I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1242 

To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in 

responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. 

JACOBS, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Transportation 

and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources, 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 make improvements to the role of the Department of 

Defense in responding to domestic emergencies, including 

wildfires. 

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 ‘‘Military Support for 

5 Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TO RE2 IMBURSE STATE COSTS OF FIGHTING CER3 TAIN WILDLAND FIRES. 

4 Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR FIREGUARD PROGRAM. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—Chapter 5 of title 32, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 510. Authorization for FireGuard Program 

11 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

12 may use members of the National Guard to carry out a 

13 program to aggregate, analyze, and assess multi-source re14 mote sensing information for interagency partnerships in 

15 the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to support 

16 any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program 

17 shall be known as the ‘FireGuard Program’. 

18 ‘‘(b) RESOURCES; LIMITATION.—If the Secretary 

19 carries out a program under this section, the Secretary— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall transfer the functions, personnel, as21 sets, and capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in 

22 existence on the day before the date of enactment of 

23 the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 

24 2023, to the FireGuard Program authorized under 

25 this section; 


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1 ‘‘(2) may direct the Director of the National 

2 Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide such as3 sistance as the Secretary determines necessary to 

4 carry out the FireGuard Program; and 

5 ‘‘(3) may not reduce support, or transfer re6 sponsibility for support to an interagency partner, 

7 for the FireGuard Program authorized under this 

8 section.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

11 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘510. Authorization for FireGuard Program.’’. 

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The National De13 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 

14 117–81) is amended by striking section 515. 

15 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF AIRCRAFT TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS 

16 FOR WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION AND OTHER 

17 PURPOSES. 

18 Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization 

19 Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113–66) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) by striking ‘‘the 

22 seven demilitarized HC–130H aircraft specified in 

23 subparagraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘not fewer than 

24 seven demilitarized HC–130H aircraft’’; 


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1 (2) by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection 

2 (a)(1); 

3 (3) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘not 

4 more’’ and insert ‘‘not fewer’’; and 

5 (4) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘pur7 poses;’’ and inserting ‘‘purposes, search and 

8 rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to 

9 wildfires; and’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

11 and inserting a period; and 

12 (C) by striking paragraph (3). 

13 SEC. 5. NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR USE OF NATIONAL 

14 GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RE15 SOURCES DURING A MAJOR DISASTER. 

16 The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

17 Agency may not require the Federal Emergency Manage18 ment Agency or a Federal land management agency to 

19 reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for 

20 use of resources for any request approved by the Director 

21 pertaining to— 

22 (1) a request made by such a Federal agency 

23 through the National Interagency Fire Center; or 

24 (2) an area of Federal land affected by extreme 

25 weather, as that term is defined in section 328(c) of 


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1 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

2 Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 221 

3 note). 

4 SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM ECONOMY ACT FOR CERTAIN RE5 QUESTS MADE THROUGH THE NATIONAL 

6 INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER. 

7 Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (com8 monly known as the ‘‘Economy Act’’), shall not apply to 

9 any assistance provided by the Department of Defense to 

10 the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal 

11 land management agency under a request— 

12 (1) made through the National Interagency 

13 Fire Center; and 

14 (2) pertaining to an area covered by a declara15 tion of a major disaster or emergency under section 

16 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

17 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 

18 SEC. 7. GUIDANCE FOR USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYS19 TEMS BY THE NATIONAL GUARD. 

20 (a) NEW GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

22 Defense shall issue new guidance that treats the use of 

23 unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard for cov24 ered activities in a manner no more restrictive than the 

25 use of other aircraft for covered activities. 


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1 (b) COVERED ACTIVITIES DEFINED.—In this section, 

2 ‘‘covered activities’’ means the following: 

3 (1) Emergency operations. 

4 (2) Search and rescue operations. 

5 (3) Defense support to civil authorities. 

6 (4) Support under section 502(f) of title 32, 

7 United States Code. 

8 SEC. 8. STUDY ON USE OF CH–47 CHINOOKS TO RESPOND 

9 TO WILDFIRES. 

10 Not later one year after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

12 the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

13 jointly submit to Congress a report— 

14 (1) on the feasibility and effectiveness of using 

15 CH–47 Chinooks with firefighting modifications 

16 to— 

17 (A) respond to wildfires; and 

18 (B) perform search and rescue activities; 

19 and 

20 (2) that identifies the governmental organiza21 tions (including Federal, State, and local govern22 ment organizations) that would be most effective 

23 with respect to using the aircraft described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242

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1 graph (1) to carry out the activities specified in that 

2 paragraph. 

Æ 


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