II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2749 

To provide mandatory funding for hazardous fuels reduction projects on 

certain Federal land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. PADILLA, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide mandatory funding for hazardous fuels reduction 

projects on certain Federal land, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Resilient 

5 Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION 

7 PROJECTS ON CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘‘agency head’’ 

10 means— 


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1 (A) the Director of the National Park 

2 Service; 

3 (B) the Chief of the Forest Service; 

4 (C) the Director of the Bureau of Land 

5 Management; 

6 (D) the Director of the United States Fish 

7 and Wildlife Service; and 

8 (E) the Director of the Bureau of Indian 

9 Affairs. 

10 (2) AT-RISK COMMUNITY; FIRE REGIME I; FIRE

11 REGIME II; FIRE REGIME III.—The terms ‘‘at-risk 

12 community’’, ‘‘fire regime I’’, ‘‘fire regime II’’, and 

13 ‘‘fire regime III’’ have the meanings given those 

14 terms in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res15 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

16 (3) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

17 means Federal land under the jurisdiction of the ap18 plicable agency head. 

19 (4) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

20 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction 

21 project’’ means the removal or modification of flam22 mable vegetation or woody debris through prescribed 

23 fire, thinning, brush removal, mastication, pruning, 

24 slash treatment, or a combination of those methods, 

25 on the condition that the method is ecologically apVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Sep 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2749.IS S2749

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1 propriate, cost-effective, and selected on a site-spe2 cific basis. 

3 (b) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The agency heads shall 

5 carry out hazardous fuels reduction projects on cov6 ered land. 

7 (2) PROJECT PRIORITIES.—In carrying out 

8 paragraph (1), the agency heads shall prioritize haz9 ardous fuels reduction projects that are— 

10 (A) conducted in areas that— 

11 (i) are within or adjacent to— 

12 (I) at-risk communities; or 

13 (II) high-value watersheds; 

14 (ii) have very high wildfire hazard po15 tential; or 

16 (iii) are in fire regime I, fire regime 

17 II, or fire regime III; or 

18 (B) designed to integrate and simulta19 neously advance 2 or more of the goals estab20 lished in the report of the Secretary of Agri21 culture and the Secretary of the Interior enti22 tled ‘‘The National Strategy: the Final Phase of 

23 the Development of the National Cohesive 

24 Wildland Fire Management Strategy’’ and 

25 dated April 2014 and the update entitled ‘‘NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Sep 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2749.IS S2749

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1 tional Cohesive Wildland Fire Management 

2 Strategy Addendum Update’’ and dated Janu3 ary 2023— 

4 (i) to create fire-adapted communities; 

5 (ii) to restore and maintain resilient 

6 landscapes; and 

7 (iii) to achieve safe, effective fire re8 sponse. 

9 (c) FUNDING.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the first October 1 fol11 lowing the date of enactment of this Act, out of any 

12 funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

13 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the 

14 agency heads, in accordance with an allocation for15 mula established by the Secretary of the Treasury, 

16 $30,000,000,000, to remain available until ex17 pended. 

18 (2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The agency 

19 heads shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 

20 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans21 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro22 priation. 

23 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE AND PLANNING COSTS.— 

24 Not more than 10 percent of funding made available 


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1 under paragraph (1) may be used for administrative 

2 and planning costs. 

3 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR COMMUNITY WILDFIRE 

4 DEFENSE GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 In addition to amounts made available to the Sec6 retary of Agriculture under section 40803(c)(12) of the 

7 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 6592(c)(12)), there is authorized to be appropriated to the 

9 Secretary of Agriculture to carry out section 40803(f) of 

10 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 

11 6592(f)) $3,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

12 2027 through 2031. 

13 SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORA14 TION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION. 

15 Section 4003 of the Omnibus Public Land Manage16 ment Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b)(3)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘spe19 cies;’’ and inserting ‘‘species or pathogens;’’; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (C) in subparagraph (H), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

23 after the semicolon at the end; and 

24 (D) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) address standardized monitoring ques2 tions and indicators;’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (c)(3)(A)— 

4 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (B) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(iii) include a Federal Government 

10 staffing plan for providing support to col11 laborative processes established pursuant 

12 to subsection (b)(2);’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (d)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

18 the period at the end and inserting a semi19 colon; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(G) whether the proposal seeks to use in23 novative implementation mechanisms, including 

24 conservation finance agreements, good neighbor 

25 agreements entered into under section 8206 of 


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1 the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 

2 2113a), and similar implementation mecha3 nisms; 

4 ‘‘(H) whether the proposal seeks to reduce 

5 the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire or increase 

6 ecological restoration activities— 

7 ‘‘(i) within areas across land owner8 ships, including State, Tribal, and private 

9 land; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) within the wildland-urban inter11 face; and 

12 ‘‘(I) whether the proposal seeks to enhance 

13 watershed health and drinking water sources.’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘10’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 ‘‘2’’ and inserting ‘‘4’’; 

20 (4) in subsection (e)(3), by inserting ‘‘conflict 

21 resolution or collaborative governance,’’ before ‘‘and 

22 woody’’; and 

23 (5) in subsection (f)(6), by striking 

24 ‘‘$80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 


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1 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000,000 for fiscal year 

2 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter’’. 

3 SEC. 5. COUNTY STEWARDSHIP FUND. 

4 Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

5 of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub7 section (k); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(j) COUNTY STEWARDSHIP FUND.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

12 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known 

13 as the ‘County Stewardship Fund’ (referred to in 

14 this section as the ‘Fund’), to be administered by 

15 the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS.—Each fiscal year, an amount 

17 equal to 25 percent of the amounts collected as re18 ceipts under subsection (e) during the preceding fis19 cal year shall be deposited in the Fund. 

20 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Fund 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) be used only for purposes described 

23 in paragraph (4); and 

24 ‘‘(B) remain available until expended. 

25 ‘‘(4) PURPOSES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the 

2 Chief or the Director, as applicable, shall dis3 tribute from amounts in the Fund to each 

4 county in which a contract under subsection (b) 

5 was carried out on Federal land in the county 

6 during the preceding fiscal year a payment of 

7 an amount equal to 25 percent of the receipts 

8 generated from that contract. 

9 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—A county receiving 

10 a payment under subparagraph (A) may use 

11 the payment for any governmental purposes.’’. 

Æ 


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