Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73not60
§620d Monitoring and Enforcement
Title 16 › Chapter 4— PROTECTION OF TIMBER, AND DEPREDATIONS › § 620d
Summary
People who buy or move unprocessed timber from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian, or from public lands in States under a Commerce export order (unless that State runs its own approved program), must report getting and sending that timber to the proper Secretary. Before giving the timber to someone else, the seller must give a written notice saying where the timber came from, get a written receipt and promise from the buyer to follow the rules, and send copies of those papers to the Secretary. A person is not required to report what later owners do with the timber. The Agriculture and Interior Secretaries had to send Congress a report by June 1, 1995 about how indirect substitution affects markets and domestic log supply, with recommendations and data summaries. Officials can fine people who break the rules: for willful export violations up to $500,000 per violation or three times the timber’s gross value, whichever is larger; for other violations fines may be up to $75,000 if done in disregard, $50,000 if the person should have known, or $500,000 if willful. Commerce has similar penalty power for violations on or after June 1, 1993, with the same State exceptions. Officials must consider excuses like mistakes and can reduce, suspend, or drop fines; minor violations should be fixed under the sale contract when possible. Penalties can be added to other legal penalties and can be reviewed in federal court. Agencies may also bar a violator from buying Federal timber for up to 5 years, stop delivery of timber bought by others, withhold awards during a debarment hearing, and cancel contracts, but only after a hearing. The fine and debarment rules do not apply to violations of section 620i.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §620d
Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In accordance with regulations issued under this section—
(1)each person who acquires, either directly or indirectly, unprocessed timber originating from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States shall report the receipt and disposition of such timber to the Secretary concerned, in such form as such Secretary may by rule prescribe; except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to hold any person responsible for the reporting of the disposition of any such timber held by subsequent persons;
(2)each person who transfers to another person unprocessed timber originating from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States shall, before completing such transfer—
(A)provide to such other person a written notice, in such form as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, which shall identify the Federal origin of such timber;
(C)provide to the Secretary concerned copies of all notices, acknowledgments, and agreements referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B);
(3)each person who acquires, either directly or indirectly, unprocessed timber originating from public lands in a State that is subject to an order issued by the Secretary of Commerce under section 620c(a) of this title, other than a State that is administering and enforcing a program under section 620c(d) of this title, shall report the receipt and disposition of the timber to the Secretary of Commerce, in such form as the Secretary may by rule prescribe, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to hold any person responsible for reporting the disposition of any timber held by subsequent persons; and
(4)each person who transfers to another person unprocessed timber originating from public lands in a State that is subject to an order issued by the Secretary of Commerce under section 620c(a) of this title, other than a State that is administering and enforcing a program under section 620c(d) of this title, shall, before completing the transfer—
(A)provide to such other person a written notice, in such form as the Secretary of Commerce may prescribe, that shall identify the public lands from which the timber originated; and
(B)receive from such other person—
(C)provide to the Secretary of Commerce copies of all notices, acknowledgments, and agreements referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(b)Using the information gathered under subsection (a), the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior shall, not later than June 1, 1995, submit to the Congress a report on the disposition of unprocessed timber harvested from Federal lands west of the 100th meridian in the contiguous 48 States, and recommendations concerning the practice of indirect substitution of such timber for exported timber harvested from private lands. Specifically, such report shall—
(1)analyze the effects of indirect substitution on market efficiency;
(2)analyze the effects of indirect substitution on domestic log supply;
(3)offer any recommendations that the Secretaries consider necessary for specific statutory or regulatory changes regarding indirect substitution;
(4)provide summaries of the data collected;
(5)analyze the effects of the provisions of section 620b(b)(2)(C) of this title; and
(6)provide such other information as the Secretaries consider appropriate.
(c)(1)(A)If the Secretary concerned finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that a person, with willful disregard for the prohibition contained in sections 620 to 620j of this title against exporting Federal timber, exported or caused to be exported unprocessed timber originating from Federal lands in violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title, such Secretary may assess against such person a civil penalty of not more than $500,000 for each violation, or 3 times the gross value of the unprocessed timber involved in the violation, whichever amount is greater.
(B)(i)Subject to clause (ii), if the Secretary of Commerce finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that a person, with willful disregard for the restrictions contained in an order of the Secretary under section 620c(a) of this title on exports of unprocessed timber from public lands, exported or caused to be exported unprocessed timber originating from public lands in violation of such order, the Secretary may assess against such person a civil penalty of not more than $500,000 for each violation, or 3 times the gross value of the unprocessed timber involved in the violation, whichever amount is greater.
(ii)Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to exports of unprocessed timber originating from public lands in a State that is administering and enforcing a program under section 620c(d) of this title.
(2)(A)If the Secretary concerned finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that a person has violated any provision of sections 620 to 620j of this title or any regulation issued under sections 620 to 620j of this title relating to lands which they administer (notwithstanding that such violation may not have caused the export of unprocessed Federal timber in violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title), such Secretary may—
(i)assess against such person a civil penalty of not more than $75,000 for each violation if the Secretary determines that the person committed such violation in disregard of such provision or regulation;
(ii)assess against such person a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation if the Secretary determines that the person should have known that the action constituted a violation; or
(iii)assess against such person a civil penalty of not more than $500,000 if the Secretary determines that the person committed such violation willfully.
(B)(i)Subject to clause (ii), if the Secretary of Commerce finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that a person has violated, on or after June 1, 1993, any provision of sections 620 to 620j of this title or any regulation issued under sections 620 to 620j of this title relating to the export of unprocessed timber originating from public lands (whether or not the violation caused the export of unprocessed timber from public lands in violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title), the Secretary may assess against such person a civil penalty to the same extent as the Secretary concerned may impose a penalty under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A).
(ii)Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to unprocessed timber originating from public lands in a State that is administering and enforcing a program under section 620c(d) of this title.
(C)(i)The Secretary concerned—
(I)in determining the applicability of any penalty imposed under this paragraph, shall take into account all relevant mitigating factors, including mistake, inadvertence, and error; and
(II)based on any mitigating factor, may, with respect to any penalty imposed under this paragraph—
(aa)reduce the penalty;
(bb)not impose the penalty; or
(cc)on condition of there being no further violation under this paragraph for a prescribed period, suspend imposition of the penalty.
(ii)In the case of a minor violation of sections 620 to 620j of this title (including a regulation), the Secretary concerned shall, to the maximum extent practicable, permit a contracting officer to redress the violation in accordance with the applicable timber sale contract rather than assess a penalty under this paragraph.
(3)A penalty assessed under this subsection shall not be exclusive of any other penalty provided by law and shall be subject to review in an appropriate United States district court.
(d)(1)(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the head of the appropriate Federal department or agency under sections 620 to 620j of this title may debar any person who violates sections 620 to 620j of this title, or any regulation or contract issued under sections 620 to 620j of this title, from entering into any contract for the purchase of unprocessed timber from Federal lands for a period of not more than 5 years. Such person shall also be precluded from taking delivery of Federal timber purchased by another party for the period of debarment.
(B)(i)No person may be debarred from bidding for or entering into a contract for the purchase of unprocessed timber from Federal lands under subparagraph (A) unless the head of the appropriate Federal department or agency first finds, on the record and after an opportunity for a hearing, that debarment is warranted.
(e)Subsections (c) and (d) do not apply to violations of section 620i of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1997—Subsec. (c)(2)(C). Pub. L. 105–83, § 603(1), added subpar. (C). Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 105–83, § 603(2), inserted subpar. (A) designation and heading, substituted “Subject to subparagraph (B), the head” for “The head”, and added subpar. (B). 1993—Subsec. (a)(3), (4). Pub. L. 103–45, § 3(a), added pars. (3) and (4). Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 103–45, § 3(b)(1), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B). Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 103–45, § 3(b)(2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), redesignated former subpars. (A) to (C) as cls. (i) to (iii) of subpar. (A), and added subpar. (B).
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 620d
Title 16 — Conservation
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60