Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the Idaho Forest Products Commission.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 502 BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO THE IDAHO FOREST PRODUCTS COMMISSION; AMENDING SECTION 38-1502,2 IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE DEFINITIONS AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS;3 AMENDING SECTION 38-1503, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING4 THE IDAHO FOREST PRODUCTS COMMISSION AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS;5 AMENDING SECTION 38-1506, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS REGARD-6 ING OFFICERS OF THE COMMISSION; AMENDING SECTION 38-1515, IDAHO CODE,7 TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING THE IMPOSITION OF ASSESSMENTS AND LATE8 FEES AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; PROVIDING THAT CERTAIN ADMINIS-9 TRATIVE RULES CONTAINED IN IDAPA 15.03.01 SHALL BE NULL, VOID, AND OF NO10 FORCE AND EFFECT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE11 DATE.12

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:13

SECTION 1. That Section 38-1502, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby14 amended to read as follows:15 38-1502. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:16 (1) "Assessment year" means January 1 through December 31 of any calen-17 dar year in which the commission levies an assessment.18 (2) "Base year" means the calendar year immediately preceding the as-19 sessment year.20 (3) "Business entity" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation,21 association, trust, or other recognized legal entity.22 (4) "Commission" means the Idaho forest products commission created by23 section 38-1503, Idaho Code.24 (5) "Financial supporter" means entities who have paid assessments25 pursuant to this chapter.26 (6) "Forest lands" means federal, state, and private land growing for-27 est tree species which that are, or could be at maturity, capable of furnish-28 ing raw material used in the manufacture of lumber or other forest products.29 The term includes federal, state, and private land from which forest tree30 species have been removed but have not yet been restocked, but it does not in-31 clude land affirmatively converted to uses other than the growing of forest32 tree species.33 (7) "Forest product manufacturer" means a business entity that engages34 in the processing, cutting, fabricating or other process which that converts35 timber, chips, sawdust, or shavings into lumber, paper, plywood, particle36 board, or other usable products for sale in commerce, provided, however, as37 used in this chapter, forest products. Forest product manufacturers shall38 include those business entities that buy timber in Idaho and then sell it to39 other persons outside of the state for manufacture into finished products.40 Forest product manufacturers shall not include the following business enti-41 ties engaged in:42

2 (a) The production of fence or corral posts or rails;1 (b) Producing shingles or shakes;2 (c) Producing firewood or pellets for energy; or3 (d) Producing logs which that have been shaped or scribed and used in4 the construction of log structures.5 (8) "Hog fuel" means wood or wood scraps that have been shredded or pul-6 verized and used by forest product manufacturers to generate energy.7 (9) "Private forest lands" means forest lands not owned by the federal8 government, state government, an Indian tribe, or a political subdivision of9 the state.10

SECTION 2. That Section 38-1503, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby11 amended to read as follows:12 38-1503. FOREST PRODUCTS COMMISSION CREATED -- MEMBERS. (1) There is13 hereby created and established in the department of self-governing agencies14 the Idaho forest products commission, to be composed of five (5) voting mem-15 bers appointed by the governor from a list of names with at least two (2)16 names for each appointive office for each district submitted to the gover-17 nor by the financial supporters of the commission in each district. Initial18 members of the commission shall serve either a three (3) or five (5) year19 term, with two (2) members of the commission serving three (3) year terms,20 and three (3) members of the commission serving five (5) year terms. For the21 initial commission members, the duration of each member's term shall be de-22 termined by lot. Thereafter, all All commission members shall serve terms23 of three (3) years, and may be reappointed. The commission shall may adopt24 rules to, subject to legislative approval, to further define the process for25 filling vacancies to the commission and to provide for determining the terms26 of office for all members of the commission after the expiration of the terms27 of the original members.28 (2) The governor shall also name as permanent advisory members to the29 commission, the director of the department of lands, a representative of the30 United States forest service, the dean of the University university of Idaho31 college of natural resources or the dean's designee, a representative of the32 Idaho department of commerce and the Idaho department of agriculture with33 expertise in marketing and promotion, and the executive director of the as-34 sociated logging contractors. No advisory member of the commission shall35 have a vote on the commission.36 (3) Nominations for expiring seats on the commission shall be made by37 the financial supporters of the commission from the district in which the38 seat is expiring, or from all districts if an at-large member seat is expir-39 ing, no later than June 1 of the year in which the seat is expiring. The com-40 mission shall provide nomination applications to all financial supporters41 of the commission. The commission shall send the names of all qualified nom-42 inees to the governor and may make its own recommendations and nominations.43 In making the appointments, the governor shall take into consideration the44 recommendations made by the commission and organizations that represent or45 are engaged in harvesting, transporting, or manufacturing forest products.46 (4) Vacancies in any unexpired term shall be filled by the governor.47 The commission shall identify qualified candidates and send their names to48 the governor. The appointed member shall serve on the commission for the re-49

3 mainder of the unexpired term and shall represent the same region and inter-1 ests as the person whose seat had become vacant. A member appointed to fill2 an at-large member vacancy shall represent all regions.3

SECTION 3. That Section 38-1506, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby4 amended to read as follows:5 38-1506. CHAIRMAN AND STAFF, CHAIR, AND VICE CHAIR OF THE COMMIS-6 SION. (1) The commission shall elect a chairman and may employ clerical or7 other staff who are not members of the commission.8 (2) The commission shall nominate and elect, by majority vote, a chair9 to serve as the presiding officer at all commission meetings.10 (3) The commission may nominate and elect, by majority vote, a vice11 chair to accept the duties of the chair in the event that the chair is unable12 to attend a commission meeting.13 (4) The term of office for chair and vice chair positions, if elected,14 shall be one (1) year, commencing on July 30 of each year.15

SECTION 4. That Section 38-1515, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby16 amended to read as follows:17 38-1515. IMPOSITION OF ASSESSMENTS AND PROVISION FOR LATE FEES. (1)18 From and after the first day of July, 1995, the The commission is hereby au-19 thorized to levy the following assessments:20 (a) For all forest products product manufacturers, an amount no greater21 than fifty cents (50¢) per thousand board feet or the equivalent thereof22 for all logs either harvested in Idaho, or measured or processed by a23 manufacturing entity located in the state of Idaho, regardless of the24 state in which the logs might may have been cut, or cut within Idaho and25 then distributed to other persons outside of the state. For purposes26 of this chapter, "forest products manufacturers" shall include those27 business entities which buy timber in Idaho and then sell it to other28 persons outside the state for manufacture into finished products. Such29 business entities shall be liable for the assessments described in this30 paragraph for all timber cut within Idaho and then distributed to other31 persons outside the state.32 (b) For all business entities engaged in the harvest or transport of33 timber, logs, unfinished lumber, chips, sawdust, shavings, or hog fuel34 in Idaho, a sum no greater than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per em-35 ployee, including single, self-employers and the individuals involved36 in partnerships, as measured by the records of the department of labor37 during the month of July of the preceding year, or as provided in sub-38 section (2) of this section, provided, however, those business entities39 engaged solely in the harvest or transport of those exclusions to forest40 products product manufacturers as set forth in subsection (7)(a), (b),41 (c) and through (d) of section 38-1502, Idaho Code, shall owe no duty or42 assessment under pursuant to this chapter, nor shall any assessment be43 levied upon on forest products transported by railroad.44 (c) For business entities or persons owning more than ten thousand45 (10,000) acres of private forest land within the state of Idaho, a sum no46 greater than ten cents (10¢) per each acre of forest land.47

4 (d) No person, firm, or business entity shall be liable for assessments1 under pursuant to this chapter in more than one (1) of the categories2 described in this section. In the event that a person, firm, or busi-3 ness entity qualifies to pay more than one (1) assessment as described4 herein, then the greater of the assessments shall be assessed, due, and5 payable.6 (2) In collecting assessments due the commission, the commission is au-7 thorized to cooperate with and coordinate its actions to collect assessments8 with the various efforts of the Idaho board of scaling practices, the state9 tax commission, the department of labor, the transportation department,10 and the department of lands to either collect assessments or taxes due under11 pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or to identify those who may owe12 assessments under pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.13 (3) Any person or firm who makes payment to the commission at a date14 later than that prescribed in rules set forth by the commission under this15 section may be subject to a late payment penalty as set forth by the commis-16 sion by rule. Such penalty shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) per annum17 on the amount due. In addition to the above penalty, the commission shall be18 entitled to recover all costs, fees, and reasonable attorney's fees incurred19 in the collection of the tax and penalty provided for in this section.20 (4) (3) An assessment levied under pursuant to this chapter shall be21 based upon on data compiled from the base year. Assessments shall be paid to22 the commission according to such rules as may be adopted by the commission.23 The assessment shall be set by the commission no later than January 1 of the24 assessment year. The commission shall mail notice of the assessment no later25 than the last day of the fourth week of May of the assessment year to the last26 known address of each financial supporter. Assessments shall not be reduced27 for financial supporters who cease business during an assessment year.28 (4) Financial supporters may pay assessments in either one (1) full29 payment due thirty (30) days after the date the notice of assessment is30 mailed or in four (4) equal payments with payment in full due by December 3131 of the assessment year.32 (5) A payment in full or a quarterly payment that is not received within33 thirty (30) days of the date the notice of assessment is mailed shall re-34 sult in the account being considered delinquent. Delinquent accounts shall35 accrue a one percent (1%) interest per calendar month on the balance due.36 Such interest shall begin to accrue thirty-one (31) calendar days after the37 date the notice of assessment was mailed. Any person, firm, or business that38 fails to make a payment may be subject to a late payment penalty that shall39 not exceed fifteen percent (15%) per annum on the amount due. The commission40 shall be entitled to recover all costs, fees, and reasonable attorney's fees41 incurred in the collection of the tax and penalty provided for in this chap-42 ter.43 (6) The commission may establish a policy and schedule for checks that44 are returned due to insufficient funds. The policy and schedule shall be45 made available to the public pursuant to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code.46

SECTION 5. The rules contained in IDAPA 15.03.01, Forest Products Com-47 mission, relating to Rules of Administrative Procedure of the Idaho Forest48 Products Commission, shall be null, void, and of no force and effect on and49 after July 1, 2026.50

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SECTION 6. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby1 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after2 July 1, 2026.3