II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3256 

To provide a supplemental funding source for catastrophic emergency wildland 

fire suppression activities on Department of the Interior and National 

Forest System lands, to require the Secretary of the Interior and the 

Secretary of Agriculture to develop a cohesive wildland fire management 

strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2008 

Mr. REID (for Mrs. BOXER) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide a supplemental funding source for catastrophic 

emergency wildland fire suppression activities on Department of the Interior and National Forest System lands, 

to require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to develop a cohesive wildland fire management strategy, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhance6 ment Act’’ or ‘‘FLAME Act’’. 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•S 3256 IS

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities. 

Sec. 3. Cohesive wildland fire management strategy. 

Sec. 4. Review of certain wildfires to evaluate cost containment in wildland fire 

suppression activities. 

Sec. 5. Reducing risk of wildfires in fire-ready communities. 

3 SEC. 2. FLAME FUND FOR CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCY 

4 WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

7 means the following: 

8 (A) Public lands, as defined in section 103 

9 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

10 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

11 (B) Units of the National Park System. 

12 (C) Refuges of the National Wildlife Ref13 uge System. 

14 (D) Lands held in trust by the United 

15 States for the benefit of Indian tribes or indi16 vidual Indians. 

17 (E) Lands in the National Forest System, 

18 as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 

19 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

20 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•S 3256 IS

1 (2) FLAME FUND.—The term ‘‘Flame Fund’’ 

2 means the Federal Land Assistance, Management, 

3 and Enhancement Fund established by this section. 

4 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec5 retary concerned’’ means— 

6 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re7 spect to Federal land described in subpara8 graphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1); 

9 and 

10 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re11 spect to National Forest System land. 

12 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

13 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec14 retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND AVAILABILITY OF FLAME

16 FUND.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

18 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

19 known as the Federal Land Assistance, Manage20 ment, and Enhancement Fund. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—The Flame Fund shall consist 

22 of the following amounts: 

23 (A) Amounts appropriated to the Flame 

24 Fund pursuant to the authorization of appro25 priations in subsection (c). 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•S 3256 IS

1 (B) Amounts transferred to the Flame 

2 Fund pursuant to subsection (d). 

3 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Subject to subsection (e), 

4 amounts in the Flame Fund shall be available to the 

5 Secretaries to pay the costs of catastrophic emer6 gency wildland fire suppression activities that are 

7 separate from amounts annually appropriated to the 

8 Secretaries for the predicted annual workload for 

9 wildland fire suppression activities, based on anal10 yses of historical workloads and anticipated in11 creased workloads due to changing environmental or 

12 demographic conditions. 

13 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Flame 

16 Fund such funds as may be necessary to carry out 

17 this section. It is the intent of Congress that the 

18 amount appropriated to the Flame Fund for fiscal 

19 year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year equal the 

20 average amount expended by the Secretaries for 

21 emergency wildland fire suppression activities over 

22 the five fiscal years preceding that fiscal year. 

23 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF

24 CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS AS EMERGENCY REQUIRE25 MENT.—It is the sense of Congress that the 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•S 3256 IS

1 amounts appropriated to the Flame Fund that are 

2 above the average of the obligations of the preceding 

3 10 years for wildland fire suppression in the Forest 

4 Service and the Department of the Interior, adjusted 

5 for inflation, should be designated as amounts nec6 essary to meet emergency needs, and the new budget 

7 authority and outlays resulting therefrom should not 

8 count for the purposes of titles III and IV of the 

9 Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

10 (3) NOTICE OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—The 

11 Secretaries shall notify the congressional committees 

12 specified in subsection (h)(2) whenever only an esti13 mated two months worth of funding remains in the 

14 Flame Fund. 

15 (d) TRANSFER OF EXCESS WILDLAND FIRE SUP16 PRESSION AMOUNTS INTO FLAME FUND.—At the end of 

17 each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall transfer to 

18 the Flame Fund amounts appropriated to the Secretary 

19 concerned for wildland fire suppression activities for the 

20 fiscal year, but not obligated for wildland fire suppression 

21 activities before the end of the fiscal year. 

22 (e) USE OF FLAME FUND.— 

23 (1) DECLARATION REQUIRED.—Amounts in the 

24 Flame Fund shall be made available to the Secretary 

25 concerned only after the Secretaries issue a declaraVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:11 Jul 12, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3256.IS S3256

erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•S 3256 IS

1 tion that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligi2 ble for funding through the Flame Fund. 

3 (2) DECLARATION CRITERIA.—A declaration by 

4 the Secretaries under paragraph (1) shall be based 

5 on the following criteria: 

6 (A) In the case of an individual wildland 

7 fire incident— 

8 (i) the fire covers 300 or more acres; 

9 (ii) the severity of the fire, which may 

10 be based on incident complexity or the po11 tential for increased complexity; and 

12 (iii) the threat posed by the fire, in13 cluding the potential for loss of lives, prop14 erty, or critical resources. 

15 (B) Consistent with subsection (f), in the 

16 case of a firefighting season, cumulative 

17 wildland fire suppression activities, when the 

18 costs of those activities for the Secretary con19 cerned are projected to exceed amounts annu20 ally appropriated. 

21 (3) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS TO SECRETARY

22 CONCERNED.—After issuance of a declaration under 

23 paragraph (1) and upon the request of the Secretary 

24 concerned, the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans25 fer from the Flame Fund to the Secretary concerned 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

•S 3256 IS

1 such amounts as the Secretaries determine are nec2 essary for wildland fire suppression activities associ3 ated with the declared suppression emergency. 

4 (4) STATE, PRIVATE, AND TRIBAL LAND.—Use 

5 of the Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency 

6 wildland fire suppression activities on State and pri7 vate land and, where applicable, tribal land shall be 

8 consistent with existing agreements where the Secre9 taries have agreed to assume responsibility for 

10 wildland fire suppression activities on the land. 

11 (f) TREATMENT OF ANTICIPATED AND PREDICTED

12 ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary concerned shall continue to 

13 fund anticipated and predicted wildland fire suppression 

14 activities within the appropriate agency budget for each 

15 fiscal year. Use of the additional funding made available 

16 through the Flame Fund is intended to supplement the 

17 budgeted and appropriated agency funding and is to be 

18 used only for purposes and in instances consistent with 

19 this section. 

20 (g) PROHIBITION ON OTHER TRANSFERS.—All 

21 amounts in the Flame Fund, as well as all funds appro22 priated for the purpose of wildland fire suppression on 

23 Federal land, must be obligated before the Secretary con24 cerned may transfer funds from non-fire accounts for 

25 wildland fire suppression. 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
8 

•S 3256 IS

1 (h) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS.— 

2 (1) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

3 The Secretaries shall establish an accounting and re4 porting system for the Flame Fund compatible with 

5 existing National Fire Plan reporting procedures. 

6 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretaries shall 

7 submit to the Committee on Natural Resources, the 

8 Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on 

9 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

10 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

11 the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Committee 

12 on Appropriations of the Senate an annual report on 

13 the use of the funds from the Flame Fund, together 

14 with any recommendations that the Secretaries may 

15 have to improve the administrative control and over16 sight of the Flame Fund. 

17 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The annual report 

18 required by paragraph (2) shall be made available to 

19 the public. 

20 SEC. 3. COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRAT21 EGY. 

22 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

24 of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub25 mit to Congress a report that contains a cohesive wildland 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
9 

•S 3256 IS

1 fire management strategy, consistent with the rec2 ommendations contained in recent Comptroller General re3 ports regarding this issue. 

4 (b) ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re5 quired by subsection (a) shall address the findings of the 

6 Comptroller General in the reports referred to in such sub7 section and include the following elements: 

8 (1) A system to identify the most cost effective 

9 means for allocating fire management budget re10 sources. 

11 (2) An illustration of plans by the Secretary of 

12 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to rein13 vest in non-fire programs. 

14 (3) A description of how the Secretaries will 

15 employ appropriate management response. 

16 (4) A system for assessing the level of risk to 

17 communities. 

18 (5) A system to ensure that the highest priority 

19 fuels reduction projects are being funded first. 

20 (c) NOTICE OF PRESCRIBED FIRES.—As part of the 

21 strategy required by subsection (a) for the Forest Service, 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that, before any 

23 prescribed fire is used on National Forest System land, 

24 owners of adjacent private land are notified in writing of 

25 the date and scope of the proposed prescribed fire. 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
10 

•S 3256 IS

1 SEC. 4. REVIEW OF CERTAIN WILDFIRES TO EVALUATE 

2 COST CONTAINMENT IN WILDLAND FIRE SUP3 PRESSION ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte5 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a re6 view, using independent panels, of each wildfire incident 

7 for which the Secretary concerned incurs expenses in ex8 cess of $10,000,000. 

9 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary concerned shall submit 

10 to the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee 

11 on Agriculture, and the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En13 ergy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Af14 fairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 

15 a report containing the results of each review conducted 

16 under subsection (a). 

17 SEC. 5. REDUCING RISK OF WILDFIRES IN FIRE-READY 

18 COMMUNITIES. 

19 (a) FIRE-READY COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In this 

20 section, the term ‘‘fire-ready community’’ means a com21 munity that— 

22 (1) is located within a priority area identified 

23 pursuant to subsection (b); 

24 (2) has a cooperative fire agreement that ar25 ticulates the roles and responsibilities for Federal, 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
11 

•S 3256 IS

1 State and local government entities in local wildfire 

2 suppression and protection; 

3 (3) has local codes that require fire-resistant 

4 home design and building materials; 

5 (4) has a community wildfire protection plan 

6 (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 

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

8 (5) is engaged in a successful collaborative 

9 process that includes multiple interested persons 

10 representing diverse interests and is transparent and 

11 nonexclusive, such as a resource advisory committee 

12 established under section 205 of the Secure Rural 

13 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

14 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 U.S.C. 500 note). 

15 (b) FIRE RISK MAPPING.—As soon as is practicable 

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

17 of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior (in this 

18 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall develop re19 gional maps of communities most at risk of wildfire and 

20 in need of hazardous fuel treatment and maintenance. The 

21 maps shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels re22 duction projects, including— 

23 (1) at-risk communities in fire-prone areas of 

24 the wildland-urban interface (as defined in section 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
12 

•S 3256 IS

1 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

2 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); 

3 (2) watersheds and municipal drinking water 

4 sources; 

5 (3) emergency evacuation corridors; 

6 (4) electricity transmission corridors; and 

7 (5) low-capacity or low-income communities. 

8 (c) LOCAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY

9 GRANTS.— 

10 (1) GRANTS AVAILABLE.—The Secretaries may 

11 provide cost-share grants to fire-ready communities 

12 to assist such communities in carrying activities au13 thorized by paragraph (2). 

14 (2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds may 

15 be used for the following: 

16 (A) Education programs to raise aware17 ness of homeowners and citizens about wildland 

18 fire protection practices, including FireWise or 

19 similar programs. 

20 (B) Training programs for local fire21 fighters on wildland firefighting techniques and 

22 approaches. 

23 (C) Equipment acquisition to facilitate 

24 wildland fire preparedness. 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
13 

•S 3256 IS

1 (D) Implementation of a community wild2 fire protection plan. 

3 (d) WILDLAND FIRE COST-SHARE AGREEMENTS.— 

4 In developing any wildland fire cost-share agreement with 

5 a State Forester or equivalent official, the Secretaries 

6 shall, to the greatest extent possible, encourage the State 

7 and local communities involved to become fire-ready com8 munities. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry 

11 out this section such sums as may be necessary. 

Æ 


erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS