H.R. 6277 — SAWMILL Act

This section establishes the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program, under which the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, provides loan guarantees totaling not more than $220 million to eligible entities seeking to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing facility located in a rural area and within a 250-mile radius of eligible Federal land. Eligible entities are individuals or entities that own or operate such facilities. Eligible Federal land includes units of Federal land (including Indian forest land or rangeland) identified by the Secretaries as high or very high priority for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal, with identifications required not later than one year after enactment and at least every five years thereafter. (Thus, the program aims to reduce costs of such restoration projects by increasing nearby wood-processing capacity.)