I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1567 

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 

MARCH 10, 2023 

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 on which the Secretary 

13 concerned carried out hazardous fuels reduction ac14 tivities during the preceding fiscal year. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the re16 port required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

17 concerned shall— 

18 (A) in determining the number of acres on 

19 which the Secretary concerned carried out haz20 ardous fuels reduction activities during the pe21 riod covered by the report— 

22 (i) record acres on which hazardous 

23 fuels reduction activities were completed 

24 during such period; and 

25 (ii) record each acre described in 

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


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1 whether multiple hazardous fuels reduction 

2 activities were carried out on such acre 

3 during such period; and 

4 (B) with respect to the acres recorded in 

5 the report, include information on— 

6 (i) which such acres are located in the 

7 wildland-urban interface; 

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

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

10 of the period covered by the report; 

11 (iii) the types of hazardous fuels ac12 tivities completed for such acres; 

13 (iv) the cost per acre of hazardous 

14 fuels activities carried out during the pe15 riod covered by the report; 

16 (v) the region or system unit in which 

17 the acres are located; and 

18 (vi) the effectiveness of the hazardous 

19 fuels reduction activities on reducing the 

20 risk of wildfire. 

21 (3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary concerned 

22 shall make each report submitted under paragraph 

23 (1) publicly available on the website of the Depart24 ment of Agriculture and the Department of the Inte25 rior, as applicable. 


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1 (b) ACCURATE DATA COLLECTION.— 

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

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

4 concerned shall implement standardized procedures 

5 for tracking data related to hazardous fuels reduc6 tion activities carried out by the Secretary con7 cerned. 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—The standardized procedures 

9 required under paragraph (1) shall include— 

10 (A) regular, standardized data reviews of 

11 the accuracy and timely input of data used to 

12 track hazardous fuels reduction activities; 

13 (B) verification methods that validate 

14 whether such data accurately correlates to the 

15 hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out 

16 by the Secretary concerned; 

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

18 effectiveness of the hazardous fuels reduction 

19 activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and 

20 (D) for hazardous fuels reduction activities 

21 that occur partially within the wildland-urban 

22 interface, methods to distinguish which acres 

23 are located within the wildland-urban interface 

24 and which acres are located outside the 

25 wildland-urban interface. 


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1 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 weeks after im2 plementing the standardized procedures required 

3 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 

4 submit to Congress a report that describes— 

5 (A) such standardized procedures; and 

6 (B) program and policy recommendations 

7 to Congress to address any limitations in track8 ing data related to hazardous fuels reduction 

9 activities under this subsection. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

12 of the United States shall— 

13 (1) conduct a study on the implementation of 

14 this Act, including any limitations with respect to— 

15 (A) reporting hazardous fuels reduction ac16 tivities under subsection (a); or 

17 (B) tracking data related to hazardous 

18 fuels reduction activities under subsection (b); 

19 and 

20 (2) submit to Congress a report that describes 

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

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

23 (1) HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION ACTIV24 ITY.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels reduction activ25 ity’’— 


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1 (A) means any vegetation management ac2 tivity to reduce the risk of wildfire, including 

3 mechanical treatments and prescribed burning; 

4 and 

5 (B) does not include— 

6 (i) a wildland fire managed for re7 source benefits; and 

8 (ii) the awarding of contracts to con9 duct hazardous fuels reduction activities. 

10 (2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec11 retary concerned’’ means— 

12 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re13 spect to National Forest System lands; and 

14 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re15 spect to public lands and units of the National 

16 Park System. 

17 (3) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

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

19 the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res20 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 

Æ 


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