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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9703 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9703

  To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a 
   study on existing programs, rules, and authorities that enable or 
inhibit wildfire mitigation across land ownership boundaries on Federal 
                         and non-Federal land.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2024

    Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mrs. Kim of California, Mr. Harder of 
California, and Mr. Molinaro) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a 
   study on existing programs, rules, and authorities that enable or 
inhibit wildfire mitigation across land ownership boundaries on Federal 
                         and non-Federal land.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions 
Act''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON WILDFIRE MITIGATION ACROSS LAND OWNERSHIP BOUNDARIES.

    (a) Study Required.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study on--
            (1) the existing Federal programs, rules, and authorities 
        that enable or inhibit wildfire mitigation from being completed 
        across land ownership boundaries on Federal and non-Federal 
        land;
            (2) whether changes to any program, rule, or authority 
        identified pursuant to paragraph (1) would allow Federal land 
        management agencies (as defined in section 802 of the Federal 
        Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801)), the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the 
        Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security, acting through the Administrator of the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Fire 
        Administration, States, local governments, and Tribal 
        governments increased capacity or access to funding to mitigate 
        wildfires; and
            (3) the activities carried out pursuant to subsection (e) 
        of section 103 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 
        (16 U.S.C. 6513), including--
                    (A) how to improve the efficacy of such activities 
                with respect to mitigating wildfire; and
                    (B) whether the enactment of such subsection has 
                increased the access of Federal land management 
                agencies and States to funding to mitigate wildfires.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the Senate a 
report that contains--
            (1) the results of the study required under subsection (a); 
        and
            (2) recommendations to simplify cross-boundary wildfire 
        mitigation between Federal land management agencies and State, 
        local, and Tribal governments.
                                 <all>
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