HR 1530 IH

To make forestry insurance plans available to owners and operators of private forest land, to encourage the use of prescribed burning on private forest land, and for other purposes.

To make forestry insurance plans available to owners and operators of private forest land, to encourage the use of prescribed burning on private forest land, 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.

This Act may be cited as the `Forestry Initiative to Restore the Environment Act of 1999'.

SEC. 2. FORESTRY INSURANCE.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 508 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508) is amended in subsections (l) and (m)(2) by inserting after `generally available from private companies' each place it appears the following: `in a State or area at rates and terms that are normal for privately underwritten policies, as determined by the Corporation'.

(b) PILOT PROGRAM- Section 508 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(o) FORESTRY INSURANCE PILOT PROGRAM- The Corporation shall conduct a pilot program in at least 4 States under which the Corporation shall offer forestry insurance plans to indemnify owners and operators of private forest land that is used to produce a variety of types of timber for loss of yield or prevented planting due to drought, flood, or other natural disaster (as determined by the Secretary), with an emphasis on small, nonindustrial owners and operators of private forest land.'.

SEC. 3. FORESTRY INCENTIVES PROGRAM.

Section 4(a) of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103(a)) is amended in the second sentence by inserting `increased seedling production capacity,' after `prescribed burning,'.

SEC. 4. RURAL FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 10(b) of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106(b)) is amended--

(1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

`(2) provide financial, technical, and related assistance to State foresters or equivalent State officials, and through them to other agencies and individuals, for the prescribed use of burning on private forest land for the prevention, control, and suppression of fire, including providing grants to pay up to 75 percent of the cost of carrying out the burning;';

(2) in paragraph (3), by striking `and' after the semicolon;

(3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; and'; and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

`(5) develop, in cooperation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, educational and outreach programs and materials on prescribed use of burning for the prevention, control, and suppression of fire.'.

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Section 10(e) of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106(e)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `, (2),';

(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

`(2) PRESCRIBED BURNING- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (b)(2) $10,000,000 for each fiscal year.'.