To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize assistance for emergency measures in response to pine beetle outbreaks, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · February 29, 2024
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
The Emergency Pine Beetle Response Act of 2024 authorizes federal assistance to help private forest landowners and timber service businesses respond to pine beetle outbreaks on non-industrial private forests. The bill creates two main assistance programs: cost-share payments covering up to 85 percent of response costs for landowners and up to 50 percent for timber service businesses, and emergency loans covering at least 75 percent of estimated outbreak response costs. Eligible response measures include timber harvesting, prescribed burning, debris removal, insecticide treatment, and other forest health restoration activities, and applicants must demonstrate that their land is in a county designated as a primary natural disaster area due to drought and has confirmed pine beetle infestations. The legislation also authorizes supplemental grants to state, tribal, and local governments to help with response and damage repair efforts. Implementation would be handled through the Farm Service Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with no specific funding amounts or timelines specified in the bill itself.
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