Wildfire Recovery Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8945 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide flexibility with the cost share for fire management assist- ance, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 10, 2020 Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- gency Assistance Act to provide flexibility with the cost share for fire management assistance, and for other pur- poses. 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 Recovery 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Dec 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8945.IH H8945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8945 IH SEC. 2. FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COST SHARE. 1 Section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 2 and Emergency Assistance Act is amended by adding at 3 the end the following: 4 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of assist- 5 ance under this section shall be not less than 75 percent 6 of the eligible cost, as set forth in the regulations, of such 7 assistance.’’. 8 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 9 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 10 of this Act, the President, acting through the Adminis- 11 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 12 in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal depart- 13 ments and agencies, including the United States Forest 14 Service and Department of Interior, shall conduct and 15 complete a rulemaking to develop guidelines and a rule 16 that establishes thresholds for cases in which the Federal 17 cost share for section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis- 18 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 19 5187) may be increased. Such thresholds shall use a fire- 20 specific metric to determine fire damage referred to in 21 subsection (a) of such section, and recommend a Federal 22 cost share adjustment for fire damage that meets the es- 23 tablished thresholds. The Administrator shall follow all no- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Dec 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8945.IH H8945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8945 IH tice and comment requirements set forth in section 553 1 of title 5, United States Code, for such rulemaking. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Dec 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8945.IH H8945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS