SAWMILL Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The SAWMILL Act establishes the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program in USDA. Within one year and at least every five years afterward, USDA, coordinated with Interior, must review Federal lands and identify units that are high or very high priority for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal, including Indian forest land or rangeland. USDA, coordinated with Interior, must provide loan guarantees to individuals or entities that own or operate rural sawmills or wood-processing facilities within 250 miles of eligible Federal land when the facility would substantially decrease the cost of restoration projects involving vegetation removal. USDA may set necessary loan conditions and provide no more than $220 million in total guarantees.
Who Benefits and How
Rural sawmills and wood-processing facilities benefit from Federal loan guarantees to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve facilities. Federal land managers and ecological restoration projects benefit if nearby processing capacity reduces the cost of vegetation removal. Rural communities may benefit from wood-products jobs and infrastructure tied to forest restoration.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA and Interior must review Federal lands, identify high-priority restoration units, coordinate loan-guarantee decisions, and monitor program conditions. Federal taxpayers bear credit risk on up to $220 million in guarantees. Facilities outside the 250-mile radius or not tied to restoration cost reductions do not benefit from the program.
Key Provisions
- Defines eligible entities as rural sawmill or wood-processing facility owners or operators.
- Requires USDA and Interior to identify high-priority Federal lands for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal within one year and at least every five years.
- Creates the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program for rural facilities within 250 miles of eligible Federal land.
- Requires the facility to substantially decrease the cost of Federal ecological restoration involving vegetation removal.
- Caps total loan guarantees under the program at $220 million.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a USDA timber-production loan guarantee program of up to $220 million for rural sawmills and wood-processing facilities near high-priority Federal restoration lands.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Development
Primary Purpose
Creates a USDA timber-production loan guarantee program of up to $220 million for rural sawmills and wood-processing facilities near high-priority Federal restoration lands.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Rural sawmill operators
- Rural wood-processing facilities
- Federal forest restoration projects
- Rural timber communities
Identified Costs
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of the Interior
- Federal taxpayers
- Wood-processing facilities outside eligible areas
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture.
Mr. Newhouse (for himself and Ms. Sewell) introduced the following …
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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