II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2299 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide wildfire regulatory 

relief, to modify the evaluation of a major disaster declaration request, 

to provide regulatory relief for banks during major disasters, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 11, 2018 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide wildfire 

regulatory relief, to modify the evaluation of a major 

disaster declaration request, to provide regulatory relief 

for banks during major disasters, 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 Regulatory 

5 Relief Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE OF LAND IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY. 

2 Section 1233(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

3 (16 U.S.C. 3833(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) 

4 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) harvesting, grazing, or other commercial 

6 use of the forage, without any reduction in the rent7 al rate, in response to— 

8 ‘‘(A) drought; 

9 ‘‘(B) flooding; 

10 ‘‘(C) a state of emergency that— 

11 ‘‘(i) is declared by the Governor of the 

12 State in which the land that is subject to 

13 a contract under the conservation reserve 

14 program is located; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) covers any part of the State or 

16 the entire State; or 

17 ‘‘(D) other emergency;’’. 

18 SEC. 3. EVALUATING A MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION 

19 REQUEST. 

20 Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

21 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating a request for 

25 a declaration under this section, the President shall 


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1 take into consideration any impacts of the disaster 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(A) will impede the recovery efforts of af4 fected individuals or community; and 

5 ‘‘(B) may not be addressed under disaster 

6 programs administered by the Federal Emer7 gency Management Agency, but that are ad8 dressed by other disaster programs, such as the 

9 disaster loan program authorized under section 

10 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 636(b)) and programs authorized under section 

12 1501 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 

13 9081). 

14 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL FENCE LINES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

16 term ‘agricultural fence line’ means a physical 

17 barrier placed for the purpose of defining the 

18 edge or boundary of an area used for agricul19 tural purpose. 

20 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—In considering the 

21 impacts of a disaster required to be considered 

22 under paragraph (1), the President shall con23 sider the costs of replacing an agricultural fence 

24 line.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT GRANTS. 

2 Section 662(b) of the Post-Katrina Emergency Man3 agement Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 762(b)) is amend4 ed by inserting ‘‘, including supporting joint interagency 

5 cooperation between State agencies responsible for re6 sponding to wildfires,’’ after ‘‘hazards’’. 

7 SEC. 5. REGULATORY RELIEF FOR BANKS DURING MAJOR 

8 DISASTERS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 (1) the terms ‘‘appropriate Federal banking 

11 agency’’ and ‘‘depository institution’’ have the mean12 ings given those terms in section 3 of the Federal 

13 Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and 

14 (2) the term ‘‘major disaster’’ has the meaning 

15 given the term in section 102 of the Robert T. Staf16 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

17 (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

18 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 15 days after the 

19 date on which the President declares a major disaster 

20 under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re21 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), or 

22 not later than 15 days after a state of emergency is de23 clared by a Governor of a State for all or part of that 

24 State, the appropriate Federal banking agencies and the 

25 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall issue guid26 ance to depository institutions located in the area for 


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1 which the President declared the major disaster or the 

2 Governor declared a state of emergency, as applicable, for 

3 reducing regulatory burdens for borrowers and commu4 nities in order to facilitate recovery from the major dis5 aster. 

6 (c) CONTENTS.—Guidance issued under subsection 

7 (b) shall include instructions from the appropriate Federal 

8 banking agency or the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro9 tection, as applicable, regarding— 

10 (1) extending repayment terms, adjusting exist11 ing loans, and easing terms for new loans, in accord12 ance with prudent banking practices that involve ap13 propriate monitoring; 

14 (2) providing relief from reporting and pub15 lishing requirements, including by accepting delayed 

16 filing and publishing of reports by depository institu17 tions in areas affected by the major disaster or cov18 ered by the state of emergency, as applicable; 

19 (3) taking appropriate actions to stabilize in20 vestments in local government projects affected by 

21 the major disaster or covered by the state of emer22 gency, as applicable; 

23 (4) promoting awareness of the eligibility of de24 pository institutions for loans or investments made 

25 in areas affected by the major disaster or covered by 


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1 the state of emergency, as applicable, under the 

2 Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (12 U.S.C. 

3 2901 et seq.); and 

4 (5) such other issues as determined appropriate 

5 by the appropriate Federal banking agency or the 

6 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, as appli7 cable. 

Æ 


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