National Prescribed Fire Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4625 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 SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on En- ergy 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 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4625 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 Interagency Fire Center. 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 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4625 IS (B) 86,345 prescribed fires burned only 1 3,000,000 acres annually; 2 (3) according to the National Interagency Co- 3 ordination Center, the annual cost of suppressing 4 wildfires in a State with an active prescribed burn- 5 ing program is less than 1 percent of the annual 6 cost of suppressing wildfires in a State without an 7 active prescribed burning program, despite each 8 State having the same number of wildfires; 9 (4) according to a 2017 study published in the 10 Journal of Forestry, on a given acre, a prescribed 11 fire burning in April or May produces less than 1⁄5 12 of the smoke emissions of a wildfire that would burn 13 on that acre in August; 14 (5) according to a 2019 study conducted by 15 Stanford University, smoke from prescribed fires ex- 16 poses children to fewer negative health effects than 17 the detrimental smoke generated by wildfires; 18 (6) according to a 2015 study published in 19 Ecology, trees that have not been burnt by a low-in- 20 tensity fire are unusually prone to bark beetle at- 21 tacks, and between 2000 and 2010, bark beetles 22 killed the majority of trees on 32,000,000 acres of 23 the 193,000,000 acres of National Forest System 24 land; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4625 IS (7) as of September 30, 2019, there were— 1 (A) 37 prescribed fire councils in 33 2 States; and 3 (B) 64 prescribed burn associations in 11 4 States; 5 (8) according to the 2018 National Prescribed 6 Fire Use Survey Report— 7 (A) 37 States regulate prescribed fires by 8 issuing burn permits; 9 (B) 23 States offer prescribed burn man- 10 ager certification courses to facilitate respon- 11 sible burning on private land; 12 (C) only 5 States (Vermont, Massachu- 13 setts, Missouri, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) 14 lack laws to reduce liability associated with the 15 responsible use of prescribed fire; and 16 (D) only 8 States (Florida, Montana, Ne- 17 vada, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, South Caro- 18 lina, and Washington) have laws that use a 19 standard of gross negligence for determining li- 20 abilities for the responsible use of prescribed 21 fire; and 22 (9) as of September 30, 2019, 31 States have 23 a formal process to track the number of acres treat- 24 ed for forestry purposes using prescribed fire. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4625 IS SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 3 means— 4 (A) public land (as defined in section 103 5 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 6 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 7 (B) units of the National Park System; 8 (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 9 System; 10 (D) land held in trust by the United States 11 for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 12 an Indian Tribe; and 13 (E) land in the National Forest System. 14 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 16 Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 17 in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 18 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 19 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 20 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 21 Forest System’’ does not include— 22 (i) the national grasslands and land 23 utilization projects administered under title 24 III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 25 Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4625 IS (ii) National Forest System land east 1 of the 100th meridian. 2 (3) PRESCRIBED FIRE.—The term ‘‘prescribed 3 fire’’ means a fire deliberately ignited to burn 4 wildland fuels in a natural or modified state— 5 (A) under specified environmental condi- 6 tions that allow the fire to be confined to a pre- 7 determined area and produce the fireline inten- 8 sity and rate of spread required to attain 9 planned resource management objectives; and 10 (B) in accordance with applicable law, in- 11 cluding applicable regulations. 12 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 13 means— 14 (A) the Secretary; and 15 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 16 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of the Interior. 18 TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 19 SEC. 101. PRESCRIBED FIRE ACCOUNTS. 20 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY CONCERNED.—In 21 this section, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 22 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 23 an account established by this section for the De- 24 partment of Agriculture; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4625 IS (2) the Secretary, with respect to an account 1 established by this section for the Department of the 2 Interior. 3 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es- 4 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol- 5 lowing accounts: 6 (1) The Prescribed Fire account for the De- 7 partment of Agriculture. 8 (2) The Prescribed Fire account for the De- 9 partment of the Interior. 10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 11 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 12 each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by 13 subsection (b) such sums as are necessary to carry out 14 this section, not to exceed $300,000,000. 15 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 16 year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 17 concerned shall submit, through the budget request of the 18 President, a request for amounts in the Wildland Fire 19 Management appropriation account of the Secretary con- 20 cerned to carry out the activities described in subsection 21 (e). 22 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con- 23 cerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by 24 subsection (b) as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4625 IS (1) The Secretary concerned shall— 1 (A) develop a prescribed fire burn plan, 2 carry out necessary environmental review, con- 3 duct outreach to the public, Indian Tribes, and 4 adjacent landowners, and implement a pre- 5 scribed fire on Federal land; 6 (B) hire additional personnel and procure 7 additional equipment, including unmanned aer- 8 ial systems equipped with an aerial ignition sys- 9 tem, to implement a greater number of pre- 10 scribed fires; 11 (C) provide training for the implementa- 12 tion of a prescribed fire; 13 (D) conduct post-prescribed burning activi- 14 ties, including reseeding to prevent the spread 15 of invasive species; and 16 (E) conduct monitoring for safety and fire 17 effects. 18 (2) The Secretary concerned may assist State, 19 Tribal, local government, or private prescribed fire 20 programs— 21 (A) to provide federally sponsored insur- 22 ance administered by States, in conjunction 23 with State-sponsored training and certification 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4625 IS programs, for private persons implementing 1 prescribed fires; 2 (B) to establish a training or certification 3 program for teams comprised of citizens or 4 local fire services to conduct prescribed fires on 5 private land, consistent with any standards de- 6 veloped by the National Wildfire Coordinating 7 Group or State prescribed fire standards; 8 (C) to enable additional fire managers and 9 apparatus, whether provided by the local re- 10 sources of an agency, private contractors, non- 11 governmental organizations, Indian Tribes, local 12 fire services, or qualified individuals, to be 13 present while implementing a prescribed fire; 14 (D) pursuant to the memorandum of 15 agreement authorized under section 203; or 16 (E) to finance the implementation of a pre- 17 scribed fire on State, Tribal, or private land 18 and any post-prescribed burning activities as 19 are determined to be necessary by the Secretary 20 concerned. 21 (3) The Secretary concerned may provide tech- 22 nical or financial assistance to a prescribed fire 23 council or prescribed burn association for the estab- 24 lishment or operation of the council or association. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4625 IS (4) The Secretary may provide funding for the 1 collaborative prescribed fire program established 2 under section 103. 3 (5) The Secretary may provide funding for the 4 large cross-boundary prescribed fire program estab- 5 lished under section 104. 6 (f) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 8 the Secretary concerned shall coordinate with Fed- 9 eral, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and 10 qualified nongovernmental organizations, including 11 through the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, to 12 establish prioritization criteria for expending funds 13 under this section for each activity described in sub- 14 section (e). 15 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing criteria 16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 17 give priority to projects that are— 18 (A) implemented across large contiguous 19 areas; 20 (B) cross-boundary in nature; 21 (C) in areas that are threatening to, or lo- 22 cated in, the wildland-urban interface; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4625 IS (D) within an area identified as a priority 1 area in a statewide forest resource assessment; 2 or 3 (E) on acres at high or very high risk of 4 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to 5 suppress. 6 SEC. 102. POLICIES AND PRACTICES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall significantly 8 increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted 9 on Federal land. 10 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR PRESCRIBED FIRES.—From 11 amounts appropriated to carry out the activity described 12 in section 101(e)(1), the Secretaries may carry out pre- 13 scribed fires on not more than 20,000,000 acres of Fed- 14 eral land per year. 15 (c) REQUIRING MINIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to the 16 availability of appropriations, the Secretaries shall carry 17 out prescribed fires annually on at least 1,000,000 acres 18 of Federal land. 19 (d) INCREASE IN FAMILIARITY WITH PRESCRIBED 20 FIRES IN LOCAL UNITS.—Subject to the availability of 21 appropriations, not later than September 30, 2022, the 22 Secretaries shall each have carried out a minimum of 1 23 prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest Sys- 24 tem, unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4625 IS the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Manage- 1 ment district under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries— 2 (1) that includes an area that— 3 (A) has a historical low-severity fire re- 4 gime; 5 (B) has a historical fire-return interval of 6 not more than 35 years; and 7 (C) is larger than 100 acres; and 8 (2) less than 50 percent of the land of which 9 was burned by a wildland fire during the previous 10 10-year period. 11 SEC. 103. COLLABORATIVE PRESCRIBED FIRE PROGRAM. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 13 within the Department of the Interior a collaborative pre- 14 scribed fire program (referred to in this section as the 15 ‘‘program’’) to provide financial assistance to eligible enti- 16 ties for the implementation of proposals for the conduct 17 of prescribed fires in priority landscapes in accordance 18 with applicable existing policies, including the National 19 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]