II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4935 

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to implement measures to better prepare for and more quickly respond 

to wildfires on certain public land and in certain National Forests. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 

Mr. MANCHIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to implement measures to better prepare 

for and more quickly respond to wildfires on certain 

public land and in certain National Forests. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Hasty Response 

5 to Firefighting Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) INITIAL ATTACK.—The term ‘‘initial at2 tack’’ means an aggressive action to put a fire out 

3 by the first resources to arrive, consistent with fire4 fighter and public safety and values to be protected. 

5 (2) NATIONAL FOREST.—The term ‘‘National 

6 Forest’’ means a unit of the National Forest System 

7 located west of the 100th meridian. 

8 (3) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term ‘‘public lands’’ in 

10 section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage11 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

12 (4) QUALIFYING UNIT.—The term ‘‘qualifying 

13 unit’’ means a National Forest or unit of public land 

14 for which the Secretary concerned has developed po15 tential operational delineations for wildfires. 

16 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec17 retary concerned’’ means— 

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

19 through the Chief of the Forest Service, with 

20 respect to a National Forest; and 

21 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re22 spect to public land. 

23 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION AND TRAINING. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each qualifying 

25 unit, the Secretary concerned shall— 


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1 (1) notify each person who is authorized to 

2 carry out timber harvesting work or vegetation man3 agement work within the boundaries of the quali4 fying unit of— 

5 (A) the strategic response zone in which 

6 the contractor is authorized to carry out the 

7 work; 

8 (B) the potential-fire response strategy de9 veloped for that strategic response zone; 

10 (C) each training offered under paragraph 

11 (2); and 

12 (D) the financial incentive established 

13 under paragraph (3) for attending that train14 ing; 

15 (2) in coordination with the National Wildfire 

16 Coordinating Group, offer a 1-day training in the vi17 cinity of that qualifying unit each fiscal year, begin18 ning with fiscal year 2024, in basic firefighting safe19 ty and resource protection, specifically for persons 

20 who routinely carry out timber harvesting work or 

21 vegetation management work; and 

22 (3) provide, not more frequently than once per 

23 fiscal year for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year 

24 thereafter, $1,000 to each company described in 

25 subsection (b). 


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1 (b) COMPANY DESCRIBED.—A company referred to 

2 in subsection (a)(3) is a company— 

3 (1) to which the Administrator of General Serv4 ices has assigned a Unique Entity Identifier; 

5 (2) that— 

6 (A) has placed not fewer than 1 bid to 

7 carry out timber harvesting work or vegetation 

8 management work within the boundaries of a 

9 qualifying unit during the previous fiscal year; 

10 or 

11 (B) is authorized to carry out timber har12 vesting work or vegetation management work 

13 within the boundaries of a qualifying unit dur14 ing that fiscal year; 

15 (3) each of the employees of which that may 

16 carry out timber harvesting work or vegetation man17 agement work within the boundaries of a qualifying 

18 unit attends a training offered under subsection 

19 (a)(2); and 

20 (4) that submits to the Secretary concerned a 

21 certification of attendance described in paragraph 

22 (3) at such time and in such manner as the Sec23 retary concerned may prescribe. 


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1 SEC. 4. INITIAL ATTACK OF WILDFIRES BY TRAINED PER2 SONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law (including regulations), on discovery of a wild5 fire within the boundaries of a qualifying unit by a person 

6 described in subsection (b), the person may undertake ini7 tial attack within the qualifying unit on the wildfire, in8 cluding suppressing, containing, or extinguishing the wild9 fire, if— 

10 (1) the person has completed a training offered 

11 under section 3(a)(2) or a similar training, as deter12 mined by the Secretary concerned; 

13 (2) the total area burned by the wildfire is ap14 proximately 5 acres or less in size; and 

15 (3) the initial attack on the wildfire is con16 sistent with the potential-fire response strategy for 

17 the strategic response zone in which the wildfire is 

18 occurring. 

19 (b) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person referred to in 

20 subsection (a) is— 

21 (1) a person described in section 3(a)(1); 

22 (2) a landowner who— 

23 (A) owns not fewer than 1,000 acres of 

24 land adjacent to a qualifying unit; and 

25 (B) routinely carries out timber harvesting 

26 work or vegetation management work; or 


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1 (3) an employee of a landowner described in 

2 paragraph (2) the employment of whom relates to 

3 timber harvesting work or vegetation management 

4 work on the land described in that paragraph. 

5 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If a person un6 dertakes an initial attack authorized under subsection (a), 

7 the person, to the maximum extent practicable, shall im8 mediately— 

9 (1) alert the local emergency dispatch center; 

10 and 

11 (2) notify the Secretary concerned of— 

12 (A) the location of the wildfire; and 

13 (B) the initial attack being undertaken. 

14 (d) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—The Secretary 

15 concerned shall not provide reimbursement or compensa16 tion to a person for undertaking an initial attack author17 ized under subsection (a). 

18 (e) LIABILITY.— 

19 (1) LIABILITY OF PERSONS.—A person under20 taking an initial attack authorized under subsection 

21 (a) shall not be subject to enforcement, civil or 

22 criminal penalties, citizen suits, or any other liability 

23 (including any liability for response costs, damage to 

24 natural resources, or contribution) for undertaking 

25 the initial attack. 


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1 (2) LIABILITY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERN2 MENT.—The Secretary concerned shall not be liable 

3 for an initial attack undertaken by a person pursu4 ant to subsection (a). 

5 (3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in paragraph 

6 (1) limits the liability of— 

7 (A) any person not authorized to under8 take an initial attack under subsection (a); 

9 (B) a person that was responsible for 

10 starting the applicable fire; or 

11 (C) a person described in section 3(a)(1) 

12 that was not in compliance with the terms of 

13 the authorization to carry out timber harvesting 

14 work or vegetation management work provided 

15 by the Secretary concerned. 

16 SEC. 5. FIRE PREVENTION MEASURES. 

17 As part of an authorization to carry out timber har18 vesting work or vegetation management work within the 

19 boundaries of a qualifying unit, the Secretary concerned 

20 shall— 

21 (1) establish and operate a decision support 

22 tool, to be known as a ‘‘project activity level’’, to 

23 support regulation for fire prevention purposes of an 

24 authorized party carrying out timber harvesting 


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1 work or vegetation management work within the 

2 boundaries of the qualifying unit; and 

3 (2) require the authorized party to have appro4 priate personnel, tools, and equipment onsite and 

5 immediately available for suppressing operations 

6 fires, negligent fires, and other fires in the work 

7 area. 

8 SEC. 6. STATE AND LOCAL AGENCY RESPONSE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned may— 

10 (1) authorize any State or local firefighting 

11 agency to undertake initial attack on a wildfire de12 scribed in subsection (b), including suppressing, con13 taining, or extinguishing the wildfire, without fur14 ther approval by the Secretary concerned, if con15 sistent with the potential-fire response strategy for 

16 the strategic response zone in which the wildfire is 

17 occurring; and 

18 (2) enter into partnerships with State and local 

19 firefighting agencies to dispatch multiple firefighting 

20 resources located near a wildfire described in sub21 section (b) to undertake initial attack on the wild22 fire, including suppressing, containing, or extin23 guishing the wildfire, if consistent with the potential24 fire response strategy for the strategic response zone 

25 in which the wildfire is occurring. 


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1 (b) WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—A wildfire referred to in 

2 subsection (a) is a wildfire that— 

3 (1) is located within the boundaries of a quali4 fying unit; and 

5 (2) has burned not more than approximately 10 

6 acres. 

Æ 


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