Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3296 To provide that construction, rebuilding, or hardening of communications facilities following a major disaster or an emergency related to a wildfire is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or histor- ical preservation reviews. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mrs. RODGERS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, 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 concerned A BILL To provide that construction, rebuilding, or hardening of communications facilities following a major disaster or an emergency related to a wildfire is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or histor- ical preservation reviews. 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 Communica- 4 tions Resiliency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3296.IH H3296 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3296 IH SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF NEPA AND NHPA TO COVERED 1 COMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS. 2 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A Federal authorization 3 with respect to a covered project may not be considered 4 a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na- 5 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 6 4332(2)(C)). 7 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX- 8 EMPTION.—A covered project may not be considered an 9 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 10 States Code. 11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE.—The term ‘‘Chief Ex- 13 ecutive’’ has the meaning given such term in section 14 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 15 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 16 (2) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 17 ‘‘communications facility’’ has the meaning given the 18 term ‘‘communications facility installation’’ in sec- 19 tion 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 20 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)). 21 (3) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 22 project’’ means a project that— 23 (A) is to be carried out entirely within an 24 area for which the President, the Governor of 25 a State, or the Chief Executive of an Indian 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3296.IH H3296 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3296 IH tribal government has declared a major disaster 1 or an emergency related to a wildfire; 2 (B) is to be carried out not later than 5 3 years after the date on which the President, 4 Governor, or Chief Executive made such dec- 5 laration; and 6 (C) replaces a communications facility 7 damaged by such disaster or emergency or 8 makes improvements to a communications facil- 9 ity in such area that could reasonably be con- 10 sidered as necessary for recovery from such dis- 11 aster or emergency or to prevent or mitigate 12 any future disaster or emergency. 13 (4) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 14 means— 15 (A) in the case of an emergency declared 16 by the President, an emergency declared by the 17 President under section 501 of the Robert T. 18 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 19 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); and 20 (B) in the case of an emergency declared 21 by the Governor of a State or the Chief Execu- 22 tive of an Indian tribal government, any occa- 23 sion or instance with respect to which the Gov- 24 ernor or Chief Executive declares that an emer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3296.IH H3296 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3296 IH gency exists (or makes a similar declaration) 1 under State or Tribal law (as the case may be). 2 (5) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.—The term 3 ‘‘Federal authorization’’— 4 (A) means any authorization required 5 under Federal law with respect to a covered 6 project; and 7 (B) includes any permits, special use au- 8 thorizations, certifications, opinions, or other 9 approvals as may be required under Federal law 10 with respect to a covered project. 11 (6) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 12 the chief executive of any State. 13 (7) INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 14 ‘‘Indian tribal government’’ has the meaning given 15 such term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 16 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 17 U.S.C. 5122). 18 (8) MAJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis- 19 aster’’ means— 20 (A) in the case of a major disaster de- 21 clared by the President, a major disaster de- 22 clared by the President under section 401 of 23 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3296.IH H3296 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3296 IH Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 1 and 2 (B) in the case of a major disaster de- 3 clared by the Governor of a State or the Chief 4 Executive of an Indian tribal government, any 5 occasion or instance with respect to which the 6 Governor or Chief Executive declares that a dis- 7 aster exists (or makes a similar declaration) 8 under State or Tribal law (as the case may be). 9 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 10 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 11 and each territory or possession of the United 12 States. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3296.IH H3296 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS