To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain Federal forest land at risk for catastrophic wildfires as emergency mitigation areas, to authorize the use of alternative arrangements in those areas, and for other purposes.

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain Federal forest land at risk for catastrophic wildfires as emergency mitigation areas, to authorize the use of alternative arrangements in those areas, 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 `Emergency Forest Rescue Act of 2002'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that--

(1) fire and land management policies have contributed to the increasing severity and intensity of wildfires over the past few decades;

(2) a large proportion of Federal forest land is in a condition of serious degradation because of trees that are--

(A) diseased; or

(B) dying because of--

(i) insect infestation;

(ii) invasive plant species; or

(iii) other natural disasters (including blowdowns and wildfires);

(3) the drought conditions of 2002 are exacerbating the conditions on Federal forest land, making the Federal forest land particularly susceptible to an increased threat of wildfires;

(4) in addition to threatening Federal forest land, wildfires threaten thousands of communities that are located on the border or within the boundaries of the Federal forest land;

(5) the 2000 and 2002 fire seasons demonstrate the devastation that is possible if emergency action is not taken to reduce the increased threat of wildfire from diseased and dying trees;

(6) the combination of drought and diseased and dying trees creates even more dangerous conditions under which--

(A) the severity of wildfires increases; and

(B) wildfires pose a greater threat to public health and safety; and

(7) it is critically important that the heads of Federal agencies responsible for managing Federal forest land have the authority to declare as emergency mitigation areas any Federal forest land that has a dangerous buildup of dead or dying trees because of disease, insect infestation, invasive plant species, or other natural disasters, for the purposes of--

(A) reducing the threat of wildfires; and

(B) protecting Federal forest land and the communities located near or adjacent to the Federal forest land.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) DESIGNEE- The term `designee' means--

(A) the Chief of the Forest Service;

(B) the Director of the Bureau of Land Management; or

(C) the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

(2) EMERGENCY MITIGATION AREA- The term `emergency mitigation area' means an area designated by the Secretary under section 4(a).

(3) FEDERAL FOREST LAND- The term `Federal forest land' means any forest land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary.

(4) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means--

(A) in the case of Federal forest land under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service, the Secretary of Agriculture; or

(B) in the case of Federal forest land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY MITIGATION AREAS.

(a) DESIGNATION- The Secretary or a designee shall designate as an emergency mitigation area any Federal forest land that--

(1) is experiencing a severe drought; and

(2) has a large quantity of trees that are dead or dying because of disease, insect infestation, an invasive plant species, or other natural disaster.

(b) EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCE- Designation of an emergency mitigation area under subsection (a) is an emergency circumstance within the meaning of part 1506.11 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).

(c) ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS-

(1) IN GENERAL- On designation of an emergency mitigation area under subsection (a), the Secretary or a designee shall request from the Council on Environmental Quality authority to use any alternative arrangement (including timber harvesting) in the emergency mitigation area that is necessary to protect trees in the emergency mitigation area from disease, insect infestation, an invasive plant species, or other natural disaster.

(2) EXEMPTION FROM APPLICABLE LAW- In carrying out an alternative arrangement approved by the Council on Environmental Quality under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture or a designee shall be exempt from the requirements of section 322 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1612 note).