Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1923 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1923
5	5	To provide for the implementation of certain recommendations from the
6	6	Report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH6, 2025
9	9	Mr. H
10	10	ARDERof California (for himself, Mr. SCOTTFRANKLINof Florida, Mr.
11	11	N
12	12	EGUSE, and Mr. STANTON) introduced the following bill; which was re-
13	13	ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the
14	14	Committees on Agriculture, Education and Workforce, Oversight and
15	15	Government Reform, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, Science,
16	16	Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Small
17	17	Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
18	18	each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
19	19	tion of the committee concerned
20	20	A BILL
21	21	To provide for the implementation of certain recommenda-
22	22	tions from the Report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation
23	23	and Management Commission.
24	24	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
25	25	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
26	26	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
27	27	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Wildfire 4
28	28	Safety and Prevention Act of 2025’’. 5
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31	31	•HR 1923 IH
32	32	SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1
33	33	The table of contents for this Act is the following: 2
34	34	Sec. 1. Short title.
35	35	Sec. 2. Table of Contents.
36	36	Sec. 3. Definition of Report.
37	37	TITLE I—WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
38	38	Sec. 101. Middle Fire Leaders Academy (Report Recommendation 55).
39	39	Sec. 102. Wildfire workforce grant program (Report Recommendation 88).
40	40	TITLE II—WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER SUPPORT
41	41	Sec. 201. Fire Service Retention and Retirement Portability (Report Rec-
42	42	ommendation 86).
43	43	Sec. 202. Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program (Report
44	44	Recommendation 87).
45	45	TITLE III—WILDFIRE SMOKE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
46	46	Sec. 301. National Smoke Monitoring and Alert System (Report Recommenda-
47	47	tion 44).
48	48	Sec. 302. Health risk assessment for Wildfire Smoke Exposure (Report Rec-
49	49	ommendation 100).
50	50	TITLE IV—FIRE MITIGATION AND TECHNOLOGY
51	51	Sec. 401. Improvements to wildfire forage loss programs (Report Recommenda-
52	52	tion 59).
53	53	Sec. 402. Improvements to FEMA Programs (Report Recommendations 66 and
54	54	64).
55	55	Sec. 403. The Wildland Dynamic Risk Mapping Program (Report Rec-
56	56	ommendation 118).
57	57	Sec. 404. Improvements to grant programs for community wildfire risk reduc-
58	58	tion and postfire recovery efforts (Report Recommendation
59	59	142).
60	60	Sec. 405. Joint Office of the Fire Environment Center (Report Recommenda-
61	61	tions 104, 105, 106).
62	62	Sec. 406. Interagency Data Collaboration Environment (Report Recommenda-
63	63	tion 107).
64	64	Sec. 407. Requirements related to payment timing for certain programs ad-
65	65	dressing wildfire damages (Report Recommendation 61).
66	66	SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF REPORT.
67	67	3
68	68	In this Act, the term ‘‘Report’’ means the Report of 4
69	69	the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commis-5
70	70	sion, dated September 2023. 6
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73	73	•HR 1923 IH
74	74	TITLE I—WORKFORCE 1
75	75	DEVELOPMENT 2
76	76	SEC. 101. MIDDLE FIRE LEADERS ACADEMY (REPORT REC-3
77	77	OMMENDATION 55). 4
78	78	(a) M
79	79	IDDLEFIRELEADERSACADEMY.—Not later 5
80	80	than a 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 6
81	81	the Chief of the Forest Service, in coordination with Na-7
82	82	tional Wildfire Coordinating Group, shall create a Middle 8
83	83	Fire Leaders Academy which shall be open to Federal and 9
84	84	non-Federal wildland fire response workforce employees. 10
85	85	The Middle Fire Leaders Academy shall provide— 11
86	86	(1) rapid training and certification for emerging 12
87	87	wildfire and beneficial fire leaders; and 13
88	88	(2) additional and expanded training of suffi-14
89	89	cient quality to enable managers and decision mak-15
90	90	ers responsible for addressing wildfire incidents and 16
91	91	prescribed burns to make informed decisions regard-17
92	92	ing the beneficial application and management of 18
93	93	fire, including managing local fire regimes and other 19
94	94	forms of beneficial fire use. 20
95	95	(b) A
96	96	UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 21
97	97	authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 22
98	98	$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035. 23
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101	101	•HR 1923 IH
102	102	SEC. 102. WILDFIRE WORKFORCE GRANT PROGRAM (RE-1
103	103	PORT RECOMMENDATION 88). 2
104	104	(a) G
105	105	RANTSAUTHORIZED.—Not later than 6 months 3
106	106	after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 4
107	107	Education shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 5
108	108	eligible entities to carry out a program described in sub-6
109	109	section (c). 7
110	110	(b) A
111	111	PPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 8
112	112	under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec-9
113	113	retary an application in such manner, at such time, and 10
114	114	containing such information as the Secretary may require. 11
115	115	(c) U
116	116	SE OFFUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 12
117	117	a grant under this Act shall carry out an educational or 13
118	118	vocational program that leads to a degree, certificate, or 14
119	119	other recognized credential in wildfire emergency manage-15
120	120	ment, including— 16
121	121	(1) agricultural landscape planning relating to 17
122	122	wildfire resilience; 18
123	123	(2) natural resource management relating to 19
124	124	wildfire resilience; 20
125	125	(3) emergency management; 21
126	126	(4) emergency medical technician services; 22
127	127	(5) paramedic services; 23
128	128	(6) fire science; 24
129	129	(7) firefighting; 25
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132	132	•HR 1923 IH
133	133	(8) community planning relating to wildfire re-1
134	134	silience; 2
135	135	(9) short- and long-term post fire recovery safe-3
136	136	ty and operations training for structural firefighters 4
137	137	assigned to wildfire incidents; or 5
138	138	(10) any other program that trains individuals 6
139	139	in the wildfire mitigation, response, or recovery 7
140	140	workforce. 8
141	141	(d) D
142	142	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9
143	143	(1) A
144	144	CCREDITED LOCAL ACADEMY .—The term 10
145	145	‘‘accredited local academy’’ means a partnership, be-11
146	146	tween a local fire suppression organization and the 12
147	147	office of the Fire Marshall of a State, that delivers 13
148	148	a State Fire Training program. 14
149	149	(2) A
150	150	CCREDITED REGIONAL TRAINING PRO -15
151	151	GRAM.—The term ‘‘accredited regional training pro-16
152	152	gram’’ means a partnership, between a junior or 17
153	153	community college or institution of higher education 18
154	154	and the office of the Fire Marshall of a State, or the 19
155	155	State Wildland Firefighting Agency or in combina-20
156	156	tion of Federal Land Management Agencies, that 21
157	157	delivers an approved State Fire Training program 22
158	158	within a given region. 23
159	159	(3) E
160	160	LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-24
161	161	ty’’ means— 25
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164	164	•HR 1923 IH
165	165	(A) a junior or community college; 1
166	166	(B) an institution of higher education; 2
167	167	(C) an accredited regional training pro-3
168	168	gram; 4
169	169	(D) an accredited local academy; or 5
170	170	(E) a nonprofit entity with experience ad-6
171	171	ministering education and training programs 7
172	172	for fire service personnel. 8
173	173	(4) I
174	174	NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 9
175	175	term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 10
176	176	meaning given such term in section 102 of the High-11
177	177	er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 12
178	178	(5) J
179	179	UNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE .—The 13
180	180	term ‘‘junior or community college’’ has the meaning 14
181	181	given such term in section 312 of the Higher Edu-15
182	182	cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058). 16
183	183	(e) A
184	184	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17
185	185	authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 18
186	186	$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035. 19
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189	189	•HR 1923 IH
190	190	TITLE II—WILDLAND 1
191	191	FIREFIGHTER SUPPORT 2
192	192	SEC. 201. FIRE SERVICE RETENTION AND RETIREMENT 3
193	193	PORTABILITY (REPORT RECOMMENDATION 4
194	194	86). 5
195	195	(a) C
196	196	ONTINUINGACCRUAL OFSERVICE FORFIRE-6
197	197	FIGHTERS.— 7
198	198	(1) F
199	199	EDERAL EMPLOYEES ’ RETIREMENT SYS-8
200	200	TEM.—Section 8401(14) of title 5, United States 9
201	201	Code, is amended to read as follows: 10
202	202	‘‘(14) the term ‘firefighter’ means— 11
203	203	‘‘(A) an employee, the duties of whose po-12
204	204	sition— 13
205	205	‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di-14
206	206	rectly connected with the control and extin-15
207	207	guishment of nonwildland fires; and 16
208	208	‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em-17
209	209	ployment opportunities should be limited to 18
210	210	young and physically vigorous individuals, 19
211	211	as determined by the Director considering 20
212	212	the recommendations of the employing 21
213	213	agency; 22
214	214	‘‘(B) an employee, the duties of whose po-23
215	215	sition— 24
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218	218	•HR 1923 IH
219	219	‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di-1
220	220	rectly connected with the control and extin-2
221	221	guishment of wildland fires; and 3
222	222	‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em-4
223	223	ployment opportunities should be limited to 5
224	224	young and physically vigorous individuals, 6
225	225	as determined by the Director considering 7
226	226	the recommendations of the employing 8
227	227	agency; 9
228	228	‘‘(C) an employee who— 10
229	229	‘‘(i) is transferred directly to a super-11
230	230	visory or administrative position after per-12
231	231	forming duties described in subparagraph 13
232	232	(A) for at least 3 years; and 14
233	233	‘‘(ii) while serving in such supervisory 15
234	234	or administrative position, has no break in 16
235	235	service; or 17
236	236	‘‘(D) an employee who— 18
237	237	‘‘(i) occupies a supervisory or admin-19
238	238	istrative position after performing duties 20
239	239	described in subparagraph (B) for not less 21
240	240	than 3 years; and 22
241	241	‘‘(ii) has not more than 24 months in 23
242	242	total time of breaks in service;’’. 24
243	243	(2) S
244	244	ERVICE BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT .— 25
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247	247	•HR 1923 IH
248	248	(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the require-1
249	249	ments under subparagraph (B), service per-2
250	250	formed before the date of enactment of this Act 3
251	251	by an individual who, on the date of enactment 4
252	252	of this Act, is an employee (as defined in sec-5
253	253	tion 8401(11) of title 5, United States Code) 6
254	254	shall, for the purposes of chapter 84 of title 5, 7
255	255	United States Code, be treated as service per-8
256	256	formed by a firefighter if— 9
257	257	(i) such service was performed during 10
258	258	the period beginning on October 1, 2003, 11
259	259	and ending on the day before the date of 12
260	260	enactment of this Act; 13
261	261	(ii) at the time of performing such 14
262	262	service— 15
263	263	(I) the individual did not meet 16
264	264	the requirements to be a firefighter 17
265	265	under section 8401(14) of title 5, 18
266	266	United States Code, because of a 19
267	267	break in service; and 20
268	268	(II) would have met the require-21
269	269	ments to be a firefighter under section 22
270	270	8401(14)(D) of title 5, United States 23
271	271	Code, as amended by this Act; and 24
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274	274	•HR 1923 IH
275	275	(iii) appropriate deductions and 1
276	276	withholdings under sections 8422 and 2
277	277	8423 of title 5, United States Code, were 3
278	278	made during such service. 4
279	279	(B) C
280	280	REDIT FOR SERVICE .—To receive 5
281	281	credit for eligible service under subparagraph 6
282	282	(A), the applicable individual shall— 7
283	283	(i) before the date on which the indi-8
284	284	vidual separates from service in the agency 9
285	285	in which the individual holds a position on 10
286	286	the date of enactment of this Act, submit 11
287	287	a written election to the agency employing 12
288	288	the individual; 13
289	289	(ii) if the individual is not employed 14
290	290	by the agency that employed the individual 15
291	291	when the service described in subpara-16
292	292	graph (A) was performed, submit a written 17
293	293	election to such agency; and 18
294	294	(iii) remit to the agency that em-19
295	295	ployed the individual when such service 20
296	296	was performed the additional amount that 21
297	297	would have been deducted during the pe-22
298	298	riod of prior service under section 8422 of 23
299	299	title 5, United States Code, from the pay 24
300	300	of the individual if the amendments made 25
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303	303	•HR 1923 IH
304	304	by paragraph (1) had been in effect during 1
305	305	the prior service, plus any applicable inter-2
306	306	est computed under section 8334(e) of title 3
307	307	5, United States Code. 4
308	308	(C) G
309	309	OVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS .—If an 5
310	310	individual remits payment under subparagraph 6
311	311	(B)(iii) with respect to service described in sub-7
312	312	paragraph (A), the agency that employed the 8
313	313	individual when such service was performed 9
314	314	shall remit to the Office of Personnel Manage-10
315	315	ment (for deposit in the Treasury of the United 11
316	316	States to the credit of the Civil Service Retire-12
317	317	ment and Disability Fund) the total additional 13
318	318	amount of Federal contributions that would 14
319	319	have been paid under section 8423 of title 5, 15
320	320	United States Code, if the amendments made 16
321	321	by paragraph (1) had been in effect during the 17
322	322	prior service, plus any applicable interest com-18
323	323	puted in accordance with section 8334(e) of 19
324	324	title 5, United States Code. 20
325	325	(D) N
326	326	OTIFICATION AND ASSISTANCE RE -21
327	327	QUIREMENTS.—The Director of the Office of 22
328	328	Personnel Management shall— 23
329	329	(i) take such action as may be nec-24
330	330	essary and appropriate to inform individ-25
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333	333	•HR 1923 IH
334	334	uals entitled to have any service credited 1
335	335	under this subsection, or to have any an-2
336	336	nuity computed under this subsection, of 3
337	337	the entitlement to the credit or computa-4
338	338	tion; and 5
339	339	(ii) upon request, assist any individual 6
340	340	described in clause (i) in obtaining such in-7
341	341	formation in the possession of the Sec-8
342	342	retary of Agriculture or the Secretary of 9
343	343	the Interior, as applicable, as may be nec-10
344	344	essary to verify the entitlement of the indi-11
345	345	vidual to have any service credited, or to 12
346	346	have any annuity computed, pursuant to 13
347	347	this subsection. 14
348	348	(E) R
349	349	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 15
350	350	this subsection shall be construed to permit or 16
351	351	require the making of any contribution to the 17
352	352	Thrift Savings Fund that would not otherwise 18
353	353	have been permitted or required but for the en-19
354	354	actment of this subsection. 20
355	355	(b) R
356	356	ETENTION OFENHANCEDRETIREMENTBENE-21
357	357	FITSDURINGPERIOD OFNON-FEDERALSERVICE.—Sec-22
358	358	tion 104(e)(2) of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-23
359	359	cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5323(e)) is amended by 24
360	360	adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any Federal wildland 25
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363	363	•HR 1923 IH
364	364	firefighter (as that term is defined in section 201(d) of 1
365	365	the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2
366	366	2025) who retains coverage, rights, and benefits under 3
367	367	such chapter 83 or 84 pursuant to this paragraph shall 4
368	368	retain enhanced retirement benefits under either such 5
369	369	chapter.’’. 6
370	370	(c) J
371	371	OB-SHARING.—Notwithstanding any other pro-7
372	372	vision of law, a Federal wildland firefighter or wildland 8
373	373	fire support personnel may occupy a position in the civil 9
374	374	service (as that term is defined in section 2101 of title 10
375	375	5, United States Code) and a position with a Tribal gov-11
376	376	ernment under a job-share agreement even if the position 12
377	377	with a Tribal government is classified at a level higher 13
378	378	than the civil service position, including any level that is 14
379	379	above that of the highest level applicable to the General 15
380	380	Schedule. 16
381	381	(d) F
382	382	EDERALWILDLANDFIREFIGHTER.—In this 17
383	383	section, the term ‘‘Federal wildland firefighter’’ means a 18
384	384	person who is— 19
385	385	(1) in a temporary, seasonal, or permanent po-20
386	386	sition at the Department of Agriculture or the De-21
387	387	partment of the Interior or as a Tribal firefighter 22
388	388	who; 23
389	389	(A) maintains group, emergency incident 24
390	390	management, or fire qualifications, as estab-25
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393	393	•HR 1923 IH
394	394	lished annually by the Standards for Wildland 1
395	395	Fire Position Qualifications published by the 2
396	396	National Wildfire Coordinating Group; and 3
397	397	(B) primarily engages in or supports 4
398	398	wildland fire management activities, including 5
399	399	forestry and rangeland technicians and posi-6
400	400	tions concerning aviation, engineering heavy 7
401	401	equipment operations, dispatch, or fire and 8
402	402	fuels management; or 9
403	403	(2) a Federal firefighter stationed on military 10
404	404	installations under the Department of Defense who 11
405	405	engages in or supports wildland fire management ac-12
406	406	tivities, including forestry and rangeland technicians 13
407	407	and positions concerning aviation, engineering heavy 14
408	408	equipment operations, dispatch, or fire and fuels 15
409	409	management. 16
410	410	SEC. 202. WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT CASUALTY AS-17
411	411	SISTANCE PROGRAM (REPORT REC-18
412	412	OMMENDATION 87). 19
413	413	(a) D
414	414	EVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 20
415	415	months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 21
416	416	Secretary of the Interior shall develop a Wildland Fire 22
417	417	Management Casualty Assistance Program (referred to in 23
418	418	this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide assistance to 24
419	419	the next of kin of— 25
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422	422	•HR 1923 IH
423	423	(1) firefighters who, while in the line of duty, 1
424	424	suffer illness or are critically injured or killed; and 2
425	425	(2) wildland fire support personnel critically in-3
426	426	jured or killed in the line of duty. 4
427	427	(b) A
428	428	SPECTS OFPROGRAM.—The Program shall ad-5
429	429	dress the following: 6
430	430	(1) The initial and any subsequent notifications 7
431	431	to the next of kin of a firefighter or wildland fire 8
432	432	support personnel who— 9
433	433	(A) was killed in the line of duty; or 10
434	434	(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 11
435	435	at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 12
436	436	or illness. 13
437	437	(2) The reimbursement of next of kin for ex-14
438	438	penses associated with travel to visit a firefighter or 15
439	439	wildland fire support personnel who— 16
440	440	(A) was killed in the line of duty; or 17
441	441	(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 18
442	442	at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 19
443	443	or illness. 20
444	444	(3) The qualifications, assignment, training, du-21
445	445	ties, supervision, and accountability for the perform-22
446	446	ance of casualty assistance responsibilities. 23
447	447	(4) The relief or transfer of casualty assistance 24
448	448	officers, including notification to survivors of critical 25
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451	451	•HR 1923 IH
452	452	injury or illness in the line of duty and next of kin 1
453	453	of the reassignment of such officers to other duties. 2
454	454	(5) Centralized, short-term and long-term case 3
455	455	management procedures for casualty assistance, in-4
456	456	cluding rapid access by survivors of firefighters or 5
457	457	wildland fire support personnel and casualty assist-6
458	458	ance officers to expert case managers and coun-7
459	459	selors. 8
460	460	(6) The provision, through a computer acces-9
461	461	sible website and other means and at no cost to sur-10
462	462	vivors and next of kin of firefighters or wildland fire 11
463	463	support personnel, of personalized, integrated infor-12
464	464	mation on the benefits and financial assistance avail-13
465	465	able to such survivors from the Federal Government. 14
466	466	(7) The provision of information to survivors 15
467	467	and next of kin of firefighters or wildland fire sup-16
468	468	port personnel on mechanisms for registering com-17
469	469	plaints about, or requests for, additional assistance 18
470	470	related to casualty assistance. 19
471	471	(8) Liaison with the Department of the Inte-20
472	472	rior, the Department of Justice, and the Social Se-21
473	473	curity Administration to ensure prompt and accurate 22
474	474	resolution of issues relating to benefits administered 23
475	475	by those agencies for survivors of firefighters or 24
476	476	wildland fire support personnel. 25
477	477	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1923.IH H1923
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479	479	•HR 1923 IH
480	480	(9) Data collection regarding the incidence and 1
481	481	quality of casualty assistance provided to survivors 2
482	482	of firefighters or wildland fire support personnel. 3
483	483	(c) L
484	484	INE OFDUTYDEATHBENEFITS.—The Pro-4
485	485	gram shall not affect existing authorities for Line of Duty 5
486	486	Death benefits for Federal firefighters and wildland fire 6
487	487	support personnel. 7
488	488	(d) N
489	489	EXT OFKINDEFINED.—In this section, the 8
490	490	term ‘‘next of kin’’ means person or persons in the highest 9
491	491	category of priority as determined by the following list 10
492	492	(categories appear in descending order of priority): 11
493	493	(1) Surviving legal spouse. 12
494	494	(2) Children (whether by current or prior mar-13
495	495	riage) age 18 years or older in descending prece-14
496	496	dence by age. 15
497	497	(3) Father or mother, unless by court order 16
498	498	custody has been vested in another (adoptive parent 17
499	499	takes precedence over natural parent); 18
500	500	(4) Siblings (whole or half) age 18 years or 19
501	501	older in descending precedence by age. 20
502	502	(5) Grandfather or grandmother. 21
503	503	(6) Any other relative (precedence to be deter-22
504	504	mined in accordance with the civil law of descent of 23
505	505	the deceased former member’s State of domicile at 24
506	506	time of death). 25
507	507	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1923.IH H1923
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509	509	•HR 1923 IH
510	510	(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1
511	511	authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 2
512	512	$1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035. 3
513	513	TITLE III—WILDFIRE SMOKE 4
514	514	AND PUBLIC HEALTH 5
515	515	SEC. 301. NATIONAL SMOKE MONITORING AND ALERT SYS-6
516	516	TEM (REPORT RECOMMENDATION 44). 7
517	517	(a) E
518	518	STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Na-8
519	519	tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, acting 9
520	520	through the Director of the National Weather Service, and 10
521	521	in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture acting 11
522	522	through the Chief of the Forest Service, the Secretary of 12
523	523	the Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Pro-13
524	524	tection Agency, and the Director of the Centers for Dis-14
525	525	ease Control and Prevention shall establish a nationally 15
526	526	consistent smoke monitoring and alert system to provide 16
527	527	consistent, real-time information and forecasts on air 17
528	528	quality impacts from wildfire smoke, including wildfire 18
529	529	smoke in the built environment. 19
530	530	(b) I
531	531	NCREASE INSMOKESENSORS.—In carrying out 20
532	532	subsection (a), to ensure adequate and accessible data, the 21
533	533	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 22
534	534	shall increase the availability and use of air monitoring 23
535	535	devices for wildfire smoke, including, to distinguish wild-24
536	536	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Mar 20, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1923.IH H1923
537	537	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 19
538	538	•HR 1923 IH
539	539	fire smoke from other forms of air pollution, increasing 1
540	540	the availability and use of— 2
541	541	(1) speciation monitors; and 3
542	542	(2) nonregulatory air monitors. 4
543	543	(c) U
544	544	SE OFSATELLITES.—In carrying out subsection 5
545	545	(a), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 6
546	546	Agency shall explore the use of satellites. 7
547	547	(d) P
548	548	UBLICCOUNTY-RESOLUTIONSMOKEALERT 8
549	549	S
550	550	YSTEM FORPUBLICHEALTH AND ROADWAYSSAFE-9
551	551	TY.—In carrying out subsection (a), not later than 1 year 10
552	552	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-11
553	553	trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-12
554	554	tration, acting through the Director of the National 13
555	555	Weather Service and in coordination with the Secretary 14
556	556	of Agriculture acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-15
557	557	ice, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator 16
558	558	of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Director 17
559	559	of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall 18
560	560	establish a public county-resolution smoke alert system for 19
561	561	public health and roadways safety which shall be based 20
562	562	on levels of particulate matter. The system established 21
563	563	under this subsection shall be in addition to the National 22
564	564	Weather Service Dense Smoke Advisories, which are based 23
565	565	on visibility. 24
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568	568	•HR 1923 IH
569	569	(e) COLLECTION ANDDISSEMINATION OFAIRQUAL-1
570	570	ITY ANDSMOKEALERTINFORMATION.—In carrying out 2
571	571	subsection (a), the Director of the National Weather Serv-3
572	572	ice shall collect all air quality forecasts, including through 4
573	573	AirNow, public notifications, and alerts for smoke issued 5
574	574	by Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial air agencies 6
575	575	and disseminate them through weather forecast office net-7
576	576	works to enable the Wireless Emergency Alerts System to 8
577	577	be extended to support smoke communications to protect 9
578	578	public health. 10
579	579	(f) F
580	580	ORESTSERVICEPERSONNEL ANDSMOKEMONI-11
581	581	TORINGEQUIPMENT.—In carrying out subsection (a), not 12
582	582	later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 13
583	583	Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief 14
584	584	of the Forest Service, in coordination with the Secretary 15
585	585	of the Interior, shall expand the personnel and smoke 16
586	586	monitoring equipment of the Forest Service to increase the 17
587	587	capacity of the Forest Service to assess wildfire smoke, 18
588	588	including wildfire smoke in the built environment, and 19
589	589	carry out prescribed fires. 20
590	590	(g) I
591	591	NTERAGENCY WILDLANDFIREAIRQUALITY 21
592	592	R
593	593	ESPONSEPROGRAMPERSONNEL AND SMOKEMONI-22
594	594	TORINGEQUIPMENT.—In carrying out subsection (a), not 23
595	595	later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 24
596	596	Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 25
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598	598	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 21
599	599	•HR 1923 IH
600	600	Interior shall expand the personnel (including air resource 1
601	601	advisors) of, and smoke monitoring equipment available 2
602	602	to, the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response 3
603	603	Program established under section 1114(f) of the John D. 4
604	604	Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation 5
605	605	Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1(f)). 6
606	606	(h) E
607	607	XPANSION OFEMERGENCYRESPONSECAPAC-7
608	608	ITY.— 8
609	609	(1) I
610	610	N GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 9
611	611	(a), the Administrator of the Environmental Protec-10
612	612	tion Agency shall expand the emergency response ca-11
613	613	pacity, including personnel and equipment, of the 12
614	614	Environmental Protection Agency— 13
615	615	(A) to measure air pollution from wildfires 14
616	616	that involve combustion of hazardous materials; 15
617	617	and 16
618	618	(B) to communicate information during 17
619	619	smoke events resulting from wildfires. 18
620	620	(2) D
621	621	EFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 19
622	622	‘‘hazardous materials’’ means explosive, flammable, 20
623	623	combustible, corrosive, oxidizing, toxic, infectious, or 21
624	624	radioactive materials that, when involved in an acci-22
625	625	dent and released in sufficient quantities, put some 23
626	626	portion of the general public in immediate danger 24
627	627	from exposure, contact, inhalation, or ingestion. 25
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630	630	•HR 1923 IH
631	631	(i) IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTINGSYSTEMS.—In car-1
632	632	rying out subsection (a), in order to maintain the Environ-2
633	633	mental Protection Agency AirNow framework and tech-3
634	634	nology as a state-of-the-art, real-time resource for pro-4
635	635	viding robust and actionable information to protect public 5
636	636	health from wildfire smoke, the Administrator of the Envi-6
637	637	ronmental Protection Agency shall, as the Administrator 7
638	638	determines appropriate, improve and modernize such 8
639	639	AirNow framework and technology, including by making 9
640	640	improvements to and otherwise modernizing AirNow.gov, 10
641	641	AirNow-Tech, the AirNow Environmental Protection 11
642	642	Agency and Forest Service Fire and Smoke Map, AirNow 12
643	643	Forecast Submittal System, and the AirNow mobile app. 13
644	644	(j) A
645	645	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 14
646	646	authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 15
647	647	$32,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035. 16
648	648	SEC. 302. HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT FOR WILDFIRE 17
649	649	SMOKE EXPOSURE (REPORT RECOMMENDA-18
650	650	TION 100). 19
651	651	(a) I
652	652	NGENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 20
653	653	date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na-21
654	654	tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in 22
655	655	consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental 23
656	656	Protection Agency, the Director of the Centers for Disease 24
657	657	Control and Prevention, the Administrator of the United 25
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659	659	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 23
660	660	•HR 1923 IH
661	661	States Fire Administration, the Chief of the Forest Serv-1
662	662	ice, and the Director of the Office of Wildland Fire, shall 2
663	663	complete a human health risk assessment for worker expo-3
664	664	sure to wildfire smoke to estimate the nature and prob-4
665	665	ability of adverse health effects in workers who may be 5
666	666	exposed to hazards from wildfire smoke, including wildfire 6
667	667	smoke in the built environment. 7
668	668	(b) R
669	669	EQUIREMENTS FOR ASSESSMENT.—The human 8
670	670	health risk assessment required under subsection (a) shall 9
671	671	address the following: 10
672	672	(1) The health problems for workers that may 11
673	673	be caused by exposure to wildfire smoke, including 12
674	674	wildfire smoke in the built environment. 13
675	675	(2) The probability that workers will experience 14
676	676	health problems when exposed to different con-15
677	677	centrations of wildfire smoke, including wildfire 16
678	678	smoke in the built environment. 17
679	679	(3) The chemicals that workers are exposed to 18
680	680	from wildfire smoke, including wildfire smoke in the 19
681	681	built environment, as well as the overall level and 20
682	682	duration of such exposure. 21
683	683	(4) The differences in worker susceptibility to 22
684	684	health effects from exposure to wildfire smoke, in-23
685	685	cluding wildfire smoke in the built environment. 24
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688	688	•HR 1923 IH
689	689	(5) The effectiveness of mitigating both acute 1
690	690	and cumulative exposures to wildfire smoke, includ-2
691	691	ing wildfire smoke in the built environment, in de-3
692	692	creasing adverse health effects from such wildfire 4
693	693	smoke. 5
694	694	(c) B
695	695	ESTPRACTICES.—Not later than 6 months after 6
696	696	completing the human health risk assessment under sub-7
697	697	section (a), the Director of the National Institute for Oc-8
698	698	cupational Safety and Health shall develop and publish 9
699	699	best practices to mitigate worker exposure to wildfire 10
700	700	smoke, including wildfire smoke in the built environment. 11
701	701	Such best practices shall be informed by the human health 12
702	702	assessment completed under subsection (a). 13
703	703	(d) A
704	704	UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 14
705	705	authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the Na-15
706	706	tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to 16
707	707	carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 17
708	708	2026 through 2028. 18
709	709	TITLE IV—FIRE MITIGATION 19
710	710	AND TECHNOLOGY 20
711	711	SEC. 401. IMPROVEMENTS TO WILDFIRE FORAGE LOSS 21
712	712	PROGRAMS (REPORT RECOMMENDATION 59). 22
713	713	(a) L
714	714	IVESTOCK FORAGE PROGRAM.—Section 23
715	715	1501(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 24
716	716	U.S.C. 9081(c)(4)(A)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(in-25
717	717	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Mar 20, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1923.IH H1923
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719	719	•HR 1923 IH
720	720	cluding a prescribed fire, beneficial fire, and wildfire man-1
721	721	aged for resource objectives)’’ before the period. 2
722	722	(b) E
723	723	MERGENCY LIVESTOCKASSISTANCEPRO-3
724	724	GRAM.—Section 1501(d)(1) of the Agricultural Act of 4
725	725	2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 5
726	726	wildfires’’ and inserting ‘‘wildfires, beneficial fires, pre-6
727	727	scribed fires, and wildfires managed for resource objec-7
728	728	tives’’. 8
729	729	SEC. 402. IMPROVEMENTS TO FEMA PROGRAMS (REPORT 9
730	730	RECOMMENDATIONS 66 AND 64). 10
731	731	(a) I
732	732	NGENERAL.—Section 324 of the Robert T. 11
733	733	Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 12
734	734	(42 U.S.C. 5165b) is amended— 13
735	735	(1) in subsection (b)(2)— 14
736	736	(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 15
737	737	and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 16
738	738	adjusting the margins accordingly; and 17
739	739	(B) in the matter preceding clause (i), as 18
740	740	so redesignated, by striking ‘‘provide the fol-19
741	741	lowing percentage rates’’ and inserting ‘‘pro-20
742	742	vide— 21
743	743	‘‘(A) excess funds for management costs as 22
744	744	described in subsection (c); and 23
745	745	‘‘(B) the following percentage rates’’; 24
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748	748	•HR 1923 IH
749	749	(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-1
750	750	section (d); and 2
751	751	(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-3
752	752	lowing: 4
753	753	‘‘(c) U
754	754	SE OFEXCESSFUNDS FORMANAGEMENT 5
755	755	C
756	756	OSTS.— 6
757	757	‘‘(1) D
758	758	EFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 7
759	759	‘excess funds for management costs’ means the dif-8
760	760	ference between— 9
761	761	‘‘(A) the amount of the applicable specific 10
762	762	management costs authorized under subsection 11
763	763	(b)(1) and subsection (b)(2)(B); and 12
764	764	‘‘(B) as of the date on which the grant 13
765	765	award is closed, the amount of funding for 14
766	766	management costs activities expended by the 15
767	767	grantee or subgrantee receiving the financial as-16
768	768	sistance for costs described in subparagraph 17
769	769	(A). 18
770	770	‘‘(2) A
771	771	VAILABILITY OF EXCESS FUNDS FOR 19
772	772	MANAGEMENT COSTS .—The President may make 20
773	773	available to a grantee or subgrantee receiving finan-21
774	774	cial assistance under section 403, 404, 406, 407, or 22
775	775	502 any excess funds for management costs. 23
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778	778	•HR 1923 IH
779	779	‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Excess funds for man-1
780	780	agement costs made available to a grantee or sub-2
781	781	grantee under paragraph (2) may be used for— 3
782	782	‘‘(A) activities associated with building ca-4
783	783	pacity to prepare for, recover from, or mitigate 5
784	784	the impacts of a major disaster or emergency 6
785	785	declared under section 401 or 501, respectively; 7
786	786	and 8
787	787	‘‘(B) management costs associated with 9
788	788	any— 10
789	789	‘‘(i) major disaster; 11
790	790	‘‘(ii) emergency; 12
791	791	‘‘(iii) disaster preparedness measure; 13
792	792	or 14
793	793	‘‘(iv) mitigation activity or measure 15
794	794	authorized under section 203, 204, 205, or 16
795	795	404. 17
796	796	‘‘(4) A
797	797	VAILABILITY.—Excess funds for manage-18
798	798	ment costs made available to a grantee or sub-19
799	799	grantee under paragraph (2) shall remain available 20
800	800	to the grantee or subgrantee until the date that is 21
801	801	5 years after the date on which the excess funds for 22
802	802	management costs are made available under para-23
803	803	graph (2).’’. 24
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806	806	•HR 1923 IH
807	807	(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-1
808	808	section (a) shall apply with respect to any grant award 2
809	809	in relation to a major disaster or emergency declared 3
810	810	under section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. 4
811	811	Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 5
812	812	(42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191)— 6
813	813	(1) the declaration of which is made on or after 7
814	814	the date of enactment of this Act; and 8
815	815	(2) that is funded with amounts appropriated 9
816	816	on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 10
817	817	(c) GAO S
818	818	TUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the 11
819	819	date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 12
820	820	of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 13
821	821	Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-14
822	822	ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-15
823	823	ture of the House of Representatives a report— 16
824	824	(1) on the actual management costs described 17
825	825	in section 324 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 18
826	826	Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 19
827	827	5165b) during the period of a major disaster dec-20
828	828	laration under section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 21
829	829	5170) to determine whether the amount set aside for 22
830	830	those management costs after the date of enactment 23
831	831	of this Act is appropriate; and 24
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834	834	•HR 1923 IH
835	835	(2) that includes the management costs de-1
836	836	scribed in section 324 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis-2
837	837	aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 3
838	838	U.S.C. 5165b) for each disaster declared under dur-4
839	839	ing the period of a major disaster declaration under 5
840	840	section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) during the 6
841	841	5-year period preceding the date of the report, the 7
842	842	amount set aside for those management costs, the 8
843	843	use of those management costs, the length of each 9
844	844	disaster, and the reason for the length of each dis-10
845	845	aster. 11
846	846	(d) N
847	847	OADDITIONALFUNDS.—No additional funds 12
848	848	are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the amend-13
849	849	ments made by subsection (a). 14
850	850	(e) T
851	851	REATMENT OF MULTIPLEEVENTSSTEMMING 15
852	852	F
853	853	ROMSAMEWILDFIRE.— 16
854	854	(1) M
855	855	AJOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE PRO -17
856	856	GRAMS.—Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis-18
857	857	aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 19
858	858	U.S.C. 5170) is amended— 20
859	859	‘‘(d) W
860	860	ILDLANDFIREMAJORDISASTERDECLARA-21
861	861	TION.—In the case of an initial wildland fire major dis-22
862	862	aster declaration under this section, the declaration shall 23
863	863	include any landslide, mudslide, flood, or other natural 24
864	864	disaster event which stems from the wildland fire occuring 25
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867	867	•HR 1923 IH
868	868	within the 3-year period beginning on the first date of the 1
869	869	wildland fire.’’. 2
870	870	(2) E
871	871	MERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS .—Sec-3
872	872	tion 501 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) is amended 4
873	873	by adding at the end the following: 5
874	874	‘‘(d) W
875	875	ILDLANDFIREMAJORDISASTERDECLARA-6
876	876	TION.—In the case of an initial wildland fire major dis-7
877	877	aster declaration under this section, the declaration shall 8
878	878	include any landslide, mudslide, flood, or other natural 9
879	879	disaster event which stems from the wildland fire occuring 10
880	880	within the 3-year period beginning on the first date of the 11
881	881	wildland fire.’’. 12
882	882	(3) E
883	883	FFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 13
884	884	by this subsection shall apply with respect to events 14
885	885	occurring after the date of the enactment of this 15
886	886	Act. 16
887	887	(f) F
888	888	IREMANAGEMENTASSISTANCEPROGRAMPOL-17
889	889	ICY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 18
890	890	of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 19
891	891	Management Agency shall recommend such regulations or 20
892	892	guidance as are necessary to make eligible assessments 21
893	893	and emergency stabilization to protect public safety, in-22
894	894	cluding for the fire management assistance program under 23
895	895	section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 24
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898	898	•HR 1923 IH
899	899	Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187), irrespective 1
900	900	of the incident period for a declared fire. 2
901	901	(g) C
902	902	HANGES TO PUBLICASSISTANCEPOLICY 3
903	903	G
904	904	UIDE.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact-4
905	905	ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emer-5
906	906	gency Management Agency shall amend the Public Assist-6
907	907	ance Program and Policy Guide of the Federal Emergency 7
908	908	Management Agency to include guidance on wildfire-spe-8
909	909	cific recovery challenges, including debris removal, emer-9
910	910	gency protective measures, and the resulting toxicity of 10
911	911	drinking water resources. 11
912	912	(h) M
913	913	ITIGATIONCOSTEFFECTIVENESS.— 12
914	914	(1) I
915	915	N GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 13
916	916	Federal Emergency Management Agency shall con-14
917	917	duct a review of the criteria for evaluating the cost 15
918	918	effectiveness of projects intended to mitigate the im-16
919	919	pacts of wildfire under sections 203 and 404 of the 17
920	920	Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 18
921	921	Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133; 5170c), includ-19
922	922	ing— 20
923	923	(A) the establishment of precalculated ben-21
924	924	efits criterion for common defensible space miti-22
925	925	gation projects for wildfire mitigation; 23
926	926	(B) the use of nature-based infrastructure 24
927	927	in wildfire mitigation; 25
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930	930	•HR 1923 IH
931	931	(C) considerations for vegetation manage-1
932	932	ment for wildfire mitigation; 2
933	933	(D) reducing the negative effects of wild-3
934	934	fire smoke on public health; and 4
935	935	(E) lessening the impact of wildfires on 5
936	936	water infrastructure. 6
937	937	(2) U
938	938	PDATED CRITERIA.—Not later than 1 year 7
939	939	after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-8
940	940	trator shall issue such guidance as is necessary to— 9
941	941	(A) update criteria for evaluating the cost 10
942	942	effectiveness of mitigation projects under sec-11
943	943	tions 203 and 404 of the Robert T. Stafford 12
944	944	Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 13
945	945	(42 U.S.C. 5133; 5170c) based on the results 14
946	946	of the review conducted under paragraph (1); 15
947	947	and 16
948	948	(B) prioritize such projects based on the 17
949	949	criteria updated under subparagraph (A). 18
950	950	SEC. 403. THE WILDLAND DYNAMIC RISK MAPPING PRO-19
951	951	GRAM (REPORT RECOMMENDATION 118). 20
952	952	(a) I
953	953	NGENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 21
954	954	date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 22
955	955	the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 23
956	956	shall work jointly with the National Aeronautical and 24
957	957	Space Agency, United States Geological Survey, United 25
958	958	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Mar 20, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1923.IH H1923
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960	960	•HR 1923 IH
961	961	States Fire Administration, universities, and National 1
962	962	Laboratories to— 2
963	963	(1) develop dynamic risk and hazard maps for 3
964	964	the wildland and built environments in the United 4
965	965	States; and 5
966	966	(2) ensure that such dynamic risk maps are up-6
967	967	dated as required to reflect each wildfire season— 7
968	968	(A) changes in the natural environment, 8
969	969	such as postflood or fire alterations; 9
970	970	(B) rapidly changing environmental condi-10
971	971	tions; 11
972	972	(C) measure changes in fuels moisture on 12
973	973	the temporal scale; and 13
974	974	(D) utilize both remote sensing tech-14
975	975	nologies and on the ground monitoring. 15
976	976	(b) A
977	977	UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16
978	978	authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 17
979	979	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 18
980	980	carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 19
981	981	2026 through 2030. 20
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984	984	•HR 1923 IH
985	985	SEC. 404. IMPROVEMENTS TO GRANT PROGRAMS FOR COM-1
986	986	MUNITY WILDFIRE RISK REDUCTION AND 2
987	987	POSTFIRE RECOVERY EFFORTS (REPORT 3
988	988	RECOMMENDATION 142). 4
989	989	(a) I
990	990	NGENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 5
991	991	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall, 6
992	992	with respect to the grant programs for community wildfire 7
993	993	risk reduction and postfire recovery efforts carried out by 8
994	994	each such Secretary— 9
995	995	(1) increase the accessibility of such grant pro-10
996	996	grams; 11
997	997	(2) reduce the complexity of the application 12
998	998	process for grants under such programs, including— 13
999	999	(A) by reducing the amount of information 14
1000	1000	required to apply; and 15
1001	1001	(B) to the maximum extent practicable, en-16
1002	1002	abling auto-populating fields in the online appli-17
1003	1003	cations for such grants; 18
1004	1004	(3) reduce administrative burden with respect 19
1005	1005	to such grant programs, including by— 20
1006	1006	(A) aligning program applications to re-21
1007	1007	duce separate applications for similar programs; 22
1008	1008	and 23
1009	1009	(B) developing a common section for appli-24
1010	1010	cations to reduce duplicative questions; 25
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1013	1013	•HR 1923 IH
1014	1014	(4) review the statutory and administrative bar-1
1015	1015	riers that impede the ability of communities to 2
1016	1016	quickly access funds under each such grant pro-3
1017	1017	gram; 4
1018	1018	(5) increase technical assistance provided to ap-5
1019	1019	plicants, recipients, and subrecipients; and 6
1020	1020	(6) increase outreach to potential applicants for 7
1021	1021	such grant programs, including by— 8
1022	1022	(A) providing appropriate dedicated staff 9
1023	1023	to assist individuals and communities in identi-10
1024	1024	fying and applying for grants under such grant 11
1025	1025	programs; and 12
1026	1026	(B) notifying potential applicants of eligi-13
1027	1027	bility and open application seasons with respect 14
1028	1028	to such grant programs. 15
1029	1029	(b) S
1030	1030	ECRETARIESDEFINED.—In this section, the 16
1031	1031	term ‘‘Secretaries’’ means the Secretary of the Interior, 17
1032	1032	the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of 18
1033	1033	the Forest Service, the Administrator of the Federal 19
1034	1034	Emergency Management Agency, the Administrator of the 20
1035	1035	Small Business Administration, and the Administrator of 21
1036	1036	the Environmental Protection Agency. 22
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1039	1039	•HR 1923 IH
1040	1040	SEC. 405. JOINT OFFICE OF THE FIRE ENVIRONMENT CEN-1
1041	1041	TER (REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 104, 105, 2
1042	1042	106). 3
1043	1043	(a) E
1044	1044	STABLISHMENT.— 4
1045	1045	(1) I
1046	1046	N GENERAL.—Not later than a 1 year after 5
1047	1047	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-6
1048	1048	trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-7
1049	1049	ministration shall establish a joint office, which shall 8
1050	1050	be known as the ‘‘Joint Office of the Fire Environ-9
1051	1051	ment Center’’. 10
1052	1052	(2) S
1053	1053	TRUCTURE.—The Joint Office shall be 11
1054	1054	comprised of the following branches: 12
1055	1055	(A) T
1056	1056	ECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING .— 13
1057	1057	Technology and Engineering, which shall— 14
1058	1058	(i) focus on modeling and the building 15
1059	1059	and testing of technology; and 16
1060	1060	(ii) may enter into public-private part-17
1061	1061	nerships. 18
1062	1062	(B) D
1063	1063	ATA SERVICES.—Data Services, 19
1064	1064	which shall— 20
1065	1065	(i) be responsible for testing artificial 21
1066	1066	intelligence and machine learning tech-22
1067	1067	nologies to support managers, firefighters, 23
1068	1068	and public health officials on the ground, 24
1069	1069	including producing decision consequence 25
1070	1070	data, modeling risk, and suggesting re-26
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1073	1073	•HR 1923 IH
1074	1074	sources based on fire and smoke conditions 1
1075	1075	at the time and place of ignition detection; 2
1076	1076	and 3
1077	1077	(ii) working with State, local, and 4
1078	1078	Tribal entities on data sharing. 5
1079	1079	(C) A
1080	1080	NALYSIS AND PREDICTION .—Analysis 6
1081	1081	and Prediction. 7
1082	1082	(D) E
1083	1083	DUCATION AND CONSULTATION .— 8
1084	1084	Education and Consultation, which shall be re-9
1085	1085	sponsible for incident management. 10
1086	1086	(E) O
1087	1087	THER.—Any other branch deter-11
1088	1088	mined necessary or appropriate by the Board. 12
1089	1089	(b) F
1090	1090	UNCTIONS OFJOINTOFFICE.— 13
1091	1091	(1) I
1092	1092	N GENERAL.— 14
1093	1093	(A) A
1094	1094	VAILABILITY OF PRODUCTS AND IN -15
1095	1095	FORMATION.—The Joint Office shall make 16
1096	1096	available any products and information devel-17
1097	1097	oped by the Joint Office to— 18
1098	1098	(i) geographic area coordination cen-19
1099	1099	ters; 20
1100	1100	(ii) incident management teams; 21
1101	1101	(iii) land managers; 22
1102	1102	(iv) air quality and water provider 23
1103	1103	agencies; 24
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1106	1106	•HR 1923 IH
1107	1107	(v) State, local, and Tribal govern-1
1108	1108	ments; and 2
1109	1109	(vi) public health agencies. 3
1110	1110	(B) S
1111	1111	ERVICES AND SUPPORT .—The Joint 4
1112	1112	Office shall provide real-time, science-based, 5
1113	1113	and data-rich scientific and technical analytic 6
1114	1114	services, decision support, and predictive serv-7
1115	1115	ices to inform land and fuels management, com-8
1116	1116	munity risk reduction, and fire management 9
1117	1117	and response, including the following: 10
1118	1118	(i) P
1119	1119	REFIRE MITIGATION AND RISK 11
1120	1120	REDUCTION.—Prefire mitigation and risk 12
1121	1121	reduction activities for landscapes and 13
1122	1122	communities, including through assess-14
1123	1123	ments and modeling of— 15
1124	1124	(I) climate condition; 16
1125	1125	(II) fuels; 17
1126	1126	(III) home ignition; 18
1127	1127	(IV) structure-to-structure 19
1128	1128	spread; and 20
1129	1129	(V) values at risk. 21
1130	1130	(ii) P
1131	1131	UBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY 22
1132	1132	DURING AND AFTER FIRE .—Activities that 23
1133	1133	better protect public health and safety dur-24
1134	1134	ing and after a fire, including mapping 25
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1137	1137	•HR 1923 IH
1138	1138	services and data provision to support 1
1139	1139	evacuation decisions in communities at risk 2
1140	1140	and air quality monitoring and forecast 3
1141	1141	data to support health risk information 4
1142	1142	that helps protect the public from smoke 5
1143	1143	impacts associated with fire. 6
1144	1144	(iii) F
1145	1145	IRE RESPONSE AND MANAGE -7
1146	1146	MENT.—Fire response and management, 8
1147	1147	including— 9
1148	1148	(I) response preparedness and 10
1149	1149	initial attack readiness for new fires; 11
1150	1150	(II) deployment of response re-12
1151	1151	sources; and 13
1152	1152	(III) firefighter movement deci-14
1153	1153	sions during active fire management. 15
1154	1154	(iv) P
1155	1155	OSTFIRE ACTIVITIES.—Postfire 16
1156	1156	activities, including— 17
1157	1157	(I) vegetation recovery; 18
1158	1158	(II) debris flows and flooding; 19
1159	1159	(III) watershed protection; and 20
1160	1160	(IV) ecosystem health. 21
1161	1161	(C) C
1162	1162	OORDINATION OF FUNCTIONS .—The 22
1163	1163	Administrator of the National Oceanic and At-23
1164	1164	mospheric Administration, in coordination with 24
1165	1165	each of the agencies specified in subparagraphs 25
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1168	1168	•HR 1923 IH
1169	1169	(B) through (J) of subsection (c)(1), shall oper-1
1170	1170	ate as a collective entity to produce accessible 2
1171	1171	products and services for a variety of users and 3
1172	1172	uses in fire management, including by— 4
1173	1173	(i) developing timely, manager-focused 5
1174	1174	models, technologies, assessments, and 6
1175	1175	forecasts to support fire operational deci-7
1176	1176	sionmaking, and short- and long-term fire 8
1177	1177	planning; and 9
1178	1178	(ii) integrating the existing specialties 10
1179	1179	of the constituent land management, com-11
1180	1180	munity preparedness, and public health 12
1181	1181	agencies. 13
1182	1182	(2) T
1183	1183	ECHNOLOGICAL COMMON OPERATING EN -14
1184	1184	VIRONMENT.— 15
1185	1185	(A) I
1186	1186	N GENERAL.—The Joint Office shall 16
1187	1187	develop a technological common operating envi-17
1188	1188	ronment for practitioners across the spectrum 18
1189	1189	of risk mitigation, prescribed fire, response, and 19
1190	1190	postdisaster response to shepherd the creation 20
1191	1191	of highly dynamic decision support tools. 21
1192	1192	(B) P
1193	1193	UBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION .—The 22
1194	1194	Joint Office shall ensure that public health in-23
1195	1195	formation that is essential to integrate into this 24
1196	1196	common operating environment is provided to 25
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1199	1199	•HR 1923 IH
1200	1200	ensure its products accurately reflect the depth 1
1201	1201	and breadth of the wildfire issues. Information 2
1202	1202	provided shall include air quality data and fore-3
1203	1203	casts and information pertaining to the built 4
1204	1204	environment. 5
1205	1205	(c) B
1206	1206	OARD OF THEJOINTOFFICE.— 6
1207	1207	(1) N
1208	1208	UMBER AND APPOINTMENT .—The Joint 7
1209	1209	Office shall be governed by a board, comprised of 12 8
1210	1210	members, as follows: 9
1211	1211	(A) One member who is a career employee 10
1212	1212	of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-11
1213	1213	ministration, appointed by the Administrator of 12
1214	1214	the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-13
1215	1215	istration. 14
1216	1216	(B) One member who is a career employee 15
1217	1217	of the United States Fire Administration, ap-16
1218	1218	pointed by the Administrator of the United 17
1219	1219	States Fire Administration. 18
1220	1220	(C) One member who is a career employee 19
1221	1221	of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 20
1222	1222	appointed by the Administrator of the Federal 21
1223	1223	Emergency Management Agency. 22
1224	1224	(D) One member who is a career employee 23
1225	1225	of the National Weather Service, appointed by 24
1226	1226	the Director of the National Weather Service. 25
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1229	1229	•HR 1923 IH
1230	1230	(E) One member who is a career employee 1
1231	1231	of the Forest Service, appointed by the Chief of 2
1232	1232	the Forest Service. 3
1233	1233	(F) One member who is a career employee 4
1234	1234	of the Department of the Interior, appointed by 5
1235	1235	the Secretary of the Interior. 6
1236	1236	(G) One member who is a career employee 7
1237	1237	of the Bureau of Land Management, appointed 8
1238	1238	by the Director of the Bureau of Land Manage-9
1239	1239	ment. 10
1240	1240	(H) One member who is a career employee 11
1241	1241	of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, appointed by 12
1242	1242	the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 13
1243	1243	(I) One member who is a career employee 14
1244	1244	of the National Park Service, appointed by the 15
1245	1245	Director of the National Park Service. 16
1246	1246	(J) One member who is a career employee 17
1247	1247	of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 18
1248	1248	appointed by the Director of the United States 19
1249	1249	Fish and Wildlife Service. 20
1250	1250	(K) Two members who are non-Federal 21
1251	1251	representatives of the wildfire community, ap-22
1252	1252	pointed by the Board. Their initial terms can be 23
1253	1253	1 year each. 24
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1256	1256	•HR 1923 IH
1257	1257	(L) Two members who are State represen-1
1258	1258	tations of the wildfire community, appointed by 2
1259	1259	the Board. Their initial terms can be 1 year 3
1260	1260	each. 4
1261	1261	(2) T
1262	1262	ERMS.— 5
1263	1263	(A) I
1264	1264	N GENERAL.—Each member shall be 6
1265	1265	appointed for a term of 5 years, except as pro-7
1266	1266	vided in paragraphs (2) and (3). 8
1267	1267	(B) T
1268	1268	ERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES .—Of 9
1269	1269	the members first appointed— 10
1270	1270	(i) the members appointed under sub-11
1271	1271	paragraphs (I), (J), and (K) of paragraph 12
1272	1272	(1) shall be appointed for terms of 1 year; 13
1273	1273	(ii) the members appointed under sub-14
1274	1274	paragraphs (D) and (G) of paragraph (1) 15
1275	1275	shall be appointed for terms of 2 years; 16
1276	1276	(iii) the members appointed under 17
1277	1277	subparagraphs (F) and (H) of paragraph 18
1278	1278	(1) shall be appointed for terms of 3 years; 19
1279	1279	and 20
1280	1280	(iv) the members appointed under 21
1281	1281	subparagraphs (C) and (E) of paragraph 22
1282	1282	(1) shall be appointed for terms of 4 years. 23
1283	1283	(C) V
1284	1284	ACANCIES.—Any member appointed 24
1285	1285	to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration 25
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1288	1288	•HR 1923 IH
1289	1289	of the term for which the member’s predecessor 1
1290	1290	was appointed shall be appointed only for the 2
1291	1291	remainder of that term. A member may serve 3
1292	1292	after the expiration of that member’s term until 4
1293	1293	a successor has taken office. A vacancy in the 5
1294	1294	Board shall be filled in the manner in which the 6
1295	1295	original appointment was made. 7
1296	1296	(3) P
1297	1297	ROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED -8
1298	1298	ERAL EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Board who are 9
1299	1299	career employees of the United States may not re-10
1300	1300	ceive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by rea-11
1301	1301	son of their service on the Board. 12
1302	1302	(4) T
1303	1303	RAVEL EXPENSES .—Each member shall 13
1304	1304	receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 14
1305	1305	subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions 15
1306	1306	under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 16
1307	1307	States Code. 17
1308	1308	(5) Q
1309	1309	UORUM.—Nine members of the Board 18
1310	1310	shall constitute a quorum. 19
1311	1311	(6) C
1312	1312	HAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 20
1313	1313	Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board 21
1314	1314	shall be elected by the members of the Board. The 22
1315	1315	term of office of the Chairperson and Vice Chair-23
1316	1316	person shall be 1 year. 24
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1319	1319	•HR 1923 IH
1320	1320	(7) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at least 1
1321	1321	quarterly and at a call of a majority of its members. 2
1322	1322	(d) D
1323	1323	IRECTOR ANDSTAFF OFJOINTOFFICE; EX-3
1324	1324	PERTS ANDCONSULTANTS.— 4
1325	1325	(1) D
1326	1326	IRECTOR.—The Joint Office shall have a 5
1327	1327	Director who shall be appointed by the Board. To 6
1328	1328	the extent or in the amounts provided in advance in 7
1329	1329	appropriation Acts, the Director shall be paid at a 8
1330	1330	rate of basic pay not to exceed the rate of basic pay 9
1331	1331	for level II of the Executive Schedule. The budget 10
1332	1332	and decisionmaking authority for the Joint Office is 11
1333	1333	vested in the Director. 12
1334	1334	(2) C
1335	1335	HIEF INFORMATION OFFICER , CHIEF FI-13
1336	1336	NANCIAL OFFICER, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER , 14
1337	1337	AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER .—With the ap-15
1338	1338	proval of the Board, the Director may appoint a 16
1339	1339	Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, 17
1340	1340	Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Operating Offi-18
1341	1341	cer. 19
1342	1342	(3) S
1343	1343	TAFF.—With the approval of the Board, 20
1344	1344	the Director may appoint at least 100 personnel and 21
1345	1345	may appoint such additional personnel as the Direc-22
1346	1346	tor considers appropriate. 23
1347	1347	(4) A
1348	1348	PPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE 24
1349	1349	LAWS.—The Director and staff of the Joint Office 25
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1352	1352	•HR 1923 IH
1353	1353	shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title 1
1354	1354	5, United States Code, governing appointments in 2
1355	1355	the competitive service, and shall be paid in accord-3
1356	1356	ance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub-4
1357	1357	chapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating to 5
1358	1358	classification and General Schedule pay rates. 6
1359	1359	(5) E
1360	1360	XPERTS AND CONSULTANTS .—With the 7
1361	1361	approval of the Joint Office, the Director may pro-8
1362	1362	cure temporary and intermittent services under sec-9
1363	1363	tion 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at 10
1364	1364	rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equiva-11
1365	1365	lent of the maximum annual rate of basic pay under 12
1366	1366	the General Schedule. 13
1367	1367	(6) S
1368	1368	TAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES .—Upon re-14
1369	1369	quest of the Director, the head of any Federal de-15
1370	1370	partment or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 16
1371	1371	basis, any of the personnel of that department or 17
1372	1372	agency to the Joint Office to assist it in carrying out 18
1373	1373	its duties under this Act. 19
1374	1374	(e) C
1375	1375	ONTRACTAUTHORITY.—The Joint Office may 20
1376	1376	contract with and compensate government and private 21
1377	1377	agencies or persons for supplies and services. 22
1378	1378	(f) C
1379	1379	ONSULTATION.—In carrying out its functions 23
1380	1380	under this section, the Joint Office is encouraged to con-24
1381	1381	sult with and share relevant data with the Environmental 25
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1384	1384	•HR 1923 IH
1385	1385	Protection Agency, the National Aeronautical and Space 1
1386	1386	Agency, the United States Geological Survey, and the Cen-2
1387	1387	ters for Disease Control and Prevention. 3
1388	1388	(g) D
1389	1389	EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 4
1390	1390	following definitions shall apply: 5
1391	1391	(1) J
1392	1392	OINT OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Joint Office’’ 6
1393	1393	means the Joint Office of the Fire Environment 7
1394	1394	Center established under subsection (a)(1). 8
1395	1395	(2) B
1396	1396	OARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 9
1397	1397	Board of the Joint Office established by subsection 10
1398	1398	(c). 11
1399	1399	(3) D
1400	1400	IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 12
1401	1401	the Director of the Joint Office required by sub-13
1402	1402	section (d). 14
1403	1403	(h) A
1404	1404	UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 15
1405	1405	authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 16
1406	1406	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 17
1407	1407	carry out this section $150,000,000 for each of fiscal 18
1408	1408	years 2026 through 2035. 19
1409	1409	SEC. 406. INTERAGENCY DATA COLLABORATION ENVIRON-20
1410	1410	MENT (REPORT RECOMMENDATION 107). 21
1411	1411	(a) E
1412	1412	XPANSION OF INFORMATION SYSTEM.—Not 22
1413	1413	later than a 1 year after the date of the enactment of 23
1414	1414	this Act, the Administrator of the United States Fire Ad-24
1415	1415	ministration shall expand the National Emergency Re-25
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1418	1418	•HR 1923 IH
1419	1419	sponse Information System to include real-time informa-1
1420	1420	tion and analytics tools relating to prescribed fires as well 2
1421	1421	as wildfires that do not impact structures and infrastruc-3
1422	1422	ture. The expansion of this system shall be compatible 4
1423	1423	with, and shared with, existing wildland fire information 5
1424	1424	collection at the Fire Environment Center established 6
1425	1425	under section 405. 7
1426	1426	(b) W
1427	1427	ILDFIREDIGITALDATACENTER.— 8
1428	1428	(1) C
1429	1429	REATION.—The Administrator of the 9
1430	1430	United States Fire Administration shall create a 10
1431	1431	data center to be known as the ‘‘Wildfire Digital 11
1432	1432	Data Center’’. The Wildfire Digital Data Center 12
1433	1433	shall be a public, government, scientific research 13
1434	1434	data catalog and repository available to assist the 14
1435	1435	wildfire communities research and share data. 15
1436	1436	(2) D
1437	1437	ATA AND MODELING COLLABORATION EN -16
1438	1438	VIRONMENT.—The Wildfire Digital Data Center 17
1439	1439	shall provide a data and modeling collaboration envi-18
1440	1440	ronment for researchers across the wildfire commu-19
1441	1441	nity to engage with data across agencies and dis-20
1442	1442	ciplines. 21
1443	1443	(3) O
1444	1444	PEN ACCESS.—The Administrator shall 22
1445	1445	ensure that the Wildfire Digital Data Center is in 23
1446	1446	compliance with the guidance on public access poli-24
1447	1447	cies as specified in the Memorandum from the Office 25
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1451	1451	of Science and Technology Policy of the Executive 1
1452	1452	Office of the President that was issued on August 2
1453	1453	25, 2022. 3
1454	1454	(4) I
1455	1455	NFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN WILD -4
1456	1456	FIRE DIGITAL DATA CENTER REPOSITORY .—The 5
1457	1457	Wildfire Digital Data Center shall include in its re-6
1458	1458	pository information on the following areas: 7
1459	1459	(A) Outcomes and impacts of wildfire and 8
1460	1460	associated management actions. 9
1461	1461	(B) Real-time data on new fire starts. 10
1462	1462	(C) The effectiveness of wildfire risk miti-11
1463	1463	gation measures. 12
1464	1464	(D) Public health research related to 13
1465	1465	wildland fire and fires in the built environment. 14
1466	1466	(5) I
1467	1467	NFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED ON 15
1468	1468	WEBSITE.—The Administrator of the United States 16
1469	1469	Fire Administration shall coordinate with the Sec-17
1470	1470	retary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of 18
1471	1471	the Forest Service, to include on the publicly acces-19
1472	1472	sible website of the Wildfire Digital Data Center— 20
1473	1473	(A) information on postwildfire impacts 21
1474	1474	and State and Federal programs and funding 22
1475	1475	opportunities to address such impacts; 23
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1479	1479	(B) State and Federal best practices relat-1
1480	1480	ing to the short- and long-term mitigation of 2
1481	1481	wildfire; and 3
1482	1482	(C) with respect to wildfire, information on 4
1483	1483	ecological recovery, assessment science, and 5
1484	1484	State and Federal emergency declaration proc-6
1485	1485	esses. 7
1486	1486	(6) R
1487	1487	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 8
1488	1488	section shall be construed to affect the ownership of 9
1489	1489	individual agencies over their data sources. 10
1490	1490	(c) F
1491	1491	INDABLE, ACCESSIBLE, INTEROPERABLE, AND 11
1492	1492	R
1493	1493	EUSABLEREQUIREMENT.— 12
1494	1494	(1) A
1495	1495	CCESS REQUIREMENT FOR U .S. DEPART-13
1496	1496	MENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY ALONG WITH THE 14
1497	1497	NATIONAL EMERGENCY TRAINING CENTER LIBRARY 15
1498	1498	AND NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE LIBRARY .— 16
1499	1499	Through the Wildfire Digital Data Center, the U.S. 17
1500	1500	Department of the Interior Library along with the 18
1501	1501	National Emergency Training Center Library and 19
1502	1502	National Forest Service Library shall provide serv-20
1503	1503	ices to make federally funded wildland and struc-21
1504	1504	tural fire research data systems and data products 22
1505	1505	findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable 23
1506	1506	(FAIR). 24
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1509	1509	•HR 1923 IH
1510	1510	(2) The services required by subparagraph (A) 1
1511	1511	shall be integrated with the National Emergency Re-2
1512	1512	sponse Information System of the United States 3
1513	1513	Fire Administration to better collect data and model 4
1514	1514	the built environment. 5
1515	1515	(d) A
1516	1516	UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 6
1517	1517	authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 7
1518	1518	$15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035. 8
1519	1519	SEC. 407. REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO PAYMENT TIMING 9
1520	1520	FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS ADDRESSING 10
1521	1521	WILDFIRE DAMAGES (REPORT REC-11
1522	1522	OMMENDATION 61). 12
1523	1523	(a) E
1524	1524	MERGENCYFORESTRESTORATIONPROGRAM.— 13
1525	1525	Section 407(b) of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 14
1526	1526	U.S.C. 2206) is amended— 15
1527	1527	(1) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting the fol-16
1528	1528	lowing: 17
1529	1529	‘‘(1) I
1530	1530	N GENERAL.—The’’; and 18
1531	1531	(2) by adding at the end the following: 19
1532	1532	‘‘(2) P
1533	1533	AYMENTS FOR EMERGENCY MEASURES 20
1534	1534	TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE .—In the case of an applica-21
1535	1535	tion for a payment by an owner of nonindustrial pri-22
1536	1536	vate forest land who carries out emergency measures 23
1537	1537	to restore the land after the land is damaged by a 24
1538	1538	wildfire, if the Secretary approves such application, 25
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1541	1541	•HR 1923 IH
1542	1542	the Secretary shall provide payment to such owner 1
1543	1543	not later than 90 days after the date on which the 2
1544	1544	application was submitted to the Secretary.’’. 3
1545	1545	(b) E
1546	1546	MERGENCYWATERSHEDPROGRAM.—Section 4
1547	1547	403 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 5
1548	1548	2203) is amended by adding at the end the following: 6
1549	1549	‘‘(c) P
1550	1550	AYMENTS FOREMERGENCYWATERSHEDPRO-7
1551	1551	TECTIONMEASURESTOADDRESSWILDFIREDAMAGE.— 8
1552	1552	In the case of an application for a payment for emergency 9
1553	1553	watershed protection measures addressing a sudden im-10
1554	1554	pairment of a watershed caused by a wildfire, if the Sec-11
1555	1555	retary approves such application, the Secretary shall pro-12
1556	1556	vide such payment not later than 90 days after the date 13
1557	1557	on which the application was submitted to the Secretary.’’. 14
1558	1558	(c) C
1559	1559	OMMUNITYFACILITIESDIRECTLOAN AND 15
1560	1560	G
1561	1561	RANTPROGRAMS.— 16
1562	1562	(1) D
1563	1563	IRECT LOAN PROGRAM .—Section 17
1564	1564	306(a)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De-18
1565	1565	velopment Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(19)) is amended 19
1566	1566	by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the Secretary 20
1567	1567	approves an application for an essential community 21
1568	1568	facilities loan under this paragraph that is submitted 22
1569	1569	by an owner of nonindustrial private forest land (as 23
1570	1570	defined in section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act 24
1571	1571	of 1978) who carries out emergency measures (as 25
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1574	1574	•HR 1923 IH
1575	1575	defined in such section) to restore the land after the 1
1576	1576	land is damaged by a wildfire and the Secretary ap-2
1577	1577	proves the application, the Secretary shall provide 3
1578	1578	the loan to the owner within 90 days after date the 4
1579	1579	application is submitted.’’ 5
1580	1580	(2) G
1581	1581	RANT PROGRAM.—Section 306(a)(19) of 6
1582	1582	such Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(19)) is amended by add-7
1583	1583	ing at the end the following: 8
1584	1584	‘‘(C) P
1585	1585	AYMENTS FOR EMERGENCY MEAS -9
1586	1586	URES TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE .—If the Secretary 10
1587	1587	approves an application for a grant under this 11
1588	1588	paragraph that is submitted by an owner of 12
1589	1589	nonindustrial private forest land (as defined in 13
1590	1590	section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 14
1591	1591	1978) who carries out emergency measures (as 15
1592	1592	defined in such section) to restore the land 16
1593	1593	after the land is damaged by a wildfire and the 17
1594	1594	Secretary approves the application, the Sec-18
1595	1595	retary shall provide the grant to the owner 19
1596	1596	within 90 days after date the application is sub-20
1597	1597	mitted.’’. 21
1598	1598	(d) D
1599	1599	ISASTERRELIEF AND MITIGATIONPRO-22
1600	1600	GRAMS.—The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 23
1601	1601	Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is 24
1602	1602	amended— 25
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1605	1605	•HR 1923 IH
1606	1606	(1) in section 203, by adding at the end the fol-1
1607	1607	lowing: 2
1608	1608	‘‘(m) A
1609	1609	SSISTANCE FORWILDFIREMITIGATION.—If 3
1610	1610	the President approves an application for financial assist-4
1611	1611	ance under this section to implement predisaster hazard 5
1612	1612	mitigation measures related to the mitigation of wildfires, 6
1613	1613	the President shall provide such assistance within 90 days 7
1614	1614	after the date such application is submitted.’’; 8
1615	1615	(2) in section 404, by adding at the end the fol-9
1616	1616	lowing: 10
1617	1617	‘‘(h) A
1618	1618	SSISTANCE FORWILDFIREMITIGATION.—If 11
1619	1619	the President approves an application for hazard mitiga-12
1620	1620	tion assistance under this section that is related to the 13
1621	1621	mitigation of wildfires, the President shall provide such 14
1622	1622	assistance within 90 days after the date such application 15
1623	1623	is submitted.’’; 16
1624	1624	(3) in section 407(e), by adding at the end the 17
1625	1625	following: 18
1626	1626	‘‘(3) P
1627	1627	AYMENTS RELATED TO WILDFIRE .—Not-19
1628	1628	withstanding the requirements of paragraphs (1) 20
1629	1629	and (2), if the President approves an application for 21
1630	1630	a grant under this section to remove debris or 22
1631	1631	wreckage resulting from a wildfire, such grant shall 23
1632	1632	be paid in full no later than the date that is 90 days 24
1633	1633	after the last day such wildfire occurred.’’. 25
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1637	1637	(4) in section 408— 1
1638	1638	(A) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) 2
1639	1639	as subsections (j) and (k), respectively; and 3
1640	1640	(B) by inserting after subsection (h) the 4
1641	1641	following: 5
1642	1642	‘‘(i) P
1643	1643	AYMENTSRELATED TO WILDFIRE.—If the 6
1644	1644	President approves an application for financial assistance 7
1645	1645	under this section for necessary expenses or serious needs 8
1646	1646	related to a wildfire, the President shall provide such as-9
1647	1647	sistance within 90 days after the last day such wildfire 10
1648	1648	occurred.’’. 11
1649	1649	(e) S
1650	1650	MALLBUSINESSADMINISTRATIONDISASTER 12
1651	1651	L
1652	1652	OANPROGRAM.—The Small Business Administration 13
1653	1653	Disaster Loan program under Section 7(b) of the Small 14
1654	1654	Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended— 15
1655	1655	(1) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) 16
1656	1656	(relating to statute of limitations) as paragraph 17
1657	1657	(17); and 18
1658	1658	(2) by inserting after paragraph (17) (as so re-19
1659	1659	designated), the following new paragraph: 20
1660	1660	‘‘(18) E
1661	1661	MERGENCY MEASURES TO ADDRESS 21
1662	1662	WILDFIRE.—If the Administrator approves an appli-22
1663	1663	cation for a loan under this subsection that is sub-23
1664	1664	mitted by an owner of nonindustrial private forest 24
1665	1665	land (as defined in section 407 of the Agricultural 25
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1668	1668	•HR 1923 IH
1669	1669	Credit Act of 1978) who carries out emergency 1
1670	1670	measures (as defined in such section) to restore the 2
1671	1671	land after the land is damaged by a wildfire, the Ad-3
1672	1672	ministrator shall ensure that such loan is disbursed 4
1673	1673	not later than 90 days after date of such approval.’’. 5
1674	1674	Æ
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