,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bcii  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #bc1     
#bjbe,ms4 ,collins 7for herself1 ,mr4   
,king1 ,mr4 ,welch1 and ,mrs4 ,shaheen7 
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 
and ,forestry  ,a ,,bill  ,to establish 
a payment program for unexpected loss of
 markets and revenues to timber         
harvesting and timber hauling businesses
 due to major disasters1 and for other  
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,loggers ,economic  
,assistance and ,relief ,act4  #b4      
,payment program for timber harvesting  
and timber hauling businesses  7a7      
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7     
,eligible entity ,the term eligible     
entity means any timber harvesting      
business or timber hauling business that
 harvested or hauled unrefined timber   
products in the previous calendar year4 
7#b7 ,major disaster ,the term major    

disaster-- 7,a7 has the meaning given   
the term in section #ajb7b7 of the      
,robert ,t4 ,stafford ,disaster ,relief 
and ,emergency ,assistance ,act 7#db    
,u4,s4,c4 #eabb7b772 and  7,b7 includes 
an insect infestation declared a major  
disaster pursuant to such ,act4  7#c7   
,gross revenue ,the term gross revenue  
means the gross revenue generated by an 
eligible entity from timber harvesting  
or timber hauling services within the   
normal range of operation of the        
eligible entity1 as determined by the   
,secretary4  7#d7 ,secretary ,the term  
,secretary means the ,secretary of      
,agriculture1 acting through the        
,administrator of the ,farm ,service    
,agency4  7b7 ,payments ,the ,secretary 
shall make payments in accordance with  
this section to eligible entities that  
as a result of a major disaster         
experienced a loss of not less than #aj 
percent in gross revenue in a #cj-;day  
period or quarter of a calendar year1 as
 compared to the gross revenue of the   

eligible entity during the same #cj-;day
 period or quarter of the previous      
calendar year4  7c7 ,amount of payment  
,the amount of a payment made to an     
eligible entity under subsection 7b7    
shall be equal to #aj percent of the    
gross revenue of the eligible entity    
during the applicable period under      
subsection 7b74  7d7 ,allowable use ,the
 ,secretary shall only make a payment   
under subsection 7b7 to an eligible     
entity that certifies to the ,secretary 
that the payment will be used only for  
operating expenses4  7e7 ,report ,not   
later than #ahj days after the date of  
enactment of this ,act1 and annually    
thereafter1 the ,secretary shall submit 
to the ,committee on ,agriculture1      
,nutrition1 and ,forestry of the ,senate
 and the ,committee on ,agriculture of  
the ,house of ,representatives a report 
describing the payments made under this 
section1 including-- 7#a7 the identity  
of each recipient of a payment2 and     
7#b7 the amount of each payment provided

 to each recipient described in         
paragraph 7#a74  7f7 ,regulations  7#a7 
,in general ,except as otherwise        
provided in this section1 not later than
 #cj days after the date of enactment of
 this ,act1 the ,secretary shall        
prescribe such regulations as are       
necessary to carry out this section4    
7#b7 ,procedure ,the promulgation of    
regulations under1 and administration   
of1 this section shall be made without  
regard to-- 7,a7 the notice and comment 
provisions of section #eec of title #e1 
,united ,states ,code2 and  7,b7 chapter
 #ce of title #dd1 ,united ,states ,code
 7commonly known as the ,paperwork      
,reduction ,act74  7g7 ,authorization of
 appropriations ,there is authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out this       
section #ej1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal  
years #bjbe through #bjbi4