S. 2872 — Emergency Pine Beetle Response Act of 2025

This section establishes assistance for emergency measures in response to pine beetle outbreaks on nonindustrial private forest land (i.e., rural land owned by nonindustrial private entities that has tree cover or is suitable for growing trees). Specifically, it (1) authorizes payments to affected landowners for outbreak response measures (e.g., timber harvesting, prescribed burning, debris removal) up to 85 percent of costs; (2) authorizes payments to timber service businesses (i.e., entities deriving revenue from timber-related activities) to cover up to 50 percent of eligible itemized costs (e.g., labor, equipment use, materials such as gravel and insecticides); (3) requires applicants to demonstrate to local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices that the land had tree cover before the outbreak, is in a county designated as a primary natural disaster area within the prior 12 months, and has confirmed pine beetle infestations via Forest Service or state surveys; (4) directs local FSA offices, in consultation with county committees, to determine eligibility and issue payments; and (5) authorizes supplemental grants to state, tribal, and local governments for outbreak response and damage repair. (As background, the underlying program—known as the Emergency Forestry Restoration Program—previously provided payments to nonindustrial private forest landowners for natural disaster recovery up to 75 percent of costs.)

This section revises section 321 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961), which authorizes emergency loans to eligible farmers, ranchers, and producers (including those engaged in aquaculture) unable to obtain sufficient commercial credit elsewhere to recover from natural disasters and related losses, as follows: (1) strikes subsection (d); (2) redesignates subsection (b) as (c); (3) restructures and expands subsection (a) into new subsections (a) Definitions (adding terms "able to obtain sufficient credit elsewhere" and "aquaculture") and (b) Eligible persons; and (4) adds new subsection (e) authorizing emergency loans to owners of nonindustrial private forest land (as defined in 16 U.S.C. 2206(a), i.e., rural private land with tree cover owned by nonindustrial entities) to carry out outbreak response measures (as defined in 16 U.S.C. 2206(e)(1)), with loans covering not less than 75% of estimated costs to address pine beetle outbreaks and permitting owners to apply cost-share payments received under 16 U.S.C. 2206(e)(2) (i.e., up to 75% of emergency restoration costs post-natural disaster) toward loan principal repayment. This section also makes conforming amendments to update statutory cross-references in the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1531), the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1964), the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2497), and the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 5154a).