I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5648 

To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to establish 

a Federal wildland fire emergency suppression fund to facilitate accountable fire suppression activities by the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

Secretary of the Interior to unanticipated large fire events, to encourage 

enhanced management efficiencies and cost controls of wildland fire suppression, and to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire to communities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2008 

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. YOUNG of 

Alaska, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SALI, and Mr. BACA) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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 amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 

to establish a Federal wildland fire emergency suppression fund to facilitate accountable fire suppression activities by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to unanticipated large fire events, to 

encourage enhanced management efficiencies and cost 

controls of wildland fire suppression, and to reduce the 

risk of catastrophic wildfire to communities, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Emergency Wildland 

5 Fire Response Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE EMERGENCY SUPPRES7 SION FUND TO COVER COSTS OF CERTAIN 

8 FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION AC9 TIVITIES. 

10 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is 

11 amended by inserting after section 10A (16 U.S.C. 2106c) 

12 the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 10B. FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE EMERGENCY SUP14 PRESSION FUND AND RESPONSE TO DE15 CLARED EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE INCI16 DENTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE.— 

19 The term ‘appropriate management response’ means 

20 a response plan to a wildland fire, based on an eval21 uation of risks to firefighter and public safety, land 

22 and resource and fire management objectives, re23 source availability, the circumstances under which 

24 the fire occurs, including weather and fuel condiVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:38 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5648.IH H5648

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1 tions, protection priorities, values to be protected, 

2 and cost effectiveness. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’ means the Committee on Agriculture, the 

6 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the 

7 Budget, and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

8 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

9 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the Committee 

10 on Appropriations, the Committee on the Budget, 

11 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re12 sources of the Senate. 

13 ‘‘(3) DECLARED EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE

14 INCIDENT.—The term ‘declared emergency wildland 

15 fire incident’ means a wildland fire incident declared 

16 by the Secretary concerned under subsection (c). 

17 ‘‘(4) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Fed18 eral Wildland Fire Emergency Suppression Fund es19 tablished by subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘Sec21 retary concerned’ means the Secretary of Agri22 culture or the Secretary of the Interior. 

23 ‘‘(6) WILDLAND FIRE OPERATIONS.—The term 

24 ‘wildland fire operations’ means those predictable ac25 tivities of the Secretary concerned that are typically 


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1 performed annually as part of wildland fire pre2 paredness, anticipated wildland fire suppression 

3 workload, and wildland fire operations, including 

4 burned area emergency rehabilitation, associated 

5 with a wildland fire incident that does not meet the 

6 criteria specified in subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE EMERGENCY SUP8 PRESSION FUND.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

10 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

11 known as the ‘Federal Wildland Fire Emergency 

12 Suppression Fund’, which shall be available to the 

13 Secretary concerned, subject to subsection (d), to 

14 cover the costs of Federal wildland fire suppression 

15 activities associated with a declared emergency 

16 wildland fire incident. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The Fund shall consist of 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Amounts appropriated to the Fund. 

20 ‘‘(B) Other emergency funds appropriated 

21 for wildland fire suppression activities that the 

22 Secretary concerned transfers to the Fund. 

23 ‘‘(C) Subject to subsection (f)(3), other 

24 funds transferred to the Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Interest earned on amounts in the 

2 Fund. 

3 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Fund 

4 shall remain available until expended. 

5 ‘‘(c) DECLARED EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE INCI6 DENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA FOR DECLARATION.—The Sec8 retary concerned may declare a wildland fire incident 

9 to be a declared emergency wildland fire incident for 

10 which the costs of wildland fire suppression activities 

11 may be covered using amounts in the Fund if the 

12 Secretary concerned— 

13 ‘‘(A) has wildland fire suppression respon14 sibilities for the incident that may be stipulated 

15 in a cooperative agreement; and 

16 ‘‘(B) determines, taking into consideration 

17 the appropriate management response, that the 

18 incident meets either of the following criteria: 

19 ‘‘(i) SIZE AND SEVERITY.—The 

20 wildland fire incident— 

21 ‘‘(I) is at least 300 acres in size 

22 or involves multiple fire incidents; and 

23 ‘‘(II) has the potential for ex24 treme fire behavior. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) THREAT.—The wildland fire inci2 dent has the potential for loss of lives, 

3 public and private property, watersheds, 

4 wildlife, particularly endangered or threat5 ened species and their habitat, or severe 

6 immediate economic impact to local com7 munities. 

8 ‘‘(2) DELEGATION OF DECLARATION AUTHOR9 ITY.—A declared emergency wildland fire incident 

10 shall be made only by the Secretary concerned or a 

11 designee of the Secretary at the subcabinet level. 

12 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL CONDITION ON USE OF FUND.—The 

13 Secretary concerned may only access the Fund during a 

14 fiscal year if the budget submitted to Congress under sec15 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for that fiscal 

16 year requested funds for the Secretary concerned for 

17 wildland fire operations in an amount not less than the 

18 10-fiscal year average of expenditures for wildland fire op19 erations by the Secretary concerned. 

20 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON FUND ACTIVITIES.—The Secre21 taries concerned shall submit to the appropriate congres22 sional committees a joint report every six months detailing 

23 all expenditures from and deposits to the Fund during the 

24 preceding six-month period, including a detailed account25 ing of expenditures associated with each declared emerVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:38 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5648.IH H5648

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1 gency wildland fire incident. Each report shall also be 

2 made available to the public. 

3 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

6 such amounts as are necessary to maintain the 

7 Fund at a level equal to the average annual costs in8 curred by the Secretaries concerned over the pre9 ceding five fiscal years for declared emergency 

10 wildland fire incidents. If the five fiscal years used 

11 in determining the average includes a fiscal year 

12 that began before the date of the enactment of the 

13 Emergency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008, the 

14 Secretaries concerned shall prepare an estimate for 

15 that fiscal year of what the costs would have been 

16 for declared emergency wildland fire incidents had 

17 this section been in effect. 

18 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—The 

19 Secretaries concerned shall notify the appropriate 

20 congressional committees whenever only an esti21 mated two months worth of funding remains in the 

22 Fund or for wildland fire operations of the Secre23 taries. 

24 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON TRANSFERS FROM NON25 FIRE PROGRAM ACCOUNTS.—In addition to other reVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:38 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5648.IH H5648

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1 quirements applicable to the reprogramming of 

2 funds, the Secretary concerned shall not transfer 

3 funds from non-fire program accounts to cover 

4 wildland fire suppression expenses unless the Fund 

5 or amounts available for wildland fire operations for 

6 that fiscal year have been depleted and a formal re7 quest to replenish the Fund or provide additional 

8 amounts for wildland fire operations, whichever has 

9 been depleted, has been submitted to the Committee 

10 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

11 and the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(g) PROMOTION OF COST CONTAINMENT IN

13 WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) TRANSFER OF EXCESS FUNDS FOR REFOR15 ESTATION.—Subject to such limitations as may be 

16 provided in appropriation Acts, the Secretary con17 cerned may transfer any funds of the Secretary con18 cerned for wildland fire operations that remain avail19 able at the end of a fiscal year to support reforest20 ation and rehabilitation of forests following wildland 

21 fires. Such funds may only be expended in those 

22 areas where the wildland fire suppression expendi23 tures were below the stratified cost index, or equiva24 lent measure, as determined by the Secretary con25 cerned. In this paragraph, the term ‘stratified cost 


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1 index’ means a measure that compares actual ex2 penditures in connection with a wildfire incident to 

3 the expenditures one would expect given certain 

4 characteristics of the wildland fire, such as size, con5 ditions, fuel type, or proximity to communities. 

6 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF CERTAIN FIRES.—The Sec7 retary concerned shall conduct a review, using inde8 pendent panels, of each wildfire incident that results 

9 in expenses to the Secretary concerned of greater 

10 than $10,000,000. The Secretary concerned shall 

11 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

12 a report containing the results of each review.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REDUCING THE RISK OF WILDFIRES TO PEOPLE, 

14 PROPERTY, AND WATERSHEDS IN FIRE15 READY COMMUNITIES. 

16 Section 10 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance 

17 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106) is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub19 section (h); and 

20 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol21 lowing new subsection (g): 

22 ‘‘(g) SUPPORT FOR FIRE-READY COMMUNITIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) FIRE-READY COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In 

24 this subsection, the term ‘fire-ready community’ 

25 means a community that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is located within a priority area iden2 tified pursuant to subsection (b); 

3 ‘‘(B) has a cooperative fire agreement that 

4 articulates the roles and responsibilities for 

5 Federal, State and local government entities in 

6 local wildfire suppression and protection; 

7 ‘‘(C) has local codes that require fire-re8 sistant home design and building materials; or 

9 ‘‘(D) has a community wildfire protection 

10 plan (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy 

11 Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

12 6502)) or similar plan acceptable to the Sec13 retary of Agriculture. 

14 ‘‘(2) FIRE RISK MAPPING.—Not later than 180 

15 days after the date of the enactment of the Emer16 gency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008, the Sec17 retary shall develop a national map of landscape 

18 areas most at risk of wildfire and in need of haz19 ardous fuel treatment and maintenance. The map 

20 shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels re21 duction projects, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) at-risk communities in fire-prone 

23 areas of the wildland-urban interface (as de24 fined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 

25 Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); 


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1 ‘‘(B) watersheds and municipal drinking 

2 water sources; 

3 ‘‘(C) emergency evacuation corridors; and 

4 ‘‘(D) electricity transmission corridors. 

5 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY FOR FIRE-READY COMMU6 NITIES.—In allocating funds under this section and 

7 other provisions of this Act and Healthy Forests 

8 Restoration Act of 2003 under which the Secretary 

9 provides resources to local communities for wildland 

10 fire activities, the Secretary shall give priority to 

11 fire-ready communities. 

12 ‘‘(4) LOCAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPA13 BILITY GRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) GRANTS AVAILABLE.—The Secretary 

15 may provide cost-share grants to fire-ready 

16 communities to increase their capacity to de17 fend the community from wildland fire and to 

18 provide initial attack suppression response for 

19 cross-boundary efforts adjacent to National 

20 Forest System lands. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds 

22 may be used for the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) Education programs to raise 

24 awareness of homeowners and citizens 


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1 about wildland fire protection practices, in2 cluding FireWise or similar programs. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Training programs for local fire4 fighters on wildland firefighting techniques 

5 and approaches. 

6 ‘‘(iii) Equipment acquisition to facili7 tate wildland fire preparedness. 

8 ‘‘(iv) Implementation of a community 

9 wildfire protection plan or similar plan. 

10 ‘‘(v) Such other activities as the Sec11 retary may authorize. 

12 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA13 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

14 to the Secretary to carry out this section such 

15 sums as may be necessary. 

16 ‘‘(5) WILDLAND FIRE COST-SHARE AGREE17 MENTS.—In developing any wildland fire cost-share 

18 agreement with a State Forester or equivalent offi19 cial, the Secretary shall, to the greatest extent pos20 sible, encourage the State and local communities in21 volved to become fire-ready communities. When de22 termining cost-sharing responsibilities in any 

23 wildland fire cost-share agreement with a State For24 ester or equivalent official, the Secretary shall con25 sider whether communities participating in the 


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1 agreement have become or are taking steps to be2 come fire-ready communities.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PARTNERSHIPS TO 

4 REDUCE HAZARDOUS FUELS ON NATIONAL 

5 FOREST SYSTEM LANDS. 

6 Section 10A of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance 

7 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106c) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub9 section (e); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol11 lowing new subsection (d): 

12 ‘‘(d) GOOD NEIGHBOR PARTNERSHIPS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) CONTRACT.—The term ‘contract’ 

15 means any contracting authority available to 

16 the Secretary of Agriculture, including a sole 

17 source contract or other agreement for the mu18 tual benefit of the Secretary and a State For19 ester or equivalent official. 

20 ‘‘(B) GOOD NEIGHBOR PROJECT.—The 

21 term ‘good neighbor project’ means any project 

22 on National Forest System land that— 

23 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements for haz24 ardous fuels reduction projects under sub25 sections (a), (d), (e), and (f) of section 102 


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1 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (16 

2 U.S.C. 6512) and would reduce risk of 

3 wildland fire or risk of insect or disease in4 festation to adjacent lands; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) would improve watersheds or fish 

6 and wildlife habitat on National Forest 

7 System land and adjacent lands. 

8 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP AUTHORITY.—The Sec9 retary may enter into contracts or cooperative agree10 ments with a State Forester, or equivalent official, 

11 to prepare and implement good neighbor projects on 

12 National Forest System land to complement any 

13 similar project being performed on bordering or ad14 jacent non-Federal land. The decision to proceed 

15 with a good neighbor project is in the Secretary’s 

16 sole discretion. 

17 ‘‘(3) STATE FORESTER OR EQUIVALENT OFFI18 CIAL AS AGENT.—A cooperative agreement or con19 tract under paragraph (2) may authorize the State 

20 Forester or equivalent official to serve as the agent 

21 for the Secretary in providing all services necessary 

22 to facilitate the performance of good neighbor 

23 projects, except that any decision with respect to a 

24 good neighbor project required to be made under the 

25 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) may not be delegated to a 

2 State Forester or equivalent official or any officer or 

3 employee of the State Forester or equivalent official. 

4 ‘‘(4) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—In imple5 menting any good neighbor project, the Secretary 

6 shall ensure that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the project is consistent with the ap8 plicable land and resource management plan de9 veloped under section 6 of the Forest and 

10 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

11 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); and 

12 ‘‘(B) the project improves the cost effi13 ciency of managing the National Forest System 

14 land covered by the project, as determined by 

15 the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY FOR COLLABORATIVE

17 PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall give priority to 

18 good neighbor projects that are— 

19 ‘‘(A) developed in collaboration with non20 governmental entities; 

21 ‘‘(B) consistent with a community wildfire 

22 protection plan (as defined in section 101 of the 

23 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 

24 U.S.C. 6502)); or 


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1 ‘‘(C) prepared in a manner consistent with 

2 the Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive 

3 Strategy for a Collaborative Approach for Re4 ducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities 

5 and the Environment, dated May 2002, devel6 oped pursuant to the conference report to ac7 company the Department of the Interior and 

8 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 

9 (House Report No. 106–64), and subsequent 

10 revisions of the implementation plan. 

11 ‘‘(6) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Subsections 

12 (d) and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest 

13 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) shall not 

14 apply to a contract or other agreement under this 

15 subsection. 

16 ‘‘(7) SUBCONTRACTING BY A STATE FORESTER

17 OR EQUIVALENT OFFICIAL.—A State Forester or 

18 equivalent official may subcontract to the extent al19 lowed by State and local law to prepare or imple20 ment a contract or other agreement under this sub21 section.’’. 

Æ 


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