1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 582 |
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5 | 5 | | To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant program, |
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6 | 6 | | and for other purposes. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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8 | 8 | | JANUARY21, 2025 |
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9 | 9 | | Mr. H |
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10 | 10 | | UFFMAN(for himself and Mr. OBERNOLTE) introduced the following |
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11 | 11 | | bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- |
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12 | 12 | | nology, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Ag- |
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13 | 13 | | riculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in |
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14 | 14 | | each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- |
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15 | 15 | | tion of the committee concerned |
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16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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17 | 17 | | To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience |
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18 | 18 | | grant program, and for other purposes. |
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19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Protection 4 |
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23 | 23 | | and Wildfire Resilience Act’’. 5 |
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24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 |
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25 | 25 | | In this Act: 7 |
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28 | 28 | | •HR 582 IH |
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29 | 29 | | (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1 |
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30 | 30 | | trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2 |
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31 | 31 | | Emergency Management Agency. 3 |
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32 | 32 | | (2) C |
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33 | 33 | | HIEF.—The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief 4 |
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34 | 34 | | of the Forest Service. 5 |
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35 | 35 | | (3) C |
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36 | 36 | | OMMUNITY PROTECTION AND WILDFIRE 6 |
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37 | 37 | | RESILIENCE PLAN.—The term ‘‘community protec-7 |
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38 | 38 | | tion and wildfire resilience plan’’ means a plan 8 |
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39 | 39 | | that— 9 |
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40 | 40 | | (A) is developed by an eligible entity in co-10 |
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41 | 41 | | ordination with— 11 |
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42 | 42 | | (i) the local community and govern-12 |
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43 | 43 | | ment; 13 |
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44 | 44 | | (ii) local Indian Tribes; 14 |
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45 | 45 | | (iii) local law enforcement, fire-15 |
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46 | 46 | | fighters, first responders, fire managers, 16 |
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47 | 47 | | and utilities; 17 |
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48 | 48 | | (iv) non-governmental organizations 18 |
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49 | 49 | | carrying out relevant projects or relevant 19 |
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50 | 50 | | operations locally; and 20 |
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51 | 51 | | (v) State agencies responsible for— 21 |
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52 | 52 | | (I) fire prevention and emergency 22 |
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53 | 53 | | response; 23 |
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54 | 54 | | (II) other emergency response; 24 |
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55 | 55 | | (III) public safety; 25 |
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58 | 58 | | •HR 582 IH |
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59 | 59 | | (IV) environmental protection; 1 |
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60 | 60 | | and 2 |
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61 | 61 | | (V) forest management. 3 |
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62 | 62 | | (B) includes strategies and activities relat-4 |
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63 | 63 | | ing to— 5 |
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64 | 64 | | (i) improving early detection tech-6 |
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65 | 65 | | nology, public outreach and education, 7 |
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66 | 66 | | alerts and warnings, evacuation planning, 8 |
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67 | 67 | | evacuation execution, and access for first 9 |
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68 | 68 | | responders; 10 |
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69 | 69 | | (ii) addressing vulnerable populations, 11 |
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70 | 70 | | including the elderly, children, individuals 12 |
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71 | 71 | | with disabilities, and homeless individuals; 13 |
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72 | 72 | | (iii) hardening and increasing the re-14 |
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73 | 73 | | siliency of critical infrastructure and 15 |
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74 | 74 | | homes, including through incentive pro-16 |
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75 | 75 | | grams; 17 |
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76 | 76 | | (iv) applying community-scale defen-18 |
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77 | 77 | | sible space projects, developed collabo-19 |
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78 | 78 | | ratively with the entities described in 20 |
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79 | 79 | | clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph 21 |
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80 | 80 | | (A), across contiguous areas; 22 |
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81 | 81 | | (v) building local capacity to imple-23 |
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82 | 82 | | ment and oversee the plan; 24 |
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86 | 86 | | (vi) implementing strategic land use 1 |
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87 | 87 | | planning; 2 |
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88 | 88 | | (vii) educating community members 3 |
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89 | 89 | | about ways to improve community resil-4 |
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90 | 90 | | ience; 5 |
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91 | 91 | | (viii) coordinating any existing wild-6 |
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92 | 92 | | fire plans, such as a community wildfire 7 |
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93 | 93 | | protection plan or a community emergency 8 |
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94 | 94 | | evacuation plan; and 9 |
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95 | 95 | | (ix) incorporating information from a 10 |
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96 | 96 | | map generated pursuant to section 210(a) 11 |
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97 | 97 | | of division O of the Consolidated Appro-12 |
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98 | 98 | | priations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; 13 |
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99 | 99 | | Public Law 115–141); and 14 |
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100 | 100 | | (C) may consist of existing plans or other 15 |
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101 | 101 | | efforts, provided that any such plan complies 16 |
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102 | 102 | | with subparagraphs (A) and (B). 17 |
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103 | 103 | | (4) C |
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104 | 104 | | RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The term 18 |
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105 | 105 | | ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ means any public safety, 19 |
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106 | 106 | | health, education, transportation, communications, 20 |
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107 | 107 | | or water or power utility infrastructure or any pri-21 |
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108 | 108 | | vate infrastructure necessary to preserve community 22 |
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109 | 109 | | safety, resilience, or continuity of operation of such 23 |
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110 | 110 | | infrastructure with respect to a wildfire threat. 24 |
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114 | 114 | | (5) DEFENSIBLE SPACE PROJECT .—The term 1 |
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115 | 115 | | ‘‘defensible space project’’— 2 |
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116 | 116 | | (A) means a project that is conducted 3 |
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117 | 117 | | within a radius of not more than 100 feet 4 |
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118 | 118 | | around a home, business, or administrative fa-5 |
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119 | 119 | | cility, and is comprised of vegetation pruning, 6 |
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120 | 120 | | such as annual removal of tree seedlings and 7 |
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121 | 121 | | saplings, lower limbs of mature trees, cutting of 8 |
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122 | 122 | | grasses and reducing density and continuity of 9 |
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123 | 123 | | shrubs, and removal of most small twigs and 10 |
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124 | 124 | | leaves; or 11 |
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125 | 125 | | (B) at the discretion of the Administrator, 12 |
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126 | 126 | | if a project funded under the program is being 13 |
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127 | 127 | | carried out in a State that has established, by 14 |
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128 | 128 | | law, a more restrictive definition of the term, 15 |
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129 | 129 | | has the meaning given the term in State law. 16 |
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130 | 130 | | (6) E |
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131 | 131 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-17 |
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132 | 132 | | ty’’ means— 18 |
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133 | 133 | | (A) a State; 19 |
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134 | 134 | | (B) an Indian Tribe; 20 |
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135 | 135 | | (C) a unit of general local or regional gov-21 |
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136 | 136 | | ernment, including a fire protection district or 22 |
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137 | 137 | | a municipal fire department; 23 |
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138 | 138 | | (D) a volunteer fire department; or 24 |
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142 | 142 | | (E) a collaborative effort of not less than 1 |
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143 | 143 | | 2 entities described in subparagraphs (A) 2 |
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144 | 144 | | through (D). 3 |
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145 | 145 | | (7) P |
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146 | 146 | | ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 4 |
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147 | 147 | | the grant program established under section 3(a). 5 |
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148 | 148 | | (8) S |
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149 | 149 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 6 |
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150 | 150 | | of the United States, the District of Columbia, 7 |
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151 | 151 | | Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American 8 |
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152 | 152 | | Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 9 |
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153 | 153 | | other territory or possession of the United States. 10 |
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154 | 154 | | SEC. 3. COMMUNITY PROTECTION AND WILDFIRE RESIL-11 |
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155 | 155 | | IENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 12 |
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156 | 156 | | (a) E |
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157 | 157 | | STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 13 |
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158 | 158 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, act-14 |
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159 | 159 | | ing through the United States Fire Administrator and in 15 |
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160 | 160 | | coordination with the Chief, shall establish a program, 16 |
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161 | 161 | | which shall be separate from the program established 17 |
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162 | 162 | | under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-18 |
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163 | 163 | | lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133), 19 |
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164 | 164 | | under which the Administrator shall award grants to eligi-20 |
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165 | 165 | | ble entities to— 21 |
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166 | 166 | | (1) in the case of an eligible entity that has a 22 |
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167 | 167 | | community protection and wildfire resilience plan, 23 |
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168 | 168 | | carry out projects described in the community pro-24 |
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171 | 171 | | •HR 582 IH |
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172 | 172 | | tection and wildfire resilience plan of the eligible en-1 |
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173 | 173 | | tity in accordance with subsection (c); or 2 |
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174 | 174 | | (2) in the case of an eligible entity that does 3 |
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175 | 175 | | not have a community protection and wildfire resil-4 |
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176 | 176 | | ience plan, develop a community protection and wild-5 |
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177 | 177 | | fire resilience plan in accordance with subsection (d). 6 |
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178 | 178 | | (b) C |
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179 | 179 | | RITERIA FORGRANTS.— 7 |
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180 | 180 | | (1) I |
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181 | 181 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 8 |
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182 | 182 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 9 |
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183 | 183 | | acting through the United States Fire Administrator 10 |
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184 | 184 | | and in coordination with the Chief, shall establish 11 |
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185 | 185 | | criteria to award grants under the program. 12 |
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186 | 186 | | (2) C |
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187 | 187 | | OMMUNITIES.—Amounts provided under 13 |
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188 | 188 | | the program shall be used to conduct projects and 14 |
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189 | 189 | | activities only in communities in existence on the 15 |
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190 | 190 | | date of enactment of this Act. 16 |
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191 | 191 | | (3) P |
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192 | 192 | | RIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 17 |
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193 | 193 | | program, the Administrator shall give priority to eli-18 |
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194 | 194 | | gible entities that will carry out projects or plans 19 |
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195 | 195 | | supporting a community located in an area with a 20 |
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196 | 196 | | high risk for fire or wildfire, as evidenced by a State 21 |
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197 | 197 | | wildfire hazard map or a map generated pursuant to 22 |
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198 | 198 | | section 210(a) of division O of the Consolidated Ap-23 |
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199 | 199 | | propriations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public 24 |
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200 | 200 | | Law 115–141). 25 |
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203 | 203 | | •HR 582 IH |
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204 | 204 | | (c) COMMUNITYPROTECTION ANDWILDFIRERESIL-1 |
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205 | 205 | | IENCEGRANTS.— 2 |
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206 | 206 | | (1) U |
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207 | 207 | | SE OF GRANT FUNDS .—An eligible entity 3 |
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208 | 208 | | that receives a grant under the program must use 4 |
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209 | 209 | | grant funds to carry out projects that support a di-5 |
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210 | 210 | | verse portfolio of community protection and wildfire 6 |
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211 | 211 | | resilience strategies described in the community pro-7 |
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212 | 212 | | tection and wildfire resilience plan of the eligible en-8 |
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213 | 213 | | tity. 9 |
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214 | 214 | | (2) G |
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215 | 215 | | RANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub-10 |
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216 | 216 | | section shall be for not more than $10,000,000. 11 |
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217 | 217 | | (d) C |
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218 | 218 | | OMMUNITYPROTECTION ANDWILDFIRERESIL-12 |
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219 | 219 | | IENCEPLANDEVELOPMENTGRANTS.— 13 |
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220 | 220 | | (1) U |
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221 | 221 | | SE OF GRANT FUNDS .—An eligible entity 14 |
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222 | 222 | | that receives a grant under the program may use 15 |
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223 | 223 | | grant funds to develop a community protection and 16 |
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224 | 224 | | wildfire resilience plan for the eligible entity. 17 |
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225 | 225 | | (2) G |
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226 | 226 | | RANT AMOUNTS.—An award under this 18 |
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227 | 227 | | subsection shall be for not more than $250,000. 19 |
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228 | 228 | | (e) P |
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229 | 229 | | REFERENCE FOR LOCALCONTRACTORS AND 20 |
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230 | 230 | | L |
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231 | 231 | | ABOR.—In carrying out a project using a grant awarded 21 |
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232 | 232 | | under the program, the grant recipient shall, to the max-22 |
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233 | 233 | | imum extent practicable, give preference to contracting 23 |
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234 | 234 | | with entities, and hiring individuals, from the area in 24 |
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235 | 235 | | which the project is being carried out, including by 25 |
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239 | 239 | | partnering with local corps groups such as AmeriCorps or 1 |
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240 | 240 | | a conservation corps. 2 |
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241 | 241 | | (f) C |
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242 | 242 | | OST-SHARING.— 3 |
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243 | 243 | | (1) N |
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244 | 244 | | ON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENT .—The 4 |
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245 | 245 | | non-Federal share of the cost (including the admin-5 |
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246 | 246 | | istrative cost) of carrying out a project using funds 6 |
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247 | 247 | | from a grant awarded under the program— 7 |
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248 | 248 | | (A)(i) shall be not less than 25 percent of 8 |
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249 | 249 | | the cost of the project to be carried out using 9 |
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250 | 250 | | grant funds in accordance with subsection (c); 10 |
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251 | 251 | | and 11 |
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252 | 252 | | (ii) shall be 0 percent of the cost of the 12 |
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253 | 253 | | project to be carried out using grant funds in 13 |
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254 | 254 | | accordance with subsection (d); 14 |
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255 | 255 | | (B) may be provided by— 15 |
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256 | 256 | | (i) a State, a unit of local government, 16 |
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257 | 257 | | an Indian Tribe, a nonprofit organization, 17 |
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258 | 258 | | private industry, or a combination of those 18 |
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259 | 259 | | entities; or 19 |
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260 | 260 | | (ii) volunteer hours and in-kind dona-20 |
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261 | 261 | | tions; and 21 |
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262 | 262 | | (C) may, in the case of a project that 22 |
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263 | 263 | | serves a low-income community, be in the form 23 |
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264 | 264 | | of a low-interest Federal loan to the eligible en-24 |
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265 | 265 | | tity carrying out the project through the Com-25 |
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268 | 268 | | •HR 582 IH |
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269 | 269 | | munity Disaster Loan program authorized 1 |
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270 | 270 | | under section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford 2 |
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271 | 271 | | Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 3 |
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272 | 272 | | (42 U.S.C. 5184). 4 |
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273 | 273 | | (2) W |
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274 | 274 | | AIVER; REDUCTION.—In carrying out the 5 |
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275 | 275 | | program, the Administrator may waive or reduce the 6 |
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276 | 276 | | non-Federal share amount required under paragraph 7 |
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277 | 277 | | (1). 8 |
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278 | 278 | | (g) A |
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279 | 279 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 9 |
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280 | 280 | | are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pro-10 |
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281 | 281 | | gram $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 11 |
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282 | 282 | | through 2029. 12 |
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283 | 283 | | SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT. 13 |
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284 | 284 | | Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 14 |
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285 | 285 | | of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 15 |
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286 | 286 | | shall publish a report— 16 |
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287 | 287 | | (1) on authorities and programs of the Federal 17 |
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288 | 288 | | Government that are available to protect commu-18 |
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289 | 289 | | nities from wildfires; and 19 |
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290 | 290 | | (2) that includes an assessment of the Comp-20 |
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291 | 291 | | troller General with respect to impediments to the 21 |
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292 | 292 | | implementation of such programs, including gaps in 22 |
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293 | 293 | | funding. 23 |
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297 | 297 | | SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 1 |
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298 | 298 | | Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 2 |
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299 | 299 | | of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 3 |
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300 | 300 | | shall publish a study that includes— 4 |
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301 | 301 | | (1) an assessment of the Comptroller General 5 |
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302 | 302 | | with respect to— 6 |
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303 | 303 | | (A) the potential for a community protec-7 |
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304 | 304 | | tion and wildfire resilience plan to qualify for a 8 |
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305 | 305 | | certification identifying a level of wildfire sur-9 |
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306 | 306 | | vivability and resilience; and 10 |
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307 | 307 | | (B) methods that could be used by the 11 |
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308 | 308 | | Federal Government to incentivize insurance 12 |
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309 | 309 | | companies to accept such a certification; and 13 |
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310 | 310 | | (2) an identification of any metrics that could 14 |
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311 | 311 | | be provided to insurance companies as assurance 15 |
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312 | 312 | | that a community has wildfire resilience measures in 16 |
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313 | 313 | | place. 17 |
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314 | 314 | | SEC. 6. UPDATING LIST OF AT-RISK COMMUNITIES. 18 |
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315 | 315 | | (a) I |
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316 | 316 | | NGENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 19 |
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317 | 317 | | 101(1) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 20 |
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318 | 318 | | (16 U.S.C. 6511(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 21 |
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319 | 319 | | ‘‘(A) that is comprised of a group of homes 22 |
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320 | 320 | | and other structures with basic infrastructure 23 |
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321 | 321 | | and services (such as utilities and collectively 24 |
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322 | 322 | | maintained transportation routes) within or ad-25 |
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323 | 323 | | jacent to Federal land;’’. 26 |
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327 | 327 | | (b) MAP.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 1 |
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328 | 328 | | enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the 2 |
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329 | 329 | | Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Ad-3 |
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330 | 330 | | ministrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall de-4 |
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331 | 331 | | velop and publish a map depicting at-risk communities (as 5 |
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332 | 332 | | defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration 6 |
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333 | 333 | | Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511), as amended by this sec-7 |
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334 | 334 | | tion), including Tribal at-risk communities. 8 |
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335 | 335 | | SEC. 7. REPORT ON RADIO COMMUNICATIONS. 9 |
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336 | 336 | | (a) I |
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337 | 337 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 10 |
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338 | 338 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, acting 11 |
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339 | 339 | | through the United States Fire Administrator and in co-12 |
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340 | 340 | | ordination with the Chief, shall prepare a report relating 13 |
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341 | 341 | | to insufficient radio frequencies, barriers to interoper-14 |
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342 | 342 | | ability of radio frequencies, and available products and 15 |
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343 | 343 | | technologies for overcoming barriers to interoperability for 16 |
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344 | 344 | | wildfire management. 17 |
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345 | 345 | | (b) C |
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346 | 346 | | OOPERATION.—In preparing the report under 18 |
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347 | 347 | | subsection (a), the Administrator shall cooperate with— 19 |
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348 | 348 | | (1) the Secretary of Agriculture; 20 |
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349 | 349 | | (2) agencies responsible for the management of 21 |
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350 | 350 | | Federal land; 22 |
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351 | 351 | | (3) State fire marshals; 23 |
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352 | 352 | | (4) State and local emergency response agen-24 |
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353 | 353 | | cies; 25 |
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357 | 357 | | (5) Tribal fire departments and emergency 1 |
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358 | 358 | | managers; and 2 |
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359 | 359 | | (6) municipal fire departments, fire protection 3 |
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360 | 360 | | districts, and volunteer fire departments in relevant 4 |
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361 | 361 | | communities. 5 |
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362 | 362 | | (c) C |
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363 | 363 | | OMPATIBILITY; ADDITIONALFREQUENCIES.— 6 |
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364 | 364 | | The report under subsection (a) shall include— 7 |
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365 | 365 | | (1) a determination on whether the entities de-8 |
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366 | 366 | | scribed in subsection (b) have the ability to commu-9 |
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367 | 367 | | nicate by way of radio during a potential fire sup-10 |
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368 | 368 | | pression effort for a community conflagration; 11 |
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369 | 369 | | (2) a determination on whether— 12 |
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370 | 370 | | (A) the reserved radio frequencies are suf-13 |
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371 | 371 | | ficient for wildfire management; or 14 |
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372 | 372 | | (B) additional frequencies, listed by type 15 |
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373 | 373 | | and location, are recommended to be reserved 16 |
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374 | 374 | | or obtained; 17 |
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375 | 375 | | (3) an analysis of commercially available tech-18 |
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376 | 376 | | nology and products to enable radios from multiple 19 |
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377 | 377 | | agencies operating on different radio frequencies to 20 |
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378 | 378 | | be interoperable; and 21 |
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379 | 379 | | (4) if the Administrator determines under para-22 |
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380 | 380 | | graph (1) that any entities do not have the ability 23 |
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381 | 381 | | to communicate, a plan for ensuring such entities 24 |
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382 | 382 | | would be able to communicate adequately during a 25 |
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385 | 385 | | •HR 582 IH |
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386 | 386 | | fire suppression effort for a community conflagra-1 |
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387 | 387 | | tion. 2 |
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388 | 388 | | SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE 3 |
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389 | 389 | | GRANT PROGRAM TO ALLOW STRUCTURE 4 |
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390 | 390 | | HARDENING. 5 |
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391 | 391 | | Section 40803(f) of the Infrastructure Investment 6 |
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392 | 392 | | and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(f)) is amended— 7 |
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393 | 393 | | (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘projects’’ 8 |
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394 | 394 | | and inserting ‘‘projects (including covered 9 |
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395 | 395 | | projects)’’; and 10 |
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396 | 396 | | (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 11 |
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397 | 397 | | following new subparagraph: 12 |
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398 | 398 | | ‘‘(D) C |
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399 | 399 | | OVERED PROJECTS DEFINED .—In 13 |
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400 | 400 | | this subsection, the term ‘covered projects’ 14 |
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401 | 401 | | means the following: 15 |
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402 | 402 | | ‘‘(i) The construction, modification, or 16 |
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403 | 403 | | maintenance of a structure to make the 17 |
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404 | 404 | | structure resistant to the intrusion of 18 |
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405 | 405 | | flames or embers. 19 |
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406 | 406 | | ‘‘(ii) The modification of a structure 20 |
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407 | 407 | | or an area adjacent to a structure, (includ-21 |
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408 | 408 | | ing vegetation and miscellaneous struc-22 |
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409 | 409 | | tures, such as garages, sheds, and fencing) 23 |
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410 | 410 | | if such modification is carried out— 24 |
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413 | 413 | | •HR 582 IH |
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414 | 414 | | ‘‘(I) to reduce the exposure of the 1 |
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415 | 415 | | structure to direct contact from flame, 2 |
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416 | 416 | | radiation, or embers from wildfire; 3 |
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417 | 417 | | and 4 |
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418 | 418 | | ‘‘(II) with consideration for the 5 |
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419 | 419 | | potential effects on the structure of 6 |
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420 | 420 | | nearby combustible features (including 7 |
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421 | 421 | | vegetation, vehicles, and miscellaneous 8 |
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422 | 422 | | structures, such as garages, sheds, 9 |
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423 | 423 | | and fencing).’’. 10 |
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424 | 424 | | Æ |
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426 | 426 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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