|
 On
December 3rd, President George W. Bush signed the "Healthy Forests Restoration
Act of 2003". "With the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, we will help to prevent
catastrophic wildfires," Bush said in a signing ceremony at the Agriculture Department.
"We'll help save lives and property and we'll help protect our forests from sudden
and needless destruction." For the full text of President Bush's remarks, please
click
here. The Senate passed the bill by voice vote last November less than an
hour after the House approved it, 286-140. For three years, a deadlock in the
Senate had prevented the passage of legislation intended to expedite forest treatment.
But after the devastation caused by 15 raging fires driven by Santa Ana winds
through Southern California, Democrats were prompted to compromise on the bill.
The
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 will: -
Establish an expedited process so the Forest Service and the Department of the
Interior can begin a fuels reduction program to minimize the risk of wildfire
- a process that will remain in effect until 20 million acres at the highest risk
of catastrophic fire are treated.
-
Authorize $760 million annually for hazardous fuels reduction, a $340 million
increase over current funding. (At least 50 percent of the funds must be spent
in the wildland-urban interface.)
-
Provide for public participation, including a public meeting and opportunities
for comment during both the preparation of the environmental impact statement
and during the administrative review process.
-
Encourage biomass energy production through grants and assistance to local communities
creating market incentives for removal of otherwise valueless forest material.
-
Change the environmental review process so the Forest Service still considers
the effects of the proposed project in detail, but can focus its analysis on the
project proposal, one reasonable alternative that meets the project's goals and
the alternative of not doing the project, instead of the 5-9 alternatives now
often required.
-
Replace the current Forest Service administrative appeals with an administrative
review process that will occur after the Forest Service finishes its environmental
review of a project, but before it reaches its decision.
Click
here H.R.1904
for the online copy of the bill as signed by the President. If
you have any questions or comments please contact Legislative Research Analyst
Chil-Sook Hwang by fax: 202-347-1091
or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext 109. Thank you for your grassroots participation
in the National Grange Legislative program. Want
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Hill. |
