I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1393
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to conduct a review of the criteria for evaluating the cost-effectiveness
of certain mitigation projects, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY14, 2025
Mr. S
TANTON(for himself and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to conduct a review of the criteria for
evaluating the cost-effectiveness of certain mitigation
projects, 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 ‘‘Wildfire Response Im-4
provement Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM POL-1
ICY. 2
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 3
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 4
Management Agency shall recommend such regulations or 5
guidance as are necessary to make eligible assessments 6
and emergency stabilization to protect public safety, in-7
cluding for the fire management assistance program under 8
section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 9
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187), irrespective 10
of the incident period for a declared fire. 11
SEC. 3. CHANGES TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE POLICY GUIDE. 12
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 13
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 14
Management Agency shall amend the Public Assistance 15
Program and Policy Guide of the Federal Emergency 16
Management Agency to include guidance on wildfire-spe-17
cific recovery challenges, including debris removal, emer-18
gency protective measures, and the resulting toxicity of 19
drinking water resources. 20
SEC. 4. MITIGATION COST-EFFECTIVENESS. 21
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 22
Emergency Management Agency shall conduct a review of 23
the criteria for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of projects 24
intended to mitigate the impacts of wildfire under sections 25
203 and 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 26
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and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133; 5170c), 1
including— 2
(1) the establishment of pre-calculated benefits 3
criterion for common defensible space mitigation 4
projects for wildfire mitigation; 5
(2) the use of nature-based infrastructure in 6
wildfire mitigation; 7
(3) considerations for vegetation management 8
for wildfire mitigation; 9
(4) reducing the negative effects of wildfire 10
smoke on public health; and 11
(5) lessening the impact of wildfires on water 12
infrastructure. 13
(b) U
PDATEDCRITERIA.—Not later than 1 year after 14
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 15
issue such guidance as is necessary to— 16
(1) update criteria for evaluating the cost-effec-17
tiveness of mitigation projects under sections 203 18
and 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 19
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133; 20
5170c) based on the results of the review conducted 21
under subsection (a); and 22
(2) prioritize projects under such sections based 23
on the criteria updated under paragraph (1). 24
Æ
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