Timber Innovation for Building Rural Communities Act

This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities related to wood products research, data provision, and grant programs. It establishes a platform for forest and wood products carbon data, amends an existing wood innovation grant program, creates a wood building education accelerator grant program, and establishes a rural infrastructure and building pilot program.

Sec. 3, Forest and wood products data provision: The Secretary, with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and in consultation with Tribes, State Foresters, and private partners, must create a platform providing data on carbon emissions, sequestration, storage, and atmospheric impacts of forest management and wood products. The platform must source data from specified USDA programs and provide tools to calculate forest carbon stocks, embodied carbon in products, long-term stored carbon in timber, and carbon displacement compared to other materials. The platform should be established within two years, with necessary funds authorized.

Sec. 4, Wood innovation grant program: This section amends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to require that 50% of certain grant amounts be used for specified purposes, and replaces the existing subsection (c) to allow the Secretary to prioritize proposals that use or retrofit sawmills in high-unemployment counties, recognize carbon reduction strategies in building design, or report on resilience and economic benefits from wood supply areas.

Sec. 5, Wood building education accelerator grant program: The Secretary must establish a grant program to award up to $10 million per year to geographically diverse eligible entities (engineering, architecture, or design schools, or centers of excellence) for developing curricula and best practices in designing and building with wood. Recipients must provide matching non-Federal funds equal to the grant amount. Necessary funds are authorized.

Sec. 6, Rural infrastructure and building pilot program: The Secretary must award grants to eligible entities (nonprofits, governments, private entities, etc.) for pilot projects demonstrating innovative wood products in rural infrastructure and building construction or renovation. Projects must be up to five years, involve collaboration with public agencies, use offsite-manufactured wood products, prefer U.S.-produced wood, and benefit rural communities with a history in wood products manufacturing. Matching requirements vary by population served (100%, 50%, or 25% of the grant). Total grants are capped at $10 million per year. The Secretary must arrange an independent evaluation of the projects. Necessary funds are authorized.