Funding Our Roads and Ecosystems Sustainably Together Act or the FOREST Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 Forest Service federal land and tribal transportation programs.
Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act This bill authorizes the establishment of a National Global War on Terrorism Memorial in the area of the National Mall.
This bill revises the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. Under the program, the Environmental Protection Agency issues permits to discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. The bill extends the maximum term for NPDES permits issued to states or municipalities from 5 to 10 years.
Clearing Lines along Electrical At-Risk Zones Act This bill revises requirements related to vegetation management practices and forest management activities. The bill redefines hazard trees as trees that come within 50 feet (rather than 10 feet, as under current law) of an electric power line. Hazard trees are subject to certain management activities under current law. A vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan shall describe processes for consultation with private landowners with respect to hazard trees identified for removal. Such plans must be approved according to specified deadlines. The bill generally excludes specified forest management activities from certain environmental assessment and environmental impact statement requirements. Specifically, the bill excludes from these requirements (1) the development and approval of a vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan; and (2) the implementation of routine activities conducted under such a plan. The use of this exclusion shall not be subject to extraordinary circumstances procedures.
Combustion Avoidance along Rural Roads Act or the CARR Act This bill exempts wildfire mitigation activities conducted within 300 feet of a road from all laws governing environmental review of proposed agency actions or protection of endangered or threatened species. Mitigation activities are those that are conducted by Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture on federal land that is administered by the National Park System, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Forest Service. Mitigation activities include forest thinning, hazardous fuel reduction, prescribed burning, and vegetation management.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the global COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak is a direct result of China's human rights abuses and propaganda campaign and that China should be held accountable for its handling of the outbreak.
Direct Hire To Fight Fires This bill provides direct-hire authority to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior for purposes of filling wildland and structural firefighting positions, including support positions, in the Forest Service and Interior agencies. Direct-hire authority is an expedited hiring authority that currently may be issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to fill positions in the competitive service for which there is a critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates. The OPM may issue such authority to agencies upon written request or upon an independent assessment that there is a critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates for specific positions.
Support Children Having Open Opportunities for Learning Act of 2021 or the SCHOOL Act of 2021 This bill allows certain federal funds for elementary and secondary education to follow the student to the school that they attend (i.e., public, private, or home school), regardless of whether the student is learning in person or remotely. These funds may be used for educational and instructional materials, tutoring, tuition for private school, and extracurricular activities.
Death Tax Repeal Act This bill repeals the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. It also makes conforming amendments related to the gift tax.
Ensuring Economic Recovery Act This bill requires the Small Business Administration to report on the recovery of small businesses from the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and the effects on small businesses of increasing the federal minimum hourly wage to $15.
