II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4625 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed 

by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the 

Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on 

units of the National Forest System in the western 

United States, and for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Prescribed Fire Act of 2020’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 

Sec. 101. Prescribed fire accounts. 

Sec. 102. Policies and practices. 

Sec. 103. Collaborative prescribed fire program. 

Sec. 104. Large cross-boundary prescribed fire incentive program. 

TITLE II—FACILITATING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTREACH 

Sec. 201. Cooperative agreements and contracts. 

Sec. 202. Human resources. 

Sec. 203. Liability of certified prescribed fire managers. 

Sec. 204. Environmental review. 

Sec. 205. Prescribed fire education program. 

TITLE III—REPORTING; TERMINATION 

Sec. 301. Annual reports to the National Interagency Fire Center. 

Sec. 302. Termination date. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) in 2018, the Forest Service Fire Modeling 

6 Institute determined that 63,070,000 acres of Na7 tional Forest System land and 171,200,000 acres of 

8 other forest land were at high or very high risk of 

9 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to sup10 press; 

11 (2) according to the National Interagency Co12 ordination Center, between 2009 and 2018, in the 

13 United States, on average— 

14 (A) 67,000 wildfires burned 7,000,000 

15 acres annually; and 


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1 (B) 86,345 prescribed fires burned only 

2 3,000,000 acres annually; 

3 (3) according to the National Interagency Co4 ordination Center, the annual cost of suppressing 

5 wildfires in a State with an active prescribed burn6 ing program is less than 1 percent of the annual 

7 cost of suppressing wildfires in a State without an 

8 active prescribed burning program, despite each 

9 State having the same number of wildfires; 

10 (4) according to a 2017 study published in the 

11 Journal of Forestry, on a given acre, a prescribed 

fire burning in April or May produces less than 1 12 ⁄5

13 of the smoke emissions of a wildfire that would burn 

14 on that acre in August; 

15 (5) according to a 2019 study conducted by 

16 Stanford University, smoke from prescribed fires ex17 poses children to fewer negative health effects than 

18 the detrimental smoke generated by wildfires; 

19 (6) according to a 2015 study published in 

20 Ecology, trees that have not been burnt by a low-in21 tensity fire are unusually prone to bark beetle at22 tacks, and between 2000 and 2010, bark beetles 

23 killed the majority of trees on 32,000,000 acres of 

24 the 193,000,000 acres of National Forest System 

25 land; 


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1 (7) as of September 30, 2019, there were— 

2 (A) 37 prescribed fire councils in 33 

3 States; and 

4 (B) 64 prescribed burn associations in 11 

5 States; 

6 (8) according to the 2018 National Prescribed 

7 Fire Use Survey Report— 

8 (A) 37 States regulate prescribed fires by 

9 issuing burn permits; 

10 (B) 23 States offer prescribed burn man11 ager certification courses to facilitate respon12 sible burning on private land; 

13 (C) only 5 States (Vermont, Massachu14 setts, Missouri, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) 

15 lack laws to reduce liability associated with the 

16 responsible use of prescribed fire; and 

17 (D) only 8 States (Florida, Montana, Ne18 vada, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, South Caro19 lina, and Washington) have laws that use a 

20 standard of gross negligence for determining li21 abilities for the responsible use of prescribed 

22 fire; and 

23 (9) as of September 30, 2019, 31 States have 

24 a formal process to track the number of acres treat25 ed for forestry purposes using prescribed fire. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

4 means— 

5 (A) public land (as defined in section 103 

6 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

7 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

8 (B) units of the National Park System; 

9 (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 

10 System; 

11 (D) land held in trust by the United States 

12 for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 

13 an Indian Tribe; and 

14 (E) land in the National Forest System. 

15 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 

17 Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 

18 in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 

19 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

20 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

21 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 

22 Forest System’’ does not include— 

23 (i) the national grasslands and land 

24 utilization projects administered under title 

25 III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 

26 Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 


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1 (ii) National Forest System land east 

2 of the 100th meridian. 

3 (3) PRESCRIBED FIRE.—The term ‘‘prescribed 

4 fire’’ means a fire deliberately ignited to burn 

5 wildland fuels in a natural or modified state— 

6 (A) under specified environmental condi7 tions that allow the fire to be confined to a pre8 determined area and produce the fireline inten9 sity and rate of spread required to attain 

10 planned resource management objectives; and 

11 (B) in accordance with applicable law, in12 cluding applicable regulations. 

13 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

14 means— 

15 (A) the Secretary; and 

16 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior. 

19 TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 

20 SEC. 101. PRESCRIBED FIRE ACCOUNTS. 

21 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY CONCERNED.—In 

22 this section, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 

23 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 

24 an account established by this section for the De25 partment of Agriculture; and 


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1 (2) the Secretary, with respect to an account 

2 established by this section for the Department of the 

3 Interior. 

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es5 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol6 lowing accounts: 

7 (1) The Prescribed Fire account for the De8 partment of Agriculture. 

9 (2) The Prescribed Fire account for the De10 partment of the Interior. 

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 

13 each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by 

14 subsection (b) such sums as are necessary to carry out 

15 this section, not to exceed $300,000,000. 

16 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 

17 year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 

18 concerned shall submit, through the budget request of the 

19 President, a request for amounts in the Wildland Fire 

20 Management appropriation account of the Secretary con21 cerned to carry out the activities described in subsection 

22 (e). 

23 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con24 cerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by 

25 subsection (b) as follows: 


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1 (1) The Secretary concerned shall— 

2 (A) develop a prescribed fire burn plan, 

3 carry out necessary environmental review, con4 duct outreach to the public, Indian Tribes, and 

5 adjacent landowners, and implement a pre6 scribed fire on Federal land; 

7 (B) hire additional personnel and procure 

8 additional equipment, including unmanned aer9 ial systems equipped with an aerial ignition sys10 tem, to implement a greater number of pre11 scribed fires; 

12 (C) provide training for the implementa13 tion of a prescribed fire; 

14 (D) conduct post-prescribed burning activi15 ties, including reseeding to prevent the spread 

16 of invasive species; and 

17 (E) conduct monitoring for safety and fire 

18 effects. 

19 (2) The Secretary concerned may assist State, 

20 Tribal, local government, or private prescribed fire 

21 programs— 

22 (A) to provide federally sponsored insur23 ance administered by States, in conjunction 

24 with State-sponsored training and certification 


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1 programs, for private persons implementing 

2 prescribed fires; 

3 (B) to establish a training or certification 

4 program for teams comprised of citizens or 

5 local fire services to conduct prescribed fires on 

6 private land, consistent with any standards de7 veloped by the National Wildfire Coordinating 

8 Group or State prescribed fire standards; 

9 (C) to enable additional fire managers and 

10 apparatus, whether provided by the local re11 sources of an agency, private contractors, non12 governmental organizations, Indian Tribes, local 

13 fire services, or qualified individuals, to be 

14 present while implementing a prescribed fire; 

15 (D) pursuant to the memorandum of 

16 agreement authorized under section 203; or 

17 (E) to finance the implementation of a pre18 scribed fire on State, Tribal, or private land 

19 and any post-prescribed burning activities as 

20 are determined to be necessary by the Secretary 

21 concerned. 

22 (3) The Secretary concerned may provide tech23 nical or financial assistance to a prescribed fire 

24 council or prescribed burn association for the estab25 lishment or operation of the council or association. 


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1 (4) The Secretary may provide funding for the 

2 collaborative prescribed fire program established 

3 under section 103. 

4 (5) The Secretary may provide funding for the 

5 large cross-boundary prescribed fire program estab6 lished under section 104. 

7 (f) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 the Secretary concerned shall coordinate with Fed10 eral, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and 

11 qualified nongovernmental organizations, including 

12 through the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, to 

13 establish prioritization criteria for expending funds 

14 under this section for each activity described in sub15 section (e). 

16 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing criteria 

17 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 

18 give priority to projects that are— 

19 (A) implemented across large contiguous 

20 areas; 

21 (B) cross-boundary in nature; 

22 (C) in areas that are threatening to, or lo23 cated in, the wildland-urban interface; 


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1 (D) within an area identified as a priority 

2 area in a statewide forest resource assessment; 

3 or 

4 (E) on acres at high or very high risk of 

5 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to 

6 suppress. 

7 SEC. 102. POLICIES AND PRACTICES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall significantly 

9 increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted 

10 on Federal land. 

11 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR PRESCRIBED FIRES.—From 

12 amounts appropriated to carry out the activity described 

13 in section 101(e)(1), the Secretaries may carry out pre14 scribed fires on not more than 20,000,000 acres of Fed15 eral land per year. 

16 (c) REQUIRING MINIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to the 

17 availability of appropriations, the Secretaries shall carry 

18 out prescribed fires annually on at least 1,000,000 acres 

19 of Federal land. 

20 (d) INCREASE IN FAMILIARITY WITH PRESCRIBED

21 FIRES IN LOCAL UNITS.—Subject to the availability of 

22 appropriations, not later than September 30, 2022, the 

23 Secretaries shall each have carried out a minimum of 1 

24 prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest Sys25 tem, unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of 


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1 the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Manage2 ment district under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries— 

3 (1) that includes an area that— 

4 (A) has a historical low-severity fire re5 gime; 

6 (B) has a historical fire-return interval of 

7 not more than 35 years; and 

8 (C) is larger than 100 acres; and 

9 (2) less than 50 percent of the land of which 

10 was burned by a wildland fire during the previous 

11 10-year period. 

12 SEC. 103. COLLABORATIVE PRESCRIBED FIRE PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

14 within the Department of the Interior a collaborative pre15 scribed fire program (referred to in this section as the 

16 ‘‘program’’) to provide financial assistance to eligible enti17 ties for the implementation of proposals for the conduct 

18 of prescribed fires in priority landscapes in accordance 

19 with applicable existing policies, including the National 

20 Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. 

21 (b) PROPOSAL CRITERIA.—To be eligible for selection 

22 for the program, a proposal shall— 

23 (1) identify and prioritize planned prescribed 

24 fires for a 6-year period within a landscape; 


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1 (2) establish annual accomplishment targets for 

2 prescribed fires under the proposal; 

3 (3) be developed through a collaborative proc4 ess; 

5 (4) be implemented across multiple jurisdic6 tions; 

7 (5) provide an estimate of— 

8 (A) the amount of annual Federal financial 

9 assistance necessary to implement the proposal; 

10 and 

11 (B) the amount of non-Federal funds that 

12 would be leveraged; 

13 (6) describe benefits to sensitive wildlife species 

14 of concern; and 

15 (7) describe any established record of successful 

16 collaborative planning or use of prescribed fire by 

17 the eligible entity. 

18 (c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Subject to the avail19 ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall select pro20 posals for financial assistance under the program that, as 

21 determined by the Secretary, would likely use the least 

22 amount of Federal funding to treat the most acres at high 

23 or very high risk of experiencing a wildfire that would be 

24 difficult to suppress. 

25 (d) LIMITATIONS.— 


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1 (1) NUMBER OF PROJECTS.—The Secretary 

2 may select not more than 20 proposals to be funded 

3 under the program in any fiscal year. 

4 (2) PROJECT FUNDING.—The Secretary may 

5 not provide more than $1,000,000 of Federal funds 

6 under the program to any 1 project in a fiscal year. 

7 (3) PROJECT PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary 

8 shall cease funding any proposal that, for 3 consecu9 tive years, fails to meet the annual accomplishment 

10 targets that were established under subsection 

11 (b)(2). 

12 (e) PRESCRIBED FIRE TRAINING EXCHANGES.—Not 

13 less frequently than once every 3 years, a recipient of fi14 nancial assistance under the program shall provide to local 

15 entities and non-local entities experiential training relating 

16 to prescribed fires. 

17 (f) REPORTING.— 

18 (1) PROJECT REPORTING.—A recipient of fi19 nancial assistance under the program shall annually 

20 submit to the Secretary a report summarizing, at a 

21 minimum— 

22 (A) the numbers of acres treated with pre23 scribed fire by the recipient under the program; 

24 and 


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1 (B) the amount of Federal and non-Fed2 eral funds used by the recipient under the pro3 gram. 

4 (2) PROGRAM REPORTING.—Not later than 2 

5 years after the first fiscal year in which funding is 

6 made available to carry out prescribed fires under 

7 the program, and every 2 years thereafter, the Sec8 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

9 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 

10 on Natural Resources of the House of Representa11 tives a report on the program. 

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2031, 

15 to remain available until expended. 

16 SEC. 104. LARGE CROSS-BOUNDARY PRESCRIBED FIRE IN17 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap19 propriations, the Secretary shall establish an incentive 

20 program to encourage the implementation of large, cross21 boundary prescribed fires by providing incentive payments 

22 for conducting a qualified prescribed fire. 

23 (b) QUALIFIED PRESCRIBED FIRES.— 


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1 (1) CRITERIA.—A qualified prescribed fire 

2 under the program under this section is a prescribed 

3 fire that— 

4 (A) occurred on not less than 2 parcels of 

5 land that were under different ownership; and 

6 (B) had a target area identified in a pre7 scribed fire burn plan of not less than 50,000 

8 acres. 

9 (2) MULTIPLE FIRES.—The Secretary may con10 sider a series of prescribed fires conducted within 1 

11 fiscal year by the same 1 or more entities to be a 

12 qualified prescribed fire under the program under 

13 this section if the series of fires collectively meet the 

14 criteria under paragraph (1). 

15 (c) PAYMENTS.— 

16 (1) STATE AND COUNTY INCENTIVE PAY17 MENTS.—The Secretary shall make payments to the 

18 State and county in which a qualified prescribed fire 

19 was implemented in an amount not greater than 

20 $100,000. 

21 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.—In the 

22 case of each qualified prescribed fire on a unit of the 

23 National Forest System, the Secretary shall transfer 

24 to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

25 Chief of the Forest Service, an amount not greater 


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1 than $100,000, which shall be used for that unit of 

2 the National Forest System. 

3 (3) OTHER FEDERAL LAND.—In the case of 

4 each qualified prescribed fire on land under the ju5 risdiction of the Secretary, the Secretary shall in6 crease the funding allocation to the agency of the 

7 Department of the Interior that manages the land in 

8 an amount not greater than $100,000. 

9 (4) INDIAN COUNTRY.—In the case of each 

10 qualified prescribed fire in Indian country (as de11 fined in section 1151 of title 18, United States 

12 Code), the Secretary shall make a payment to the 

13 applicable Indian Tribe in an amount not greater 

14 than $100,000. 

15 TITLE II—FACILITATING IMPLE16 MENTATION AND OUTREACH 

17 SEC. 201. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a State, an Indian 

20 Tribe, a county or municipal government, a fire district, 

21 a nongovernmental organization, including the Nature 

22 Conservancy, or a private entity. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretaries may enter 

24 into a cooperative agreement or contract with an eligible 


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1 entity to authorize the eligible entity to coordinate, plan, 

2 or conduct a prescribed fire on Federal land. 

3 (c) SUBCONTRACTS.—A State, Indian Tribe, or coun4 ty that enters into a cooperative agreement or contract 

5 under subsection (b) may enter into a subcontract, in ac6 cordance with applicable contracting procedures of the 

7 State, Indian Tribe, or county, to conduct a prescribed 

8 fire on Federal land pursuant to that cooperative agree9 ment or contract. 

10 (d) AGENT OF SECRETARY.—A cooperative agree11 ment or contract entered into under subsection (b) may 

12 authorize the eligible entity to serve as the agent for the 

13 Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture in coordinating, 

14 planning, or conducting a prescribed fire— 

15 (1) on Federal land; or 

16 (2) across an area that— 

17 (A) includes adjacent landowners; and 

18 (B) includes Federal land. 

19 (e) INDEMNITY REQUIREMENTS.—Each eligible enti20 ty contracted for implementing a prescribed fire shall pro21 cure and maintain sufficient indemnity insurance during 

22 the entire period of performance under the cooperative 

23 agreement or contract entered into under this section. 

24 (f) APPLICABLE LAW.—A prescribed fire conducted 

25 under this section shall be carried out on a project-toVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625

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1 project basis under existing authorities of the applicable 

2 agency responsible for the management of the Federal 

3 land. 

4 (g) PRESERVATION OF DECISION AUTHORITY.—No 

5 project authorized under this section may be undertaken 

6 without the prior written approval of the Secretary or the 

7 Secretary of Agriculture. 

8 (h) LONG-TERM CONTRACTS.—A cooperative agree9 ment or contract with an eligible entity under subsection 

10 (b) may authorize the eligible entity to conduct a series 

11 of prescribed fires on Federal land for a period of not 

12 longer than 10 years. 

13 SEC. 202. HUMAN RESOURCES. 

14 (a) PRESCRIBED FIRE WORKFORCE.— 

15 (1) TRAINING.—The Secretaries shall hire addi16 tional employees and provide training and develop17 ment activities, including through partnerships with 

18 community colleges, to increase the number of 

19 skilled and qualified prescribed fire practitioners in 

20 the Department of the Interior, the Department of 

21 Agriculture, Indian Tribes, and other qualified orga22 nizations, including training in smoke management 

23 practices. 

24 (2) TEMPORARY WORKERS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of2 fice of Personnel Management shall provide to 

3 the Secretaries direct hire authority in accord4 ance with section 3304(a)(3) of title 5, United 

5 States Code, to appoint qualified individuals to 

6 positions performing temporary or emergency 

7 work relating to prescribed fires, including 

8 training, implementation, and post-prescribed 

9 burning activities. 

10 (B) TERM OF EMPLOYMENT.—The term of 

11 the appointment of an individual under sub12 paragraph (A) shall be restricted to a period 

13 that— 

14 (i) begins not more than 72 hours 

15 prior to planned ignition; and 

16 (ii) ends not more than 72 hours after 

17 the prescribed fire has stopped burning. 

18 (3) OVERTIME PAYMENTS.— 

19 (A) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the 

20 amendment made by subparagraph (B) is to 

21 allow the Secretaries to use additional new 

22 budget authority for wildfire suppression for the 

23 cost of overtime payments to employees imple24 menting a prescribed fire. 


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1 (B) AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 251(b)(2)(F)(ii)(II) of the Balanced Budget 

3 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

4 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(F)(ii)(II)) is amended— 

5 (i) in item (bb), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (ii) in item (cc), by striking the period 

8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(dd) overtime payments to 

12 employees implementing a pre13 scribed fire (as defined in section 

14 3 of the National Prescribed Fire 

15 Act of 2020).’’. 

16 (4) CONVERSION OF SEASONAL FIREFIGHTERS

17 TO PERMANENT EMPLOYEES.—The Secretaries may 

18 noncompetitively convert a Federal seasonal em19 ployee to a Federal permanent employee if— 

20 (A) the listed job duties of the employee 

21 include wildland firefighting; 

22 (B) the employee received a rating of at 

23 least ‘‘Fully Successful’’ in each of the perform24 ance appraisals of the employee for the 5 most 


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1 recent seasons of Federal employment of the 

2 employee; and 

3 (C) the job duties and performance stand4 ards of the position into which the permanent 

5 employee converts include implementing pre6 scribed fires. 

7 (5) EMPLOYMENT OF FORMERLY INCARCER8 ATED INDIVIDUALS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in 

10 consultation with the Attorney General and 

11 State departments of corrections, shall seek to 

12 provide a career pathway, including through 

13 partnerships with the Corps Network, to indi14 viduals described in subparagraph (B) to work 

15 as prescribed fire practitioners. 

16 (B) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An indi17 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) is an in18 dividual that— 

19 (i) has been convicted in any court of 

20 a criminal offense, other than arson, and 

21 was sentenced to a term of imprisonment 

22 for that offense; and 

23 (ii) during the term of imprisonment 

24 described in clause (i), served on a 


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1 wildland firefighting crew or received other 

2 comparable training. 

3 (6) UNDERREPRESENTED EMPLOYEES.—To 

4 further address the gender disparity in wildland fire5 fighting, the Secretaries shall support the develop6 ment and participation of women in leadership op7 portunities, mentorship networks, and training in 

8 prescribed fire, including the Fire Leadership for 

9 Women course and Women-In-Fire Training Ex10 change— 

11 (A) to develop strong leaders; 

12 (B) to increase the number of women over13 seeing prescribed fires; and 

14 (C) to enhance the longevity and success of 

15 women in wildland fire management. 

16 (7) VETERANS CREWS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in 

18 consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Af19 fairs, shall seek— 

20 (i) to provide a career pathway to in21 dividuals described in subparagraph (B) to 

22 work as prescribed fire practitioners; and 

23 (ii) to establish crews composed pre24 dominantly of veterans to conduct pre25 scribed fires. 


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1 (B) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An indi2 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) is an in3 dividual who— 

4 (i) served in the active military, naval, 

5 or air service; and 

6 (ii) was discharged or released under 

7 conditions other than dishonorable. 

8 (8) INTER-TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The Sec9 retaries may provide funding to Tribal and inter10 Tribal organizations, including the Intertribal Tim11 ber Council, to provide training and workforce devel12 opment opportunities in wildland fire. 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL TRAINING CENTERS.—Subject to 

14 the availability of appropriations, not later than Sep15 tember 30, 2023, the Secretary, in cooperation with the 

16 Secretary of Agriculture (and the Secretary of Defense in 

17 the case of a center located on a military installation), 

18 shall— 

19 (1) establish and operate a prescribed fire 

20 training center in a western State; 

21 (2) continue to operate a prescribed fire train22 ing center in an eastern State; 

23 (3) establish a virtual prescribed fire training 

24 center; and 


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1 (4) establish and operate a managed-wildfire 

2 training center. 

3 (c) COMPETENCIES FOR FIREFIGHTERS.— 

4 (1) UPDATES TO REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

5 FOR SPECIFIC FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS.—The Sec6 retaries, in coordination with the Fire Executive 

7 Council, the National Association of State Foresters, 

8 and the Intertribal Timber Council, shall task the 

9 National Wildfire Coordinating Group to add a re10 quirement for an individual to obtain the necessary 

11 certification to serve in— 

12 (A) the position of a single-resource boss; 

13 and 

14 (B) any other positions determined to be 

15 necessary by the Secretaries. 

16 (2) ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE.—The Secre17 taries shall require significant additional experience, 

18 gained exclusively during a prescribed fire, to obtain 

19 a certification described in paragraph (1). 

20 (d) INDEMNITY OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Except 

21 in the case of gross negligence, a Federal employee plan22 ning or overseeing a prescribed fire that escaped— 

23 (1) shall not be subject to criminal prosecution; 

24 and 


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1 (2) shall not be subject to civil proceedings, ex2 cept in accordance with section 2672 of title 28, 

3 United States Code. 

4 SEC. 203. LIABILITY OF CERTIFIED PRESCRIBED FIRE MAN5 AGERS. 

6 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LAW.—In this section, 

7 the term ‘‘covered law’’ means a State law that establishes 

8 the standard of care in a civil suit against a certified pre9 scribed fire manager for an escaped prescribed fire to be 

10 ‘‘gross negligence’’, if the certified prescribed fire man11 ager— 

12 (1) obtained a permit for the prescribed fire; 

13 (2) conducted the prescribed fire consistent 

14 with a written burn plan; 

15 (3) was at the site of prescribed fire for the du16 ration of the prescribed fire; and 

17 (4) ensured adequate personnel, equipment, and 

18 firebreaks were in place during the prescribed fire, 

19 in accordance with the written burn plan. 

20 (b) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—Subject to the 

21 availability of appropriations, in accordance with rec22 ommendation A3C of the special report of the Western 

23 Governors’ National Forest and Rangeland Management 

24 Initiative, dated June 2017, the Secretary may enter into 

25 a memorandum of agreement with the National GovVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4625.IS S4625

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1 ernors’ Association to host a conference, at which gov2 ernors can meet to discuss the benefits of addressing li3 ability protection and possible incentives for States to 

4 enact a covered law. 

5 (c) FUNDING.—The Secretary may provide not more 

6 than $1,000,000 under the memorandum of agreement 

7 under subsection (b). 

8 SEC. 204. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW. 

9 (a) SMOKE MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.— 

10 (1) POLICY.—The Secretaries shall ensure that 

11 policies, training, and programs of the Secretaries 

12 are consistent with this subsection— 

13 (A) to facilitate greater use of prescribed 

14 fire; and 

15 (B) to address public health and safety, in16 cluding impacts from smoke from prescribed 

17 fires. 

18 (2) EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.—When a smoke19 sensitive facility or vulnerable individual is identified 

20 in an area to be impacted by smoke from a pre21 scribed fire, the Secretaries may expend funding ap22 propriated for hazardous fuel reduction to mitigate 

23 the impacts of the prescribed fire. 

24 (3) COORDINATION AMONG FEDERAL AND

25 STATE AIR QUALITY AGENCIES AND FEDERAL AND


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1 STATE LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.—The Admin2 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 

3 cooperation with Federal and State land manage4 ment agencies, shall coordinate with State, Tribal, 

5 and local air quality agencies that regulate smoke 

6 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) 

7 to facilitate the use of prescribed fire on Federal 

8 land and State, Tribal, and private land, including 

9 by— 

10 (A) streamlining the decisionmaking proc11 ess for approving the use of prescribed fire 

12 under a State, Tribal, or local government 

13 smoke management program; and 

14 (B)(i) promoting basic smoke management 

15 practices; 

16 (ii) disseminating information about basic 

17 smoke management practices; and 

18 (iii) educating landowners that use pre19 scribed fire about the importance of— 

20 (I) using basic smoke management 

21 practices; and 

22 (II) including basic smoke manage23 ment practices as a component of a burn 

24 plan. 

25 (4) EXCEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATIONS.— 


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1 (A) REQUIREMENT TO SEEK EXCEPTIONAL

2 EVENT DEMONSTRATION.—Subject to subpara3 graph (C), the appropriate State or Tribal air 

4 quality agency shall develop and submit to the 

5 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

6 Agency a demonstration in accordance with sec7 tion 50.14 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula8 tions (or successor regulations), if— 

9 (i) the Secretary, the Secretary of Ag10 riculture, a State land management agen11 cy, or an Indian Tribe conducts a pre12 scribed fire on Federal land or State land, 

13 as applicable, in accordance with a State 

14 or Tribal smoke management program that 

15 incorporates basic smoke management 

16 practices; and 

17 (ii) the prescribed fire described in 

18 clause (i) contributes to an exceedance or 

19 other violation of a national ambient air 

20 quality standard under section 109 of the 

21 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409), as meas22 ured using a Federal reference monitor or 

23 an equivalent method. 

24 (B) DEMONSTRATION ASSISTANCE.—For 

25 an exceedance or other violation described in 


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1 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

2 or Secretary of Agriculture, with the concur3 rence of the State or Tribal air quality agency, 

4 may assist with the development of the dem5 onstration under that subparagraph. 

6 (C) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Subparagraph 

7 (A) shall not apply if the exceedance or other 

8 violation described in clause (ii) of that sub9 paragraph is the result of— 

10 (i) a violation of a smoke management 

11 program; 

12 (ii) a failure to use basic smoke man13 agement practices; or 

14 (iii) a violation of applicable permit 

15 conditions. 

16 (5) EXEMPTION FOR LARGE PRESCRIBED

17 FIRES.— 

18 (A) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

19 EXEMPTION.—Consistent with subsection (b) of 

20 section 118 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 7418), a prescribed fire conducted on Federal 

22 land by the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri23 culture that burns more than 1,000 acres per 

24 day shall be deemed to be in the paramount in25 terest of the United States and shall be exempt 


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1 from requirements with respect to the control of 

2 pollution from Federal facilities under that Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) if the Secretary or the 

4 Secretary of Agriculture determines that the 

5 prescribed fire— 

6 (i) will be conducted in an area where 

7 the terrain or fuel load makes the area in8 accessible or unsafe for firefighting per9 sonnel; 

10 (ii) is necessary to reduce hazardous 

11 fuels; 

12 (iii) will be conducted to minimize 

13 smoke impacts on populated areas through 

14 the use of basic smoke management prac15 tices; and 

16 (iv) will be conducted under a smoke 

17 management program, if applicable. 

18 (B) STATE EXEMPTION.—If the Secretary 

19 concerned conducts a prescribed fire that is 

20 deemed to be in the paramount interest of the 

21 United States under subparagraph (A) on Fed22 eral land, a prescribed fire conducted by a State 

23 land management agency on State or private 

24 land that is contiguous to that Federal land 

25 shall be exempt from any applicable national 


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1 ambient air quality standards under section 109 

2 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409). 

3 (C) TRIBAL EXEMPTION.—Consistent with 

4 subsection (b) of section 118 of the Clean Air 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 7418), a prescribed fire con6 ducted on Tribal land by an Indian Tribe that 

7 burns more than 1,000 acres per day shall be 

8 deemed to be in the paramount interest of the 

9 United States and shall be exempt from re10 quirements with respect to the control of pollu11 tion from Federal facilities under that Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) if the Indian Tribe deter13 mines that the prescribed fire— 

14 (i) will be conducted in an area where 

15 the terrain or fuel load makes the area in16 accessible or unsafe for firefighting per17 sonnel; 

18 (ii) is necessary to reduce hazardous 

19 fuels; 

20 (iii) will be conducted to minimize 

21 smoke impacts on populated areas through 

22 the use of basic smoke management prac23 tices; and 

24 (iv) will be conducted under a smoke 

25 management program, if applicable. 


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1 (D) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Consistent with 

2 section 118(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 7418(b))— 

4 (i) an exemption granted under this 

5 paragraph shall apply to the applicable en6 tity for a period of not more than 1 year; 

7 and 

8 (ii) on a new determination of the 

9 Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, or 

10 an Indian Tribe under subparagraph (A) 

11 or (C), as applicable, additional exemptions 

12 under this paragraph may be granted for 

13 subsequent periods after the expiration of 

14 the exemption described in clause (i), each 

15 of which shall apply for a period of not 

16 more than 1 year. 

17 (6) STATE AND TRIBAL STANDARDS.— 

18 (A) APPROVAL OF STATE OR TRIBAL

19 STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding section 110 of 

20 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410), when ap21 proving a State or Tribal implementation plan 

22 under that section, the Administrator of the 

23 Environmental Protection Agency may not ap24 prove any standards with respect to— 


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1 (i) preventing nuisance impacts that 

2 result from prescribed fires that incor3 porate basic smoke management practices; 

4 or 

5 (ii) criteria pollutants that result from 

6 prescribed fires that are more stringent 

7 than what is required to meet the national 

8 ambient air quality standards for those 

9 pollutants under section 109 of that Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 7409), as measured using a 

11 Federal reference monitor or an equivalent 

12 method. 

13 (B) STATE AND TRIBAL ENFORCEMENT.— 

14 A State or Indian Tribe may not enforce stand15 ards in a State or Tribal implementation plan 

16 that was approved under the Clean Air Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) before the date of enact18 ment of this Act with respect to— 

19 (i) preventing nuisance impacts that 

20 result from prescribed fires that incor21 porate basic smoke management practices; 

22 or 

23 (ii) criteria pollutants that result from 

24 prescribed fires that are more stringent 

25 than what is required to meet the national 


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1 ambient air quality standards for those 

2 pollutants under section 109 of that Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 7409), as measured using a 

4 Federal reference monitor or an equivalent 

5 method. 

6 (C) AMENDMENT TO ANTI-BACKSLIDING

7 PROVISION.—If a State or Tribal implementa8 tion plan under section 110 of the Clean Air 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 7410) is revised to include a 

10 smoke management program for prescribed 

11 fires in that implementation plan, subsection (l) 

12 of that section shall not apply with respect to 

13 that revision. 

14 (7) EVALUATION.—The Secretary or the Sec15 retary of Agriculture, as applicable, shall conduct an 

16 evaluation to facilitate learning new approaches for 

17 predicting and preventing exceedances during subse18 quent prescribed fires if the Secretary or the Sec19 retary of Agriculture— 

20 (A) conducts a prescribed fire on Federal 

21 land— 

22 (i) for which a demonstration is devel23 oped and submitted under paragraph 

24 (4)(A); or 


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1 (ii) that is subject to an exemption 

2 under paragraph (5)(A); and 

3 (B) the prescribed fire described in sub4 paragraph (A) contributes to an exceedance of 

5 a national ambient air quality standard under 

6 section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 7409). 

8 (8) PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH.—To address 

9 the public health and safety risk of the expanded use 

10 of prescribed fire under this Act, the Secretary of 

11 Agriculture and the Secretary, in coordination with 

12 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

13 Agency and the Director of the Centers for Disease 

14 Control and Prevention, shall conduct research to 

15 improve or develop— 

16 (A) wildland fire smoke prediction models; 

17 (B) smoke impact display tools for the 

18 public and decisionmakers; 

19 (C) appropriate, cost-effective, and con20 sistent mitigation strategies for communities 

21 impacted adversely by smoke from prescribed 

22 fire; 

23 (D) consistent nationally and scientifically 

24 supported messages regarding personal protec25 tion equipment for the public; and 


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1 (E) prescribed fire activity tracking and 

2 emission inventory systems. 

3 (b) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF

4 1969 EFFICIENCIES.— 

5 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

6 is to require the Secretaries to develop a series of 

7 categorical exclusions from the requirements of the 

8 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

9 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for implementing prescribed 

10 fires in accordance with this subsection. 

11 (2) PREVIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DECI12 SIONS.—The Secretaries shall— 

13 (A) gather and evaluate all of the decision 

14 memos, decision notices, and records of decision 

15 and associated findings of no significant impact 

16 or environmental impact statements under the 

17 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) prepared for recent pre19 scribed fire projects; 

20 (B) review any documented environmental 

21 impacts of those prescribed fire projects, if the 

22 Secretaries monitored or evaluated the effects 

23 of the implemented actions; and 

24 (C) develop findings of— 


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1 (i) similarities and differences among 

2 prescribed fire projects; and 

3 (ii) elements and mitigation measures 

4 that consistently appeared in those pre5 scribed fire projects that did not individ6 ually or cumulatively have a significant im7 pact on the environment. 

8 (3) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries 

10 shall publish in the Federal Register for public re11 view and comment a series of notices of proposed 

12 categorical exclusions from the requirements of the 

13 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for implementing prescribed 

15 fire projects in, at a minimum, the following forest 

16 types: 

17 (A) Longleaf pine forest. 

18 (B) Shortleaf pine forest. 

19 (C) Ponderosa pine forest. 

20 (D) Pinyon-juniper forest. 

21 (E) Dry-site Douglas-fir forest. 

22 (F) Chaparral shrubland. 

23 (4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

24 Secretaries shall apply the extraordinary cir25 cumstances procedures under section 220.6 of title 


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1 36, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu2 lations), in determining whether to use a categorical 

3 exclusion established under this subsection. 

4 (5) OREGON AND CALIFORNIA GRANT LANDS.— 

5 On Oregon and California Railroad grant land re6 vested in the United States by the Act of June 9, 

7 1916 (39 Stat. 218, chapter 137), the Secretary, 

8 acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land 

9 Management, shall— 

10 (A) implement not fewer than 2 impact 

11 demonstration projects to assess the environ12 mental effects of prescribed fires; 

13 (B) monitor the actual environmental ef14 fects during and after that implementation; and 

15 (C) evaluate the merits of using a categor16 ical exclusion from the requirements of the Na17 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for prescribed fires on that 

19 land. 

20 SEC. 205. PRESCRIBED FIRE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act22 ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Sec23 retary, acting through the Director of the Office of 

24 Wildland Fire, may enter into a memorandum of agree25 ment with the Longleaf Alliance to carry out a national 


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1 prescribed fire education program, including the use of the 

2 character known as ‘‘Burner Bob’’. 

3 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—A prescribed fire edu4 cation program authorized under subsection (a) may in5 clude— 

6 (1) public service advertisements; 

7 (2) the use of social media; 

8 (3) campaign and educational activities and ma9 terials; 

10 (4) commercial licensing; 

11 (5) character images and appearances; and 

12 (6) awards and recognition. 

13 TITLE III—REPORTING; 

14 TERMINATION 

15 SEC. 301. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL INTER16 AGENCY FIRE CENTER. 

17 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en18 sure an accurate reporting of annual prescribed fire ac19 complishments in the United States. 

20 (b) COST-SHARE.—Subject to the availability of ap21 propriations, the Secretary may provide financial assist22 ance to States to pay a portion of the costs associated 

23 with annually reporting prescribed fire accomplishments 

24 to the National Interagency Fire Center. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—If, by December 31 

2 of each year, a State has not reported to the National 

3 Interagency Fire Center, at a minimum, the number of 

4 acres treated using prescribed fire in the State, the State 

5 shall not be eligible to receive any amounts made available 

6 under this Act for the previous fiscal year. 

7 SEC. 302. TERMINATION DATE. 

8 The authority to carry out this Act terminates on the 

9 date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act. 

Æ 


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