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1 FORESTRY Subtitle A-Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 Sec.8001.Community forests working land program. Sec.8002.Comprehensive statewide forest planning. Sec.8003.Landscape scale forestry competitive grant program. Subtitle B-Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 Sec.8101.Wood-to-energy program. Subtitle C-Amendments to Other Laws Sec.8201.Renewable resources extension activities. Sec.8202.Office of international forestry. Sec.8203.Rural revitalization technologies. FORESTRY Subtitle A-Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 1 2 3 SEC. 8001. COMMUNITY FORESTS WORKING LAND PROGRAM. Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended- 4 (1) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (n); and 5 (2) by inserting a new subsection (m) that reads as follows: 6 “(m) COMMUNITY FORESTS WORKING LANDS PROGRAM.- 7 8 9 “(1) DEFINITION.-In this section“(A) COMMUNITY FOREST LAND.-The term ‘community forest land’ means a parcel of land that is- 10 “(i) forested; and 11 “(ii) located, as determined by the Secretary, within, or in close proximity to, 12 CONGRESSDOC 2 1 a population center. 2 “(B) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.-The term “unit of local government” 3 means a- 4 “(i) town or city; or 5 “(ii) other unit of local government. 6 7 8 9 “(2) PURPOSES.-The purposes of the community forests working land program are to“(A) help protect environmentally important forest lands near population centers, as determined by the Secretary; 10 “(B) facilitate land use planning by units of local government; and 11 “(C) facilitate the donations, acceptance, and enforcement of conservation 12 easements on community forest land. 13 “(3) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary shall, working with the States, offer financial 14 and technical assistance to units of local government by providing, in priority areas, as 15 defined by the Secretary- 16 “(A) financial assistance to purchase conservation easements on, facilitate the 17 donation, acceptance, and enforcement of conservation easements on, or otherwise 18 acquire, community forest lands; and 19 “(B) technical assistance to facilitate- 20 “(i) conservation of community forests; 21 “(ii) management of community forests; 3 1 “(iii) training related to forest management and forest conservation; and 2 “(iv) other forest conservation activities, as determined by the Secretary. 3 “(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated to 4 carry out this subsection $65,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.”. 5 SEC. 8002. COMPREHENSIVE STATEWIDE FOREST PLANNING. 6 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended- 7 (1) by redesignating section 20 (16 U.S.C. 2114) as section 22; and 8 (2) by inserting after section 19 (16 U.S.C. 2113) the following: 9 “SEC. 20. COMPREHENSIVE STATEWIDE FOREST PLANNING.- 10 “(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary shall provide financial and technical assistance to 11 State Foresters (or equivalent State officials) to develop and implement statewide forest 12 resource assessments and plans which will provide a strategic, inclusive, integrated 13 strategy for addressing pressing resource management concerns in critical forest 14 landscape areas. 15 16 17 18 “(b) STATEWIDE FOREST RESOURCE ASSESSMENT AND PLAN.-The Secretary may provide assistance to States to develop statewide forest resource assessments and plans that“(1) identify critical forest landscapes of the State that may be affected by factors such as- 19 “(A) wildland fire; 20 “(B) development pressures; 21 “(C) threats to forest health such as insects and disease; 4 1 “(D) ecosystem challenges, such as limited clean water or biodiversity; and 2 “(E) forest lands near population centers under section 7(m). 3 “(2) to the extent practicable- 4 “(A) incorporate existing forest management plans of the State; 5 “(B) address- 6 7 8 9 “(i) regional forest management issues, without regard to the borders of States in the region; and “(ii) national priorities regarding forest management; and “(C) provide a comprehensive framework for- 10 “(i) managing forest landscapes; 11 “(ii) ensuring public participation regarding management of forest landscapes; 12 “(iii) monitoring progress in achieving strategic forest management 13 objectives; and 14 “(iv) administering any State, Federal, or private grants awarded to the State 15 16 17 under this section or under other provisions of law. “(c) REVIEW BY FOREST SERVICE.-Each forest resource assessment and plan developed by a State shall be submitted to the Secretary. 18 “(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated to 19 carry out this section up to $65,000,000 for the period fiscal years 2008 through 2012.”. 20 SEC. 8003. LANDSCAPE SCALE FORESTRY COMPETITIVE GRANT 21 PROGRAM. 5 1 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended 2 by inserting after section 20 (as added by section 8003) the following: 3 “SEC. 21. LANDSCAPE SCALE FORESTRY COMPETITIVE GRANT 4 PROGRAM. 5 “(a) DEFINITION.-In this section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means- 6 “(1) a State (or a political subdivision of the State); 7 “(2) a tribal government; 8 “(3) a conservation or environmental organization or association; 9 “(4) an owner of private, non-industrial forest land; or 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 “(5) an academic institution. “(b) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary shall competitively award grants, including financial and technical assistance, to eligible entities to“(1) support“(A) a comprehensive and coordinated approach to forest management encompassing forest lands that are owned by more than one owner; and “(B) collaboration between eligible entities and other public and private persons 17 in the management of critical forest landscapes, particularly critical forest 18 landscapes identified in section 20; 19 “(2) protect critical forest landscapes; and 20 “(3) provide incentives for private sector investments that generate income and 21 employment through- 6 1 “(A) the development of specialized forest product markets; 2 “(B) the creation of value-added forest product industries; or 3 “(C) the development of local, nontraditional forest product markets. 4 “(c) ACTIVE ENROLLMENT.-In making grants under this section, the Secretary shall 5 actively enroll new and under served owners of family forests, as determined by the 6 Secretary. 7 8 9 “(d) DURATION.-A grant awarded under this section shall be for not less than 3, nor more than 5, years in duration. “(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated to 10 carry out this section up to $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.”. 11 Subtitle B-Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 12 SEC. 8101. FOREST WOOD TO ENERGY PROGRAM. 13 (a) In General.-Title II of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 14 6531) is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 “SEC. 204. FOREST WOOD-TO-ENERGY PROGRAM. 16 “(a) PURPOSE.-The purpose of the forest wood-to-energy program is to improve the 17 conversion of woody biomass to high value products or to renewable energy in order to- 18 “(1) improve forest health in priority areas, as defined by the Secretary; 19 “(2) encourage rural-based jobs in the private sector; 7 1 2 “(3) provide incentives for investments by the private sector that will lead to valueadded revenue; and 3 “(4) reduce dependence of the United States on non-renewable forms of energy. 4 “(b) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary shall establish and carry out a wood-to-energy 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 program to“(1) accelerate practical commercial development of cellulosic ethanol conversion from a diverse range of woody feedstocks; “(2) increase the use of the knowledge and technical capacity of the Forest Service to advance research and commercialization of woody biomass as transportation fuel; “(3) develop“(A) sustainable production, management, and harvest systems for woody feedstocks; 13 “(B) new or improved processes for wood-to-ethanol conversion; 14 “(C) small-scale wood-to-energy technology; 15 “(D) biobased products from low-valued woody biomass sources; and 16 “(E) technologies for separating high-value wood from low-value wood for 17 primary and secondary processing; 18 “(4) apply new technologies (including nanotechnology and biorefining 19 technologies) to the development of biobased products from woody feedstocks; 8 1 2 3 4 “(5) accelerate development and use of new technologies to more productively utilize low-value woody biomass resources; or “(6) increase capacity in the private sector for the creation of value-added products. “(c) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.-The Secretary may cooperate and consult with- 5 “(1) forest-based communities; 6 “(2) entrepreneurs; 7 “(3) small businesses; 8 “(4) private investors; and 9 “(5) colleges and universities. 10 11 “(d) ADMINISTRATION.“(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary may administer this program by- 12 “(A) conducting research, technology development, and technology transfer; 13 “(B) providing technical assistance; and 14 “(C) awarding competitive grants and contracts. 15 “(2) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.-In administering the grant program as provided 16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall require matching contributions from those 17 persons or entities participating in the program. 18 “(3) COORDINATION.-In administering the program under this section, the Secretary 19 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with other Federal agencies and 20 programs. 9 1 2 “(e) FUNDING.“(1) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.-Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary 3 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use $15,000,000 of the funds of the 4 Commodity Credit Corporation for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out 5 the program under this section. 6 “(2) APPROPRIATED FUNDS.-The funds made available under paragraph (1) are in 7 addition to amounts, if any, made available for similar biomass research under 8 appropriations acts.”. 9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.- 10 The table of contents of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 11 6501 note; 117 Stat. 1887) is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title 12 II the following: 13 “SEC. 204. WOOD-TO-ENERGY PROGRAM”. 14 Subtitle C-Amendments to Other Laws 15 SEC. 8201. RENEWABLE RESOURCES EXTENSION ACTIVITIES. 16 (a) Authorization of Appropriations.-Section 6 of the Renewable Resources Extension 17 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1675) is amended in the first sentence by striking “2007” and 18 inserting “2012”. 10 1 (b) TERMINATION DATE.-Section 8 of the Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978 2 (16 U.S.C. 1671 note; Public Law 95–306) is amended by striking “2007” and inserting 3 “2012”. 4 SEC. 8202. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY. 5 Section 2405(d) of the Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6 6704(d)) is amended by striking “2007” and inserting “2012”. 7 SEC. 8203. RURAL REVITALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. 8 9 10 Section 2371(d)(2) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6601(d)(2)) is amended by striking “2004 through 2008” and inserting “2008 through 2012”.