National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1734 To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an empha- sis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mrs. FEIN- STEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of pre- scribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1734 IS (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS Sec. 101. Prescribed fire accounts. Sec. 102. Policies and practices. Sec. 103. Collaborative prescribed fire program. Sec. 104. Large cross-boundary prescribed fire incentive program. TITLE II—FACILITATING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTREACH Sec. 201. Cooperative agreements and contracts. Sec. 202. Human resources. Sec. 203. Liability of certified prescribed fire managers. Sec. 204. Environmental review. Sec. 205. Prescribed fire education program. TITLE III—REPORTING; TERMINATION Sec. 301. Annual reports to the National Fire Planning and Operations Data- base. Sec. 302. Termination date. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds that— 4 (1) in 2018, the Forest Service Fire Modeling 5 Institute determined that 63,070,000 acres of Na- 6 tional Forest System land and 171,200,000 acres of 7 other forest land were at high or very high risk of 8 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to sup- 9 press; 10 (2) according to the National Interagency Co- 11 ordination Center, between 2009 and 2018, in the 12 United States, on average— 13 (A) 67,000 wildfires burned 7,000,000 14 acres annually; and 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1734 IS (B) 86,345 prescribed fires burned only 1 3,000,000 acres annually; 2 (3) indigenous communities have used con- 3 trolled burns to manage landscapes since time imme- 4 morial; 5 (4) according to the National Interagency Co- 6 ordination Center, the annual cost of suppressing 7 wildfires in a State with an active prescribed burn- 8 ing program is less than 1 percent of the annual 9 cost of suppressing wildfires in a State without an 10 active prescribed burning program, despite each 11 State having the same number of wildfires; 12 (5) according to a 2017 study published in the 13 Journal of Forestry, on a given acre, a prescribed 14 fire burning in April or May produces less than 1⁄5 15 of the smoke emissions of a wildfire that would burn 16 on that acre in August; 17 (6) according to a 2019 study conducted by 18 Stanford University, smoke from prescribed fires ex- 19 poses children to fewer negative health effects than 20 the detrimental smoke generated by wildfires; 21 (7) according to a 2015 study published in 22 Ecology, trees that have not been burnt by a low-in- 23 tensity fire are unusually prone to bark beetle at- 24 tacks, and between 2000 and 2010, bark beetles 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1734 IS killed the majority of trees on 32,000,000 acres of 1 the 193,000,000 acres of National Forest System 2 land; 3 (8) as of September 30, 2019, there were— 4 (A) 37 prescribed fire councils in 33 5 States; and 6 (B) 64 prescribed burn associations in 11 7 States; 8 (9) according to the 2018 National Prescribed 9 Fire Use Survey Report— 10 (A) 37 States regulate prescribed fires by 11 issuing burn permits; 12 (B) 23 States offer prescribed burn man- 13 ager certification courses to facilitate respon- 14 sible burning on private land; 15 (C) only 5 States (Vermont, Massachu- 16 setts, Missouri, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) 17 lack laws to reduce liability associated with the 18 responsible use of prescribed fire; and 19 (D) only 8 States (Florida, Montana, Ne- 20 vada, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, South Caro- 21 lina, and Washington) have laws that use a 22 standard of gross negligence for determining li- 23 abilities for the responsible use of prescribed 24 fire; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1734 IS (10) as of September 30, 2019, 31 States have 1 a formal process to track the number of acres treat- 2 ed for forestry purposes using prescribed fire. 3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 6 means— 7 (A) public land (as defined in section 103 8 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 9 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 10 (B) units of the National Park System; 11 (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 12 System; 13 (D) land held in trust by the United States 14 for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 15 an Indian Tribe; and 16 (E) land in the National Forest System. 17 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 19 Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 20 in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 21 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 22 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 23 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 24 Forest System’’ does not include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1734 IS (i) the national grasslands and land 1 utilization projects administered under title 2 III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 3 Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 4 (ii) National Forest System land east 5 of the 100th meridian. 6 (3) PRESCRIBED FIRE.—The term ‘‘prescribed 7 fire’’ means a fire deliberately ignited to burn 8 wildland fuels in a natural or modified state— 9 (A) under specified environmental condi- 10 tions that allow the fire to be confined to a pre- 11 determined area and produce the fireline inten- 12 sity and rate of spread required to attain 13 planned resource management objectives; and 14 (B) in accordance with applicable law, in- 15 cluding applicable regulations. 16 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 17 means— 18 (A) the Secretary; and 19 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of the Interior. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1734 IS TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 1 SEC. 101. PRESCRIBED FIRE ACCOUNTS. 2 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY CONCERNED.—In 3 this section, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 4 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 5 an account established by this section for the De- 6 partment of Agriculture; and 7 (2) the Secretary, with respect to an account 8 established by this section for the Department of the 9 Interior. 10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es- 11 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol- 12 lowing accounts: 13 (1) The Prescribed Fire account for the De- 14 partment of Agriculture. 15 (2) The Prescribed Fire account for the De- 16 partment of the Interior. 17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 19 each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by 20 subsection (b) such sums as are necessary to carry out 21 this section, not to exceed $300,000,000. 22 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 23 year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 24 concerned shall submit, through the budget request of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1734 IS President, a request for amounts in the Wildland Fire 1 Management appropriation account of the Secretary con- 2 cerned to carry out the activities described in subsection 3 (e). 4 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con- 5 cerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by 6 subsection (b) as follows: 7 (1) The Secretary concerned shall— 8 (A) develop a prescribed fire plan, carry 9 out necessary environmental review, conduct 10 outreach to the public, Indian Tribes, and adja- 11 cent landowners, and implement a prescribed 12 fire on Federal land; 13 (B) hire additional personnel and procure 14 additional equipment, including unmanned aer- 15 ial systems equipped with an aerial ignition sys- 16 tem, to implement a greater number of pre- 17 scribed fires; 18 (C) provide training for the implementa- 19 tion of a prescribed fire; 20 (D) conduct post-prescribed fire activities, 21 including reseeding to prevent the spread of 22 invasive species; and 23 (E) conduct monitoring for safety and fire 24 effects. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1734 IS (2) The Secretaries shall coordinate to jointly 1 develop a common data management and analysis 2 system for planning and post-treatment account- 3 ability. 4 (3) The Secretary concerned may assist State, 5 Tribal, local government, or private prescribed fire 6 programs— 7 (A) to provide federally sponsored insur- 8 ance administered by States, in conjunction 9 with State-sponsored training and certification 10 programs, for private persons implementing 11 prescribed fires; 12 (B) to establish a training or certification 13 program for teams comprised of citizens or 14 local fire services to conduct prescribed fires on 15 private land, consistent with any standards de- 16 veloped by the National Wildfire Coordinating 17 Group or State prescribed fire standards; 18 (C) to enable additional fire managers and 19 apparatus, whether provided by the local re- 20 sources of an agency, private contractors, non- 21 governmental organizations, Indian Tribes, local 22 fire services, or qualified individuals, to be 23 present while implementing a prescribed fire; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1734 IS (D) pursuant to the memorandum of 1 agreement authorized under section 203; or 2 (E) to finance the implementation of a pre- 3 scribed fire on State, Tribal, or private land 4 and any post-prescribed fire activities as are de- 5 termined to be necessary by the Secretary con- 6 cerned. 7 (4) The Secretary concerned may provide tech- 8 nical or financial assistance to a prescribed fire 9 council or prescribed burn association for the estab- 10 lishment or operation of the council or association. 11 (5) The Secretary may provide funding for the 12 collaborative prescribed fire program established 13 under section 103. 14 (6) The Secretary may provide funding for the 15 large cross-boundary prescribed fire program estab- 16 lished under section 104. 17 (f) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 19 the Secretary concerned shall coordinate with Fed- 20 eral, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and 21 qualified nongovernmental organizations, including 22 through the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, to 23 establish prioritization criteria for expending funds 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1734 IS under this section for each activity described in sub- 1 section (e). 2 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing criteria 3 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 4 give priority to a project that is— 5 (A) implemented across a large contiguous 6 area; 7 (B) cross-boundary in nature; 8 (C) in an area that is threatening to, or lo- 9 cated in, the wildland-urban interface; 10 (D) in an area identified as a priority area 11 in a statewide forest resource assessment; 12 (E) on acres at high or very high risk of 13 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to 14 suppress; 15 (F) in an area that is designated as critical 16 habitat and in need of ecological restoration or 17 enhancement; or 18 (G) supportive of potential operational de- 19 lineations or a strategic response zone. 20 SEC. 102. POLICIES AND PRACTICES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall significantly 22 increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted 23 on Federal land. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1734.IS S1734 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1734 IS (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR PRESCRIBED FIRES.—From 1 amounts appropriated to carry out the activity described 2 in section 101(e)(1), the Secretaries may carry out pre- 3 scribed fires on not more than 20,000,000 acres of Fed- 4 eral land per year. 5 (c) REQUIRING MINIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to the 6 availability of appropriations, the Secretaries shall carry 7 out prescribed fires annually on at least 1,000,000 acres 8 of Federal land. 9 (d) INCREASE IN FAMILIARITY WITH PRESCRIBED 10 FIRES IN LOCAL UNITS.—Subject to the availability of 11 appropriations, not later than September 30, 2023, the 12 Secretaries shall each have carried out a minimum of 1 13 prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest Sys- 14 tem, unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of 15 the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Manage- 16 ment district under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries— 17 (1) that includes an area that— 18 (A) has a historical low-severity fire re- 19 gime; 20 (B) has a historical fire-return interval of 21 not more than 35 years; and 22 (C) is larger than 100 acres; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 665 [Text truncated for display. 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