FIRESHEDS Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3522 To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to establish emergency fireshed management areas, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. MOORE of Utah (for himself and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3522 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 1 Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) is amended by adding at 3 the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 607. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT 6 AREAS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 8 ‘‘(A) JOINT AGREEMENTS.—Not later than 9 90 days after receiving a request from a Gov- 10 ernor of a State, the Secretary shall enter into 11 an agreement with such Governor to jointly— 12 ‘‘(i) designate 1 or more fireshed 13 management areas within such State; and 14 ‘‘(ii) conduct fireshed management 15 projects in accordance with subsection (c) 16 on such fireshed management areas. 17 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FIRESHED MANAGE- 18 MENT AREAS.—With respect to an agreement 19 with a Governor of a State under subparagraph 20 (A), the Secretary, if requested by such Gov- 21 ernor, may— 22 ‘‘(i) designate additional fireshed 23 management areas under such agreement; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(ii) update such agreement to ad- 1 dress new wildfire threats. 2 ‘‘(C) SHARED STEWARDSHIP.—A pre- 3 viously signed shared stewardship agreement 4 between a Governor of a State and the Sec- 5 retary (or an update or successor agreement to 6 such shared stewardship agreement) may be 7 treated as an agreement under subparagraph 8 (A) if such Governor approves such treatment. 9 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT 10 AREAS.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A fireshed manage- 12 ment area designated under an agreement 13 under paragraph (1)— 14 ‘‘(i) shall be— 15 ‘‘(I) a landscape-scale area; and 16 ‘‘(II) identified on the date of 17 such designation as a fireshed ranked 18 in the top 10 percent of wildfire expo- 19 sure, as determined by the most re- 20 cently published models of fireshed 21 risk exposure published by the Forest 22 Service; 23 ‘‘(ii) may not overlap with any other 24 fireshed management area; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(iii) may contain Federal and non- 1 Federal land. 2 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The des- 3 ignation of a fireshed management area under 4 an agreement under paragraph (1) shall not be 5 subject to the requirements of the National En- 6 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 7 4321 et seq.). 8 ‘‘(b) STEWARDSHIP AND FIRESHED ASSESS- 9 MENTS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 11 after entering into an agreement with a Governor of 12 a State under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary and 13 such Governor shall, with respect to the fireshed 14 management areas designated under such agree- 15 ment, jointly conduct a stewardship and fireshed as- 16 sessment that— 17 ‘‘(A) identifies— 18 ‘‘(i) using the best available data, 19 wildfire exposure risks within each such 20 fireshed management area, including sce- 21 nario planning and wildfire hazard map- 22 ping and models; and 23 ‘‘(ii) each at-risk community within 24 each fireshed management area; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(B) identifies potential fireshed manage- 1 ment projects to be carried out in such fireshed 2 management areas, giving priority— 3 ‘‘(i) primarily, to projects with the 4 purpose of reducing threats to public 5 health and safety from catastrophic wild- 6 fire; and 7 ‘‘(ii) secondarily, to projects with the 8 purpose of protecting— 9 ‘‘(I) critical infrastructure; 10 ‘‘(II) wildlife habitats; 11 ‘‘(III) watersheds or improving 12 water yield; or 13 ‘‘(IV) any combination of pur- 14 poses described in subclauses (I) 15 through (III); 16 ‘‘(C) includes— 17 ‘‘(i) a strategy for reducing the threat 18 of wildfire to at-risk communities in the 19 wildland-urban interface; 20 ‘‘(ii) recommended fireshed manage- 21 ment project size limitations based on the 22 best available data; 23 ‘‘(iii) a timeline for the implementa- 24 tion of fireshed management projects; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(iv) long-term benchmark goals for 1 the completion of fireshed management 2 projects in the highest wildfire exposure 3 areas; and 4 ‘‘(D) shall be regularly updated based on 5 the best available data, as determined by the 6 Secretary. 7 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT.— 8 ‘‘(A) MEMORANDUMS OF UNDER- 9 STANDING.—In carrying out a stewardship and 10 fireshed assessment under this subsection, the 11 Secretary may enter into memorandums of un- 12 derstanding with other Federal agencies or de- 13 partments, States, private entities, or research 14 or educational institutions to improve, with re- 15 spect to such assessment, the use and integra- 16 tion of— 17 ‘‘(i) advanced remote sensing and 18 geospatial technologies; 19 ‘‘(ii) statistical modeling and analysis; 20 or 21 ‘‘(iii) any other technology the Sec- 22 retary determines will benefit the quality of 23 information of such an assessment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(B) STATE INFORMATION.—To the max- 1 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall in- 2 corporate data from State forest action plans, 3 State wildfire risk assessments, and other State 4 sources in conducting an assessment under 5 paragraph (1). 6 ‘‘(c) FIRESHED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 8 out fireshed management projects in fireshed man- 9 agement areas designated under an agreement under 10 subsection (a)(1) in accordance with the timeline 11 and project size limitations included in the steward- 12 ship and fireshed assessment relating to such areas 13 under subsection (b)(1)(C). 14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A fireshed management 15 project shall— 16 ‘‘(A) be carried out— 17 ‘‘(i) in accordance with paragraph (3); 18 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with the applicable 19 forest management plan; and 20 ‘‘(iii) in a manner that maximizes the 21 retention of old-growth and large trees, to 22 the extent that the trees promote stands 23 that are resilient to wildfire; and 24 ‘‘(B) be— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(i) developed through a collaborative 1 process; 2 ‘‘(ii) proposed by a resource advisory 3 committee (as defined in section 201 of the 4 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- 5 Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6 7121)); or 7 ‘‘(iii) covered by a community wildfire 8 protection plan. 9 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A fireshed 10 management project shall have the primary purpose 11 of— 12 ‘‘(A) creating fuel breaks and fire breaks; 13 ‘‘(B) conducting hazardous fuels manage- 14 ment; 15 ‘‘(C) conducting prescribed burns; 16 ‘‘(D) removing dead trees, dying trees, or 17 trees at high-risk of dying; or 18 ‘‘(E) carrying out any combination of the 19 activities described in subparagraphs (A) 20 through (D). 21 ‘‘(4) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR FIRESHED 22 MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.—Fireshed management 23 projects under this subsection shall be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(A) considered an action categorically ex- 1 cluded from the from the preparation of an en- 2 vironmental assessment or an environmental 3 impact statement under section 102 of the Na- 4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 5 U.S.C. 4332); and 6 ‘‘(B) exempt from the special administra- 7 tive review process under section 105. 8 ‘‘(5) EXCLUSIONS.—A fireshed management 9 project may not be carried out on lands— 10 ‘‘(A) that are included in the National Wil- 11 derness Preservation System; 12 ‘‘(B) that are located within a national or 13 State-specific inventoried roadless area estab- 14 lished by the Secretary of Agriculture through 15 regulation, unless— 16 ‘‘(i) the forest management activity to 17 be carried out under such authority is con- 18 sistent with the forest plan applicable to 19 the area; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the activity is allowed under the 21 applicable roadless rule governing such 22 lands, including— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(I) the Idaho roadless rule 1 under subpart C of part 294 or title 2 36, Code of Federal Regulations; 3 ‘‘(II) the Colorado roadless rule 4 under subpart D of part 294 of title 5 36, Code of Federal Regulations; or 6 ‘‘(III) any other roadless rule de- 7 veloped after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this section by the Secretary 9 with respect to a specific State; or 10 ‘‘(C) on which timber harvesting for any 11 purpose is prohibited by Federal statute. 12 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR CERTAIN 13 ROADLESS RULES.—Nothing in this section shall be 14 construed to affect the roadless rules described in 15 subclauses (I) and (II) of paragraph (5)(B)(ii). 16 ‘‘(7) USE OF OTHER AUTHORITIES.—To the 17 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall use 18 existing statutory and administrative authorities, in- 19 cluding a good neighbor agreement entered into 20 under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 21 (16 U.S.C. 2113a), to carry out each fireshed man- 22 agement project. 23 ‘‘(d) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 106 shall apply to 24 fireshed management projects conducted under this sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3522 IH tion in the same manner as such section applies to an au- 1 thorized hazardous fuels reduction project conducted 2 under title I, except that no restraining order, preliminary 3 injunction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued 4 by any court of the United States with respect to any deci- 5 sion to prepare or conduct a fireshed management project 6 in the wildland-urban interface. 7 ‘‘(e) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years 8 after the date of the enactment of this section and annu- 9 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 10 report evaluating the progress and implementation of 11 fireshed management projects under this section. 12 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 ‘‘(1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term 14 ‘collaborative process’ means a process relating to 15 the management of National Forest System lands or 16 public lands by which a project or forest manage- 17 ment activity is developed and implemented by the 18 Secretary through collaboration with interested per- 19 sons, as described in section 603(b)(1)(C). 20 ‘‘(2) FIRESHED.—The term ‘fireshed’ means a 21 landscape-scale area that faces similar wildfire 22 threat where a response strategy could influence the 23 wildfire outcome. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(3) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘forest plan’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(A) a land use plan prepared by the Bu- 3 reau of Land Management for public lands pur- 4 suant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy 5 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 6 1712); or 7 ‘‘(B) a land and resource management 8 plan prepared by the Forest Service for a unit 9 of the National Forest System pursuant to sec- 10 tion 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 11 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 12 1604). 13 ‘‘(4) HAZARDOUS FUELS MANAGEMENT.—The 14 term ‘hazardous fuels management’ means any vege- 15 tation management activities that reduce the risk of 16 wildfire, including mechanical treatments and live- 17 stock grazing. 18 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘public lands’ 19 has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 20 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 21 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term in- 22 cludes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Or- 23 egon and California Railroad Grant lands. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3522.IH H3522 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 3522 IH ‘‘(6) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 1 term ‘resource advisory committee’ has the meaning 2 given that term in section 201 of the Secure Rural 3 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 4 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121). 5 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 6 means— 7 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 8 spect to National Forest System lands; and 9 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 10 spect to public lands. 11 ‘‘(8) SECTION 101 TERMS.—The terms ‘at-risk 12 community’, ‘community wildfire protection plan’, 13 and ‘wildland-urban interface’ have the meanings 14 given such terms, respectively, in section 101.’’. 15 SEC. 3. GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY. 16 Section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 17 U.S.C. 2113a) is amended— 18 (1) in subsection (a)(4)(A)— 19 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 20 end; 21 (B) by redesignating clause (iii) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]