Sale and Disposal of National Forest Timber; Indices To Determine Market-Related Contract Term Additions

This final rule amends current regulations providing for Market-Related Contract Term Additions, by requiring the use of Industry Series Producer Price Indices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rather than the previously required indices in the Commodity Series. Use of a different Producer Price Index series requires a concomitant change in procedures for determining when market-related contract term additions are needed. In addition to changing the index series, the final rule makes a number of technical changes. The intended affect is to grant timber sale contract term additions based on market criteria that are more representative than those currently used.