IB 

Union Calendar No. 723 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1586 

[Report No. 118–721, Parts I and II] 

To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water for fire suppression, control, 

or prevention activities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2023 

Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. FULCHER, 

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, 

Mr. NEHLS, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. 

ZINKE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. ISSA, 

Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. KILEY, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. COSTA, and 

Ms. HAGEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 

Committees on Natural Resources, and 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 

OCTOBER 25, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

DECEMBER 16, 2024 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. VALADAO, 

Mr. DUARTE, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. STEWART, Mr. BACON, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. 

ROUZER, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. MALOY and Mr. 

LOPEZ

DECEMBER 16, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an 

amendment 


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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman] 

DECEMBER 16, 2024 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 14, 2023] 

A BILL 

To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water 

for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities. 


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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 ‘‘Forest Protection and 

5 Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN DIS7 CHARGES OF FIRE RETARDANT. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZED USES.—The Secretary of the Interior 

9 and the Secretary of Agriculture are each authorized to dis10 charge a fire retardant, chemical, or water from aircraft 

11 for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities. 

12 (b) PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 

13 any provision of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

14 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), a permit under section 402 of such 

15 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) shall not be required for the activities 

16 authorized by subsection (a) or for similar activities con17 ducted by a covered entity. 

18 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered en19 tity’’ means— 

20 (1) the Forest Service; 

21 (2) the National Park Service; 

22 (3) the Bureau of Land Management; 

23 (4) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

24 (5) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

25 (6) the Federal Emergency Management Agency; 


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1 (7) a State (as defined in section 502 of the Fed2 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)) or 

3 a political subdivision thereof; 

4 (8) a Tribal government; and 

5 (9) the Department of Defense. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to allow the 

Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water from aircraft 

for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities.’’. 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Pro8 tection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 

9 2023’’. 

10 SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR CERTAIN DISCHARGES OF 

11 WILDLAND FIRE CHEMICALS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 

13 no court may enjoin under the Federal Water 

14 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) 

15 a covered entity from conducting an aerial 

16 application of a covered fire retardant and 

17 water enhancer for wildfire suppression, con18 trol, or prevention activities that results in a 

19 discharge, if such aerial application is con20 ducted in accordance with the requirements 

21 of the Federal Facility Compliance Agreement 

22 between the Environmental Protection AgenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Dec 17, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\H1586.RH H1586

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1 cy and the U.S. Forest Service, as agreed to 

2 on February 16, 2023. 

3 (b) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.—Subsection 

4 (a) shall apply to any aerial application de5 scribed in such subsection that is conducted 

6 before the effective date of a permit issued by 

7 the Administrator of the Environmental Pro8 tection Agency or a State, as applicable, 

9 under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollu10 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) that author11 izes the discharge, from such aerial applica12 tion, of a covered fire retardant and water 

13 enhancer for wildfire suppression, control, or 

14 prevention activities. 

15 (c) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section af16 fects the authority of any court under the 

17 Federal Water Pollution Control Act with re18 spect to any discharge resulting from an aer19 ial application not conducted in accordance 

20 with the requirements described in sub21 section (a). 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cov24 ered entity’’ means— 


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1 (A) any Federal agency, agency of 

2 a State or political subdivision there3 of, or Tribal agency, authorized by 

4 law to conduct an aerial application 

5 of fire retardants and water 

6 enhancers for wildfire suppression, 

7 control, or prevention activities; and 

8 (B) any contractor, subcontractor, 

9 or other agent of an agency described 

10 in subparagraph (A). 

11 (2) COVERED FIRE RETARDANT AND

12 WATER ENHANCER.—The term ‘‘covered fire 

13 retardant and water enhancer’’ means a 

14 fire retardant and water enhancer that— 

15 (A) has been evaluated, qualified, 

16 and approved by the Secretary of Ag17 riculture; and 

18 (B) appears on the most current 

19 Forest Service Qualified Products 

20 List. 

21 (3) DISCHARGE; STATE.—The terms 

22 ‘‘discharge’’ and ‘‘State’’ have the mean23 ings given those terms in section 502 of 

24 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

25 (33 U.S.C. 1362). 


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1 (e) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be 

2 effective on the date that is 5 years after the 

3 date of enactment of this section. 


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Union Calendar No. 723 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1586 

[Report No. 118–721, Parts I and II] 

A BILL 

To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secor prevention activities. chemical, or water for fire suppression, control, retary of Agriculture to use a fire retardant, 

DECEMBER 16, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure with an amendment 

DECEMBER 16, 2024 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the 

Union and ordered to be printed Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS