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Amends section 201 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by adding a new paragraph (8) to subsection (a) and by adding a new subsection (e) authorizing FEMA to fund or provide technical assistance to State agencies to establish, update, or operate websites with specified management, content, cooperation, and update-frequency requirements.
Amends the existing prize-related provisions by redesignating an existing paragraph, inserting a new paragraph establishing the 'Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for management of wildfire-related invasive species', creating a Management of Wildfire-Related Invasive Species Technology Advisory Board with specified composition and duties, assigning administration to the National Invasive Species Council Executive Director, setting reporting requirements, and providing a termination date for the authority (Dec 31, 2028). Also makes conforming edits to cross-references and adds authority for additional wildfire cash prizes if funds are available.
Amends section 104 of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (codified at 43 U.S.C. 1748a–2) by (1) revising wording in subsection (a) (striking certain text in the matter preceding paragraph (1) and removing a phrase in paragraph (1)); (2) revising subsection (b) by replacing the clause in paragraph (3) to require analysis for each 'catastrophic wildfire' as defined in a newly added subsection (c), and replacing paragraph (4) with a specified list of cost and funding reporting elements; and (3) adding a new subsection (c) that defines 'catastrophic wildfire' by mobilization of Federal resources and specified acreage, severity, cost, property loss, or fatality criteria.
Amends section 40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (codified at 16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)) by inserting additional provisions (text of insertion not provided in this section).
Directs federal and state partners to strengthen wildfire prevention, response, and recovery by tightening spending and incident reporting, reimbursing States for military-training fires, accelerating deployment of detection and suppression technology (including drones and slip-on tanker units), requiring strategic wildland fire planning by 2026, and creating new post‑fire recovery tools including permanent burned-area teams and a long-term rehabilitation fund. It also authorizes studies, pilot programs, prize competitions, and funding to modernize communications, modeling, and technology for wildfire detection and suppression.
Defines “congressional committees” to mean: (A) the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Appropriations; and (B) the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Appropriations.
Defines “Federal land” to include: (A) public lands as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702); (B) units of the National Park System; (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge System; (D) land held in trust by the United States for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of an Indian Tribe; and (E) land in the National Forest System.
Defines “fireshed” as a geographically delineated forest landscape within which a fire ignition would threaten homes, communities, or critical infrastructure.
Defines “National Forest System” by reference to the meaning given in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
States that the term “National Forest System” does not include: (i) the national grasslands and land utilization projects administered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); and (ii) National Forest System land east of the 100th meridian.
Primary impacts: Firefighters, first responders, and state/local fire agencies will see changes in planning expectations, new training studies, access to pilot technologies (drones and slip-on tankers), and potential reimbursement when fires originate from military training. Federal land and resource managers (including Forest Service and other agencies) must speed permitting, place detection equipment, comply with more detailed cost reporting, and participate in new studies and pilots. Communities affected by wildfires benefit from guaranteed immediate BAER response capacity, a new multi-year rehabilitation fund for long-term recovery projects, and FEMA-funded state recovery guidance, which should speed stabilization and recovery. Technology and research communities (drone manufacturers, communications and modeling vendors, and firefighting equipment suppliers) may gain funding opportunities, prize incentives, and procurement pilots. Potential downsides and challenges include increased administrative burden for reporting and planning at federal and state levels, the need for appropriations to fully implement authorized funds and pilots, and the risk that some new planning requirements could be unfunded mandates for States or local agencies unless Congress provides additional funding.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced January 14, 2025 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress January 14, 2025
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Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate