IIB 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 204 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 22, 2025 

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

Resources 

AN ACT 

To require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding 

hazardous fuels reduction activities, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accurately Counting 

3 Risk Elimination Solutions Act’’ or the ‘‘ACRES Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ACCURATE HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION RE5 PORTS. 

6 (a) INCLUSION OF HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

7 REPORT IN MATERIALS SUBMITTED IN SUPPORT OF THE

8 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the first fis10 cal year that begins after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Sec12 retary concerned shall include in the materials sub13 mitted in support of the President’s budget pursuant 

14 to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, a re15 port on the number of acres of Federal land on 

16 which the Secretary concerned carried out hazardous 

17 fuels reduction activities during the preceding fiscal 

18 year. 

19 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the re20 port required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

21 concerned shall— 

22 (A) in determining the number of acres of 

23 Federal land on which the Secretary concerned 

24 carried out hazardous fuels reduction activities 

25 during the period covered by the report— 


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1 (i) record acres of Federal land on 

2 which hazardous fuels reduction activities 

3 were completed during such period; and 

4 (ii) record each acre described in 

5 clause (i) once in the report, regardless of 

6 whether multiple hazardous fuels reduction 

7 activities were carried out on such acre 

8 during such period; and 

9 (B) with respect to the acres of Federal 

10 land recorded in the report, include information 

11 on— 

12 (i) which such acres are located in the 

13 wildland-urban interface; 

14 (ii) the level of wildfire risk (high, 

15 moderate, or low) on the first and last day 

16 of the period covered by the report; 

17 (iii) the types of hazardous fuels ac18 tivities completed for such acres, delin19 eating between whether such activities 

20 were conducted— 

21 (I) in a wildfire managed for re22 source benefits; or 

23 (II) through a planned project; 


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1 (iv) the cost per acre of hazardous 

2 fuels activities carried out during the pe3 riod covered by the report; 

4 (v) the region or system unit in which 

5 the acres are located; and 

6 (vi) the effectiveness of the hazardous 

7 fuels reduction activities on reducing the 

8 risk of wildfire. 

9 (3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary concerned 

10 shall make each report submitted under paragraph 

11 (1) publicly available on the website of the Depart12 ment of Agriculture and the Department of the Inte13 rior, as applicable. 

14 (b) ACCURATE DATA COLLECTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

17 concerned shall implement standardized procedures 

18 for tracking data related to hazardous fuels reduc19 tion activities carried out by the Secretary con20 cerned. 

21 (2) ELEMENTS.—The standardized procedures 

22 required under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) regular, standardized data reviews of 

24 the accuracy and timely input of data used to 

25 track hazardous fuels reduction activities; 


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1 (B) verification methods that validate 

2 whether such data accurately correlates to the 

3 hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out 

4 by the Secretary concerned; 

5 (C) an analysis of the short- and long-term 

6 effectiveness of the hazardous fuels reduction 

7 activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and 

8 (D) for hazardous fuels reduction activities 

9 that occur partially within the wildland-urban 

10 interface, methods to distinguish which acres 

11 are located within the wildland-urban interface 

12 and which acres are located outside the 

13 wildland-urban interface. 

14 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 weeks after im15 plementing the standardized procedures required 

16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 

17 submit to Congress a report that describes— 

18 (A) such standardized procedures; and 

19 (B) program and policy recommendations 

20 to Congress to address any limitations in track21 ing data related to hazardous fuels reduction 

22 activities under this subsection. 

23 (c) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

25 of the United States shall— 


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1 (1) conduct a study on the implementation of 

2 this Act, including any limitations with respect to— 

3 (A) reporting hazardous fuels reduction ac4 tivities under subsection (a); or 

5 (B) tracking data related to hazardous 

6 fuels reduction activities under subsection (b); 

7 and 

8 (2) submit to Congress a report that describes 

9 the results of the study under paragraph (1). 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

11 (1) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ACTIV12 ITY.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction activ13 ity’’— 

14 (A) means any vegetation management ac15 tivity to reduce the risk of wildfire, including 

16 mechanical treatments and prescribed burning; 

17 and 

18 (B) does not include the awarding of con19 tracts to conduct hazardous fuels reduction ac20 tivities. 

21 (2) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

22 lands’’ means lands under the jurisdiction of the 

23 Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri24 culture. 


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

3 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re4 spect to National Forest System lands; and 

5 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re6 spect to public lands and units of the National 

7 Park System. 

8 (4) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

9 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res11 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

12 (e) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No addi13 tional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements 

14 of this Act, and the activities authorized by this Act are 

15 subject to the availability of appropriations made in ad16 vance for such purposes. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 21, 

2025. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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