I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1404 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2009 

Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. DICKS, Mr. SIMPSON, and Mr. 

WALDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and the Budget, 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 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhance4 ment Act’’ or ‘‘FLAME Act’’. 

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

6 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. 

7 SEC. 2. FLAME FUND FOR CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCY 

8 WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

11 means the following: 

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

13 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

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

15 (B) Units of the National Park System. 

16 (C) Refuges of the National Wildlife Ref17 uge System. 

18 (D) Lands held in trust by the United 

19 States for the benefit of Indian tribes or indi20 vidual Indians. 

21 (E) Lands in the National Forest System, 

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


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1 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

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

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

4 means the Federal Land Assistance, Management, 

5 and Enhancement Fund established by this section. 

6 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec7 retary concerned’’ means— 

8 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re9 spect to Federal land described in subpara10 graphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1); 

11 and 

12 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re13 spect to National Forest System land. 

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

15 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec16 retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND AVAILABILITY OF FLAME

18 FUND.— 

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

20 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

21 known as the Federal Land Assistance, Manage22 ment, and Enhancement Fund. 

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

24 of the following amounts: 


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1 (A) Amounts appropriated to the Flame 

2 Fund pursuant to the authorization of appro3 priations in subsection (c). 

4 (B) Amounts transferred to the Flame 

5 Fund pursuant to subsection (d). 

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

7 amounts in the Flame Fund shall be available to the 

8 Secretaries to pay the costs of catastrophic emer9 gency wildland fire suppression activities that are 

10 separate from amounts annually appropriated to the 

11 Secretaries for the predicted annual workload for 

12 wildland fire suppression activities, based on anal13 yses of historical workloads and anticipated in14 creased workloads due to changing environmental or 

15 demographic conditions. 

16 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Flame 

19 Fund such amounts as may be necessary to carry 

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

21 amount appropriated to the Flame Fund for fiscal 

22 year 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter should be 

23 not less than the average amount expended by the 

24 Secretaries for emergency wildland fire suppression 


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1 activities over the five fiscal years preceding that fis2 cal year. 

3 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF

4 FLAME FUND APPROPRIATIONS AS EMERGENCY RE5 QUIREMENT.—It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (A) the amounts appropriated to the 

7 Flame Fund should be designated as amounts 

8 necessary to meet emergency needs; and 

9 (B) the new budget authority and outlays 

10 resulting therefrom should not count for the 

11 purposes of titles III and IV of the Congres12 sional Budget Act of 1974. 

13 (3) NOTICE OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—The 

14 Secretaries shall notify the congressional committees 

15 specified in subsection (h)(2) whenever only an esti16 mated two months worth of funding remains in the 

17 Flame Fund. 

18 (d) TRANSFER OF EXCESS WILDLAND FIRE SUP19 PRESSION AMOUNTS INTO FLAME FUND.—At the end of 

20 each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall transfer to 

21 the Flame Fund amounts appropriated to the Secretary 

22 concerned for wildland fire suppression activities for the 

23 fiscal year, but not obligated for wildland fire suppression 

24 activities before the end of the fiscal year. 

25 (e) USE OF FLAME FUND.— 


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1 (1) DECLARATION REQUIRED.—Amounts in the 

2 Flame Fund shall be made available to the Secretary 

3 concerned only after the Secretaries issue a declara4 tion that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligi5 ble for funding from the Flame Fund. 

6 (2) DECLARATION CRITERIA.—A declaration by 

7 the Secretaries under paragraph (1) shall be based 

8 on the following criteria: 

9 (A) In the case of an individual wildland 

10 fire incident— 

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

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

13 be based on incident complexity or the po14 tential for increased complexity; and 

15 (iii) the threat posed by the fire, in16 cluding the potential for loss of lives, prop17 erty, or critical resources. 

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

19 case of a firefighting season, when the cumu20 lative costs of wildland fire suppression activi21 ties for the Secretary concerned are projected to 

22 exceed amounts annually appropriated for such 

23 activities. 

24 (3) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS TO SECRETARY

25 CONCERNED.—After issuance of a declaration under 


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

2 concerned, the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans3 fer from the Flame Fund to the Secretary concerned 

4 such amounts as the Secretaries determine are nec5 essary for wildland fire suppression activities associ6 ated with the declared suppression emergency. 

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

8 of the Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency 

9 wildland fire suppression activities on State and pri10 vate land and, where applicable, tribal land shall be 

11 consistent with existing agreements where the Secre12 taries have agreed to assume responsibility for 

13 wildland fire suppression activities on the land. 

14 (f) TREATMENT OF ANTICIPATED AND PREDICTED

15 ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary concerned shall continue to 

16 fund anticipated and predicted wildland fire suppression 

17 activities within the appropriate agency budget for each 

18 fiscal year. Use of the additional funding made available 

19 through the Flame Fund is intended to supplement the 

20 budgeted and appropriated agency funding and is to be 

21 used only for purposes and in instances consistent with 

22 this section. 

23 (g) PROHIBITION ON OTHER TRANSFERS.—All 

24 amounts in the Flame Fund, as well as all funds appro25 priated for the purpose of wildland fire suppression on 


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1 Federal land, must be obligated before the Secretary con2 cerned may transfer funds from non-fire accounts for 

3 wildland fire suppression. 

4 (h) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS.— 

5 (1) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

6 The Secretaries shall establish an accounting and re7 porting system for the Flame Fund compatible with 

8 existing National Fire Plan reporting procedures. 

9 (2) ANNUAL REPORT; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

10 The Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources, the Committee on Agriculture, 

12 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

13 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

14 and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian 

15 Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 Senate an annual report on the use of the funds 

17 from the Flame Fund, together with any rec18 ommendations that the Secretaries may have to im19 prove the administrative control and oversight of the 

20 Flame Fund. The annual report shall be made avail21 able to the public. 

22 (3) ESTIMATES OF WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION

23 COSTS TO IMPROVE BUDGETING AND FUNDING.— 

24 (A) PERIODIC ESTIMATES.—Consistent 

25 with the schedule provided in subparagraph 


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1 (B), the Secretaries shall submit to the commit2 tees specified in paragraph (2) an estimate of 

3 anticipated wildfire suppression costs for the 

4 current fiscal year and the following fiscal year. 

5 The methodology for developing the estimates 

6 shall be subject to periodic peer review to en7 sure compliance with subparagraph (C). 

8 (B) SUBMISSION SCHEDULE.—The Secre9 taries shall submit an estimate under subpara10 graph (A) during— 

11 (i) the first week of February of each 

12 year; 

13 (ii) the first week of April of each 

14 year; 

15 (iii) the first week of July of each 

16 year; and 

17 (iv) if the bill making appropriations 

18 for operations of the Department of the 

19 Interior and the Forest Service for the fol20 lowing fiscal year has not been enacted by 

21 September 1, the first week of September 

22 of each year. 

23 (C) BASIS.—An estimate of anticipated 

24 wildfire suppression costs shall be developed 

25 using the best available— 


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1 (i) climate, weather, and other rel2 evant data; and 

3 (ii) models and other analytic tools. 

4 SEC. 3. COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRAT5 EGY. 

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

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

8 of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub9 mit to Congress a report that contains a cohesive wildland 

10 fire management strategy, consistent with the rec11 ommendations contained in recent Comptroller General re12 ports regarding this issue. 

13 (b) ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re14 quired by subsection (a) shall address the findings of the 

15 Comptroller General in the reports referred to in such sub16 section and include the following elements: 

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

18 means for allocating fire management budget re19 sources. 

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

21 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to rein22 vest in non-fire programs. 

23 (3) A description of how the Secretaries will 

24 employ appropriate management response. 


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

2 communities. 

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

4 fuels reduction projects are being funded first. 

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. 

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

14 to the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee 

15 on Agriculture, and the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En17 ergy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Af18 fairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 

19 a report containing the results of each review conducted 

20 under subsection (a). 

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

22 COMMUNITIES. 

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

24 section, the term ‘‘fire-ready community’’ means a com25 munity that— 


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1 (1) is located within a priority area identified 

2 pursuant to subsection (b); 

3 (2) has a cooperative fire agreement that ar4 ticulates the roles and responsibilities for Federal, 

5 State and local government entities in local wildfire 

6 suppression and protection; 

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

8 home design and building materials; 

9 (4) has a community wildfire protection plan 

10 (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 

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

12 (5) is engaged in a successful collaborative 

13 process that includes multiple interested persons 

14 representing diverse interests and is transparent and 

15 nonexclusive, such as a resource advisory committee 

16 established under section 205 of the Secure Rural 

17 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

18 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 U.S.C. 500 note). 

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

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

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

22 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall develop re23 gional maps of communities most at risk of wildfire and 

24 in need of hazardous fuel treatment and maintenance. The 


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1 maps shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels re2 duction projects, including— 

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

4 the wildland-urban interface (as defined in section 

5 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

6 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); 

7 (2) watersheds and municipal drinking water 

8 sources; 

9 (3) emergency evacuation corridors; 

10 (4) electricity transmission corridors; and 

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

12 (c) LOCAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY

13 GRANTS.— 

14 (1) GRANTS AVAILABLE.—The Secretaries may 

15 provide cost-share grants to fire-ready communities 

16 to assist such communities in carrying out activities 

17 authorized by paragraph (2). 

18 (2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds may 

19 be used for the following: 

20 (A) Education programs to raise aware21 ness of homeowners and citizens about wildland 

22 fire protection practices, including FireWise or 

23 similar programs. 


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1 (B) Training programs for local fire2 fighters on wildland firefighting techniques and 

3 approaches. 

4 (C) Equipment acquisition to facilitate 

5 wildland fire preparedness. 

6 (D) Implementation of a community wild7 fire protection plan. 

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

9 In developing any wildland fire cost-share agreement with 

10 a State Forester or equivalent official, the Secretaries 

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

12 and local communities involved to become fire-ready com13 munities. 

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry 

16 out this section such sums as may be necessary. 

Æ 


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