II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1428 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to provide for wildfire mitigation grants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide for wildfire mitigation 

grants, 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 ‘‘Prepare, Ready, 

5 Equip, and Prevent Areas at Risk of Emergency Wildfires 

6 Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘PREPARE Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WILDFIRE MITIGATION. 

2 Title II of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

3 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131 et seq.) is 

4 amended by inserting after section 203 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 203A. WILDFIRE MITIGATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Administrator’ means the Ad8 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

9 Agency; 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘community wildfire protection 

11 plan’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 

12 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

13 U.S.C. 6511); 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘local mitigation plan’ means a 

15 mitigation plan developed under section 322(b) that 

16 addresses wildfire mitigation and preparedness; and 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘State mitigation plan’ means a 

18 mitigation plan developed under section 322(c) that 

19 addresses wildfire mitigation and preparedness. 

20 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WILDFIRE MITIGATION

21 AND PREPAREDNESS GRANT PROGRAM.—The President, 

22 acting through the Administrator, shall establish a pilot 

23 program to make grants to States for wildfire mitigation 

24 and preparedness. 

25 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under this section 

26 may be used by a State— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to reduce the hazardous fuel load by re2 ducing the use of fuels that may contribute to cata3 strophic wildfires in high-risk areas; 

4 ‘‘(2) to invest in personnel and organizations to 

5 improve wildfire preparedness; 

6 ‘‘(3) to invest in vehicles and other equipment 

7 to improve wildfire preparedness; 

8 ‘‘(4) to invest in air tankers or other airborne 

9 assets to help contain, suppress, and monitor 

10 wildfires; 

11 ‘‘(5) to prevent damage from runoff into water12 ways and floods caused by erosion from wildfires; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(6) at the discretion of the Governor of a 

15 State, for any other wildfire mitigation and pre16 paredness activities on Federal, State, or private 

17 land in the State, unless otherwise prohibited by law. 

18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

20 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall be eligi21 ble for assistance under this section if the sec22 tion 420 grant ratio for such State is equal to 

23 or greater than 150 percent of the State popu24 lation ratio. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RATIOS.—For purposes of subpara2 graph (A)— 

3 ‘‘(i) the section 420 grant ratio shall 

4 be equal to the quotient of— 

5 ‘‘(I) the number of declarations 

6 for a grant under section 420 received 

7 by the State during the 10 years prior 

8 to the date on which an application 

9 for assistance is submitted under this 

10 section, divided by 

11 ‘‘(II) the total number of declara12 tions for a grant under section 420 in 

13 the United States during the 10 years 

14 prior to the date on which an applica15 tion for assistance is submitted under 

16 this section; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the State population ratio shall 

18 be equal to the quotient of— 

19 ‘‘(I) the population of the State, 

20 based on the most recent data avail21 able from the Bureau of the Census 

22 on the date on which an application 

23 for assistance is submitted under this 

24 section, divided by 


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1 ‘‘(II) the population of the 

2 United States, based on the most re3 cent data available from the Bureau 

4 of the Census on the date on which an 

5 application for assistance is submitted 

6 under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The President may waive the 

8 requirement of paragraph (1) if a State— 

9 ‘‘(A) files a petition for waiver of the re10 quirement of paragraph (1); and 

11 ‘‘(B) demonstrates that significant envi12 ronmental changes or shifts in forest health put 

13 the State at an elevated risk for catastrophic 

14 wildfires, as determined by the President. 

15 ‘‘(3) LOCAL ASSISTANCE.—The Governor of a 

16 State may award funds received under this section, 

17 to be used solely for the purposes set forth under 

18 subsection (c), to— 

19 ‘‘(A) any county or municipality in that 

20 State with a community wildfire protection plan 

21 or a local mitigation plan; or 

22 ‘‘(B) any other entity that is explicitly ref23 erenced in and central to, in the determination 

24 of the Governor, the design of a community 


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1 wildfire protection plan or a local mitigation 

2 plan. 

3 ‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE.—In determining 

4 whether to award a grant to a State under this section, 

5 the President shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) give preference to— 

7 ‘‘(A) a State with a high level of need for 

8 assistance based on the best scientific data 

9 available, as determined by the President in 

10 consultation with the Chief of the Forest Serv11 ice; 

12 ‘‘(B) a State that provides matching non13 Federal funds, including funds from nongovern14 mental entities, equal to not less than 100 per15 cent of the amount of Federal funds made 

16 available under this section; and 

17 ‘‘(C) a State that previously received a 

18 grant under this section and efficiently and ef19 fectively used the Federal funds for wildfire 

20 mitigation and preparedness activities in the 

21 State, as determined by the President; and 

22 ‘‘(2) consider environmental conditions in a 

23 State, including environmental changes, deterio24 rating forest health, and overall wildfire risk. 

25 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under 

2 this section, a State shall submit an application to 

3 the President in such form, in such manner, and 

4 containing such information as the President may 

5 reasonably require. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In addition to any other re7 quirements that may be specified by the President, 

8 a State submitting an application for a grant under 

9 this section shall demonstrate that— 

10 ‘‘(A) the State has a publicly available 

11 State mitigation plan; 

12 ‘‘(B) the State shall provide matching non13 Federal funds equal to not less than 50 percent 

14 of the amount of Federal funds made available 

15 under this subsection; and 

16 ‘‘(C) a county or municipality that may re17 ceive funds from the grant has a community 

18 wildfire protection plan or a local mitigation 

19 plan. 

20 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of receipt of a grant under this section, a State shall sub22 mit to the Administrator a report, which shall be made 

23 publicly available, on the use of funds made available 

24 under the grant. 

25 ‘‘(h) FUNDING FOR ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PREDISASTER MITIGATION FUND.—Sub2 ject to the availability of funds in the National 

3 Predisaster Mitigation Fund established under sec4 tion 203(i), the President shall use not less than 

5 $20,000,000 and not more than $30,000,000 from 

6 unobligated amounts in the National Predisaster 

7 Mitigation Fund for each of fiscal years 2014 

8 through 2019 in carrying out this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

10 this section shall be construed to increase the 

11 amount of appropriations authorized for the Depart12 ment of Homeland Security in any given fiscal 

13 year.’’. 

Æ 


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