II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 487 

To ensure that private property, public safety, and human life are protected 

from flood hazards that directly result from post-fire watershed conditions that are created by wildfires on Federal land. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2011 

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To ensure that private property, public safety, and human 

life are protected from flood hazards that directly result 

from post-fire watershed conditions that are created by 

wildfires on Federal land. 

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 ‘‘Burn Area Flood Pre5 vention Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to ensure that private 

8 property, public safety, and human life are protected from 


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1 flood hazards that directly result from post-fire watershed 

2 conditions that are created by wildfires on Federal land. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

7 Emergency Management Agency. 

8 (2) AFFECTED AREA.—The term ‘‘affected 

9 area’’ means the area that— 

10 (A) suffered damage as a result of wildfire 

11 or flash flooding beginning on June 20, 2010; 

12 and 

13 (B) is depicted on the Arizona Division of 

14 Emergency Management map entitled ‘‘Schultz 

15 Flood #1 Operations Map’’ and dated August 

16 3, 2010. 

17 (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

18 means— 

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

20 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

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

22 (B) units of the National Park System; 

23 (C) refuges of the National Wildlife Refuge 

24 System; 


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

2 for the benefit of Indian tribes or members of 

3 an Indian tribe; and 

4 (E) the National Forest System (as de5 fined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range6 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

7 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))). 

8 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief 

10 of Engineers. 

11 (5) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

12 means the Schultz Fire Flooding Area Task Force 

13 established by section 6(b). 

14 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF FLAME WILDFIRE SUPPRES15 SION RESERVE FUND AUTHORITY. 

16 Section 502(c) of the Federal Land Assistance, Man17 agement, and Enhancement Act of 2009 (43 U.S.C. 

18 1748a(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and burn area re19 sponses, including flood prevention,’’ after ‘‘events’’. 

20 SEC. 5. INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR PRIVATE PROPERTIES 

21 AFFECTED BY FLOODING FROM FEDERAL 

22 LANDS. 

23 Section 1306(c)(2) of the National Flood Insurance 

24 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013(c)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(C) the initial purchase of flood insurance 

7 coverage on a determination by the Director 

8 that the waiting period should be waived for 

9 private property that is affected by flooding on 

10 Federal land affected by wildfire.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. SCHULTZ FIRE FLOODING AREA ASSISTANCE. 

12 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

13 (1) on June 20, 2010, the Schultz wildfire 

14 began burning in the Coconino National Forest on 

15 Federal land that is located approximately 4 miles 

16 north of the City of Flagstaff, Arizona; 

17 (2) the Schultz Fire burned for 10 days, de18 stroyed more than 15,000 acres of Forest Service 

19 land, and prompted the evacuation of approximately 

20 400 homes before being 100 percent contained on 

21 June 30, 3010; 

22 (3) the Schultz Fire severely burned a large 

23 portion of the forest along the steep terrain on the 

24 east side of the San Francisco Peaks, leaving little 

25 ground vegetation to absorb and retain rainwater; 


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1 (4) on July 6, 2010, the Forest Service Burn 

2 Area Emergency Response Team issued a hydrology 

3 specialist report that assessed post-fire watershed 

4 conditions and determined that there was a constant 

5 daily flooding threat to nearby communities from 

6 summer monsoon storms; 

7 (5) on July 7, 2010, community meetings were 

8 held urging residents to purchase flood insurance for 

9 the affected area, which had not previously been des10 ignated as a flood plain; 

11 (6) on July 20, 2010, after nearly 2 inches of 

12 rain fell in less than 1 hour, flash flooding occurred 

13 in the unincorporated communities downstream from 

14 the Schultz wildfire burn area in Coconino County; 

15 (7) widespread flooding and debris disrupted 

16 public infrastructure, damaged approximately 32 

17 homes in the communities of Doney Park, Timber18 line, Hutchison Acres, and Wupatki Trails Estates, 

19 and killed a 12-year-old girl; 

20 (8) affected homeowners who purchased flood 

21 insurance were not eligible for coverage under the 

22 National Flood Insurance Program at the time of 

23 the loss because of the statutorily mandated 30-day 

24 waiting period before flood insurance coverage takes 

25 effect; and 


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1 (9) because the Schultz Fire occurred on Forest 

2 Service land and has affected private property, pub3 lic safety, and human life, the Federal Government 

4 is obligated to provide an appropriate level of dis5 aster assistance, including Federal flood insurance 

6 to homeowners. 

7 (b) SCHULTZ FIRE FLOODING AREA TASK FORCE.— 

8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

9 Schultz Fire Flooding Area Task Force. 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall con11 sist of members who have expertise in Federal dis12 aster management and assistance, flood prevention 

13 and mitigation, forestry, wildfire management and 

14 recovery, civil engineering, soil conservation, or wa15 tershed protection, including representatives from— 

16 (A) the Federal Emergency Management 

17 Agency; 

18 (B) the Corps of Engineers; 

19 (C) the Forest Service; 

20 (D) the Natural Resources Conservation 

21 Service; 

22 (E) the United States Geological Survey; 

23 (F) State and local governments; 

24 (G) community-based organizations and 

25 other interested parties; and 


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1 (H) any other entity the Administrator de2 termines to be appropriate. 

3 (3) CHAIR.—The Administrator shall be the 

4 Chair of the Task Force. 

5 (4) DUTIES.—For the affected area, the Task 

6 Force shall— 

7 (A) coordinate the efforts of the entities 

8 represented on the Task Force to immediately 

9 implement interim flood protection systems, in10 cluding the retention of water retention basins; 

11 (B) identify existing and potential— 

12 (i) funding; 

13 (ii) technical assistance; 

14 (iii) general investigations; and 

15 (iv) construction of short-term flood 

16 protection projects; and 

17 (C) carry out a detailed study of the af18 fected area to evaluate the potential of inte19 grating projects and programs of the Corps of 

20 Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management 

21 Agency, and the Department of Agriculture into 

22 a comprehensive, long-term flood protection sys23 tem for the affected area including— 

24 (i) an evaluation of existing hazardous 

25 flood conditions in the affected area; 


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1 (ii) identification of additional risks 

2 associated with flood events in the affected 

3 area that would be equal to or greater than 

4 the July 20, 2010, flood event; and 

5 (iii) a sediment and geotechnical anal6 ysis that describes soil conditions and the 

7 risk level for landslides. 

8 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

10 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con11 gress a report describing the findings and work of 

12 the Task Force. 

13 (6) APPLICATION OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

14 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Task Force shall not be con15 sidered an advisory committee under the Federal 

16 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

17 (c) DISCLOSURE OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT

18 PAYMENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen21 eral shall submit to Congress a report on the 

22 amount of fees and other expenses awarded pursu23 ant to section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, 

24 and section 504 of title 5, United States Code, in 


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1 connection with the Jack Smith/Schultz Fuels Re2 duction Healthy Forest Restoration Project. 

3 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The report under paragraph 

4 (1) shall include— 

5 (A) the name of the party seeking the 

6 award of fees and other expenses; 

7 (B) the name of the administrative law 

8 judge in the case; 

9 (C) the disposition of the application, in10 cluding any appeal of action taken on the appli11 cation; and 

12 (D) the hourly rates of attorneys and ex13 pert witnesses awarded, as stated in the appli14 cation. 

15 (3) AGENCY COOPERATION.—The Secretary of 

16 Agriculture shall provide the Attorney General with 

17 such information as is necessary for the Attorney 

18 General to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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