H.R. 178

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · January 3, 2025 · Sponsor: Mr. McClintock

Table of contents

• H.R. 178
  • SEC. 1. Suppression of wildfires

SEC. 1. Suppression of wildfires

• (a) In general
  • With respect to covered National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service—
    • shall—
      • use all available resources to carry out wildfire suppression with the purpose of extinguishing wildfires detected on such lands not later than 24 hours after such a wildfire is detected; and
      • immediately suppress any prescribed fire that exceeds prescription;
    • shall not inhibit the suppression efforts of State or local firefighting agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfire on such lands;
    • may only use fire as a resource management tool if the fire is a prescribed fire that complies with applicable law and regulations;
    • may only initiate a backfire or burnout during a wildfire—
      • by order of the responsible incident commander; or
      • in instances that are necessary to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel; and
    • shall use all available resources to control any such initiated backfire or burnout until extinguished.
• (b) Covered national forest system lands defined
  • In this section, the term covered National Forest System lands means any area—
    • located within National Forest System lands; and
    • that—
      • the U.S. Drought Monitor has rated as having a D2 (severe drought) intensity, D3 (extreme drought) intensity, or D4 (exceptional drought) intensity;
      • the National Interagency Fire Center declares has a National Wildland Fire Preparedness level of 5; or
      • the Forest Service has identified as being located in a fireshed ranked in the top 10 percent of wildfire exposure (as determined using the most recently published models of fireshed risk exposure published by the Forest Service).