Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4082 To prevent catastrophic wildland fires by establishing a commission to study and recommend wildland fire prevention, mitigation, suppression, man- agement, and rehabilitation policies for the Federal Government, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Mr. CURTIS (for himself and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi- tion to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Armed Services, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prevent catastrophic wildland fires by establishing a com- mission to study and recommend wildland fire preven- tion, mitigation, suppression, management, and rehabili- tation policies for the Federal Government, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildland Fire Mitiga- 4 tion and Management Commission Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4082 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 3 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 4 gress’’ means— 5 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 6 Resources of the Senate; 7 (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- 8 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 9 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 10 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 11 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 12 the Senate; 13 (E) the Committee on Natural Resources 14 of the House of Representatives; 15 (F) the Committee on Agriculture of the 16 House of Representatives; 17 (G) the Committee on Homeland Security 18 of the House of Representatives; 19 (H) the Committee on Appropriations of 20 the House of Representatives; and 21 (I) the Committee on Ways and Means of 22 the House of Representatives. 23 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 24 means the commission established under section 25 3(a). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4082 IH (3) HIGH-RISK INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.— 1 The term ‘‘high-risk Indian tribal government’’ 2 means an Indian tribal government, during not 3 fewer than 4 of the 5 years preceding the date of en- 4 actment of this Act— 5 (A) that received fire management assist- 6 ance under section 420 of the Robert T. Staf- 7 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 5187); or 9 (B) land of which included an area for 10 which the President declared a major disaster 11 for fire in accordance with section 401 of that 12 Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 13 (4) HIGH-RISK STATE.—The term ‘‘high-risk 14 State’’ means a State that, during not fewer than 4 15 of the 5 years preceding the date of enactment of 16 this Act— 17 (A) received fire management assistance 18 under section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford 19 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 20 (42 U.S.C. 5187); or 21 (B) included an area for which the Presi- 22 dent declared a major disaster for fire in ac- 23 cordance with section 401 of that Act (42 24 U.S.C. 5170). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4082 IH (5) INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 1 ‘‘Indian tribal government’’ has the meaning given 2 the term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 3 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 4 U.S.C. 5122). 5 (6) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 6 means— 7 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; 8 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture; and 9 (C) the Secretary of Homeland Security, 10 acting through the Administrator of the Federal 11 Emergency Management Agency. 12 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 13 ing given the term in section 102 of the Robert T. 14 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 15 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 16 (8) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 17 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ has the meaning given 18 the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res- 19 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall 23 jointly establish a commission to study and make rec- 24 ommendations to improve Federal policies relating to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4082 IH (1) the prevention, mitigation, suppression, and 1 management of wildland fires in the United States; 2 and 3 (2) the rehabilitation of land in the United 4 States devastated by wildland fires. 5 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 6 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 7 composed of— 8 (A) each of the Secretaries (or designees), 9 who shall jointly serve as the co-chairpersons of 10 the Commission; 11 (B) not greater than 8 representatives of 12 Federal departments or agencies, to be ap- 13 pointed by the Secretaries, including— 14 (i) not fewer than 1 representative 15 from each of— 16 (I) the Bureau of Land Manage- 17 ment; 18 (II) the National Park Service; 19 (III) the Bureau of Indian Af- 20 fairs; and 21 (IV) the Forest Service; 22 (ii) a representative of or liaison to 23 the Mitigation Framework Leadership 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4082 IH Group of the Federal Emergency Manage- 1 ment Agency; 2 (iii) a representative to the National 3 Interagency Coordination Center, which is 4 part of the National Wildfire Coordination 5 Group; 6 (iv) a representative from 1 of the co- 7 ordinating agencies of the Recovery Sup- 8 port Function Leadership Group; and 9 (v) if the Secretaries determine it to 10 be appropriate, a representative of any 11 other Federal department or agency, such 12 as the Department of Energy, the Environ- 13 mental Protection Agency, or the Depart- 14 ment of Defense; and 15 (C) not greater than 17 non-Federal stake- 16 holders with expertise in wildland fire prepared- 17 ness, mitigation, suppression, or management, 18 who collectively have a combination of back- 19 grounds, experiences, and viewpoints and are 20 representative of rural, urban, and suburban 21 areas, to be appointed by the Secretaries, in- 22 cluding— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4082 IH (i) not fewer than 1 State hazard 1 mitigation officer of a high-risk State (or 2 a designee); 3 (ii) with preference given to represent- 4 atives from high-risk States and high-risk 5 Indian tribal governments, not fewer than 6 1 representative from each of— 7 (I) a State department of natural 8 resources, forestry, or agriculture or a 9 similar State agency; 10 (II) a State department of energy 11 or a similar State agency; 12 (III) a county government, with 13 preference given to counties at least a 14 portion of which is in the wildland- 15 urban interface; and 16 (IV) a municipal government, 17 with preference given to municipalities 18 at least a portion of which is in the 19 wildland-urban interface; 20 (iii) with preference given to rep- 21 resentatives from high-risk States and 22 high-risk Indian tribal governments, not 23 fewer than 1 representative from each of— 24 (I) the public utility industry; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4082 IH (II) the property development in- 1 dustry; and 2 (III) Indian tribal governments; 3 and 4 (iv) any other appropriate non-Fed- 5 eral stakeholders, which may include the 6 private sector, with preference given to 7 non-Federal stakeholders from high-risk 8 States and high-risk Indian tribal govern- 9 ments. 10 (2) STATE LIMITATION.—Each member of the 11 Commission appointed under clauses (i) and (ii) of 12 paragraph (1)(C) shall represent a different State. 13 (3) DATE.—The appointments of the members 14 of the Commission shall be made not later than 60 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 16 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Commis- 18 sion shall be appointed for the life of the Commis- 19 sion. 20 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commis- 21 sion— 22 (A) shall not affect the powers of the Com- 23 mission; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4082 IH (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 1 the original appointment. 2 (d) MEETINGS.— 3 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 4 after the date on which all members of the Commis- 5 sion have been appointed, the Commission shall hold 6 the first meeting of the Commission. 7 (2) FREQUENCY.—The Commission shall meet 8 not less frequently than once every 30 days. 9 (3) TYPE.—The Commission may hold meet- 10 ings, and a member of the Commission may partici- 11 pate in a meeting, remotely through teleconference, 12 video conference, or similar means. 13 (4) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 14 the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 15 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 16 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 17 (a) REPORT ON RECOMMENDATIONS TO MITIGATE 18 AND MANAGE WILDLAND FIRES.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 20 the date of the first meeting of the Commission, the 21 Commission shall submit to the appropriate commit- 22 tees of Congress a report describing recommenda- 23 tions to prevent, mitigate, suppress, and manage 24 wildland fires, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4082 IH (A) policy recommendations, including rec- 1 ommendations— 2 (i) to maximize the protection of 3 human life, community water supplies, 4 homes, and other essential structures, 5 which may include recommendations to ex- 6 pand the use of initial attack strategies; 7 (ii) to facilitate efficient short- and 8 long-term forest management in residential 9 and nonresidential at-risk areas; 10 (iii) to manage the wildland-urban 11 interface; 12 (iv) to manage utility corridors; and 13 (v) to rehabilitate land devastated by 14 wildland fire; 15 (B) policy recommendations described in 16 subparagraph (A) with respect to any rec- 17 ommendations for categorical exclusions from 18 the requirement to prepare an environmental 19 impact statement or analysis under the Na- 20 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 21 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 22 (C) policy recommendations for modern- 23 izing and expanding the use of technology, in- 24 cluding satellite technology, to prevent, miti- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4082 IH gate, suppress, and manage wildland fires, in- 1 cluding any recommendations with respect to— 2 (i) the implementation of section 1114 3 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, 4 Management, and Recreation Act (43 5 U.S.C. 1748b–1); or 6 (ii) improving early wildland fire de- 7 tection; 8 (D) an assessment of Federal spending on 9 wildland fire-related disaster management, in- 10 cluding— 11 (i) a description and assessment of 12 Federal grant programs for States and 13 units of local government for pre- and 14 post-wildland fire disaster mitigation and 15 recovery, including— 16 (I) the amount of funding pro- 17 vided under each program; 18 (II) the effectiveness of each pro- 19 gram with respect to long-term forest 20 management and maintenance; and 21 (III) recommendations to im- 22 prove the effectiveness of each pro- 23 gram, including with respect to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4082 IH (aa) the conditions on the 1 use of funds received under the 2 program; and 3 (bb) the extent to which ad- 4 ditional funds are necessary for 5 the program; 6 (ii) an evaluation, including rec- 7 ommendations to improve the effectiveness 8 in mitigating wildland fires, of— 9 (I) the Building Resilient Infra- 10 structure and Communities program 11 under section 203 of the Robert T. 12 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 13 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 14 5133); 15 (II) the Pre-Disaster Mitigation 16 program under that section (42 17 U.S.C. 5133); 18 (III) the Hazard Mitigation 19 Grant Program under section 404 of 20 that Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c); and 21 (IV) Hazard Mitigation Grant 22 Program post-fire assistance under 23 sections 404 and 420 of that Act (42 24 U.S.C. 5170c, 5187); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4082 IH (iii) an assessment of the definition of 1 ‘‘small impoverished community’’ under 2 section 203(a) of the Robert T. Stafford 3 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 5133(a)), specifically— 5 (I) the exclusion of the percent- 6 age of land owned by an entity other 7 than a State or unit of local govern- 8 ment; and 9 (II) any related economic impact 10 of that exclusion; and 11 (iv) recommendations for Federal 12 budgeting for wildland fires; 13 (E) any recommendations for matters 14 under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) spe- 15 cific to— 16 (i) forest type, vegetation type, or for- 17 est and vegetation type; or 18 (ii) State land, Tribal land, or private 19 land; and 20 (F)(i) a review of the national strategy de- 21 scribed in the report entitled ‘‘The National 22 Strategy: The Final Phase in the Development 23 of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Man- 24 agement Strategy’’ and dated April 2014; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4082.IH H4082 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 4082 IH (ii) any recommendations for changes to 1 that na [Text truncated for display. 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