II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1134

Granting the consent and approval of Congress to an interstate forest fire

protection compact.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 31, 1997

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. BURNS, Mr. GORTON, and Mr.

KEMPTHORNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

Granting the consent and approval of Congress to an

interstate forest fire protection compact.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The consent and approval of Con5 gress is given to an interstate forest fire protection com6 pact, as set out in subsection (b).

7 (b) COMPACT.—The compact reads substantially as

8 follows:
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1 ‘‘THE NORTHWEST WILDLAND

2 FIRE PROTECTION AGREEMENT

3 ‘‘THIS AGREEMENT is entered into by and be4 tween the State, Provincial, and Territorial wildland fire

5 protection agencies signatory hereto, hereinafter referred

6 to as ‘‘Members’’.

7 ‘‘FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF the follow8 ing terms and conditions, the Members agree:

9 ‘‘Article I

10 ‘‘1.1 The purpose of this Agreement is to pro11 mote effective prevention, presuppression and control of

12 forest fires in the Northwest wildland region of the United

13 States and adjacent areas of Canada (by the Members)

14 by providing mutual aid in prevention, presuppression and

15 control of wildland fires, and by establishing procedures

16 in operating plans that will facilitate such aid.

17 ‘‘Article II

18 ‘‘2.1 The agreement shall become effective for

19 those Members ratifying it whenever any two or more

20 Members, the States of Oregon, Washington, Alaska,

21 Idaho, Montana, or the Yukon Territory, or the Province

22 of British Columbia, or the Province of Alberta have rati23 fied it.

24 ‘‘2.2 Any State, Province, or Territory not men25 tioned in this Article which is contiguous to any Member
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1 may become a party to this Agreement subject to unani2 mous approval of the Members.

3 ‘‘Article III

4 ‘‘3.1 The role of the Members is to determine

5 from time to time such methods, practices, circumstances

6 and conditions as may be found for enhancing the preven7 tion, presuppression, and control of forest fires in the area

8 comprising the Member’s territory; to coordinate the plans

9 and the work of the appropriate agencies of the Members;

10 and to coordinate the rendering of aid by the Members

11 to each other in fighting wildland fires.

12 ‘‘3.2 The Members may develop cooperative oper13 ating plans for the programs covered by this Agreement.

14 Operating plans shall include definition of terms, fiscal

15 procedures, personnel contacts, resources available, and

16 standards applicable to the program. Other sections may

17 be added as necessary.

18 ‘‘Article IV

19 ‘‘4.1 A majority of Members shall constitute a

20 quorum for the transaction of its general business. Mo21 tions of Members present shall be carried by a simple ma22 jority except as stated in Article II. Each Member will

23 have one vote on motions brought before them.
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1 ‘‘Article V

2 ‘‘5.1 Whenever a Member requests aid from any

3 other Member in controlling or preventing wildland fires,

4 the Members agree, to the extent they possibly can, to

5 render all possible aid.

6 ‘‘Article VI

7 ‘‘6.1 Whenever the forces of any Member are aid8 ing another Member under this Agreement, the employees

9 of such Member shall operate under the direction of the

10 officers of the Member to which they are rendering aid

11 and be considered agents of the Member they are render12 ing aid to and, therefore, have the same privileges and

13 immunities as comparable employees of the Member to

14 which the are rendering aid.

15 ‘‘6.2 No Member or its officers or employees ren16 dering aid within another State, Territory, or Province,

17 pursuant to this Agreement shall be liable on account of

18 any act or omission on the part of such forces while so

19 engaged, or on account of the maintenance or use of any

20 equipment or supplies in connection therewith to the ex21 tent authorized by the laws of the Member receiving the

22 assistance. The receiving Member, to the extent authorized

23 by the laws of the State, Territory, or Province, agrees

24 to indemnify and save-harmless the assisting Member

25 from any such liability.
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1 ‘‘6.3 Any Member rendering outside aid pursuant

2 to this Agreement shall be reimbursed by the Member re3 ceiving such aid for any loss or damage to, or expense

4 incurred in the operation of any equipment and for the

5 cost of all materials, transportation, wages, salaries and

6 maintenance of personnel and equipment incurred in con7 nection with such request in accordance with the provi8 sions of the previous section. Nothing contained herein

9 shall prevent any assisting Member from assuming such

10 loss, damage, expense or other cost or from loaning such

11 equipment or from donating such services to the receiving

12 Member without charge or cost.

13 ‘‘6.4 For purposes of the Agreement, personnel

14 shall be considered employees of each sending Member for

15 the payment of compensation to injured employees and

16 death benefits to the representatives of deceased employ17 ees injured or killed while rendering aid to another Mem18 ber pursuant to this Agreement.

19 ‘‘6.5 The Members shall formulate procedures for

20 claims and reimbursement under the provisions of this Ar21 ticle.

22 ‘‘Article VII

23 ‘‘7.1 When appropriations for support of this

24 agreement, or for the support of common services in exe-
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1 cuting this agreement, are needed, costs will be allocated

2 equally among the Members.

3 ‘‘7.2 As necessary, Members shall keep accurate

4 books of account, showing in full, its receipts and dis5 bursements, and the books of account shall be open at any

6 reasonable time to the inspection of representatives of the

7 Members.

8 ‘‘7.3 The Members may accept any and all dona9 tions, gifts, and grants of money, equipment, supplies, ma10 terials and services from the Federal or any local govern11 ment, or any agency thereof and from any person, firm

12 or corporation, for any of its purposes and functions under

13 this Agreement, and may receive and use the same subject

14 to the terms, conditions, and regulations governing such

15 donations, gifts, and grants.

16 ‘‘Article VIII

17 ‘‘8.1 Nothing in this Agreement shall be con18 strued to limit or restrict the powers of any Member to

19 provide for the prevention, control, and extinguishment of

20 wildland fires or to prohibit the enactment of enforcement

21 of State, Territorial, or Provincial laws, rules or regula22 tions intended to aid in such prevention, control and extin23 guishment of wildland fires in such State, Territory, or

24 Province.
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1 ‘‘8.2 Nothing in this Agreement shall be con2 strued to affect any existing or future Cooperative Agree3 ment between Members and/or their respective Federal

4 agencies.

5 ‘‘Article IX

6 ‘‘9.1 The Members may request the United

7 States Forest Service to act as the coordinating agency

8 of the Northwest Wildland Fire Protection Agreement in

9 cooperation with the appropriate agencies for each Mem10 ber.

11 ‘‘9.2 The Members will hold an annual meeting

12 to review the terms of this Agreement, any applicable Op13 erating Plans, and make necessary modifications.

14 ‘‘9.3 Amendments to this Agreement can be

15 made by simple majority vote of the Members and will

16 take effect immediately upon passage.

17 ‘‘Article X

18 ‘‘10.1 This Agreement shall continue in force on

19 each Member until such Member takes action to withdraw

20 therefrom. Such action shall not be effective until 60 days

21 after notice thereof has been sent to all other Members.

22 ‘‘Article XI

23 ‘‘11.1 Nothing is this Agreement shall obligate

24 the funds of any Member beyond those approved by appro25 priate legislative action.’’.
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1 SEC. 2. OTHER STATES.

2 Without further submission of the compact, the con3 sent of Congress is given to any State to become a party

4 to it in accordance with its terms.

5 SEC. 3. RIGHTS RESERVED.

6 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is ex7 pressly reserved.

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