What This Bill Does
This bill allows the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to drop fire retardant, chemicals, or water from aircraft to fight wildfires. The bill protects certain organizations from needing federal water pollution permits when they conduct these aerial firefighting activities under specific conditions.
Who It Affects
Federal agencies including the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Federal Emergency Management Agency. State and local governments, Tribal governments, the Department of Defense, and contractors working for these agencies also are affected.
Key Provisions
• The Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture may discharge fire retardant, chemicals, or water from aircraft for fire suppression, control, or prevention without needing certain federal water pollution permits, as long as the aerial application follows a Federal Facility Compliance Agreement made between the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Forest Service on February 16, 2023 (Sec. 2(a))
• No court may stop covered entities from conducting aerial applications of approved fire retardants and water enhancers for wildfire suppression if the applications follow the requirements of the Federal Facility Compliance Agreement (Sec. 2(a))
• This protection applies only until a federal or state permit is issued that authorizes the discharge from these aerial applications (Sec. 2(b))
• Courts retain authority over any aerial applications that do not follow the required compliance agreement (Sec. 2(c))
What Changes
If this becomes law, federal agencies and covered entities will not need to obtain permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act before dropping fire retardants and water enhancers from aircraft during wildfire operations. This protection ends either when a permit is issued or five years after the law takes effect, whichever comes first.
Important Definitions
• "Covered entity" means any federal agency, state agency, local agency, or Tribal agency authorized by law to conduct aerial firefighting applications, plus any contractors or agents working for these agencies (Sec. 2(d)(1))
• "Covered fire retardant and water enhancer" means a fire retardant and water enhancer that has been evaluated, qualified, and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and appears on the most current Forest Service Qualified Products List (Sec. 2(d)(2))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text. However, the protection provided by this bill ends five years after the date the bill becomes law (Sec. 2(e)).
IB
Union Calendar No. 723
118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1586
[Report No. 118–721, Parts I and II]
To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water for fire suppression, control,
or prevention activities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 14, 2023
Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. FULCHER,
Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. RADEWAGEN,
Mr. NEHLS, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr.
ZINKE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SIMP-
SON, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. ISSA,
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. KILEY, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. COSTA, and
Ms. HAGEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the
Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned
OCTOBER 25, 2024
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Additional sponsors: Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. VALADAO,
Mr. DUARTE, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. STEWART, Mr. BACON, Mr. BENTZ, Mr.
ROUZER, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. MALOY and Mr.
LOPEZ
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an
amendment
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman]
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 14, 2023]
A BILL
To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water
for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities.
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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 ‘‘Forest Protection and
4
Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN DIS-
6
CHARGES OF FIRE RETARDANT.
7
(a) AUTHORIZED USES.—The Secretary of the Interior
8
and the Secretary of Agriculture are each authorized to dis-
9
charge a fire retardant, chemical, or water from aircraft
10
for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities.
11
(b) PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding
12
any provision of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
13
(33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), a permit under section 402 of such
14
Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) shall not be required for the activities
15
authorized by subsection (a) or for similar activities con-
16
ducted by a covered entity.
17
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered en-
18
tity’’ means—
19
(1) the Forest Service;
20
(2) the National Park Service;
21
(3) the Bureau of Land Management;
22
(4) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
23
(5) the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
24
(6) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
25
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(7) a State (as defined in section 502 of the Fed-
1
eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)) or
2
a political subdivision thereof;
3
(8) a Tribal government; and
4
(9) the Department of Defense.
5
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to allow the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water from aircraft
for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities.’’.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
6
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Pro-
7
tection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of
8
2023’’.
9
SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR CERTAIN DISCHARGES OF
10
WILDLAND FIRE CHEMICALS.
11
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b),
12
no court may enjoin under the Federal Water
13
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.)
14
a covered entity from conducting an aerial
15
application of a covered fire retardant and
16
water enhancer for wildfire suppression, con-
17
trol, or prevention activities that results in a
18
discharge, if such aerial application is con-
19
ducted in accordance with the requirements
20
of the Federal Facility Compliance Agreement
21
between the Environmental Protection Agen-
22
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•HR 1586 RH
cy and the U.S. Forest Service, as agreed to
1
on February 16, 2023.
2
(b) PERIOD
OF APPLICATION.—Subsection
3
(a) shall apply to any aerial application de-
4
scribed in such subsection that is conducted
5
before the effective date of a permit issued by
6
the Administrator of the Environmental Pro-
7
tection Agency or a State, as applicable,
8
under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollu-
9
tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) that author-
10
izes the discharge, from such aerial applica-
11
tion, of a covered fire retardant and water
12
enhancer for wildfire suppression, control, or
13
prevention activities.
14
(c) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section af-
15
fects the authority of any court under the
16
Federal Water Pollution Control Act with re-
17
spect to any discharge resulting from an aer-
18
ial application not conducted in accordance
19
with the requirements described in sub-
20
section (a).
21
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
22
(1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cov-
23
ered entity’’ means—
24
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(A) any Federal agency, agency of
1
a State or political subdivision there-
2
of, or Tribal agency, authorized by
3
law to conduct an aerial application
4
of
fire
retardants
and
water
5
enhancers for wildfire suppression,
6
control, or prevention activities; and
7
(B) any contractor, subcontractor,
8
or other agent of an agency described
9
in subparagraph (A).
10
(2) COVERED
FIRE
RETARDANT
AND
11
WATER ENHANCER.—The term ‘‘covered fire
12
retardant and water enhancer’’ means a
13
fire retardant and water enhancer that—
14
(A) has been evaluated, qualified,
15
and approved by the Secretary of Ag-
16
riculture; and
17
(B) appears on the most current
18
Forest Service Qualified Products
19
List.
20
(3)
DISCHARGE;
STATE.—The
terms
21
‘‘discharge’’ and ‘‘State’’ have the mean-
22
ings given those terms in section 502 of
23
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
24
(33 U.S.C. 1362).
25
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•HR 1586 RH
(e) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be
1
effective on the date that is 5 years after the
2
date of enactment of this section.
3
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Union Calendar No. 723
118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1586
[Report No. 118–721, Parts I and II]
A BILL
To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
retary of Agriculture to use a fire retardant,
chemical, or water for fire suppression, control,
or prevention activities.
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Reported from the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure with an amendment
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the
Union and ordered to be printed
VerDate Sep 11 2014
23:56 Dec 17, 2024
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