Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Presidential Documents 6549 

Executive Order 13976 of January 14, 2021 

Establishing the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

Section 1. Purpose. Federal wildland fire management lacks a single focal 

point of responsibility for policy leadership and accountability for cost controls. While executive departments and agencies (agencies) have implemented 

Executive Order 13855 of December 21, 2018 (Promoting Active Management 

of America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands To Improve 

Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk), and similar Administration efforts, 

more must be done to continue to improve interagency coordination. 

In contrast to effective ground-level coordination with States, including at 

the National Interagency Fire Center on suppression activity and the Wildland 

Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) on Federal-State policy coordination, agencies do not adequately or effectively coordinate with each other at the 

policy level to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire severity. This order 

will ensure that agencies effectively work together in coordinating Federal 

wildland fire management policy to improve funding allocations for hazardous fuel projects, performance measures for suppression operations and 

hazardous fuels mitigation, procurement, Federal-State cooperation and cost 

sharing, cross-jurisdictional post-wildfire rehabilitation, monitoring of electric 

transmission lines and other critical infrastructure, and other functions. 

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: 

(a) Improve coordination among agencies on wildland fire management 

policy, implementation, and oversight issues; 

(b) Reduce unnecessary duplication across the Federal Government by 

coordinating and consolidating existing wildland fire-related councils, working groups, and other formal cross-agency initiatives, as appropriate; 

(c) Efficiently and effectively manage preparedness resources, initial attack 

response, extended attack and large-fire support, post-wildfire rehabilitation, 

and hazardous fuels at a cross-boundary, landscape scale; 

(d) Promote integrated planning and procurement among agencies for Federal investments in wildland fire management infrastructure; 

(e) Support workforce development and efforts to recruit, train, and retain 

Federal wildland firefighters to efficiently and effectively respond to wildfire 

on public lands, and to protect life, property, and community infrastructure; 

and 

(f) Coordinate Federal engagement with State, local, and tribal government 

entities, including Federal policy positions in the WFLC. 

Sec. 3. Interagency Wildland Fire Subcabinet. To promote efficient and 

effective coordination across agencies engaged in Federal wildland firefighting and to facilitate coordinated and strategic wildland fire management 

actions, an interagency Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee (to 

be known as the Wildland Fire Subcabinet) is hereby established. 


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6550 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

(a) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall be co-chaired by the Secretary 

of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior (Co-Chairs), and shall include 

the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland 

Security, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), 

the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Director 

of the National Economic Council (NEC), and the heads of such other agencies, or their designated representatives, as the Co-Chairs deem appropriate. 

(b) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall meet quarterly. 

Sec. 4. Reducing Inefficiencies and Duplication. Currently, several Federal 

wildfire-related councils, task forces, working groups, and other formal crossagency initiatives (Federal interagency working groups) exist to address 

wildland fire management policy. Within 90 days of the date of this order, 

the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall, to the extent practicable, identify all 

such Federal interagency working groups and provide recommendations to 

the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on coordinating and consolidating these Federal interagency working groups, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 

Sec. 5. Improving Wildland Fire Management Policy Coordination, Implementation, and Oversight. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Wildland 

Fire Subcabinet shall develop, publish, and implement a strategic plan addressing the issues described in this section. To implement this strategic 

plan, the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall develop specific measurable goals, 

performance targets, and dashboard reporting for consideration by each Federal agency represented on the Wildland Fire Subcabinet, using common 

data standards at the wildfire and hazardous fuels program level. This strategic plan shall address the issues described below: 

(a) Effectively managing preparedness resources, initial attack response, 

extended attack and large-fire support, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and hazardous fuels at a cross-boundary, landscape scale; 

(b) Developing and adopting additional hazardous fuels performance measures that go beyond the traditional output reporting of total acreage for 

fuel removal to transparently demonstrate a strategic focus on projects that, 

by consensus agreement, pose the highest risks to life, property, and community infrastructure; 

(c) Developing and adopting additional wildland fire suppression operations performance measures for large wildfires, and for aviation asset deployment, that go beyond the traditional output reporting of acres burned, dollars 

spent, and gallons of retardant dropped to demonstrate strategic use of 

high-cost human capital, equipment, and aircraft as opposed to traditional 

reliance on overwhelming force; 

(d) Developing and adopting new technologies to bring to bear cuttingedge management of the wildland fire program to improve the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of suppression operations; 

(e) Developing and adopting data-driven decision-making in order to support infrastructure, allowing for better integration of wildland fire research 

and development into ground-level suppression operations and hazardous 

fuel mitigation; 


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(f) Evaluating personnel policies to ensure that they allow for the yearround availability of a well-trained firefighting force at all levels, from 

apprentice to incident command, and the most efficient division of responsibility between line officers and incident commanders to support wildfire 

response and hazardous fuels reduction; 

(g) Strengthening government and industry collaboration with critical infrastructure owners and operators, including electric utilities, to better manage 

and mitigate risks, improve and invest in technology research and development, deploy technologies in concert with the private sector, exchange lessons learned in training and monitoring capabilities, and share operational 

practices; 

(h) Examining regulatory and other issues that negatively impact hazardous 

fuel reduction and post-wildfire rehabilitation program performance, including coordination across agencies on projects requiring compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 

(i) Coordinating among Federal land managers to assure efficient and 

consistent approaches between agencies to review and approve utility vegetation management actions to improve or maintain the reliability of the grid 

or reduce wildfire risk; and 

(j) Developing a coordinated budget strategy that addresses the tradeoffs between suppression, preparedness, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and 

fuels treatment to ensure a balanced commitment of resources and investment 

in areas at risk or affected by wildfire. 

Sec. 6. Report. Within 1 year of the date of this order, and annually thereafter, 

the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall update the Chairman of CEQ, the Director 

of OMB, the Director of OSTP, and the Director of the NEC on the status 

of the strategic plan and the specific actions identified in this order. 

Sec. 7. Administration. The Department of Agriculture shall, to the extent 

permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, provide 

administrative support as needed for the Wildland Fire Subcabinet to implement this order. The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture shall consult 

with WFLC, as appropriate, to effectively carry out the requirements of 

this order. 

Sec. 8. Federal Advisory Committee Act. The members of the Wildland 

Fire Subcabinet should, pursuant to and consistent with the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), and in the interest of obtaining 

advice or recommendations for the Wildland Fire Subcabinet, use their 

advisory committees, as appropriate. 

Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed 

to impair or otherwise affect: 

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, 

or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable 

law and subject to the availability of appropriations. 


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(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 

against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 

employees, or agents, or any other person. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

January 14, 2021. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01476 

Filed 1–19–21; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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