16 U.S.C. § 6592: Wildfire risk reduction

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, for the activities described in subsection (c), $3,369,200,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. the wildland-urban interface; or a public drinking water source area. $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $120,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $480,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior to acquire technology and infrastructure for each Type I and Type II incident management team to maintain interoperability with respect to the radio frequencies used by any responding agency; $30,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial assistance to States, Indian Tribes, and units of local government to establish and operate Reverse-911 telecommunication systems; $50,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a pilot program to provide to local governments financial assistance for the acquisition of slip-on tanker units to establish fleets of vehicles that can be quickly converted to be operated as fire engines; $1,200,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, to develop and publish, not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021 , and every 5 years thereafter, a map depicting at-risk communities (as defined in section 6511 of this title ), including Tribal at-risk communities; potential operational delineations; and select potential control locations; and wildland firefighting; and increasing the pace and scale of vegetation treatments, including training on how to prepare and implement large landscape treatments; and $50,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $50,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; to compile and display existing data, including geographic data, for hazardous fuel reduction or wildfire prevention treatments undertaken by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including treatments undertaken with funding provided under this title; to compile and display existing data, including geographic data, for large wildfires, as defined by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, that occur in the United States; assessing and planning cross-boundary fuel treatments; and monitoring the effects of treatments on wildfire outcomes and ecosystem restoration services, using the data compiled under subparagraphs (A) and (B); Federal land management agency; region of the United States; and treatment type; and to carry out other related activities of a Southwest Ecological Restoration Institute, as authorized by the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004 ( 16 U.S.C. 6701 et seq.); $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture for collaboration and collaboration-based activities, including facilitation, certification of collaboratives, and planning and implementing projects under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established under section 7303 of this title in accordance with subsection (e); conducting mechanical thinning and timber harvesting in an ecologically appropriate manner that maximizes the retention of large trees, as appropriate for the forest type, to the extent that the trees promote fire-resilient stands; or precommercial thinning in young growth stands for wildlife habitat benefits to provide subsistence resources; and $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $400,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $500,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with States, to award community wildfire defense grants to at-risk communities in accordance with subsection (f); $250,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $250,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $250,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $250,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior; and $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture; to provide feedstock to firewood banks; and to provide financial assistance for the operation of firewood banks; and $10,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture for the procurement and placement of wildfire detection and real-time monitoring equipment, such as sensors, cameras, and other relevant equipment, in areas at risk of wildfire or post-burned areas. Subject to the availability of appropriations, not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021 , the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall, using the amounts made available under subsection (c)(2), coordinate with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to develop a distinct “wildland firefighter” occupational series. to remain in the occupational series in which the individual is employed; or to be included in the “wildland firefighter” occupational series established under that paragraph. are full-time, permanent, year-round Federal employees; and reduce hazardous fuels on Federal land not fewer than 800 hours per year; and increase the base salary of a Federal wildland firefighter by the lesser of an amount that is commensurate with an increase of $20,000 per year or an amount equal to 50 percent of the base salary, if the Secretary concerned, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, makes a written determination that the position of the Federal wildland firefighter is located within a specified geographic area in which it is difficult to recruit or retain a Federal wildland firefighter. develop and adhere to recommendations for mitigation strategies for wildland firefighters to minimize exposure due to line-of-duty environmental hazards; and establish programs for permanent, temporary, seasonal, and year-round wildland firefighters to recognize and address mental health needs, including post-traumatic stress disorder care. solicit new project proposals under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established under section 7303 of this title (referred to in this subsection as the “Program”); that has been approved for an extension of funding by the Secretary of Agriculture prior to November 15, 2021 ; or that has been recommended for an extension of funding by the advisory panel established under section 7303(e) of this title prior to November 15, 2021 , that the Secretary of Agriculture subsequently approves; and have been identified as having very high wildfire hazard potential; and the wildland-urban interface; or a public drinking water source area; the cost per acre of Federal land or Indian forest land or rangeland acres described in subparagraph (A) to be treated; and the number of acres described in subparagraph (A) to be treated; gives priority to a project proposal that is proposed by a collaborative that has successfully accomplished treatments consistent with a written plan that included a proposed schedule of completing those treatments, which is not limited to an earlier proposal funded under the Program; and discontinues funding for a project that fails to achieve the results included in a project proposal submitted under paragraph (1) for more than 2 consecutive years. to develop or revise a community wildfire protection plan; and to carry out projects described in a community wildfire protection plan that is not more than 10 years old. in an area identified by the Secretary of Agriculture as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential; a low-income community; or a community impacted by a severe disaster. awarded under paragraph (1)(A) shall be for not more than $250,000; and awarded under paragraph (1)(B) shall be for not more than $10,000,000. not less than 10 percent for a grant awarded under paragraph (1)(A); and not less than 25 percent for a grant awarded under paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary of Agriculture may waive the cost-sharing requirement under clause (i) for a project that serves an underserved community. is located in the continental United States; and the roof construction standards established by the National Fire Protection Association; or an applicable model building code established by the International Code Council. for which any applicable processes under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) have been completed on November 15, 2021 ; that reduce the likelihood of experiencing uncharacteristically severe effects from a potential wildfire by focusing on areas strategically important for reducing the risks associated with wildfires; that maximize the retention of large trees, as appropriate for the forest type, to the extent that the trees promote fire-resilient stands; that do not include the establishment of permanent roads; for which funding would be committed to decommission all temporary roads constructed to carry out the project; and that fully maintain or contribute toward the restoration of the structure and composition of old growth stands consistent with the characteristics of that forest type, taking into account the contribution of the old growth stand to landscape fire adaption and watershed health, unless the old growth stand is part of a science-based ecological restoration project authorized by the Secretary concerned that meets applicable protection and old growth enhancement objectives, as determined by the Secretary concerned. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall complete and submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives an annual report describing the number of acres of land on which projects carried out using funds made available under this section improved the Fire Regime Condition Class of the land described in subsection (b). Not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021 , the Secretary of Agriculture shall initiate a study of the construction and maintenance of a system of strategically placed fuelbreaks to control wildfires in western States. a full suite of manual, chemical, and mechanical treatments; and the effectiveness of the system described in that paragraph in reducing wildfire risk and protecting communities. Not later than 90 days after the date of completion of the study under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine whether to initiate the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement implementing the system described in that paragraph in appropriate locations. describes activities under subsection (c) that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior will take to reduce the risk of wildfire by conducting restoration treatments and improving the Fire Regime Condition Class of 10,000,000 acres of Federal land or Tribal Forest land or rangeland that is identified as having very high wildfire hazard potential, not including annual treatments otherwise scheduled; establishes a process for prioritizing treatments in areas and communities at the highest risk of catastrophic wildfires; to leverage public-private partnerships and resources, shared stewardship agreements, good neighbor agreements, and similar contracting authorities; to prioritize projects for which any applicable processes under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) have been completed as of November 15, 2021 ; to streamline subsequent projects based on existing statutory or regulatory authorities; and to develop interagency teams to increase coordination and efficiency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 ) [ 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]; and establishes a process for coordinating prioritization and treatment with State and local entities and affected stakeholders. to maintain forest health improvements and wildfire risk reduction accomplished under this section; to continue treatment at levels necessary to address the 20,000,000 acres needing priority treatment over the 10-year period beginning on the date of publication of the strategy; and to proactively conduct treatment at a level necessary to minimize the risk of wildfire to surrounding at-risk communities. A project carried out using funding authorized under paragraphs (11)(A)(i), (13), or (14) of subsection (c) shall be considered an authorized hazardous fuel reduction project pursuant to section 6512 of this title .