FIRESHEDS Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1719 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to establish emergency fireshed management areas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. BARRASSO) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to establish emergency fireshed management areas, 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 ‘‘Forest Improvements 4 through Research and Emergency Stewardship for 5 Healthy Ecosystem Development and Sustainability Act’’ 6 or the ‘‘FIRESHEDS Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1719 IS SEC. 2. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 1 Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) is amended by adding at 3 the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 607. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term 7 ‘collaborative process’ means a process relating to 8 the management of National Forest System land or 9 public land by which a project or forest management 10 activity is developed and implemented by the Sec- 11 retary through collaboration with interested persons, 12 as described in section 603(b)(1)(C). 13 ‘‘(2) FIRESHED.—The term ‘fireshed’ means a 14 landscape-scale area that faces a similar wildfire 15 threat where a response strategy could influence the 16 wildfire outcome. 17 ‘‘(3) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘forest plan’ 18 means— 19 ‘‘(A) a land use plan prepared by the Sec- 20 retary of the Interior, acting through the Direc- 21 tor of the Bureau of Land Management, for 22 public land under section 202 of the Federal 23 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 24 U.S.C. 1712); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(B) a land and resource management 1 plan prepared by the Secretary of Agriculture, 2 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 3 for a unit of the National Forest System pursu- 4 ant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 5 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 6 U.S.C. 1604). 7 ‘‘(4) HAZARDOUS FUELS MANAGEMENT.—The 8 term ‘hazardous fuels management’ means any vege- 9 tation management activity that reduces the risk of 10 wildfire, including mechanical treatments and live- 11 stock grazing. 12 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 13 ‘National Forest System’ means national forest 14 lands reserved or withdrawn from the public domain 15 of the United States described in section 11(a) of 16 the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 17 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 18 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC LAND.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘public land’ 20 has the meaning given the term ‘public lands’ 21 in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and 22 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘public land’ 1 includes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant land and 2 Oregon and California Railroad Grant land. 3 ‘‘(7) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 4 term ‘resource advisory committee’ has the meaning 5 given the term in section 201 of the Secure Rural 6 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 7 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121). 8 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 9 means— 10 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 11 spect to public land; and 12 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 13 spect to National Forest System land. 14 ‘‘(9) SECTION 101 TERMS.—The terms ‘at-risk 15 community’, ‘community wildfire protection plan’, 16 and ‘wildland-urban interface’ have the meanings 17 given those terms in section 101. 18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT 19 AREAS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 21 ‘‘(A) JOINT AGREEMENTS.—Not later than 22 90 days after receiving a request from a Gov- 23 ernor of a State, the Secretary shall enter into 24 an agreement with that Governor to jointly— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(i) designate 1 or more fireshed 1 management areas within that State; and 2 ‘‘(ii) conduct fireshed management 3 projects in accordance with subsection (d) 4 in those fireshed management areas. 5 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FIRESHED MANAGE- 6 MENT AREAS.—With respect to an agreement 7 with a Governor of a State under subparagraph 8 (A), the Secretary, if requested by that Gov- 9 ernor, may— 10 ‘‘(i) designate additional fireshed 11 management areas under that agreement; 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) update that agreement to ad- 14 dress new wildfire threats. 15 ‘‘(C) SHARED STEWARDSHIP.—A pre- 16 viously signed stewardship agreement between a 17 Governor of a State and the Secretary (or an 18 update or successor agreement to such a stew- 19 ardship agreement) may be treated as an agree- 20 ment under subparagraph (A) if that Governor 21 approves that treatment. 22 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT 23 AREAS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A fireshed manage- 1 ment area designated under an agreement 2 under paragraph (1)— 3 ‘‘(i) shall be— 4 ‘‘(I) a landscape-scale area; and 5 ‘‘(II) identified on the date of 6 that designation as a fireshed ranked 7 in the top 10 percent of wildfire expo- 8 sure, as determined by the most re- 9 cently published models of fireshed 10 risk exposure published by the Sec- 11 retary of Agriculture, acting through 12 the Chief of the Forest Service; 13 ‘‘(ii) may not overlap with any other 14 fireshed management area; and 15 ‘‘(iii) may contain Federal and non- 16 Federal land. 17 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The des- 18 ignation of a fireshed management area under 19 an agreement under paragraph (1) shall not be 20 subject to the requirements of the National En- 21 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 22 4321 et seq.). 23 ‘‘(c) STEWARDSHIP AND FIRESHED ASSESSMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 1 after entering into an agreement with a Governor of 2 a State under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary and 3 that Governor shall, with respect to the fireshed 4 management areas designated under that agreement, 5 jointly conduct a stewardship and fireshed assess- 6 ment that— 7 ‘‘(A) identifies— 8 ‘‘(i) using the best available data, 9 wildfire exposure risks within each of those 10 fireshed management areas, including sce- 11 nario planning and wildfire hazard map- 12 ping and models; and 13 ‘‘(ii) each at-risk community within 14 each fireshed management area; 15 ‘‘(B) identifies potential fireshed manage- 16 ment projects to be carried out in those fireshed 17 management areas, giving priority— 18 ‘‘(i) primarily, to projects with the 19 purpose of reducing threats to public 20 health and safety from catastrophic wild- 21 fire; and 22 ‘‘(ii) secondarily, to projects with the 23 purpose of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(I) protecting critical infrastruc- 1 ture; 2 ‘‘(II) protecting wildlife habitats; 3 ‘‘(III) protecting watersheds or 4 improving water yield; or 5 ‘‘(IV) any combination of pur- 6 poses described in subclauses (I) 7 through (III); 8 ‘‘(C) includes— 9 ‘‘(i) a strategy for reducing the threat 10 of wildfire to at-risk communities in the 11 wildland-urban interface; 12 ‘‘(ii) recommended fireshed manage- 13 ment project size limitations based on the 14 best available data; 15 ‘‘(iii) a timeline for the implementa- 16 tion of fireshed management projects; and 17 ‘‘(iv) long-term benchmark goals for 18 the completion of fireshed management 19 projects in the highest wildfire exposure 20 areas; and 21 ‘‘(D) shall be regularly updated based on 22 the best available data, as determined by the 23 Secretary. 24 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(A) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.— 1 In carrying out a stewardship and fireshed as- 2 sessment under this subsection, the Secretary 3 may enter into memoranda of understanding 4 with other Federal agencies or departments, 5 States, private entities, or research or edu- 6 cational institutions to improve, with respect to 7 that assessment, the use and integration of— 8 ‘‘(i) advanced remote sensing and 9 geospatial technologies; 10 ‘‘(ii) statistical modeling and analysis; 11 or 12 ‘‘(iii) any other technology the Sec- 13 retary determines will benefit the quality of 14 information of that assessment. 15 ‘‘(B) STATE INFORMATION.—To the max- 16 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall in- 17 corporate data from State forest action plans, 18 State wildfire risk assessments, and other State 19 sources in conducting an assessment under 20 paragraph (1). 21 ‘‘(d) FIRESHED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 23 out fireshed management projects in fireshed man- 24 agement areas designated under an agreement under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1719 IS subsection (b)(1) in accordance with the timeline 1 and project size limitations included in the steward- 2 ship and fireshed assessment relating to those areas 3 under subsection (c)(1)(C). 4 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A fireshed management 5 project shall— 6 ‘‘(A) be carried out— 7 ‘‘(i) in accordance with paragraph (3); 8 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with the applicable 9 forest plan; and 10 ‘‘(iii) in a manner that maximizes the 11 retention of old-growth and large trees, to 12 the extent that the trees promote stands 13 that are resilient to wildfire; and 14 ‘‘(B) be— 15 ‘‘(i) developed through a collaborative 16 process; 17 ‘‘(ii) proposed by a resource advisory 18 committee; 19 ‘‘(iii) covered by a community wildfire 20 protection plan; or 21 ‘‘(iv) proposed by a resource advisory 22 council described in subpart 1784 of part 23 1780 of title 43, Code of Federal Regula- 24 tions (or successor regulations). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A fireshed 1 management project shall have the primary purpose 2 of— 3 ‘‘(A) creating fuel breaks and fire breaks; 4 ‘‘(B) conducting hazardous fuels manage- 5 ment; 6 ‘‘(C) conducting prescribed burns; 7 ‘‘(D) removing dead trees or dying trees; 8 or 9 ‘‘(E) carrying out any combination of the 10 activities described in subparagraphs (A) 11 through (D). 12 ‘‘(4) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR FIRESHED 13 MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.—Fireshed management 14 projects under this subsection shall be— 15 ‘‘(A) considered an action categorically ex- 16 cluded from the preparation of an environ- 17 mental assessment or an environmental impact 18 statement under section 102 of the National 19 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 20 4332); and 21 ‘‘(B) exempt from the special administra- 22 tive review process under section 105. 23 ‘‘(5) EXCLUSIONS.—A fireshed management 24 project may not be carried out on land— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(A) that is included in the National Wil- 1 derness Preservation System; 2 ‘‘(B) that is located within a national or 3 State-specific inventoried roadless area estab- 4 lished by the Secretary of Agriculture through 5 regulation, unless— 6 ‘‘(i) the forest management activity to 7 be carried out under that authority is con- 8 sistent with the forest plan applicable to 9 the area; or 10 ‘‘(ii) the activity is allowed under the 11 applicable roadless area conservation rule 12 governing that land, including— 13 ‘‘(I) the Idaho roadless area con- 14 servation rule under subpart C of part 15 294 of title 36, Code of Federal Regu- 16 lations; 17 ‘‘(II) the Colorado roadless area 18 conservation rule under subpart D of 19 part 294 of title 36, Code of Federal 20 Regulations; or 21 ‘‘(III) any other roadless area 22 conservation rule developed after the 23 date of enactment of this section by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1719 IS the Secretary with respect to a spe- 1 cific State; or 2 ‘‘(C) on which timber harvesting for any 3 purpose is prohibited by Federal statute. 4 ‘‘(6) EFFECT RELATING TO CERTAIN ROADLESS 5 AREA CONSERVATION RULES.—Nothing in this sec- 6 tion affects the roadless area conservation rules de- 7 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II) of paragraph 8 (5)(B)(ii). 9 ‘‘(7) USE OF OTHER AUTHORITIES.—To the 10 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall use 11 existing statutory and administrative authorities, in- 12 cluding a good neighbor agreement entered into 13 under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 14 (16 U.S.C. 2113a), to carry out each fireshed man- 15 agement project. 16 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 106 shall apply to 17 a fireshed management project conducted under this sec- 18 tion in the same manner as that section applies to an au- 19 thorized hazardous fuel reduction project conducted under 20 title I, except that no restraining order, preliminary in- 21 junction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued by 22 any court of the United States with respect to any decision 23 to prepare or conduct a fireshed management project 24 under this section in the wildland-urban interface. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BI [Text truncated for display. 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