1. (a) There is established as a special fund the Tree Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the District Department of Transportation in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

2. (b) All funds collected from the following sources shall be deposited into the Fund:

   1. (1) Donations; and
   2. (2) Fees and penalties collected pursuant to this chapter or any rule established pursuant to this chapter.

3. (c) Money in the Fund:

   1. (1) Shall be used for the following purposes:

      1. (A) Tree planting in public space or District-owned land, including parks and school property; and
      2. (B) Providing income-based subsidies to assist District residents with costs related to the removal and replacement of hazardous trees; and

   2. (2) May be used for the following purposes:

      1. (A) Tree planting on private land, in coordination with the Department of Energy and Environment;
      2. (B) Conducting survival checks of trees planted on public or private land pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection and subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and
      3. (C) For any other costs associated with implementing this chapter, including administrative costs.
4. (d) The Mayor shall ensure that trees planted pursuant to this section are checked for survival at appropriate intervals to evaluate canopy replacement and inform future planting decisions.
5. (e) Private voluntary donations to the Fund shall be tax deductible for purposes of District income and franchise taxes.

6. (f)

   1. (1) The money deposited into the Fund but not expended in a fiscal year shall not revert to the unassigned fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.
   2. (2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

History

June 12, 2003, D.C. Law 14-309, § 107, 50 DCR 888

Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-354, § 21(a), 52 DCR 2638

Sept. 18, 2007, D.C. Law 17-20, § 6102, 54 DCR 7052

July 1, 2016, D.C. Law 21-133, § 2(d)

Dec. 6, 2025, D.C. Law 26-55, § 7129

May 21, 2026, D.C. Law 26-113, § 2(d)

Short Title

Short title: Section 6101 of D.C. Law 17-20 provided that subtitle K of title VI of the act may be cited as the “Hazardous Tree Removal Subsidies for Low-Income Homeowners Amendment Act of 2007”.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 6102 of Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-74, July 25, 2007, 54 DCR 7549).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7129 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-146, Sept. 3, 2025, 72 DCR 9623).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7129 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-210, Nov. 24, 2025, 72 DCR 13514).

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 17-20 rewrote subsec. (b), which had read as follows: “(b) The Fund shall be used to plant trees and for any associated costs incurred by the District in administering this chapter, and may include providing income contingent subsidies that assist District residents with the removal costs of hazardous trees in accordance with regulations provided for in § 8-651.03.”

D.C. Law 15-354, in subsec. (a), validated a previously made technical correction.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 8-651.02.

Applicability

Applicability of D.C. Law 21-133: § 4(b) of D.C. Law 21-133 provided that the change made to this section by § 2(d) of D.C. Law 21-133 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

Section 7012 of D.C. Law 21-160 repealed § 4(b) of D.C. Law 21-133. Therefore the changes made to this section by D.C. Law 21-133 have been given effect.