Bill > HR6277

This bill establishes the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program, which aims to support sawmills and wood-processing facilities near federal lands that need ecological restoration. The program allows the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, to provide loan guarantees to eligible entities (individuals or businesses owning sawmills or wood-processing facilities in rural areas) to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve facilities within 250 miles of federal lands identified as high priority for ecological restoration. The Secretaries will review and identify these federal lands at least every five years, focusing on areas that require vegetation removal. The loan guarantees are intended to help reduce the cost of ecological restoration projects by supporting local wood-processing infrastructure. The program has a total loan guarantee cap of $220 million, and the specific conditions of the loan guarantees will be determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. This bill is designed to support rural economic development, forest management, and ecological restoration efforts by providing financial incentives for sawmill and wood-processing facility development near federal lands that need vegetation management.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6277/all-info