Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (09/12/2016)

Environmental and Economic Benefits Restoration Act of 2016

This bill amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to direct the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a landscape-scale restoration program to provide financial and technical assistance for landscape-scale restoration projects on state, political subdivision, and private forest lands that maintain or improve benefits from trees and forests on such lands.

The program shall:

• address the national private forest conservation priorities specified under the Act; and
• enhance public benefits from trees and forests, as identified in a state-wide assessment and a long-term state-wide forest resource strategy under the Act.

The program shall also have one or more objectives, including to:

• protect or improve water quality or quantity;
• reduce wildfire risk;
• protect or enhance wildlife habitat, consistent with wildlife objectives established by the applicable state fish and wildlife agency;
• improve forest health, including addressing native, nonnative, and invasive pests; or
• enhance opportunities for new and existing markets in which the production and use of wood products strengthens local and regional economies.

USDA shall establish a measurement system to measure the results of landscape-scale restoration projects assisted under this bill.

USDA shall allocate from the amounts made available under this bill:

• 50% for the competitive process for distributing funds for landscape-scale restoration projects; and
• 50% proportionally to states to maximize the achievement of the restoration program's objectives and to address the highest national priorities, as identified in state-wide assessments and long-term state-wide forest resource strategies.

The bill amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to allocate funds and use specified USDA authorities to assist cross-boundary hazardous fuel reduction and wildfire mitigation programs.