[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2639 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2639
To expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and
restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2003
Ms. Hooley of Oregon introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on
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 expedite procedures for hazardous fuels reduction activities and
restoration in wildland fire prone National Forests, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Community and
Forest Protection Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Hazardous fuels reduction projects.
Sec. 4. Expedited process.
Sec. 5. Judicial review in the United States District Courts.
Sec. 6. Contracting.
Sec. 7. Biomass grants.
Sec. 8. Forest stands inventory and monitoring program.
Sec. 9. Emergency fuels reduction grants.
Sec. 10. Market incentives for home protection.
Sec. 11. Ongoing projects and existing authorities.
Sec. 12. Preference to communities that have ordinances on fire
prevention.
Sec. 13. Sunset.
Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 15. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In 2002, approximately six and one half million acres
of forest lands in the United States burned with varying
degrees of severity, 21 people lost their lives, and over 3000
structures were destroyed. The Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management spent more than $1,000,000,000 fighting these
fires.
(2) 73,000,000 acres of public lands are classified as
condition class 3 fire risks. This includes 23 million acres
that are in strategic areas designated by the United States
Forest Service for emergency treatment to withstand
catastrophic fire.
(3) The forest management policy of fire suppression has
resulted in an accumulation of fuel loads, dead and dying
trees, and nonnative species that create fuel ladders which
allow fires to reach the crowns of large old trees and cause
catastrophic fire.
(4) The United States Forest Service and the Department of
the Interior should immediately undertake an emergency program
to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire.
(5) This emergency program should prioritize the protection
of homes and communities and the restoration of forest health
on lands at the highest risk of catastrophic fire. All fuel
reduction treatments should protect old growth stands and large
trees to ensure a rich and continued species diversity in the
Nation's forests.
SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior
shall conduct immediately and to completion hazardous fuels reduction
projects consistent with the Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative
Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the
Environment on an aggregate area of 20,000,000 acres of Federal land:
(1) These projects shall be conducted on the priority lands
identified in subsection (d), using the expedited procedures in
section 4.
(2) The Secretaries shall protect old growth stands and
large trees pursuant to subsection (h).
(b) Selection of Projects.--The Secretaries of Agriculture and the
Interior shall jointly select hazardous fuels reduction projects
identified by the Implementation Plan of the Comprehensive Strategy.
(c) Consistency With Existing Forest Management Plans and
Environmental Laws.--Any project carried out pursuant to this Act shall
be consistent with the applicable forest plan, resource management
plan, or other applicable agency plans or environmental laws except as
specifically amended by this Act.
(d) Priority Lands.--In implementing projects under this Act, the
Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior shall give highest priority
to:
(1) Wildland-urban interface: Condition class 3 or
condition class 2 Federal lands or, where appropriate, non-
Federal lands.
(2) Municipal watersheds: Condition class 3 Federal lands
located in such proximity to a municipal water supply system
that a hazardous fuels reduction project must be carried out to
reduce the risk of harm to such system resulting from wildfire.
(3) Fire Regime I lands: Federal lands that are condition
class 3.
(4) Fire Regimes II and III lands: Condition class 3
Federal lands identified by the Secretary as an area where
windthrow or blowdown, or the existence of disease or insect
infestation, pose a significant threat to forest health or
adjacent private lands.
(e) Public Notice and Public Response.--
(1) Quarterly notice.--The Secretary shall provide
quarterly notice of each hazardous fuels reduction project
which uses the streamlined processes established by this Act.
The quarterly notice shall be provided for all projects in the
Federal Register and on an agency website and in a local paper
of record for local projects. The Secretary may combine this
quarterly notice with other quarterly notices otherwise issued
regarding Federal forest management.
(2) Content.--For each hazardous fuels reduction project
for which the processes established by this Act are to be used
the notice required by paragraph (1) shall include at a
minimum:
(A) Identification of each project as a hazardous
fuels reduction project for which the processes
established by this Act are to be used.
(B) A description of the project, including as much
information on its geographic location as practicable.
(C) The approximate date on which scoping for the
project will begin.
(D) Information regarding how interested members of
the public can take part in the development of the
project, including, but not limited to, project related
public meeting notification.
(3) Public meeting.--Following publication of each
quarterly notice under paragraph (1), but before the beginning
of scoping under section 4(a), the Secretary shall conduct a
public meeting at an appropriate location in each
administrative unit of the Federal lands regarding those
hazardous fuels reduction projects contained in the quarterly
notice that are proposed to be conducted in that administrative
unit. The Secretary shall provide advance notice of the date
and time of the meeting in the quarterly notice or using the
same means described in paragraph (1).
(4) Public response to notice of projects.--
(A) In general.--A federally formed resource
advisory committee may petition, with supporting
evidence, the Secretary to better assess ground
conditions of land to be covered by projects, during
scoping or public comment on specific hazardous fuels
reduction projects identified under subsection (b).
(B) Priority lands included in the projects.--For
specific hazardous fuels reduction projects the
petitioner may seek to correct the inclusion or
exclusion of priority lands identified in subsection
(d). The petitioner may also seek designation of large
trees or old growth stands to be protected under
subsection (h).
(C) Secretarial response.--The Secretary must
respond to the petition within 30 days by public notice
by the same means described in paragraph (1). The
Secretary shall provide a public viewing of the area in
question if requested in the petition within 90 days of
receipt of the petition, with the petitioner and any
other interested parties.
(D) Determination of petition.--The Secretary must
accept or deny the petition within 120 days of its
receipt, based on site-specific review of historic
ecological conditions, forest type, present fuel loads,
and determination of whether the area properly
qualifies as priority lands under subsection (d).
(5) Final agency action.--The Secretary shall provide
notice by the same means described in paragraph (1) of any
final agency action regarding a hazardous fuels reduction
project for which the processes established by this Act are
used.
(f) Priority Hazardous Fuels Reduction Funding.--The Secretaries
shall expend no less than 70 percent of funds under this Act on
projects within the wildland-urban interface, provided that the
Secretaries may adjust this funding formula for a particular State at
the request of its governor. In no event shall the Secretaries expend
less than 50 percent or greater than 75 percent of funds within the
wildland-urban interface for a particular State.
(g) Monitoring.--The Secretaries shall establish a multiparty
monitoring process with representation from resource industries,
environmentalists, independent scientists, community-based
organizations, and other interested parties in order for Congress to
assess a representative sampling of the hazardous fuels reduction
projects implemented pursuant to this Act.
(h) Limitations.--In implementing hazardous fuels reduction
projects under this Act the Secretary shall--
(1) not undertake any hazardous fuels reduction projects in
wilderness study areas or components of the National Wilderness
Preservation System;
(2) not construct new roads in inventoried roadless areas
as part of any hazardous fuels reduction project;
(3) fully maintain the structure, function, processes and
composition of structurally complex older forests (old growth)
according to each ecosystem type; and
(4) outside old growth stands--
(A) shall focus on small diameter trees and thin
from below to modify fire behavior as measured by rate
of spread, height to live crown, and flame length; and
(B) shall maximize the retention of large trees to
the extent that they promote fire-resistant stands and
species diversity as appropriate for the forest type
and site.
SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCESS.
(a) Scoping.--The Secretary shall conduct scoping for each
hazardous fuels reduction project implemented pursuant to this Act.
(b) Categorical Exclusions in the Wildland-Urban Interface.--
(1) In general.--The wildland-urban interface hazardous
fuels reduction projects authorized by this Act are
conclusively determined to be categorically excluded from
further analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (``NEPA'') (42 U.S.C. 4332), and the Secretary need not
make any findings as to whether the projects individually or
cumulatively have a significant effect on the environment.
(2) Varied treatments.--The Secretary shall vary the
treatments and avoid clear cuts inside the wildland-urban
interface to ensure forest health. The Secretary shall also
protect old growth and large trees pursuant to section 3(h).
(3) Extraordinary circumstances exception.--For all
hazardous fuels reduction projects implemented pursuant to this
subsection, if there are extraordinary circumstances, the
Secretary shall follow agency procedures related to categorical
exclusions and extraordinary circumstances. For the purposes of
this subsection, a project's location within a municipal
watershed shall not be considered an extraordinary
circumstance.
(4) Appeals.--No hazardous fuels reduction projects
implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to
appeal requirements of the Appeals Reform Act (section 322 of
Public Law 102-381) or the Department of the Interior Office of
Hearings and Appeals.
(c) Environmental Assessments Outside the Wildland-Urban
Interface.--
(1) In general.--For hazardous fuels reduction projects
implemented pursuant to this Act on priority lands identified
in section 3(d), if a categorical exclusion does not apply, the
Secretary shall determine, consistent with NEPA, whether an
environmental assessment is sufficient and use the procedures
set forth in the Council on Environmental Quality ``Guidance
for Environmental Assessments of Forest Health Projects,'' of
December 9, 2002, or as amended.
(2) Issuance of documentation and shortened appeals.--
Notwithstanding the Appeals Reform Act, section 322 of the
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1993 (Public Law 102-381; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note), or
regulations pertaining to the Department of the Interior Office of
Hearings and Appeals procedures, for hazardous fuels reduction projects
implemented by environmental assessments pursuant to subsection (c)(1):
(A) The Secretary may issue the environmental
documentation and the decision document for the project
simultaneously without public comment. Such issuance
shall begin the administrative appeals process
immediately.
(B) Persons must file any administrative appeal of
projects under this subsection within 30 days after the
date of issuance of a decision.
(C) The Secretary shall resolve any appeal not
later than 30 days after the closing date for filing an
appeal.
(D) If the review officer determines that an appeal
has merit, in lieu of remanding the proposed agency
action, the review officer, in consultation with the
parties, may sign a new decision.
(E) The Secretary shall stay implementation of the
project for 15 days beginning on the date on which the
Secretary resolves any administrative appeal that
complies with the requirements in subsection (d).
(d) Standing to Appeal.--If a draft document prepared pursuant to
NEPA for a hazardous fuels reduction project was available for public
comment, or the project had scoping, the Secretary may require that a
person filing an administrative appeal with respect to the project must
have been involved in the public comment process for the project by
submitting specific and substantive written comments with regard to the
project or must have participated in the scoping of the project.
(e) Salvage Monitoring Pilot Program.--
(1) Salvage pilot.--The Secretary is authorized to use the
administrative appeals authorities under this subsection,
pursuant to paragraph (2), for salvage hazardous fuels
reduction projects in the area popularly known as the Biscuit
Fire and reference on the map entitled ____ and dated ____ on
file at the Forest Service ____ office.
(2) Monitoring.--The Secretary shall require that any
salvage hazardous fuels reduction project on the Biscuit Fire
be subject to ecological and economic monitoring of its
effects, including on-site evaluation and inspections. The
monitoring shall be conducted by a group with representation
from independent scientists, industry representatives,
environmentalists, community-based organizations, and other
interested parties. Group selection shall be through the
Western Governors Association Collaborative process. The group
shall report to the public under section 3(e)(1) on the
ecological and economic effects of individual salvage hazardous
fuels projects.
SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS.
(a) Venue.--A hazardous fuels reduction project conducted under
this Act shall be subject to judicial review only in the United States
district court for the district in which the Federal lands to be
treated by the hazardous fuels reduction project are located,
notwithstanding section 1391 of title 28, United States Code, or any
other applicable venue statutes.
(b) Expeditious Completion of Judicial Review.--Congress intends
and encourages any court in which is filed a lawsuit or appeal of a
lawsuit concerning an authorized hazardous fuels reduction project to
expedite, to the maximum extent practicable, the proceedings in such
lawsuit or appeal with the goal of rendering a final determination on
jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction exists, a final determination on the
merits, as soon as possible from the date the complaint or appeal is
filed.
(c) Duration of Injunction.--Any temporary injunctive relief
granted regarding a project undertaken pursuant to this Act shall be
limited to 60 days, with authority to renew each temporary injunction
without limitation. For each injunctive renewal the parties shall
present the court with updates on the status of the project.
(d) Standard of Review.--Nothing in this section shall change the
standards of judicial review for any action concerning a project
authorized under this Act.
SEC. 6. CONTRACTING.
(a) Best Value Contracting.--The Secretary shall use best value
contracting criteria in awarding at least fifty percent of contracts
and agreements for hazardous fuels reduction projects pursuant to this
Act. Best value contract criteria will include, but not be limited to--
(1) the ability of the contractor to meet the ecological
goals of the projects;
(2) the use of equipment that will minimize or eliminate
impacts on soils; and
(3) benefit to local economies in performing the
restorative treatments and ensuring that wood by-products are
processed locally.
(b) Monitoring.--The Forest Service shall monitor the business and
employment impacts of hazardous fuels reduction projects including the
total dollar value of contracts and agreements awarded to qualifying
entities.
(c) Public Lands Corps.--
(1) Contracts and agreements.--
(A) In general.--The Secretaries are authorized to
enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with a
Public Lands Corps--
(i) to implement and complete projects
prioritized in section 3(b) and (d) of this
Act; and
(ii) to perform appropriate rehabilitation,
enhancement, or beautification projects with
the Department of Natural Resources, Department
of Forestry or Department of Agriculture of any
State.
(B) Indian lands.--Such projects may also be
carried out on Indian lands with the approval of the
relevant Indian tribe.
(C) Preference.--The Secretaries shall give
preference to those projects which take place on lands
identified as priorities in section 3(d) of this Act
and can be planned and initiated promptly.
(D) Supportive services.--The Secretaries are
authorized to provide such services as the Secretaries
deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(E) Technical assistance.--The Secretaries shall
work with the National Association of Service and
Conservation Corps to provide technical assistance,
oversight, monitoring, and evaluation to the United
States Departments of Agriculture and the Interior,
State Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture,
and Public Lands Corps.
(2) Nondisplacement.--The nondisplacement requirements of
section 177 of the National and Community Service Trust Act of
1990 shall be applicable to all activities carried out under
this Act by the Public Lands Corps.
(3) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of
this subsection there are authorized to be appropriated
$12,500,000 annually for 5 years after the enactment of this
Act.
(d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
(1) Contracts and agreements.--The term ``contracts and
agreements'' means service contracts, timber sale contracts,
construction contracts, supply contracts, emergency equipment
rental agreements, architectural and engineering contracts,
challenge cost-share agreements, cooperative agreements, and
participating agreements.
(2) Qualifying entity.--The term ``qualifying entity''
means--
(A) a natural-resource related small or micro-
enterprise;
(B) a Youth Conservation Corps or Public Lands
Corps crew or related partnership with State, local and
other non-Federal conservation corps;
(C) an entity that will hire and train local people
to complete the contract or agreement;
(D) an entity that will re-train non-local
traditional forest workers to complete the contract or
agreement; or
(E) a local entity that meets the criteria to
qualify for the Historically Underutilized Business
Zone Program under section 32 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 657a).
(3) Public lands corps.--The term ``Public Lands Corps''
means any organization established by a state or local
government, nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe that:
(A) has demonstrated the ability:
(i) to provide labor intensive productive
work to individuals;
(ii) to recruit and train economically
disadvantaged or at-risk youth;
(iii) to give participants a combination of
work experience, basic and life skills,
education, training and support services; and
(iv) to provide participants with the
opportunity to develop- citizenship values
through service to their communities and the
United States; and
(B) has also successfully completed, or is engaged
in, a peer-reviewed, standards based program assessment
process.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the
Virgin Islands of the United States, or the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC. 7. BIOMASS GRANTS.
(a) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
(1) Eligible operation.--The term ``eligible operation''
means a facility that is located within the boundaries of an
eligible community and uses biomass from Federal or Tribal
lands as a raw material to produce electric energy, sensible
heat, transportation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based
products.
(2) Biomass.--The term ``biomass'' means pre-commercial
thinnings of trees and woody plants, or non-merchantable
material, from hazardous fuels reduction projects.
(3) Green ton.--The term ``green ton'' means 2,000 pounds
of biomass that has not been mechanically or artificially
dried.
(4) Eligible community.--The term ``eligible community''
means any Indian Reservation, or any county, town, township,
municipality, or other similar unit of local government that
has a population of not more than 50,000 individuals and is
determined by the Secretary to be located in an area near
Federal or Tribal lands which is at significant risk of
catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation or which
suffers from disease or insect infestation.
(5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
(b) Biomass Commercial Utilization Grant Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may make grants to any
individual, community, Indian tribe, small business or
corporation, or nonprofit that owns or operates an eligible
operation to offset capital expenses and costs incurred to
purchase biomass for use by such eligible operation with
priority given to operations using biomass from the highest
risk areas.
(2) Limitation.--No grant provided under this subsection
shall be paid at a rate that exceeds $20 per green ton of
biomass delivered.
(3) Records.--Each grant recipient shall keep such records
as the Secretary may require to fully and correctly disclose
the use of the grant funds and all transactions involved in the
purchase of biomass. Upon notice by the Secretary, the grant
recipient shall provide the Secretary reasonable access to
examine the inventory and records of any eligible operation
receiving grant funds.
(4) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of
this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated
$12,500,000 each to the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture for each fiscal year for five years
after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Improved Biomass Utilization Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may make grants to persons
in eligible communities to offset the costs of developing or
researching proposals to improve the use of biomass or add
value to biomass utilization.
(2) Selection.--Grant recipients shall be selected based on
the potential for the proposal to--
(A) develop affordable thermal or electric energy
resources for the benefit of an eligible community;
(B) provide opportunities for the creation or
expansion of small businesses within an eligible
community;
(C) create new job opportunities within an eligible
community, and
(D) reduce the hazardous fuels from the highest
risk areas.
(3) Limitation.--No grant awarded under this subsection
shall exceed $500,000.
(4) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of
this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated
$12,500,000 each to the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture for each fiscal year for the five
years after enactment of this Act.
(d) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture shall jointly submit to the Congress a report that
describes the interim results of the programs authorized under this
section.
SEC. 8. FOREST STANDS INVENTORY AND MONITORING PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of
the Interior shall carry out, in conjunction with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and other relevant agencies and
research facilities (including the Forest Service Research Stations and
academic institutions), a comprehensive program to inventory and assess
forest stands on federal forest land and, with the consent of the
owner, private forest land. The objective of this program shall be to
evaluate current and future forest health conditions and address
ecological impacts of insect, disease, invasive species, fire and
weather-related episodic events. Emphasis shall be placed upon
coordinating, reconciling, and field verification of existing data
(including remotely sensed and modeled data utilized to characterize
vegetation/cover types, density, fire regimes, fire effects, and
condition classes), and improving the accuracy of such data to assist
in management activities.
(b) Location.--The facility for this program shall be located at
the Ochoco National Forest Headquarters in Prineville, Oregon.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purposes of this
section, there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 each fiscal
year for the five years after enactment of this Act.
SEC. 9. EMERGENCY FUELS REDUCTION GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an
Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program to provide State and local
agencies with financial assistance for hazardous fuels reduction
projects addressing threats of catastrophic fire that have been
determined by the United States Forest Service to pose a serious threat
to human life.
(b) Eligibility.--Fuels reduction projects eligible for funding
under the Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program shall--
(1) be surrounded by or immediately adjacent to national
forest boundaries;
(2) have been determined to be of paramount urgency by
virtue of declarations of emergency by both local officials and
the governor of the State in which they are located; and
(3) remove fuel loading determined to pose a serious threat
to human life by the United States Forest Service.-
(c) Use of Grant Funds.--Funds authorized under this section shall
be limited to the following uses:
(1) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential fuels
adjacent to primary evacuation routes.
(2) Removal of trees, shrubs or other potential fuels
adjacent to emergency response centers, emergency communication
facilities or sites designated as shelter-in-place facilities.
(3) evacuation drills and preparation.
(d) Revolving Fund.--For work done on private property and county
lands, the grant recipients shall deposit into a revolving fund any
proceeds from sale of the timber or biomass from the projects funded
under this section. The revolving fund shall be used to assist with
subsequent grants under this section.
(e) Emergency Fuels Reduction Grants.--For the purposes of funding
the Emergency Fuels Reduction Grant program under this Act, there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture
$50,000,000 each fiscal year that this Act is in effect. Subject to
section 14, amounts appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated
before the end of that fiscal year shall remain available for use in
subsequent fiscal years.
SEC. 10. MARKET INCENTIVES FOR HOME PROTECTION.
It is the Sense of Congress that insurers should reduce premiums
for homeowners in condition class 2 and condition class 3 areas within
the wildland-urban interface who--
(1) clear brush and other flammable material in the
vicinity of their homes;
(2) use nonflammable building materials for roofs and other
critical structures;
(3) otherwise improve the defensibility of their homes
against catastrophic fire.
SEC. 11. ONGOING PROJECTS AND EXISTING AUTHORITIES.
Nothing in this Act shall affect projects begun prior to enactment
of this Act or affect authorities otherwise granted to the Secretaries
under existing law.
SEC. 12. PREFERENCE TO COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE ORDINANCES ON FIRE
PREVENTION.
(a) In General.--In determining the allocation of funding for the
Community and Private Land Fire Assistance Program (16 U.S.C. 2106c/PL-
171 section 10A(b)), the Secretary shall prioritize funding to those
communities which have taken proactive steps through the enactment of
ordinances and other means, including those that have developed a
comprehensive fire protection plan encompassing all ownerships, to
encourage property owners to reduce fire risk on private property.
(b) Private Lands.--Nothing in this Act shall affect existing
authorities to use appropriations authorized by this Act to carry out
the provisions under this Act on non-Federal lands with the consent of
the land owner.
SEC. 13. SUNSET.
The provisions of this Act shall expire five years after the date
of enactment, except that projects for which a decision notice has been
issued by that date may continue to be implemented.
SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) National Forest System Lands.--For the purposes of planning and
conducting hazardous fuels reduction projects under this Act on
National Forest System Lands, there are authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary of Agriculture $1,943,100,000 during the 5-year period
beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, amounts appropriated
in one fiscal year and unobligated before the end of that fiscal year
shall remain available for use in subsequent fiscal years.
(b) BLM Lands.--For the purpose of planning and conducting
hazardous fuels reduction projects under this Act on Federal lands
managed by the Secretary of the Interior, there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior $1,888,000,000 during the
5-year period beginning October 1, 2003. Subject to section 13, amounts
appropriated in one fiscal year and unobligated before the end of that
fiscal year shall remain available for use in subsequent fiscal years.
SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Land Types and Fire Regime Areas.--In this Act, definitions of
land types and fire regimes originate from the United States Forest
Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, as follows:
(1) Condition class 2.--The term ``condition class 2''
refers to lands on which--
(A) fire frequencies have been moderately altered
and have departed from historic fire return frequencies
(either increased or decreased) by one or more return
interval, which results in moderate changes to fire
size, frequency, intensity, severity or landscape
patterns;
(B) there exists a moderate risk of losing key
ecosystem components; and
(C) vegetation attributes have been moderately
altered from their historic range.
(2) Condition class 3.--The term ``condition class 3''
refers to lands on which--
(A) fire regimes have been significantly altered
from their historic range, which results in dramatic
changes to fire size, frequency, intensity, severity,
or landscape patterns;
(B) there exists a high risk of losing key
ecosystem components; and
(C) vegetation attributes have been significantly
altered from their historic range.
(3) Fire regime i.--The term ``fire regime I'' refers to
lands on which historically fire recurs in 0-35 year intervals
and burns with low severity.
(4) Fire regime ii.--The term ``fire regime II'' refers to
lands on which historically fire recurs in 0-35 year intervals
and replaces existing vegetation.
(5) Fire regime iii.--The term ``fire regime III'' refers
to lands on which historically fire recurs in 35-100 year
intervals and burns with mixed severity.
(b) At-Risk Community.--The term ``at-risk community'' means a
geographic area designated by the Secretary as any area--
(1) defined as an interface community in Volume 66, page
753, of the January 4, 2001 Federal Register;
(2) on which conditions are conducive to large-scale
wildland fire disturbance events; and
(3) for which a significant threat to human life exists as
a result of wildland fire disturbance events.
(c) Best Value Contracting.--The term ``best value contracting''
means the contracting process described in section 15.101 of title 48,
Code of Federal Regulations, which allows the inclusion of non-cost
factors in the federal contract process.
(d) Comprehensive Strategy.--The term ``Comprehensive Strategy''
means the Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative Approach for
Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment, dated
May 2002, including by reference the related Implementation Plan, which
was developed pursuant to the conference report to accompany the
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001
(House Report 106-646).
(e) Federal Lands.--The term ``Federal lands'' means National
Forest System lands and public forested lands administered by the
Secretary of the Interior acting through the Bureau of Land Management.
(f) Geographic Feature.--The term ``geographic feature'' means a
ridge top, road, stream, or other landscape feature which can serve
naturally as a firebreak, staging ground for firefighting, or boundary
affecting fire behavior.
(g) Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.--The term ``hazardous fuels
reduction project'' means a project--
(1) undertaken for the purpose of reducing the amount of
hazardous fuels resulting from alteration of a natural fire
regime as a result of fire suppression or other management
activities; and
(2) accomplished through the use of prescribed burning or
mechanical treatment, or a combination thereof.
(h) Inventoried Roadless Area.--The term ``inventoried roadless
area'' means one of the areas identified in the set of inventoried
roadless area maps contained in the Forest Service Roadless Areas
Conservation, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated
November, 2000.
(i) Local Preference Contracting.--The term ``local preference
contracting'' means the Federal contracting process that gives
preference to local businesses described in section 333 of the
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003
(division F of Public Law 108-7, 117 Stat. 277).
(j) Municipal Water Supply System.--The term ``municipal water
supply system'' means reservoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals,
pipes, pipelines, or other surface facilities and systems constructed
or installed for the impoundment, storage, transportation, or
distribution of drinking water for a community.
(k) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Agriculture, or the Secretary's designee, with respect to National
Forest System lands; and the Secretary of the Interior, or the
Secretary's designees, with respect to public lands administered by the
Secretary through the Bureau of Land Management.
(l) Wildland-Urban Interface.--The term ``wildland-urban
interface'' means the area either within an at-risk community or within
the area--
(1) extending out to a geographic feature, if there is such
a feature within approximately three-quarters of a mile of the
community boundary; or
(2) if there is no such geographic feature, extending out
\1/2\ mile from the community boundary.
<all>