S. 2872: Emergency Pine Beetle Response Act of 2025 (119th Congress) Bill Summary

This bill, known as the Emergency Pine Beetle Response Act of 2025, aims to address the issues caused by outbreaks of pine beetles, which can significantly harm forests, specifically nonindustrial private forest land. Here are the key provisions of the bill:

Emergency Measures in Response to Pine Beetle Outbreaks

The bill seeks to amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 by adding new measures to assist landowners and timber service businesses affected by pine beetle infestations, including:

Definitions of Eligible Costs: The bill defines what expenses can be covered for businesses involved in responding to these outbreaks, such as labor, equipment use, and material costs.
Outbreak Response Measures: Defines what actions can be taken in response to an outbreak, including timber harvesting, prescribed burning, debris removal, insecticide treatment, and establishing buffer areas.

Assistance for Landowners and Timber Service Businesses

The bill establishes a program for providing financial assistance:

For Owners of Nonindustrial Private Forest Land: The Secretary will make payments to help cover up to 85% of the costs of specific outbreak response measures carried out by landowners to restore forest health.
For Timber Service Businesses: Payments will also be offered to timber service businesses to cover up to 50% of the eligible itemized costs incurred while restoring forest health following a pine beetle outbreak.

Eligibility and Implementation

To qualify for assistance, landowners or timber service businesses must demonstrate that their forest land meets specified conditions prior to the outbreak, is located in a designated disaster area, and has confirmed pine beetle infestations.
Local offices of the Farm Service Agency will determine eligibility and provide payments to accepted applicants.

Emergency Outbreak Public Assistance Grants

The Secretary is authorized to provide grants to State, Tribal, and local governments to support their responses to the damage caused by the outbreaks.

Emergency Loans

The bill also introduces provisions for emergency loans available to owners of nonindustrial private forest land to cover the costs associated with outbreak response measures. Key points include:

The amount of an emergency loan will be at least 75% of the estimated total costs of the response measures.
Loan repayment options will allow recipients to apply any subsequent cost-share payments received against the principal of their emergency loans.

Conforming Amendments

Lastly, the bill includes various amendments to existing laws to update definitions and fulfill additional requirements needed to implement the assistance measures effectively.