Wildfire Defense Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2882 To establish a community wildfire defense grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- mental Affairs A BILL To establish a community wildfire defense grant program, 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 ‘‘Wildfire Defense Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 8 Emergency Management Agency. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2882 IS (2) CHIEF.—The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief 1 of the Forest Service. 2 (3) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE PLAN.— 3 The term ‘‘community wildfire defense plan’’ means 4 a plan that— 5 (A) is developed by an eligible entity in co- 6 ordination with— 7 (i) the local community and govern- 8 ment; 9 (ii) local law enforcement, firefighters, 10 first responders, fire managers, and utili- 11 ties; and 12 (iii) State agencies responsible for 13 emergency response and forest manage- 14 ment; 15 (B) includes strategies and activities relat- 16 ing to— 17 (i) improving evacuations and access 18 for first responders; 19 (ii) addressing vulnerable populations, 20 including the elderly, those with disabil- 21 ities, and the homeless; 22 (iii) hardening and increasing the re- 23 siliency of critical infrastructure and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2882 IS homes, including through incentive pro- 1 grams; 2 (iv) applying community-scale defen- 3 sible space projects across contiguous 4 areas; 5 (v) building local capacity to imple- 6 ment and oversee the plan; 7 (vi) implementing strategic land use 8 planning; 9 (vii) deploying distributed energy re- 10 sources that do not increase dependence on 11 fossil fuels; 12 (viii) educating community members; 13 (ix) coordinating any existing wildfire 14 plans such as a community wildfire protec- 15 tion plan or a community emergency evac- 16 uation plan; and 17 (x) incorporating information from a 18 map generated pursuant to section 210(a) 19 of division O of the Consolidated Appro- 20 priations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; 21 Public Law 115–141); and 22 (C) may consist of existing plans or other 23 efforts, provided that the plan complies with 24 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2882 IS (4) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 1 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ means any public safety, 2 health, education, transportation, communications, 3 or water or power utility infrastructure or any pri- 4 vate infrastructure necessary to preserve community 5 safety or resilience to a wildfire threat. 6 (5) DEFENSIBLE SPACE PROJECT.—The term 7 ‘‘defensible space project’’— 8 (A) means a project that is conducted 9 within a radius of not more than 100 feet 10 around homes, businesses, and administrative 11 facilities, and is comprised of vegetation prun- 12 ing, such as annual removal of tree seedlings 13 and saplings, lower limbs of mature trees, cut- 14 ting of grasses and reducing density and con- 15 tinuity of shrubs, and removal of most small 16 twigs and leaves; or 17 (B) at the discretion of the Administrator, 18 if a project funded under the program is being 19 carried out in a State that has established by 20 law a more restrictive definition of the term, 21 has the meaning given the term in State law. 22 (6) DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCE.—The 23 term ‘‘distributed energy resource’’ means a tech- 24 nology that, collectively or individually, increases 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2882 IS local energy resilience, such as microgrids, batteries, 1 thermal storage, combined heat and power, fuel 2 cells, electric vehicles, demand response, energy effi- 3 ciency, smart inverters, and geothermal heat pumps. 4 (7) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 5 ty’’ means— 6 (A) a State or unit of general local or re- 7 gional government; 8 (B) an Indian Tribe; or 9 (C) a joint powers authority formed by not 10 less than 2 entities described in subparagraph 11 (A) or (B). 12 (8) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low- 13 income community’’ means a census tract, as deter- 14 mined by the Administrator based on objective cri- 15 teria, where a substantial population or percentage 16 of population of low-income individuals reside, an in- 17 adequate access to capital exists, or other indication 18 of economic distress exist. 19 (9) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 20 the grant program established under section 3(a). 21 (10) SEVERE DISASTER IMPACTED COMMU- 22 NITY.—The term ‘‘severe disaster impacted commu- 23 nity’’ means a unit of local government or an Indian 24 Tribe located in an area for which the President de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2882 IS clared a major disaster under section 401 of the 1 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 2 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) during the pre- 3 ceding 5-year period. 4 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE GRANT PROGRAM. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 7 establish a program, which shall be separate from the pro- 8 gram established under section 203 of the Robert T. Staf- 9 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 10 U.S.C. 5133), under which the Administrator, in coordina- 11 tion with the Chief, shall award grants to eligible entities 12 to— 13 (1) in the case of an eligible entity that has a 14 community wildfire defense plan, carry out projects 15 described in the community wildfire defense plan of 16 the eligible entity in accordance with subsection (c); 17 or 18 (2) in the case of an eligible entity that does 19 not have a community wildfire defense plan, develop 20 a community wildfire defense plan in accordance 21 with subsection (d). 22 (b) CRITERIA FOR GRANTS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2882 IS trator, in coordination with the Chief, shall establish 1 criteria to award grants under the program. 2 (2) COMMUNITIES.—Amounts provided under 3 the program shall be used to conduct projects and 4 activities only in communities in existence on the 5 date of enactment of this Act. 6 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 7 program, the Administrator shall give priority to eli- 8 gible entities that will carry out projects or plans 9 supporting— 10 (A) a low-income community in a fire-haz- 11 ard area, as identified by a State wildfire haz- 12 ard map or the most recent wildfire hazard po- 13 tential map from the Secretary of Agriculture; 14 or 15 (B) a severe disaster impacted community 16 in a fire-hazard area, as identified by a State 17 wildfire hazard map or the most recent wildfire 18 hazard potential map from the Secretary of Ag- 19 riculture 20 (c) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE GRANTS.— 21 (1) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible entity 22 that receives a grant under the program may use 23 grant funds to carry out projects that support a di- 24 verse portfolio of community wildfire defense strate- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2882 IS gies described in the community wildfire defense 1 plan of the eligible entity. 2 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—An award under this 3 subsection shall be for not more than $10,000,000. 4 (d) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE PLAN DEVEL- 5 OPMENT GRANTS.— 6 (1) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible entity 7 that receives a grant under the program may use 8 grant funds to develop a community wildfire defense 9 plan for the eligible entity. 10 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—An award under this 11 subsection shall be for not more than $250,000. 12 (e) PREFERENCE FOR LOCAL CONTRACTORS AND 13 LABOR.—In carrying out a project using a grant awarded 14 under the program, the grant recipient shall, to the max- 15 imum extent practicable, give preference to contracting 16 with entities, and hiring individuals, from the area in 17 which the project is being carried out, including by 18 partnering with local corps groups such as AmeriCorps or 19 a conservation corps. 20 (f) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The non-Fed- 21 eral share of the cost (including the administrative cost) 22 of carrying out a project using funds from a grant award- 23 ed under the program— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2882 IS (1)(A) shall be not less than 25 percent for a 1 grant described in subsection (c); and 2 (B) shall be 0 percent for a grant described in 3 subsection (d); 4 (2) may be provided by— 5 (A) a State, a unit of local government, an 6 Indian Tribe, a nonprofit organization, private 7 industry, or a combination of those entities; or 8 (B) volunteer hours and in-kind donations; 9 and 10 (3) may, in the case of a project that serves a 11 low-income community, be in the form of a low-in- 12 terest Federal loan to the eligible entity carrying out 13 the project through the Community Disaster Loan 14 program authorized under section 417 of the Robert 15 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 16 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184). 17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pro- 19 gram $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 20 through 2025. 21 SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT. 22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 23 of this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall 24 publish a report— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2882 IS (1) on authorities and programs across the 1 Federal Government that are available to protect 2 communities from wildfires; and 3 (2) that assesses impediments to implementa- 4 tion of those programs and gaps in funding. 5 SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 7 of this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall 8 publish a study— 9 (1) on the potential for a Community Wildfire 10 Defense Plan to qualify for a certification identifying 11 a level of wildfire survivability and resilience; 12 (2) that assesses what metrics might provide in- 13 surance companies assurance that a community has 14 wildfire resilience measures; and 15 (3) how to incentivize insurance companies to 16 accept the certification. 17 SEC. 6. UPDATING LIST OF AT-RISK COMMUNITIES. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(1)(A) of the Healthy 19 Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511(1)(A)) 20 is amended by striking ‘‘comprised of’’ in the matter pre- 21 ceding clause (i) and all that follows through ‘‘a group’’ 22 in clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘composed of a group’’. 23 (b) MAPS.—Not later than 180 days after the date 24 of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2882 IS the Chief shall develop and publish a map depicting at- 1 risk communities (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy 2 Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511)), in- 3 cluding Tribal at-risk communities. 4 SEC. 7. REPORT ON RADIO COMMUNICATIONS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall pre- 7 pare a report relating to insufficient radio frequencies, 8 barriers to interoperability of radio frequencies, and avail- 9 able products and technologies for overcoming barriers to 10 interoperability for wildland fire management. 11 (b) COOPERATION.—In preparing the report under 12 subsection (a), the Administrator shall cooperate with— 13 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture; 14 (2) agencies responsible for the management of 15 Federal land; 16 (3) State fire and emergency response agencies; 17 and 18 (4) municipal fire departments and volunteer 19 fire departments in relevant communities. 20 (c) COMPATIBILITY; ADDITIONAL FREQUENCIES.— 21 The report under subsection (a) shall include— 22 (1) a determination on whether the organiza- 23 tions identified in the report have an existing ability 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2882 IS to communicate by way of radio during a potential 1 fire suppression effort for a large fire; 2 (2) a determination on whether— 3 (A) the reserved radio frequencies are suf- 4 ficient for wildland fire management; or 5 (B) additional frequencies, listed by type 6 and location, are recommended to be reserved 7 or obtained; 8 (3) an analysis of commercially available tech- 9 nology and products to enable radios from multiple 10 agencies operating on different radio frequencies to 11 be interoperable; and 12 (4) if the Secretary determines under para- 13 graph (1) that the organizations do not have an ex- 14 isting ability to communicate, a plan for ensuring 15 organizations would be able to communicate ade- 16 quately during a fire suppression effort for a large 17 fire. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2882.IS S2882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS