Bill > HR7695

This bill invalidates the "Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation" rule issued by the Department of Agriculture on January 12, 2001, meaning it will no longer be in effect, and prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from creating similar rules. Furthermore, the bill mandates that the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the Forest Service, must build certain permanent and temporary roads on lands managed by the National Forest System, provided these projects comply with environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. These roads are to be constructed for purposes such as forest restoration, reducing hazardous fuels in areas near communities or water sources (defined as "at-risk communities" and "wildland-urban interface" according to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003), replacing or removing existing roads that harm forest or watershed health, or to fulfill the objectives of an older law concerning national forests.