IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1404 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To authorize a supplemental funding source for catastrophic 

emergency wildland fire suppression activities on Department of the Interior and National Forest System lands, 

to require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to develop a cohesive wildland fire management strategy, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhance6 ment Act’’ or ‘‘FLAME Act’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities. 

Sec. 3. Cohesive wildland fire management strategy. 

Sec. 4. Review of certain wildfires to evaluate cost containment in wildland fire 

suppression activities. 

Sec. 5. Reducing risk of wildfires in fire-ready communities. 

9 SEC. 2. FLAME FUND FOR CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCY 

10 WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

13 means the following: 

14 (A) Public lands, as defined in section 103 

15 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

16 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

17 (B) Units of the National Park System. 

18 (C) Refuges of the National Wildlife Ref19 uge System. 

20 (D) Lands held in trust by the United 

21 States for the benefit of Indian tribes or indi22 vidual Indians. 


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1 (E) Lands in the National Forest System, 

2 as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 

3 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

4 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

5 (2) FLAME FUND.—The term ‘‘Flame Fund’’ 

6 means the Federal Land Assistance, Management, 

7 and Enhancement Fund established by this section. 

8 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec9 retary concerned’’ means— 

10 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re11 spect to Federal land described in subpara12 graphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1); 

13 and 

14 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re15 spect to National Forest System land. 

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

17 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec18 retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 

19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND AVAILABILITY OF FLAME

20 FUND.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

22 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

23 known as the Federal Land Assistance, Manage24 ment, and Enhancement Fund. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The Flame Fund shall consist 

2 of the following amounts: 

3 (A) Amounts appropriated to the Flame 

4 Fund pursuant to the authorization of appro5 priations in subsection (c). 

6 (B) Amounts transferred to the Flame 

7 Fund pursuant to subsection (d). 

8 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Subject to subsection (e), 

9 amounts in the Flame Fund shall be available to the 

10 Secretaries to pay the costs of catastrophic emer11 gency wildland fire suppression activities that are 

12 separate from amounts annually appropriated to the 

13 Secretaries for the predicted annual workload for 

14 wildland fire suppression activities, based on anal15 yses of historical workloads and anticipated in16 creased workloads due to changing environmental or 

17 demographic conditions. Authorized suppression ac18 tivities include containment activities in response to 

19 crisis insect infestations to reduce the likelihood of 

20 wildfires. 

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Flame 

24 Fund such amounts as may be necessary to carry 

25 out this section. It is the intent of Congress that the 


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1 amount appropriated to the Flame Fund for fiscal 

2 year 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter should be 

3 not less than the average amount expended by the 

4 Secretaries for emergency wildland fire suppression 

5 activities over the five fiscal years preceding that fis6 cal year. 

7 (2) NOTICE OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—The 

8 Secretaries shall notify the congressional committees 

9 specified in subsection (h)(2) whenever only an esti10 mated two months worth of funding remains in the 

11 Flame Fund. 

12 (d) TRANSFER OF EXCESS WILDLAND FIRE SUP13 PRESSION AMOUNTS INTO FLAME FUND.—At the end of 

14 each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall transfer to 

15 the Flame Fund amounts appropriated to the Secretary 

16 concerned for wildland fire suppression activities for the 

17 fiscal year, but not obligated for wildland fire suppression 

18 activities before the end of the fiscal year. 

19 (e) USE OF FLAME FUND.— 

20 (1) DECLARATION REQUIRED.—Amounts in the 

21 Flame Fund shall be made available to the Secretary 

22 concerned only after the Secretaries issue a declara23 tion that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligi24 ble for funding from the Flame Fund. 


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1 (2) DECLARATION CRITERIA.—A declaration by 

2 the Secretaries under paragraph (1) shall be based 

3 on the following criteria: 

4 (A) In the case of an individual wildland 

5 fire incident— 

6 (i) the fire covers 300 or more acres; 

7 (ii) the severity of the fire, which may 

8 be based on incident complexity or the po9 tential for increased complexity; and 

10 (iii) the threat posed by the fire, in11 cluding the potential for loss of lives, prop12 erty, or critical resources. 

13 (B) Consistent with subsection (f), in the 

14 case of a firefighting season, when the cumu15 lative costs of wildland fire suppression activi16 ties for the Secretary concerned are projected to 

17 exceed amounts annually appropriated for such 

18 activities. 

19 (3) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS TO SECRETARY

20 CONCERNED.—After issuance of a declaration under 

21 paragraph (1) and upon the request of the Secretary 

22 concerned, the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans23 fer from the Flame Fund to the Secretary concerned 

24 such amounts as the Secretaries determine are necVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:08 Mar 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404

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1 essary for wildland fire suppression activities associ2 ated with the declared suppression emergency. 

3 (4) STATE, PRIVATE, AND TRIBAL LAND.—Use 

4 of the Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency 

5 wildland fire suppression activities on State and pri6 vate land and, where applicable, tribal land shall be 

7 consistent with existing agreements where the Secre8 taries have agreed to assume responsibility for 

9 wildland fire suppression activities on the land. 

10 (5) EFFECT OF INSECT INFESTATIONS.—For 

11 purposes of applying clauses (ii) and (iii) of para12 graph (2)(A), the Secretaries shall take into account 

13 areas where insect infestation has created an ex14 treme risk for wildfire. 

15 (f) TREATMENT OF ANTICIPATED AND PREDICTED

16 ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary concerned shall continue to 

17 fund anticipated and predicted wildland fire suppression 

18 activities within the appropriate agency budget for each 

19 fiscal year. Use of the additional funding made available 

20 through the Flame Fund is intended to supplement the 

21 budgeted and appropriated agency funding and is to be 

22 used only for purposes and in instances consistent with 

23 this section. 

24 (g) PROHIBITION ON OTHER TRANSFERS.—All 

25 amounts in the Flame Fund, as well as all funds approVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:08 Mar 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404

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1 priated for the purpose of wildland fire suppression on 

2 Federal land, must be obligated before the Secretary con3 cerned may transfer funds from non-fire accounts for 

4 wildland fire suppression. 

5 (h) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS.— 

6 (1) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

7 The Secretaries shall establish an accounting and re8 porting system for the Flame Fund compatible with 

9 existing National Fire Plan reporting procedures. 

10 (2) ANNUAL REPORT; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

11 The Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on 

12 Natural Resources, the Committee on Agriculture, 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

14 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

15 and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian 

16 Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 Senate an annual report on the use of the funds 

18 from the Flame Fund, together with any rec19 ommendations that the Secretaries may have to im20 prove the administrative control and oversight of the 

21 Flame Fund. The annual report shall be made avail22 able to the public. 

23 (3) ESTIMATES OF WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION

24 COSTS TO IMPROVE BUDGETING AND FUNDING.— 


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1 (A) PERIODIC ESTIMATES.—Consistent 

2 with the schedule provided in subparagraph 

3 (B), the Secretaries shall submit to the commit4 tees specified in paragraph (2) an estimate of 

5 anticipated wildfire suppression costs for the 

6 current fiscal year and the following fiscal year. 

7 The methodology for developing the estimates 

8 shall be subject to periodic peer review to en9 sure compliance with subparagraph (C). 

10 (B) SUBMISSION SCHEDULE.—The Secre11 taries shall submit an estimate under subpara12 graph (A) during— 

13 (i) the first week of February of each 

14 year; 

15 (ii) the first week of April of each 

16 year; 

17 (iii) the first week of July of each 

18 year; and 

19 (iv) if the bill making appropriations 

20 for operations of the Department of the 

21 Interior and the Forest Service for the fol22 lowing fiscal year has not been enacted by 

23 September 1, the first week of September 

24 of each year. 


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1 (C) BASIS.—An estimate of anticipated 

2 wildfire suppression costs shall be developed 

3 using the best available— 

4 (i) climate, weather, and other rel5 evant data; and 

6 (ii) models and other analytic tools. 

7 SEC. 3. COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRAT8 EGY. 

9 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub12 mit to Congress a report that contains a cohesive wildland 

13 fire management strategy, consistent with the rec14 ommendations contained in recent Comptroller General re15 ports regarding this issue. 

16 (b) ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re17 quired by subsection (a) shall address the findings of the 

18 Comptroller General in the reports referred to in such sub19 section and include the following elements: 

20 (1) A system to identify the most cost effective 

21 means for allocating fire management budget re22 sources. 

23 (2) An illustration of plans by the Secretary of 

24 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to rein25 vest in non-fire programs. 


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1 (3) A description of how the Secretaries will 

2 employ appropriate management response. 

3 (4) A system for assessing the level of risk to 

4 communities. 

5 (5) A system to ensure that the highest priority 

6 fuels reduction projects are being funded first. 

7 (6) A system to assess the impacts of climate 

8 change on the frequency and severity of wildland 

9 fire. 

10 (7) A system to study the effects of invasive 

11 species on wildland fire risk. 

12 (8) A plan, developed in coordination with the 

13 National Guard Bureau, to maximize the use of Na14 tional Guard resources to fight wildfires. 

15 (c) REVISION.—At least once during every five-year 

16 period initially beginning on the date of the submission 

17 of the cohesive wildland fire management strategy under 

18 subsection (a),the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec19 retary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a revised 

20 strategy that takes into consideration changes affecting 

21 the elements of the strategy specified in subsection (b) 

22 during the five-year period, in particular changes with re23 spect to landscape, vegetation, climate, and weather. 

24 (d) NOTICE OF PRESCRIBED FIRES.—As part of the 

25 strategy required by subsection (a) for the Forest Service, 


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1 the Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that, before any 

2 prescribed fire is used on National Forest System land, 

3 owners of adjacent private land are notified in writing of 

4 the date and scope of the prescribed fire. 

5 SEC. 4. REVIEW OF CERTAIN WILDFIRES TO EVALUATE 

6 COST CONTAINMENT IN WILDLAND FIRE SUP7 PRESSION ACTIVITIES. 

8 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte9 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a re10 view, using independent panels, of each wildfire incident 

11 for which the Secretary concerned incurs expenses in ex12 cess of $10,000,000. The review of a wildfire incident shall 

13 include an assessment of what actions, if any, could have 

14 been taken in advance of the fire that may have prevented 

15 the fire or at least reduced the severity of the fire. The 

16 review of a wildfire incident shall include an assessment 

17 of the quantity of greenhouses gases produced as a result 

18 of the fire. 

19 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary concerned shall submit 

20 to the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee 

21 on Agriculture, and the Committee on Appropriations of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En23 ergy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Af24 fairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 


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1 a report containing the results of each review conducted 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 5. REDUCING RISK OF WILDFIRES IN FIRE-READY 

4 COMMUNITIES. 

5 (a) FIRE-READY COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In this 

6 section, the term ‘‘fire-ready community’’ means a com7 munity that satisfies the requirement of paragraph (1), 

8 and the requirements in at least two of the other four 

9 paragraphs, as follows: 

10 (1) is located within a priority area identified 

11 pursuant to subsection (b); 

12 (2) has a cooperative fire agreement that ar13 ticulates the roles and responsibilities for Federal, 

14 State and local government entities in local wildfire 

15 suppression and protection; 

16 (3) has local codes that require fire-resistant 

17 home design and building materials; 

18 (4) has a community wildfire protection plan 

19 (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 

20 Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); and 

21 (5) is engaged in a successful collaborative 

22 process that includes multiple interested persons 

23 representing diverse interests and is transparent and 

24 nonexclusive, such as a resource advisory committee 

25 established under section 205 of the Secure Rural 


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1 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

2 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 U.S.C. 500 note). 

3 (b) FIRE RISK MAPPING.—As soon as is practicable 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

5 of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior (in this 

6 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall develop re7 gional maps of communities most at risk of wildfire and 

8 in need of hazardous fuel treatment and maintenance. The 

9 maps shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels re10 duction projects, including— 

11 (1) at-risk communities in fire-prone areas of 

12 the wildland-urban interface (as defined in section 

13 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

14 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); 

15 (2) watersheds and municipal drinking water 

16 sources; 

17 (3) emergency evacuation corridors; 

18 (4) electricity transmission corridors; and 

19 (5) low-capacity or low-income communities. 

20 (c) LOCAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY

21 GRANTS.— 

22 (1) GRANTS AVAILABLE.—The Secretaries may 

23 provide cost-share grants to fire-ready communities 

24 to assist such communities in carrying out activities 

25 authorized by paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds may 

2 be used for the following: 

3 (A) Education programs to raise aware4 ness of homeowners and citizens about wildland 

5 fire protection practices, including FireWise or 

6 similar programs. 

7 (B) Training programs for local fire8 fighters on wildland firefighting techniques and 

9 approaches. 

10 (C) Equipment acquisition to facilitate 

11 wildland fire preparedness. 

12 (D) Implementation of a community wild13 fire protection plan. 

14 (E) Implementation of fire-safety programs 

15 focused on the eradication or control of invasive 

16 species. 

17 (d) WILDLAND FIRE COST-SHARE AGREEMENTS.— 

18 In developing any wildland fire cost-share agreement with 

19 a State Forester or equivalent official, the Secretaries 

20 shall, to the greatest extent possible, encourage the State 

21 and local communities involved to become fire-ready com22 munities. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry 

3 out this section such sums as may be necessary. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 26, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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