Sponsors (2)
Adding Utah to the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention programs improves local wildfire mitigation capacity and access to grants/technical help but may slightly increase federal costs and spread program resources thinner for other states.
Rural Utah residents and communities gain eligibility for the federal Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention programs, increasing access to fuels-reduction and wildfire mitigation resources.
Utah state and local governments can receive technical assistance and grant support for forest health projects, which can lower wildfire risk to communities and infrastructure.
State governments in previously eligible states could face reduced shares of federal program resources if demand rises when Utah is added, potentially diluting effectiveness elsewhere.
Federal taxpayers could incur modest additional costs if the expansion leads to increased grant funding or program activity in Utah.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress February 6, 2025
Adds Utah to the federal list of states covered by certain provisions of the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004 and establishes a short title for the Act. The change amends two statutory references so that the enumerated provisions that previously applied to other specified states will also apply to Utah. The bill does not create new programs or appropriate funds; it modifies eligibility/coverage language in an existing statute to include Utah. No effective date or new funding is specified in the text provided.