Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 2804
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Environmental Protection
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-09-15: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Last Updated
- 2025-09-29T19:29:48Z
AI-Generated Summary
Summary of S. 2804: Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act of 2025
Purpose
This legislation establishes specific timelines and procedures for the detention of plants by the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) when there is suspicion of a violation of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981. It aims to provide importers with clearer processes, faster resolutions, and options for storage and review while preserving the enforcement goals of the Lacey Act.
Key Provisions
- Definitions: Defines key terms including "importer" (any person seeking to import plants), "Lacey Act," "plant," and "Secretary" (Secretary of the Interior via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).
- Detention Timeline: Requires the Secretary to either release plants or issue a notice of detention within 5 business days after presentation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- Notice of Detention Contents: The notice must specify reasons for detention, anticipated length, tests to be conducted, information that could speed resolution, and options to transport plants under bond for examination elsewhere.
- Testing and Information Sharing: If tests are performed, the Secretary must provide results, replication details, and related documentation to the importer.
- Storage and Transport: Allows plants to be moved outside Customs custody for storage within 10 days if the importer requests it, pays fees, posts a bond, complies with regulations, and the move does not undermine the Lacey Act.
- Final Determination: Mandates a decision on admissibility within 30 days; failure to decide is treated as an exclusion under customs laws.
- Protest and Court Review: Importers may protest exclusions, with a 30-day response deadline from the Secretary, and may seek court orders under existing regulations.
- Regulations: Directs the Secretary to issue implementing regulations within 180 days of enactment.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
This bill introduces mandatory timelines and procedural safeguards for plant detentions under the Lacey Act, which previously lacked such explicit requirements. It adds importer rights to information, bonded transport, protests, and automatic exclusion treatment for delays, while integrating with customs regulations. It does not alter the core prohibitions of the Lacey Act but modifies administrative handling of suspected violations.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Requires U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to adhere to strict deadlines, increasing administrative workload but potentially reducing prolonged detentions.
- Importers and Businesses: Provides faster processing, reduced storage costs through bonded transport, and clearer appeal paths, which may benefit wood product supply chains.
- International Relations: Could influence trade flows by expediting or complicating imports of plants from regions with higher Lacey Act compliance risks, potentially affecting relations with exporting countries.
- Citizens and Environment: Maintains enforcement against illegal plant trade while adding transparency measures that may indirectly support legal commerce.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Importers of plants and wood products.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- Domestic industries reliant on imported wood and plant materials.
- Entities involved in international plant trade subject to Lacey Act oversight.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
The bill creates new administrative procedures that interact with existing customs laws and Lacey Act enforcement, including protest mechanisms and court petition rights under 50 C.F.R. Part 12. It does not raise apparent constitutional concerns but formalizes agency discretion in detentions. Politically, it emphasizes supply chain efficiency for legal imports without changing the underlying conservation objectives of the Lacey Act.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (2)
Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL], Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]
Recent Actions
- 2025-09-15: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- 2025-09-15: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act of 2025 — issued 2025-09-15 — PDF (6 pages)