Sec. 3. Joint mass timber science and education program
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In this section: The term mass timber includes— cross-laminated timber; nail laminated timber; glue laminated timber; dowel laminated timber; laminated strand lumber; and laminated veneer lumber. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Deputy Chief of the Forest Service for Research and Development. The term tall wood building means a building designed to be— constructed with mass timber; and in the case of a residential building, more than 4 stories in height; or in the case of a commercial building, more than 5 stories in height.
The Secretary shall establish a mass timber science and education program to respond to the emerging research needs of architects, real estate developers, and the forest products industry. The Secretary shall coordinate with research programs at colleges and universities in administering the mass timber science and education program established under subsection
(b)to supplement the current research and educational efforts of colleges and universities. The mass timber science and education program established under subsection
(b)shall have the following principal purposes: To provide practical research responsive to the needs of architects, real estate developers, and the forest products industry, including assessments of carbon impacts in the originating forests and the end use of mass timber in the built environment. To develop focused, strategic lines of new research responsive to the needs described in paragraph (1), including research relating to flammability and performance during a fire, structural characteristics, energy use and savings, acoustics, and slab construction composed of hybrid materials. To solicit competitive funding proposals from scientists selected through a rigorous peer-review process designed to ensure the best projects are funded. To disseminate research findings so that architects, real estate developers, and the forest products industry are aware of, understand, and can use the information to make sound decisions and implement projects. To develop and facilitate the voluntary adoption of a curriculum for building structures using mass timber for use in schools of engineering and architecture that includes— structural design; and the possibilities, benefits, and limitations of using mass timber in construction. Not later than September 30, 2026, the Secretary shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a strategy to carry out the mass timber science and education program established under subsection
(b)that includes— an assessment of the current state of knowledge about mass timber and tall wood buildings; an integrated approach to improve knowledge sharing on the manufacturing and use of mass timber products; an approach for mass timber project monitoring and evaluation; and an approach for setting research priorities for the program. The Secretary shall appoint a stakeholder advisory group of technical experts that consists, at a minimum, of— a Forest Service scientist; a researcher from a college or university; a representative of a trade association; an architect or real estate developer; a representative of an agency or unit of a local government that is responsible for the issuance of permits for building construction (commonly known as a local approving agency ); a representative of a forest products company; and a representative of a nongovernmental organization with experience— designing or constructing tall wood buildings; or complying with or revising related building codes. The stakeholder advisory group shall meet at least annually— to consider immediate and long-term science needs relating to the use of mass timber and the construction of tall wood buildings; to suggest to the Secretary appropriate topic areas, specific issues within those topic areas, and information transfer needs for which the Secretary shall solicit proposals described in subsection (d)(3); and to assist the Secretary in drafting the strategy required under subsection (e). From amounts appropriated for Forest Service research, excluding funding made available for the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, the Secretary may use not more than $4,000,000 to carry out the activities described in this section.