PRIA Logo™
119-s-2221119th CongressWALLET

SAWMILL Act

Sponsored By: Senator Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]

Introduced

Summary

Expand rural wood-processing capacity to support ecological restoration on high-priority federal lands. This bill would create a USDA Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program to back loans for sawmills and wood-processing facilities located near eligible Federal land.

Show full summary
  • Rural sawmill owners and operators would be eligible for loan guarantees to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve facilities located within 250 miles of identified federal lands. These entities must own or operate a sawmill or wood-processing facility in a rural area.
  • Federal land managers would get coordinated support because the Secretary of Agriculture, working with the Secretary of the Interior, must identify units that are high or very high priority for ecological restoration within 1 year and at least every 5 years. Nearby processing capacity must be shown to substantially decrease restoration costs as determined by the Secretaries.
  • Rural communities could see more local wood-processing capacity that is strategically linked to federal vegetation-removal projects, potentially making restoration projects cheaper and more regionally focused.

*Limits total loan guarantees under the program to $220.0 million.*

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Loan guarantees for rural sawmills

If enacted, eligible rural sawmill owners and operators would be able to get USDA loan guarantees to build, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve mills and wood-processing facilities. The facility must be in a rural area and within 250 miles of Federal land the Secretaries identify as high or very high priority for ecological restoration. The Secretary of Agriculture, working with the Secretary of the Interior, would identify eligible Federal land within one year and at least once every five years after that. Total loan guarantees under the program would not exceed $220,000,000 and the Secretary could set conditions for each guarantee.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]

OR • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT]

    MT • R

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

    ME • I

    Sponsored 4/29/2026

  • Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]

    MS • R

    Sponsored 4/29/2026

  • Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS]

    MS • R

    Sponsored 6/3/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation