I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 204 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2025 

Mr. TIFFANY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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


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1 SEC. 2. ACCURATE HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION RE2 PORTS. 

3 (a) INCLUSION OF HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION

4 REPORT IN MATERIALS SUBMITTED IN SUPPORT OF THE

5 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the first fis7 cal year that begins after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Sec9 retary concerned shall include in the materials sub10 mitted in support of the President’s budget pursuant 

11 to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, a re12 port on the number of acres of Federal land on 

13 which the Secretary concerned carried out hazardous 

14 fuels reduction activities during the preceding fiscal 

15 year. 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the re17 port required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

18 concerned shall— 

19 (A) in determining the number of acres of 

20 Federal land on which the Secretary concerned 

21 carried out hazardous fuels reduction activities 

22 during the period covered by the report— 

23 (i) record acres of Federal land on 

24 which hazardous fuels reduction activities 

25 were completed during such period; and 


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1 (ii) record each acre described in 

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

3 whether multiple hazardous fuels reduction 

4 activities were carried out on such acre 

5 during such period; and 

6 (B) with respect to the acres of Federal 

7 land recorded in the report, include information 

8 on— 

9 (i) which such acres are located in the 

10 wildland-urban interface; 

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

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

13 of the period covered by the report; 

14 (iii) the types of hazardous fuels ac15 tivities completed for such acres, delin16 eating between whether such activities 

17 were conducted— 

18 (I) in a wildfire managed for re19 source benefits; or 

20 (II) through a planned project; 

21 (iv) the cost per acre of hazardous 

22 fuels activities carried out during the pe23 riod covered by the report; 

24 (v) the region or system unit in which 

25 the acres are located; and 


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1 (vi) the effectiveness of the hazardous 

2 fuels reduction activities on reducing the 

3 risk of wildfire. 

4 (3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary concerned 

5 shall make each report submitted under paragraph 

6 (1) publicly available on the website of the Depart7 ment of Agriculture and the Department of the Inte8 rior, as applicable. 

9 (b) ACCURATE DATA COLLECTION.— 

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

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

12 concerned shall implement standardized procedures 

13 for tracking data related to hazardous fuels reduc14 tion activities carried out by the Secretary con15 cerned. 

16 (2) ELEMENTS.—The standardized procedures 

17 required under paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 (A) regular, standardized data reviews of 

19 the accuracy and timely input of data used to 

20 track hazardous fuels reduction activities; 

21 (B) verification methods that validate 

22 whether such data accurately correlates to the 

23 hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out 

24 by the Secretary concerned; 


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

2 effectiveness of the hazardous fuels reduction 

3 activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and 

4 (D) for hazardous fuels reduction activities 

5 that occur partially within the wildland-urban 

6 interface, methods to distinguish which acres 

7 are located within the wildland-urban interface 

8 and which acres are located outside the 

9 wildland-urban interface. 

10 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 weeks after im11 plementing the standardized procedures required 

12 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 

13 submit to Congress a report that describes— 

14 (A) such standardized procedures; and 

15 (B) program and policy recommendations 

16 to Congress to address any limitations in track17 ing data related to hazardous fuels reduction 

18 activities under this subsection. 

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

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

21 of the United States shall— 

22 (1) conduct a study on the implementation of 

23 this Act, including any limitations with respect to— 

24 (A) reporting hazardous fuels reduction ac25 tivities under subsection (a); or 


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1 (B) tracking data related to hazardous 

2 fuels reduction activities under subsection (b); 

3 and 

4 (2) submit to Congress a report that describes 

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

6 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

7 (1) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ACTIV8 ITY.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction activ9 ity’’— 

10 (A) means any vegetation management ac11 tivity to reduce the risk of wildfire, including 

12 mechanical treatments and prescribed burning; 

13 and 

14 (B) does not include the awarding of con15 tracts to conduct hazardous fuels reduction ac16 tivities. 

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

18 lands’’ means lands under the jurisdiction of the 

19 Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri20 culture. 

21 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec22 retary concerned’’ means— 

23 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re24 spect to National Forest System lands; and 


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1 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re2 spect to public lands and units of the National 

3 Park System. 

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

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

6 the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res7 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

8 (e) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No addi9 tional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements 

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

11 subject to the availability of appropriations made in ad12 vance for such purposes. 

Æ 


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