Summary

Requires the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to produce an annual, standardized report — included with the President’s budget — that counts and describes acres of federal land treated with hazardous fuels reduction activities. The report must count each acre only once, break down treated acres by wildland-urban interface status, wildfire risk level (start and end of the year), activity type, cost per acre, region/unit, and measured effectiveness, and must be posted publicly. Directs the agencies to adopt standardized tracking procedures within 90 days, notify Congress about those procedures within two weeks of adoption, and be reviewed by the Government Accountability Office within two years; no new funding is authorized and implementation depends on existing appropriations.

Key Points

• Requires an annual, standardized hazardous fuels reduction report from USDA and Interior to accompany the President’s budget.
• Each treated acre must be counted only once, even if multiple treatments occurred there.
• Reports must break down acres by WUI status, wildfire risk (start and end of year), activity type, cost per acre, region/unit, and measured effectiveness.
• Agencies must implement standardized tracking and verification procedures within 90 days and notify Congress shortly after adoption.
• All annual reports must be posted publicly on the Agriculture and Interior websites.
• GAO must study implementation and report to Congress within two years.
• Definitions for key terms are provided and WUI follows the Healthy Forests Restoration Act definition.
• No new funding is authorized; implementation depends on existing appropriations and agency resources.

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