II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2404 

To improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2021 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Western Wildfire Support Act of 2021’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—PREPARATION 

Sec. 101. Firefighting accounts. 

Sec. 102. Reimbursement for wildfires caused by military training. 

Sec. 103. Strategic wildland fire management planning. 


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Sec. 104. Accounts to assist communities in planning and preparing for 

wildfires. 

Sec. 105. Community support during disaster response. 

TITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION AND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT 

Sec. 201. Wildfire detection equipment. 

Sec. 202. Grant program for slip-on tank units. 

Sec. 203. Assistance to States for operation of air tankers. 

Sec. 204. Research and development of unmanned aircraft system fire applications. 

Sec. 205. Study on effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression. 

Sec. 206. Study on wildfire detection equipment and integration of artificial intelligence technologies. 

TITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY SUPPORT 

Sec. 301. Funding for online guides for post-fire assistance. 

Sec. 302. Long-Term Burned Area Recovery account. 

Sec. 303. Prize for wildfire-related invasive species reduction. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 

4 ‘‘congressional committees’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

6 Resources and the Committee on Appropria7 tions of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

9 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

12 means— 

13 (A) public lands (as defined in section 103 

14 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

15 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

16 (B) units of the National Park System; 


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1 (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 

2 System; 

3 (D) land held in trust by the United States 

4 for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 

5 an Indian Tribe; and 

6 (E) land in the National Forest System. 

7 (3) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 

9 Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 

10 in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 

11 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

13 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 

14 Forest System’’ does not include— 

15 (i) the national grasslands and land 

16 utilization projects administered under title 

17 III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 

18 Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 

19 (ii) National Forest System land east 

20 of the 100th meridian. 

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

22 means— 

23 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 

24 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec2 retary concerned’’ means— 

3 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, in the 

4 case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 

5 the Secretary of the Interior; and 

6 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the 

7 case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 

8 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

9 TITLE I—PREPARATION 

10 SEC. 101. FIREFIGHTING ACCOUNTS. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es12 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol13 lowing accounts: 

14 (1) The Firefighting Operations account for the 

15 Department of Agriculture. 

16 (2) The Firefighting Operations account for the 

17 Department of the Interior. 

18 (b) BUDGET ACTIVITIES WITHIN ACCOUNTS.—The 

19 following activities shall be specified for funding within 

20 each Firefighting Operations account established by sub21 section (a): 

22 (1) Ground-based firefighting operations. 

23 (2) Aircraft use in firefighting operations. 

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) GROUND-BASED FIREFIGHTING OPER2 ATIONS.— 

3 (A) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

5 year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter to the 

6 account established by subsection (a)(1) not 

7 more than $3,000,000,000 for ground-based 

8 firefighting operations. 

9 (B) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

11 year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter to the 

12 account established by subsection (a)(2) not 

13 more than $1,000,000,000 for ground-based 

14 firefighting operations. 

15 (2) AIRCRAFT USE IN FIREFIGHTING OPER16 ATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated for 

17 fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter to 

18 the accounts established by subsection (a), a total 

19 amount of not more than $500,000,000 for aircraft 

20 use in firefighting operations. 

21 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 

22 year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 

23 concerned shall submit through the budget request of the 

24 President and in accordance with subsection (c), a request 

25 for amounts in the Wildland Fire Management appropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2404.IS S2404

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1 tion account of the Secretary concerned to carry out the 

2 activities described in subsection (e). 

3 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall use 

5 amounts provided to the respective accounts estab6 lished under subsection (a) as follows: 

7 (A) The Secretary of Agriculture shall use 

8 amounts appropriated under subsection 

9 (c)(1)(A) to carry out management activities for 

10 active wildfires through the Forest Service, ex11 cept that none of the amounts may be used for 

12 the operation of aircraft. 

13 (B) The Secretary of the Interior shall use 

14 amounts appropriated under subsection 

15 (c)(1)(B) to carry out management activities 

16 for active wildfires, except that none of the 

17 amounts may be used for the operation of air18 craft. 

19 (C) The Secretary concerned shall use 

20 amounts appropriated under subsection (c)(2) 

21 to acquire, by contract or purchase, and use 

22 aircraft, including unmanned aerial systems, for 

23 operations relating to wildland fires. 

24 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary concerned 

25 shall not use to carry out any activity authorized by 


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1 paragraph (1)(C) amounts appropriated to accounts 

2 of the Secretary concerned other than amounts in 

3 the accounts established by subsection (a) specified 

4 for activities described in subsection (b)(2). 

5 (f) ACCOUNTING REPORTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Secretary concerned 

7 shall submit to the congressional committees month8 ly accounting reports regarding the amounts that 

9 have been obligated and expended under this section 

10 during the preceding month of the applicable fiscal 

11 year. 

12 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Each report under para13 graph (1) shall include a description of, with respect 

14 to the period covered by the report— 

15 (A) Federal ground-based equipment costs; 

16 (B) Federal aircraft use costs; 

17 (C) Federal personnel costs; 

18 (D) on-incident and off-incident support 

19 costs; and 

20 (E) funding allocated from the Wildland 

21 Fire Management account of the Secretary con22 cerned to pay for administrative costs. 

23 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Each report under para24 graph (1) shall be prepared in accordance with ap25 plicable national fire plan reporting procedures. 


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1 SEC. 102. REIMBURSEMENT FOR WILDFIRES CAUSED BY 

2 MILITARY TRAINING. 

3 (a) REIMBURSEMENT REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

4 Defense shall, on application by a State or Federal agency, 

5 reimburse the State or Federal agency for the reasonable 

6 costs of the State or Federal agency for services provided 

7 in connection with fire suppression as a result of a fire 

8 caused by military training or other actions carried out 

9 by the Armed Forces or employees of the Department of 

10 Defense. 

11 (b) LIMITATION.—Services reimbursable under sub12 section (a) shall be limited to services proximately related 

13 to the fire for which reimbursement is sought. 

14 (c) APPLICATION.—Each application from a State or 

15 Federal agency for reimbursement for costs under sub16 section (a) shall provide an itemized request of the services 

17 covered by the application, including the costs of the serv18 ices. 

19 (d) FUNDS.—Reimbursements under subsection (a) 

20 shall be made from amounts authorized to be appropriated 

21 to the Department of Defense for operation and mainte22 nance. 

23 SEC. 103. STRATEGIC WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT PLAN24 NING. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 

26 2024, the Secretary concerned shall, in accordance with 


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1 this section, establish a series of spatial fire management 

2 plans. 

3 (b) USE OF EXISTING PLANS.—To comply with this 

4 section, the Secretary concerned may use a fire manage5 ment plan in existence on the date of enactment of this 

6 Act. 

7 (c) UPDATES.—To be valid, a spatial fire manage8 ment plan established under this section shall not be in 

9 use for longer than the 10-year period beginning on the 

10 date on which the plan is established. 

11 (d) SUB-UNIT PLANS.—The Secretary concerned 

12 shall establish a spatial fire management plan for each 

13 unit of Federal land with more than 10 acres of burnable 

14 vegetation under the jurisdiction of the Secretary con15 cerned. 

16 (e) CONTENTS.—For each spatial fire management 

17 plan established under this section, the Secretary con18 cerned shall— 

19 (1) base the plans on a landscape-scale risk as20 sessment that includes— 

21 (A) risks to firefighters; 

22 (B) risks to communities; 

23 (C) risks to highly valuable resources; and 

24 (D) other relevant considerations deter25 mined by the Secretary concerned; 


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1 (2) include direction, represented in spatial 

2 form, from land management plans and resource 

3 management plans; 

4 (3) in coordination with States, delineate poten5 tial wildland fire operational delineations that— 

6 (A) identify potential control locations; and 

7 (B) specify the places in which firefighters 

8 will not be sent because of the presence of un9 acceptable risk, including areas determined by 

10 the Secretary concerned as— 

11 (i) exceeding a certain slope; 

12 (ii) containing too high of a volume of 

13 hazardous fuels, under certain weather 

14 conditions; or 

15 (iii) containing other known hazards; 

16 (4) include a determination of average severe 

17 fire weather for the plan area; 

18 (5) include prefire planning provisions; 

19 (6) include a plan for postfire activities that— 

20 (A) would better enable a Burned Area 

21 Emergency Response Team working on a large 

22 fire incident to address emergency stabilization 

23 and erosion quickly; and 

24 (B) specifies ways in which the Burned 

25 Area Emergency Response Team would seek to 


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1 prevent the proliferation of invasive species in 

2 working on the large fire incident; and 

3 (7) include, at a minimum, any other require4 ment determined to be necessary by the Secretary 

5 concerned. 

6 (f) CONSISTENCY WITH MANAGEMENT PLANS.—The 

7 spatial fire management plans established under this sec8 tion shall be consistent with the fire management objec9 tives and land management objectives in the applicable 

10 land management plan or resource management plan. 

11 (g) REVISIONS TO LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS AND

12 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS.—A revision to a land 

13 management plan or resource management plan shall con14 sider fire ecology and fire management in a manner that 

15 facilitates the issuance of direction for an incident re16 sponse. 

17 (h) ENGAGEMENT DURING LAND MANAGEMENT

18 PLANNING.—A supervisory employee of the Department 

19 of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture that is 

20 funded through a Firefighting Operations account estab21 lished under section 101 shall participate directly in the 

22 creation or revision of an applicable land management 

23 plan or resource management plan to incorporate an as24 sessment, protocol, or plan developed under this Act into 

25 the planning process. 


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1 SEC. 104. ACCOUNTS TO ASSIST COMMUNITIES IN PLAN2 NING AND PREPARING FOR WILDFIRES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es4 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol5 lowing accounts: 

6 (1) The Community-Supported Land-Use Plan7 ning Assistance account for the Department of Agri8 culture. 

9 (2) The Community-Supported Land-Use Plan10 ning Assistance account for the Department of the 

11 Interior. 

12 (b) BUDGET ACTIVITIES WITHIN ACCOUNTS.—The 

13 following activities shall be specified for funding within 

14 each Community-Supported Land-Use Planning Assist15 ance account established by subsection (a): 

16 (1) The Firewise Program operated by the Na17 tional Fire Protection Association. 

18 (2) Community wildfire protection programs. 

19 (3) The Fire-Adapted Communities Learning 

20 Network. 

21 (4) Vegetation management by communities. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 

24 each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by 

25 subsection (a) such sums as are necessary to carry out 

26 this section, not to exceed $200,000,000. 


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1 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 

2 year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 

3 concerned shall submit through the budget request of the 

4 President and in accordance with subsection (c), a request 

5 for amounts in the Wildland Fire Management appropria6 tion account of the Secretary concerned to carry out the 

7 activities described in subsection (b). 

8 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con9 cerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by 

10 subsection (a) as follows: 

11 (1) With respect to amounts appropriated for 

12 the activity described in subsection (b)(1), the Sec13 retary concerned may— 

14 (A) cosponsor the Firewise Program; and 

15 (B) support the expansion of the Firewise 

16 Communities/USA Recognition Program to ad17 ditional at-risk communities. 

18 (2) With respect to amounts appropriated for 

19 the activity described in subsection (b)(2), the Sec20 retary concerned may provide assistance to at-risk 

21 communities to establish and revise— 

22 (A) a community wildfire protection plan 

23 (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy For24 ests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

25 6511)); or 


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1 (B) a community evacuation plan. 

2 (3) With respect to amounts appropriated for 

3 the activity described in subsection (b)(3), the Sec4 retary concerned shall establish a small grant pro5 gram to address local hazard reduction on Federal, 

6 State, or private land, subject to the conditions 

7 that— 

8 (A) a grant provided under the program— 

9 (i) may be awarded to an organization 

10 in an at-risk community to address, in a 

11 sole instance, a hazardous fuel in a specific 

12 location, including piling and burning, and 

13 implementing a prescribed fire on private 

14 land; 

15 (ii) shall not exceed $20,000; and 

16 (iii) shall require cost-sharing assist17 ance in an amount equal to not less than 

18 10 percent of the amount of the grant; 

19 (B) the work identified for funding under 

20 the grant shall be accomplished by a team com21 posed of, at a minimum— 

22 (i) a private citizen; 

23 (ii) a representative of a nonprofit or24 ganization; and 


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1 (iii) a local fire department, including 

2 a volunteer fire department; 

3 (C) to be eligible for a grant under the 

4 program, a strategic plan outlining the means 

5 by which the applicant will address a hazardous 

6 fuel shall be submitted to the Secretary con7 cerned; and 

8 (D) on completion of a grant project, the 

9 grant recipient shall— 

10 (i) submit to the Secretary concerned 

11 a report; and 

12 (ii) participate in training another 

13 grant recipient during the following fiscal 

14 year. 

15 (4) With respect to amounts appropriated for 

16 the activity described in subsection (b)(4), the Sec17 retary concerned may provide cost-sharing assistance 

18 for the establishment and operation of a local pro19 gram in an at-risk community to assist homeowners 

20 in the disposal of brush and slash generated by haz21 ard reduction activities. 

22 SEC. 105. COMMUNITY SUPPORT DURING DISASTER RE23 SPONSE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish a 

25 program to train and certify a citizen who wishes to be 


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1 able to volunteer to assist the Secretaries during a 

2 wildland fire incident. 

3 (b) SERVICE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall estab5 lish several categories of service for each manner in 

6 which a volunteer certified under this section may 

7 provide assistance. 

8 (2) DIRECT SUPPRESSION OF WILDLAND

9 FIRES.—No volunteer certified under this section 

10 may engage in an operation to directly suppress a 

11 wildland fire. 

12 (3) DIRECTION.—A volunteer under this section 

13 shall— 

14 (A) report to a designee of an incident 

15 commander prior to providing any assistance on 

16 a wildland fire; and 

17 (B) operate continuously under the direc18 tion of the designee while providing assistance 

19 on a wildland fire. 

20 (c) CERTIFICATION.— 

21 (1) CRITERIA.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall 

23 certify volunteers to provide assistance for each 

24 category of service established under subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 (B) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA.—The 

2 Secretaries shall establish criteria for a volun3 teer to be certified for each category of service. 

4 (C) ATTENDANCE.—Attendance at training 

5 conducted under paragraph (2) shall be 1 of the 

6 criteria established under subparagraph (B). 

7 (D) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretaries shall 

8 assess the knowledge, skills, or abilities, of a 

9 person prior to certifying a person to become a 

10 volunteer. 

11 (2) TRAINING.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall 

13 regularly conduct training for citizens who de14 sire to be certified as volunteers. 

15 (B) CONTENT.—The training shall include, 

16 at a minimum, a safety component in an effort 

17 to minimize inherent threats to volunteers and 

18 maximize the safety of a volunteer, to the max19 imum extent practicable, as a volunteer pro20 vides assistance on a wildland fire. 

21 (C) FREQUENCY.—The Secretaries shall 

22 offer, at a minimum, 1 training session in each 

23 State with significant wildfire risk, not less 

24 than every 2 years. 

25 (3) IDENTIFICATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—On the certification of 

2 a volunteer, the Secretary concerned shall pro3 vide to the volunteer a means of identification 

4 as a volunteer. 

5 (B) DISPLAY.—A volunteer certified under 

6 this section shall display, continuously while as7 sisting in a wildland fire, the means of identi8 fication. 

9 TITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION 

10 AND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT 

11 SEC. 201. WILDFIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT. 

12 To the extent practicable, the Secretary concerned 

13 shall— 

14 (1) expedite the placement of wildfire detection 

15 equipment, such as sensors, cameras, and other rel16 evant equipment, in areas at risk of wildfire; 

17 (2) expand the use of satellite data to assist 

18 wildfire response; and 

19 (3) expedite any permitting required by the 

20 Secretary concerned for the installation, mainte21 nance, or removal of wildfire detection equipment. 

22 SEC. 202. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SLIP-ON TANK UNITS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish a 

24 program to award to an eligible State or unit of local gov25 ernment each year grants to acquire slip-on tank and 


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1 pump units (referred to in this section as ‘‘slip-on units’’) 

2 for a surge capacity of resources for fire suppression. 

3 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

5 grant under this section, a State or unit of local gov6 ernment shall— 

7 (A) submit an application at such time, in 

8 such manner, and containing such information 

9 as the Secretaries may require; and 

10 (B) contribute non-Federal funds in ac11 cordance with paragraph (2). 

12 (2) COST-SHARE REQUIREMENTS.—The non13 Federal share of the cost of acquiring slip-on units 

14 using a grant under this section shall be not less 

15 than 25 percent. 

16 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 

18 section shall be used only for the acquisition of not 

19 fewer than 30 slip-on units. 

20 (2) RESTRICTIONS.—A recipient of a grant 

21 under this section— 

22 (A) shall be responsible for the cost of the 

23 maintenance and use of the slip-on units; and 

24 (B) may not use grant funds for a cost de25 scribed in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATION OF SLIP-ON

2 UNITS.—A recipient of a grant under this section shall— 

3 (1) in maintaining and storing the slip-on 

4 units— 

5 (A) store and mount a slip-on unit on a ve6 hicle only during— 

7 (i) a period of extreme fire danger; or 

8 (ii) an active wildland fire; 

9 (B) designate a vehicle and personnel to be 

10 used with each slip-on unit; 

11 (C) make any necessary modification to a 

12 designated vehicle to ensure compatibility with 

13 the use of the slip-on unit; 

14 (D) train designated personnel to use the 

15 slip-on unit; 

16 (E) ensure designated personnel possess el17 ementary wildland fire management skills, in18 cluding post-fire-front structure-protection tac19 tics; and 

20 (F) maintain each slip-on unit in good, us21 able condition for a period of not fewer than 20 

22 years; 

23 (2) during a large, active wildland fire— 

24 (A) staff each designated vehicle equipped 

25 with a slip-on unit with— 


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1 (i) a person designated under para2 graph (1)(B); and 

3 (ii) a trained firefighter, regardless of 

4 whether the trained firefighter is paid, vol5 unteer, or off-duty but paid; 

6 (B) organize each designated vehicle 

7 equipped with a slip-on unit into a team with 

8 other designated vehicles under the direction of 

9 a qualified task force leader; and 

10 (C) use each designated vehicle equipped 

11 with a slip-on unit primarily for the purpose of 

12 following behind the wildland fire front— 

13 (i) to prevent homes from igniting; 

14 and 

15 (ii) to alert fire engines of structures 

16 that have ignited; and 

17 (3) comply with any other requirements deter18 mined to be necessary by the Secretaries, including 

19 any minimum requirements for a slip-on unit and 

20 any additional required equipment. 

21 SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR OPERATION OF AIR 

22 TANKERS. 

23 The Secretary concerned may provide funding to 

24 States to enable States to operate not more than 50 sin25 gle-engine air tankers if— 


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1 (1) the single-engine air tanker is government2 owned and contractor-operated or government-owned 

3 and government-operated; 

4 (2) a State receiving funding for a single-engine 

5 air tanker under this section shares the cost with 

6 the Secretary of the acquisition and operation of the 

7 aircraft; and 

8 (3) the single-engine air tanker— 

9 (A) shall be used for initial attack; and 

10 (B) shall not be used for large fire aviation 

11 support. 

12 SEC. 204. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF UNMANNED 

13 AIRCRAFT SYSTEM FIRE APPLICATIONS. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) COVERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TEST

16 RANGE.—The term ‘‘covered unmanned aircraft test 

17 range’’ means a test range that is approved of or 

18 designated by the Administrator of the Federal 

19 Aviation Administration for the testing of unmanned 

20 aircraft systems, as required under section 44803 of 

21 title 49, United States Code. 

22 (2) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The 

23 term‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ means an un24 manned aircraft and associated elements (including 

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1 trol the unmanned aircraft) that are required for the 

2 operator to operate safely and efficiently in the na3 tional airspace system of the Federal Aviation Ad4 ministration. 

5 (b) JOINT FIRE SCIENCE PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

6 of the Interior shall, acting through the Joint Fire Science 

7 Program, work with covered unmanned aircraft test 

8 ranges to carry out research and development of un9 manned aircraft system fire applications. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

12 Interior such sums as are necessary to carry out this sec13 tion. 

14 SEC. 205. STUDY ON EFFECTS OF DRONE INCURSIONS ON 

15 WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) DRONE.—The term ‘‘drone’’ means an un18 manned aircraft system owned by a private indi19 vidual or entity. 

20 (2) DRONE INCURSION.—The term ‘‘drone in21 cursion’’ means the operation of a drone within any 

22 airspace for which the Administrator of the Federal 

23 Aviation Administration has issued a temporary 

24 flight restriction because of a wildfire. 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di3 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 

4 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

6 Chief of the Forest Service, shall conduct a study on the 

7 effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression with re8 spect to land managed by the Department of the Interior 

9 or the Department of Agriculture. 

10 (c) STUDY CONTENTS.—In conducting the study re11 quired under subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 

12 (1) determine, for each of the 5 most recent 

13 calendar years— 

14 (A) the number of occurrences in which a 

15 drone incursion interfered with wildfire suppres16 sion; and 

17 (B) the effect of each occurrence described 

18 in subparagraph (A) on— 

19 (i) the length of time required to 

20 achieve complete suppression; 

21 (ii) the effectiveness of aerial fire22 fighting responses; and 

23 (iii) the amounts expended by the 

24 Federal Government; and 


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1 (2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of 

2 various actions to prevent drone incursions, includ3 ing— 

4 (A) the use of reasonable force to disable, 

5 damage, or destroy a drone; 

6 (B) the seizure of a drone, including sei7 zure with a net device; and 

8 (C) the dissemination of educational mate9 rials relating to the effects of drone incursions 

10 on wildfire suppression. 

11 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

13 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

14 the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

15 the House of Representatives a report describing— 

16 (1) the findings of the study required under 

17 subsection (b); and 

18 (2) any recommendations of the Secretary relat19 ing to those findings. 

20 SEC. 206. STUDY ON WILDFIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT 

21 AND INTEGRATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTEL22 LIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall conduct a 

24 study on— 


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1 (1) the effectiveness and limitations on the de2 ployment and application of each wildfire detection 

3 equipment technology with respect to detection, con4 firmation, geolocation, predictability of wildfire 

5 spread, suppression resource management, post-fire 

6 forensics, and surface rehabilitation; 

7 (2) how each technology described in paragraph 

8 (1), with proper and timely deployment and use, can 

9 provide for the most effective and efficient means of 

10 dealing with the threat and the reality of wildland 

11 fires; 

12 (3) the integration of artificial intelligence with 

13 real-time imagery and weather data provided by 

14 wildfire detection equipment technology; and 

15 (4) how the integration of artificial intelligence 

16 described in paragraph (3) can enhance the value of 

17 each wildfire detection equipment technology, indi18 vidually and collectively. 

19 (b) SUBMISSION AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not 

20 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretaries shall submit to the congressional commit22 tees and make publicly available the results of the study 

23 conducted under subsection (a). 


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1 TITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY 

2 SUPPORT 

3 SEC. 301. FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR POST-FIRE 

4 ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) USE OF SERVICES OF OTHER AGENCIES.—Sec6 tion 201(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

7 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131(a)) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(8) post-disaster assistance.’’. 

13 (b) FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST14 ANCE.—Section 201 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

15 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131) 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST18 ANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

20 Federal Emergency Management Agency may enter 

21 into a cooperative agreement to provide funding to 

22 a State agency established under subsection (c) to 

23 establish and operate a website to provide informa24 tion relating to post-fire recovery funding and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2404.IS S2404

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1 sources to a community or an individual impacted by 

2 a wildland fire. 

3 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT.—A website created under 

4 this subsection shall be— 

5 ‘‘(A) managed by the State agency; and 

6 ‘‘(B) suitable for the residents of the State 

7 of the State agency. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONTENT.—The Administrator may enter 

9 into a cooperative agreement to establish a website 

10 under this subsection only to provide 1 or more of 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) A list of Federal, State, and local 

13 sources of post-fire recovery funding or assist14 ance that may be available to a community 

15 after a wildfire. 

16 ‘‘(B) A list of Federal, State, and local 

17 sources of post-fire recovery funding or assist18 ance that may be available to an individual im19 pacted by a wildfire. 

20 ‘‘(C) A technical guide that lists and ex21 plains the costs and benefits of alternatives 

22 available to a community to mitigate the im23 pacts of wildfire and prepare for potential flood24 ing. 


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1 ‘‘(4) COOPERATION.—A State agency that en2 ters into a cooperative agreement under this sub3 section shall cooperate with the Secretary of the In4 terior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Admin5 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

6 Agency in developing a website under this sub7 section. 

8 ‘‘(5) UPDATES.—A State agency that receives 

9 funding to establish a website under this subsection 

10 shall update the website not less than once every 6 

11 years.’’. 

12 SEC. 302. LONG-TERM BURNED AREA RECOVERY ACCOUNT. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is estab14 lished in the Treasury of the United States the Long15 Term Burned Area Recovery account for the Department 

16 of Agriculture. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 

19 each fiscal year thereafter for the account established by 

20 subsection (a) such sums as are necessary to carry out 

21 the activities described in subsection (d), not to exceed 

22 $100,000,000. 

23 (c) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 

24 year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary 

25 of Agriculture shall submit through the budget request of 


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1 the President and in accordance with subsection (b), a re2 quest for amounts in the Wildland Fire Management ap3 propriation account to carry out the activities described 

4 in subsection (d). 

5 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Ag6 riculture shall use amounts in the account established by 

7 subsection (a) for rehabilitation projects— 

8 (1) that begin not earlier than 1 year after the 

9 date on which the wildfire was contained; 

10 (2) that are— 

11 (A) scheduled to be completed not later 

12 than 3 years after the date on which the wild13 fire was contained; and 

14 (B) located at sites impacted by wildfire on 

15 non-Federal or Federal land; 

16 (3) that restore the functions of an ecosystem 

17 or protect life or property; and 

18 (4) not less than 10 percent of the total costs 

19 of which are paid for with non-Federal funds. 

20 (e) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.—The Secretary of 

21 Agriculture shall prioritize, on a nationwide basis, projects 

22 for which funding requests are submitted under this sec23 tion, based on— 

24 (1) downstream effects on water resources; and 

25 (2) public safety. 


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1 SEC. 303. PRIZE FOR WILDFIRE-RELATED INVASIVE SPE2 CIES REDUCTION. 

3 Section 7001(d) of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Con4 servation, Management, and Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 742b note; Public Law 116–9) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘paragraph (8)(A)’’ each place 

7 it appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)(A)’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (8)(B)’’ each place 

9 it appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)(B)’’; 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para11 graph (9); 

12 (4) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(8) THEODORE ROOSEVELT GENIUS PRIZE

15 FOR MANAGEMENT OF WILDFIRE-RELATED INVASIVE

16 SPECIES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(i) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ 

19 means the Management of Wildfire-Related 

20 Invasive Species Technology Advisory 

21 Board established by subparagraph (C)(i). 

22 ‘‘(ii) PRIZE COMPETITION.—The term 

23 ‘prize competition’ means the Theodore 

24 Roosevelt Genius Prize for the manage25 ment of wildfire-related invasive species es26 tablished under subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of enactment of the Western 

3 Wildfire Support Act of 2021, the Secretary 

4 shall establish under section 24 of the Steven5 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 

6 (15 U.S.C. 3719) a prize competition, to be 

7 known as the ‘Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize 

8 for the management of wildfire-related invasive 

9 species’— 

10 ‘‘(i) to encourage technological innova11 tion with the potential to advance the mis12 sion of the National Invasive Species 

13 Council with respect to the management of 

14 wildfire-related invasive species; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) to award 1 or more prizes annu16 ally for a technological advancement that 

17 manages wildfire-related invasive species. 

18 ‘‘(C) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

19 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is es20 tablished an advisory board, to be known 

21 as the ‘Management of Wildfire-Related 

22 Invasive Species Technology Advisory 

23 Board’. 

24 ‘‘(ii) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall 

25 be composed of not fewer than 9 members 


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1 appointed by the Secretary, who shall pro2 vide expertise in— 

3 ‘‘(I) invasive species; 

4 ‘‘(II) biology; 

5 ‘‘(III) technology development; 

6 ‘‘(IV) engineering; 

7 ‘‘(V) economics; 

8 ‘‘(VI) business development and 

9 management; 

10 ‘‘(VII) wildfire; and 

11 ‘‘(VIII) any other discipline, as 

12 the Secretary determines to be nec13 essary to achieve the purposes of this 

14 paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(iii) DUTIES.—Subject to clause (iv), 

16 with respect to the prize competition, the 

17 Board shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) select a topic; 

19 ‘‘(II) issue a problem statement; 

20 ‘‘(III) advise the Secretary re21 garding any opportunity for techno22 logical innovation to manage wildfire23 related invasive species; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) advise winners of the prize 

25 competition regarding opportunities to 


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1 pilot and implement winning tech2 nologies in relevant fields, including in 

3 partnership with conservation organi4 zations, Federal or State agencies, 

5 federally recognized Indian Tribes, 

6 private entities, and research institu7 tions with expertise or interest relat8 ing to the management of wildfire-re9 lated invasive species. 

10 ‘‘(iv) CONSULTATION.—In selecting a 

11 topic and issuing a problem statement for 

12 the prize competition, the Board shall con13 sult widely with Federal and non-Federal 

14 stakeholders, including— 

15 ‘‘(I) 1 or more Federal agencies 

16 with jurisdiction over the management 

17 of invasive species; 

18 ‘‘(II) 1 or more Federal agencies 

19 with jurisdiction over the management 

20 of wildfire; 

21 ‘‘(III) 1 or more State agencies 

22 with jurisdiction over the management 

23 of invasive species; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) 1 or more State agencies 

2 with jurisdiction over the management 

3 of wildfire; 

4 ‘‘(V) 1 or more State, regional, 

5 or local wildlife organizations, the 

6 mission of which relates to the man7 agement of invasive species; and 

8 ‘‘(VI) 1 or more wildlife con9 servation groups, technology compa10 nies, research institutions, institutions 

11 of higher education, industry associa12 tions, or individual stakeholders with 

13 an interest in the management of 

14 wildfire-related invasive species. 

15 ‘‘(v) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board 

16 shall comply with all requirements under 

17 paragraph (9)(A). 

18 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION BY THE NATIONAL

19 INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL.—The Secretary, 

20 acting through the Director of the National 

21 Invasive Species Council, shall administer the 

22 prize competition. 

23 ‘‘(E) JUDGES.— 

24 ‘‘(i) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary 

25 shall appoint not fewer than 3 judges who 


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1 shall, except as provided in clause (ii), se2 lect the 1 or more annual winners of the 

3 prize competition. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION BY SEC5 RETARY.—The judges appointed under 

6 clause (i) shall not select any annual win7 ner of the prize competition if the Sec8 retary makes a determination that, in any 

9 fiscal year, none of the technological ad10 vancements entered into the prize competi11 tion merits an award. 

12 ‘‘(F) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

13 than 60 days after the date on which a cash 

14 prize is awarded under this paragraph, the Sec15 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

16 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

18 of Representatives a report on the prize com19 petition that includes— 

20 ‘‘(i) a statement by the Board that 

21 describes the activities carried out by the 

22 Board relating to the duties described in 

23 subparagraph (C)(iii); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a description of the 1 or more 

2 annual winners of the prize competition; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iii) a statement by 1 or more of the 

5 judges appointed under subparagraph (E) 

6 that explains the basis on which the 1 or 

7 more winners of the prize competition was 

8 selected. 

9 ‘‘(G) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The 

10 Board and all authority provided under this 

11 paragraph shall terminate on December 31, 

12 2026.’’; and 

13 (5) in paragraph (9) (as so redesignated)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 

15 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘or (7)(C)(i)’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘(7)(C)(i), or (8)(C)(i)’’; and 

17 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

18 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

19 by striking ‘‘or (7)(D)(i)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘(7)(D)(i), or (8)(D)(i)’’; and 

21 (ii) in clause (i)(VII), by striking 

22 ‘‘and (7)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7)(E), and 

23 (8)(E)’’. 

Æ 


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