harvesting improvement report 
 described in subsection

    (b)

    (1) .

    (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.

    (b) Harvesting Improvement Reports.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor of a covered NFS 
 unit shall submit to the Secretary a harvesting improvement 
 report that identifies areas of the covered NFS unit that could 
 be used, and any actionable steps that may be taken, to 
 increase the volume of timber sold from the covered NFS unit.

    (2) Consultation.--In preparing a harvesting improvement 
 report, a forest supervisor shall consult with--
        (A) relevant members of private industry;
        (B) relevant advisory committees;
            (C) State, local, and Tribal governments; and
            (D) relevant stakeholder groups.

    (3) Notification.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify each forest 
 supervisor of whether that forest supervisor is required to 
 file a harvesting improvement report.
            (c) Actionable Steps.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, each forest supervisor required to submit a 
harvesting improvement report shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 
the Secretary, that the forest supervisor has taken actionable steps 
toward increasing the volume of timber sold from the applicable covered 
NFS unit.
            (d) Measuring Performance.--

    (1) Review of progress.--1 year after the date on which a 
 forest supervisor submits a harvesting improvement report, the 
 Secretary shall review the progress made toward increasing the 
 volume of timber sold from the applicable covered NFS unit.

    (2) Improvement.--If the Secretary determines, after a 
 review under paragraph

    (1) , that the actual volume of timber 
 sold from the unit is more than \3/4\ of the allowable sale 
 quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of that unit shall 
 not be required to submit any additional harvesting improvement 
 reports under this section.

    (3) Lack of improvement.--If the Secretary determines, 
 after a review under paragraph

    (1) , that the actual volume of 
 timber sold from the unit is not more than \3/4\ of the 
 allowable sale quantity for the unit, the forest supervisor of 
 that unit shall, not later than 180 days after the review under 
 paragraph

    (1) , submit to the Secretary another harvesting 
 improvement report.

    (e) Supporting Harvesting Improvements.--With respect to a unit 
described in subsection
            (d) (3) , the Secretary shall allocate any 
available resources to that unit for the purpose of increasing the 
volume of timber sold, which resources may include--

    (1) providing additional personnel;

    (2) expanding the use of good neighbor agreements under 
 

section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); 
 and

    (3) using any feasible actions and authorities to expedite 
 environmental review processes.

    (f) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive a requirement to submit a 
harvesting improvement report under this section with respect to a unit 
of the National Forest System if the Secretary determines that there is 
a plausible reason, such as a natural disaster, for the lack of 
progress toward increasing the volume of timber sold.
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