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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2221 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2221
To establish requirements under which the Secretary of Agriculture and
the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out the Timber Production
Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2025
Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish requirements under which the Secretary of Agriculture and
the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out the Timber Production
Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting American Wood and Mill
Infrastructure with Loans for Longevity Act'' or the ``SAWMILL Act''.
SEC. 2. TIMBER PRODUCTION EXPANSION GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an
individual or entity that owns or operates a sawmill or other
wood-processing facility located in a rural area (as defined in
section 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a))) of the United States.
(2) Eligible federal land.--The term ``eligible Federal
land'' means any unit of Federal land, including Indian forest
land or rangeland, that has been identified by the Secretary,
in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, as high or
very high priority for ecological restoration involving
vegetation removal under subsection (b).
(3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Timber
Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program of the Department
of Agriculture.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(b) Identification of Eligible Federal Land.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than
once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall--
(1) review Federal land under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior; and
(2) identify units of Federal land that, as determined by
the Secretaries, are high or very high priority for ecological
restoration involving vegetation removal.
(c) Loan Guarantees.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary, in coordination with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall provide loan guarantees under
the Program to eligible entities seeking to establish, reopen,
retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing
facility located within a 250-mile radius of, a unit of
eligible Federal land, if the presence of a sawmill or other
wood-processing facility would, or does, substantially decrease
the cost of conducting ecological restoration projects
involving vegetation removal on the eligible Federal land, as
determined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) Conditions.--A loan guarantee under the Program shall
be provided in accordance with such conditions as the Secretary
determines to be necessary.
(3) Maximum amount.--The Secretary may provide a total of
not more than $220,000,000 in loan guarantees under the
Program.
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