Congress 107 - HR 5319 - Healthy Forests and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act of 2002

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Administrative procedure Administrative remedies Animals Appellate procedure Auditing Biological diversity conservation Civil actions and liability Colorado Commerce Congress Congressional investigations Congressional reporting requirements Department of Agriculture Department of the Interior District courts Ecosystem management Emergency Management Endangered species Environmental assessment Environmental monitoring Environmental Protection Executive Office of the President Exotic plants Federal advisory bodies Finance and Financial Sector Fire prevention Fishery management Forest ecology Forest fires Forest health Forest management Forest products Forest roads Government contractors Government Operations and Politics Government paperwork Habitat conservation Infrastructure Judicial review of administrative acts Law Management audit Marine and coastal resources, fisheries National forests Pest control Pests Public Lands and Natural Resources Public-private partnerships Regulatory impact statements Restoration ecology Road construction Soil conservation Sports and Recreation Surety and fidelity Timber sales Trails Transportation and Public Works Tree diseases Urban affairs Urban areas Water pollution control Water quality Water Resources Development Water supply Watershed management Weed control Wildlife conservation

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Summary

Healthy Forests and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act of 2002 - (Sec.5) States that this Act shall apply only with respect to a hazardous fuels reduction project undertaken by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior on National Forest System or Bureau of Land Management lands, respectively, if such Federal lands: (1) are located in the wildland-urban interface; (2) are located in risk proximity to a municipal water supply system; (3) are other at-risk Federal lands; or (4) contain threatened and endangered species habitat. Limits fiscal year acreage to two million acres.

Excludes: (1) National Wilderness Preservation System lands; (2) Federal lands where vegetation removal is prohibited; and (3) Wilderness Study Areas.

(Sec. 6) Reserves at least 70 percent of hazardous fuels reduction program funds for each of FY 2003 through 2005 for projects on Federal lands in the wilderness-urban interface. Gives priority to projects that would provide the greatest protection to human lives and property.

(Sec. 7) Permits the Secretary concerned to implement a fuel reduction program without the full environmental review of alternatives required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, unless the project entails construction of a new permanent system road. Provides for public notice and hearings.

(Sec. 8) Sets forth a Forest Service administrative appeals process under which: (1) appellants would have ten days to give notice of their intent to appeal, and 15 days to file an appeal; (2) the Forest Service would have 25 days to decide on the merits of the appeal; and (3) appeals review officers would have the discretionary authority to sign a new decision document at the end of the appeals process which would be considered the final agency decision.

(Sec.9) Provides judicial review only in the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the proposed project's location. Requires: (1) plaintiffs to file causes of action within 15 days of publication of notice of final agency action, after which the Secretary concerned shall stay the project until completion of judicial review; and (2) Federal district courts to decide the merits of an action within 60 days, with extensions under specified circumstances.

(Sec. 10) Requires General Accounting Office audits of this Act's implementation.

(Sec. 11) Authorizes through September 30, 2005: (1) the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into not more than 15 stewardship and end result contracts for hazardous fuels reduction projects; and (2) the Secretary of the Interior to enter into not more than 26 such projects, other than revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands.

(Sec. 12) States that the processes established by this Act shall be available through September 30, 2005.

(Sec. 13) States that this Act shall not be construed to affect: (1) litigation involving the Roadless Area Conservation Rule; or (2) the authority of the Secretaries to implement hazardous fuel reduction projects under other available authorities on any Federal lands.

(Sec. 14) States that the Secretary concerned shall complete hazardous fuels reduction projects on Federal lands consistent with the implementation plan for the ``Collaborative 10-year Strategy for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment,'' (dated May 2002).

(Sec. 15) Directs the Secretaries to jointly establish an independent monitoring panel.

(Sec. 16) Authorizes related appropriations for: (1) National Forest System lands; and (2) Bureau of Land Management lands.

Actions

Oct 31, 2002

House Committee on Agriculture Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Nov. 22, 2002.
Oct 31, 2002

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Resources. H. Rept. 107-770, Part I.
Oct 8, 2002

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Oct 8, 2002

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Sep 5, 2002

Committee Hearings Held.
Sep 5, 2002

Referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
Sep 4, 2002

Referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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.
Sep 4, 2002

Introduced in House

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