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Requires four federal departments (Agriculture, Interior, Homeland Security, Defense) to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) that set clear timelines and payment rules for fire suppression cost-share agreements with local fire departments. The departments must also review existing cost-share agreements and change them as needed so they follow the new SOPs, and the law expresses that repayments should happen as soon as practicable but no later than one year after suppression. SOPs must align cost-share agreements with any cooperative fire protection agreements for the same entities and must require the federal paying entity to reimburse a local fire department when that department submits an invoice according to cost settlement procedures. The departments have one year after enactment to adopt the SOPs and complete their reviews and updates of active agreements.
The bill would make fire suppression reimbursements more predictable and timely and clarify eligibility—boosting local firefighting capacity and reducing admin friction—at the expense of higher federal costs, added federal administrative burden, and without an enforceable remedy to guarantee timely payments for all departments.
State and local governments and local fire departments (including volunteer and small municipal departments) would receive federal reimbursement for fire suppression costs more predictably and promptly when they submit compliant invoices.
Faster and standardized payment timelines would reduce cash-flow burdens on volunteer and small municipal departments, helping maintain or improve local fire response capacity, especially in rural communities.
Requiring alignment between cost-share rules and cooperative fire protection agreements would reduce administrative conflicts and clarify who is eligible for payments, simplifying payment administration for states and localities.
Mandating target reimbursement timelines could increase federal outlays for fire suppression reimbursements, with potential budgetary impacts for taxpayers or necessitating trade-offs with other programs.
The provision is a nonbinding "sense of Congress" recommending payments within one year, so there is no enforceable remedy and local departments may still face delays despite the policy direction.
Requiring implementation and review of agreements within one year may impose administrative costs and workload on federal agencies, potentially diverting staff from other priorities.
Introduced January 13, 2025 by Josh Harder · Last progress January 13, 2025