Sec. 203. Selection and implementation of landscape-scale forest restoration projects
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In carrying out the Plan, the Secretary of Agriculture shall select, in accordance with this section, landscape-scale forest restoration projects— to implement on National Forest System land; and if applicable, to implement on land adjoining National Forest System land, in coordination with other Federal and non-Federal entities. During the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of Agriculture shall select not more than 20 landscape-scale forest restoration projects under subsection (a).
Subject to paragraph (2), to be eligible for selection and implementation under subsection (a), a landscape-scale forest restoration project shall satisfy the following requirements: The purposes and needs for the project shall be— to restore the ecological integrity and ecological resilience of terrestrial and aquatic areas that have departed from reference conditions within the forest landscape; to restore appropriate natural fire regimes, including by reducing fuel loads in areas that have departed from reference conditions, taking into account the current and projected impacts of climate change; and to conduct wildfire risk reduction activities within the wildland-urban interface to the extent that the project includes lands within the wildland-urban interface.
The project shall be developed and supported by a collaborative group that— includes multiple interested persons representing diverse interests; is transparent and inclusive; and has sufficient expertise, capacity, and scientific support to effectively plan, implement, and monitor landscape-level, ecologically based forest restoration activities. The project shall be based on a landscape assessment that shall— cover a landscape of— except as provided in subclauses
(II)and (III), not less than 100,000 acres; in such limited cases as the Secretary of Agriculture determines to be appropriate, not less than 80,000 acres if— the assessment is completed or substantially completed as of the date of enactment of this Act; and in the determination of the Secretary of Agriculture, assessing a larger area is not necessary to restore the integrity, resilience, and fire regimes of the landscape; or not less than 50,000 acres in the case of a project that is carried out east of the 100th meridian; evaluate ecological integrity and determine reference conditions for the landscape; identify terrestrial and aquatic areas within the landscape that have departed from reference conditions; identify criteria to determine appropriate restoration treatments within degraded areas of the landscape to achieve reference conditions, including management prescriptions and necessary mitigation measures to protect at-risk species; be based on the best available scientific information and data, including, where applicable, high-resolution imagery, LiDAR, and similar technologies and information, and involve direct engagement by scientists; and identify priority restoration strategies for terrestrial and aquatic areas, including prescribed fire and wildfires managed for multiple resource benefits, which shall focus on— areas that are the most departed from reference conditions; and areas that would benefit the most from reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire, especially with respect to nearby communities, taking into account other completed, ongoing, planned fuels-reduction projects, and the effects of recent wildfires. Restoration treatments under the project— shall emphasize the reintroduction of characteristic fire, based on forest ecology and reference conditions, through the use of prescribed fire, wildfire, or both; that involve any proposed mechanical treatments shall be designed to promote— the restoration of reference conditions in areas that lack ecological integrity, with a focus on the reduction of surface and ladder fuels; and the establishment of conditions that will facilitate prescribed fire or managed wildfire; shall— fully maintain or contribute to the restoration of reference old forest conditions, taking into account the current and projected impacts of climate change; and protect or increase the number and distribution of large old trees, consistent with reference conditions, excepting any de minimis losses of large old trees from prescribed fire or hazardous tree removal; and that involve prescribed fire shall provide advance notification, in accordance with notification procedures developed by the Secretary of Agriculture, to the owner or operator of critical infrastructure, such as a power line right-of-way, of any prescribed fire treatments within close proximity to the infrastructure. The project shall be consistent with all applicable environmental laws, including— the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ); the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. ); and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 ( 16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq. ). The project shall be consistent with section 208. The project shall require multiparty monitoring, including opportunities for public engagement, and an adaptive management approach that— conditions the future implementation of the project on the satisfactory completion of— priority restoration actions; and required monitoring after implementation; validates conditions projected to occur in the environmental analysis for the project; and requires modifications to the project if monitoring reveals impacts beyond the anticipated impacts of the project. No new permanent road may be built as part of the project. Any new temporary roads needed to implement the project shall be decommissioned not later than 3 years after completion of the project. The project shall use an efficient approach to landscape-scale analysis and decisionmaking that is consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ), which may include— the preparation of a single environmental impact statement or environmental assessment, as applicable, for the entire project, incorporating the landscape assessment described in subparagraph (C); the use of, as applicable— multiple records of decision to implement a single environmental impact statement; or multiple decision notices to implement a single environmental assessment; the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement or environmental assessment, as applicable, for the entire project, incorporating the landscape assessment described in subparagraph (C), followed by focused, concise, and site-specific— environmental assessments; or categorical exclusions consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ); or the use of the landscape assessment described in subparagraph (C), through incorporation by reference and similar approaches, to support focused, concise, and site-specific— environmental assessments; or categorical exclusions consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ). If the Secretary of Agriculture determines that there are an insufficient number of projects that fully comply with the requirements described in paragraph
(1)to implement based on all available funding, then the Secretary of Agriculture may, during the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, select under subsection
(a)not more than a total of 5 landscape-scale forest restoration projects to implement that do not fully comply with those requirements if the projects— fully comply with the requirements described in subparagraphs (B), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), and
(I)of that paragraph; in the determination of the Secretary of Agriculture, have purposes and needs that are consistent with the purposes and needs described in subparagraph
(A)of that paragraph; and are supported by landscape assessments that are substantially (if not completely) consistent with the requirements described in subparagraph
(C)of that paragraph, subject to the condition that the applicable landscape assessments fully comply with the requirements described in clauses
(i)and
(v)of that subparagraph. In determining which landscape-scale forest restoration projects to select under subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall consider— the criteria described in paragraph (2); the extent to which the project utilizes the approaches to project implementation described in paragraph (3); and the recommendations of the advisory panel established under subsection (e). The criteria referred to in paragraph (1)(A) are— the demonstrated need, based on the best available science, to restore ecological integrity to degraded or departed areas within the landscape covered by the project, taking into account the current and projected impacts of climate change; the importance of watersheds in the area covered by the project for downstream waters supply; and the opportunity to improve the ecological integrity and ecological conditions of those watersheds and reduce risks to water resources through landscape-scale forest restoration; the potential extent of cost sharing for the development and implementation of the project from diverse sources, such as State or local governments, water or electric utilities, carbon credits, or private entities; and the proportion of the non-Federal cost share that is in the form of cash contributions; whether the area covered by the project has high-resolution, remote-sensing data and other information available that enables a landscape assessment and a robust analysis and disclosure of the effects and outcomes of implementing restoration activities; whether the project is using, or will use, innovative approaches to completing resource surveys that are less costly and less time-consuming than usual practices while providing the information necessary for project design and analysis; whether the project will reduce the number of miles of permanent roads on National Forest System land that are not necessary for resource management or recreational access; whether the project will assess or quantify the ecosystem service benefits of forest restoration within the landscape covered by the project, such as water, carbon, biodiversity, fire risk reduction, public health, and community safety; whether the project has the potential to support new or existing wood processing infrastructure that can make economic use of the byproducts of forest restoration; whether the project has the potential to support local employment and investment opportunities, particularly in economically disadvantaged communities; the scale of the landscape assessment for the project, with a preference for projects for which the landscape assessment covers a larger area; and whether the project— strives to restore ecological integrity and ecological conditions within areas across land ownerships, including State and private land; and will reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire, and, to the extent practicable, restore ecological integrity, within the wildland-urban interface. The Secretary of Agriculture may coordinate with Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies with respect to selection and implementation under subsection (a), a landscape-scale forest restoration project. The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish and maintain an advisory panel composed of not more than 15 members to evaluate, and provide recommendations on— each landscape-scale forest restoration project that the Secretary of Agriculture is reviewing for potential selection under subsection (a); and proposals for planning and developing landscape-scale forest restoration projects. The Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that the membership of the advisory panel established under paragraph
(1)is fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed by the advisory panel. The advisory panel established under paragraph
(1)shall include experts in ecological forest restoration, fire ecology, fire management, rural economic and workforce development, strategies for ecological adaptation to climate change, fish and wildlife ecology, and woody biomass and small-diameter tree utilization. The advisory panel established under paragraph
(1)shall be exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
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Sec. 203
Selection and implementation of landscape-scale forest restoration projects
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