I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3442 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed 

by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Ms. SCHRIER (for herself, Mr. SIMPSON, and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, 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 direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the 

Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on 

units of the National Forest System in the western 

United States, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021’’. 

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 

Sec. 101. Prescribed fire accounts. 

Sec. 102. Policies and practices. 

Sec. 103. Collaborative prescribed fire program. 

Sec. 104. Large cross-boundary prescribed fire incentive program. 

TITLE II—FACILITATING IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTREACH 

Sec. 201. Cooperative agreements and contracts. 

Sec. 202. Human resources. 

Sec. 203. Liability of certified prescribed fire managers. 

Sec. 204. Environmental review. 

Sec. 205. Prescribed fire education program. 

TITLE III—REPORTING; TERMINATION 

Sec. 301. Annual reports to the National Fire Planning and Operations Database. 

Sec. 302. Termination date. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) in 2018, the Forest Service Fire Modeling 

9 Institute determined that 63,070,000 acres of Na10 tional Forest System land and 171,200,000 acres of 

11 other forest land were at high or very high risk of 

12 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to sup13 press; 


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1 (2) according to the National Interagency Co2 ordination Center, between 2009 and 2018, in the 

3 United States, on average— 

4 (A) 67,000 wildfires burned 7,000,000 

5 acres annually; and 

6 (B) 86,345 prescribed fires burned only 

7 3,000,000 acres annually; 

8 (3) indigenous communities have used con9 trolled burns to manage landscapes since time imme10 morial; 

11 (4) according to the National Interagency Co12 ordination Center, the annual cost of suppressing 

13 wildfires in a State with an active prescribed burn14 ing program is less than 1 percent of the annual 

15 cost of suppressing wildfires in a State without an 

16 active prescribed burning program, despite each 

17 State having the same number of wildfires; 

18 (5) according to a 2017 study published in the 

19 Journal of Forestry, on a given acre, a prescribed 

fire burning in April or May produces less than 1 20 ⁄5

21 of the smoke emissions of a wildfire that would burn 

22 on that acre in August; 

23 (6) according to a 2019 study conducted by 

24 Stanford University, smoke from prescribed fires exVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442

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1 poses children to fewer negative health effects than 

2 the detrimental smoke generated by wildfires; 

3 (7) according to a 2015 study published in 

4 Ecology, trees that have not been burnt by a low-in5 tensity fire are unusually prone to bark beetle at6 tacks, and between 2000 and 2010, bark beetles 

7 killed the majority of trees on 32,000,000 acres of 

8 the 193,000,000 acres of National Forest System 

9 land; 

10 (8) as of September 30, 2019, there were— 

11 (A) 37 prescribed fire councils in 33 

12 States; and 

13 (B) 64 prescribed burn associations in 11 

14 States; 

15 (9) according to the 2018 National Prescribed 

16 Fire Use Survey Report— 

17 (A) 37 States regulate prescribed fires by 

18 issuing burn permits; 

19 (B) 23 States offer prescribed burn man20 ager certification courses to facilitate respon21 sible burning on private land; 

22 (C) only 5 States (Vermont, Massachu23 setts, Missouri, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) 

24 lack laws to reduce liability associated with the 

25 responsible use of prescribed fire; and 


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1 (D) only 8 States (Florida, Montana, Ne2 vada, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, South Caro3 lina, and Washington) have laws that use a 

4 standard of gross negligence for determining li5 abilities for the responsible use of prescribed 

6 fire; and 

7 (10) as of September 30, 2019, 31 States have 

8 a formal process to track the number of acres treat9 ed for forestry purposes using prescribed fire. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

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

13 means— 

14 (A) public land (as defined in section 103 

15 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

16 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

17 (B) units of the National Park System; 

18 (C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 

19 System; 

20 (D) land held in trust by the United States 

21 for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 

22 an Indian Tribe; and 

23 (E) land in the National Forest System. 

24 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

25 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 


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1 the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range2 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

3 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

4 (3) PRESCRIBED FIRE.—The term ‘‘prescribed 

5 fire’’ means a fire deliberately ignited to burn 

6 wildland fuels in a natural or modified state— 

7 (A) under specified environmental condi8 tions that allow the fire to be confined to a pre9 determined area and produce the fireline inten10 sity and rate of spread required to attain 

11 planned resource management objectives; and 

12 (B) in accordance with applicable law, in13 cluding applicable regulations. 

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

15 means— 

16 (A) the Secretary; and 

17 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

20 TITLE I—USE OF FUNDS 

21 SEC. 101. PRESCRIBED FIRE ACCOUNTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY CONCERNED.—In 

23 this section, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 

2 an account established by this section for the De3 partment of Agriculture; and 

4 (2) the Secretary, with respect to an account 

5 established by this section for the Department of the 

6 Interior. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—There are es8 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the fol9 lowing accounts: 

10 (1) The Prescribed Fire account for the De11 partment of Agriculture. 

12 (2) The Prescribed Fire account for the De13 partment of the Interior. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 

16 each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by 

17 subsection (b) such sums as are necessary to carry out 

18 this section, not to exceed $300,000,000. 

19 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 

20 year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary 

21 concerned shall submit, through the budget request of the 

22 President, a request for amounts in the Wildland Fire 

23 Management appropriation account of the Secretary con24 cerned to carry out the activities described in subsection 

25 (e). 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con2 cerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by 

3 subsection (b) as follows: 

4 (1) The Secretary concerned shall— 

5 (A) develop a prescribed fire plan, carry 

6 out necessary environmental review, conduct 

7 outreach to the public, Indian Tribes, and adja8 cent landowners, and implement a prescribed 

9 fire on Federal land; 

10 (B) hire additional personnel and procure 

11 additional equipment, including unmanned aer12 ial systems equipped with an aerial ignition sys13 tem, to implement a greater number of pre14 scribed fires; 

15 (C) provide training for the implementa16 tion of a prescribed fire; 

17 (D) conduct post-prescribed fire activities, 

18 including reseeding to prevent the spread of 

19 invasive species; and 

20 (E) conduct monitoring for safety and fire 

21 effects. 

22 (2) The Secretaries shall coordinate to jointly 

23 develop a common data management and analysis 

24 system for planning and post-treatment account25 ability. 


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1 (3) The Secretary concerned may assist State, 

2 Tribal, local government, or private prescribed fire 

3 programs— 

4 (A) to provide federally sponsored insur5 ance administered by States, in conjunction 

6 with State-sponsored training and certification 

7 programs, for private persons implementing 

8 prescribed fires; 

9 (B) to establish a training or certification 

10 program for teams comprised of citizens or 

11 local fire services to conduct prescribed fires on 

12 private land, consistent with any standards de13 veloped by the National Wildfire Coordinating 

14 Group or State prescribed fire standards; 

15 (C) to enable additional fire managers and 

16 apparatus, whether provided by the local re17 sources of an agency, private contractors, non18 governmental organizations, Indian Tribes, local 

19 fire services, or qualified individuals, to be 

20 present while implementing a prescribed fire; 

21 (D) pursuant to the memorandum of 

22 agreement authorized under section 203; or 

23 (E) to finance the implementation of a pre24 scribed fire on State, Tribal, or private land 

25 and any post-prescribed fire activities as are deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442

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1 termined to be necessary by the Secretary con2 cerned. 

3 (4) The Secretary concerned may provide tech4 nical or financial assistance to a prescribed fire 

5 council or prescribed burn association for the estab6 lishment or operation of the council or association. 

7 (5) The Secretary may provide funding for the 

8 collaborative prescribed fire program established 

9 under section 103. 

10 (6) The Secretary may provide funding for the 

11 large cross-boundary prescribed fire program estab12 lished under section 104. 

13 (f) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

15 the Secretary concerned shall coordinate with Fed16 eral, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and 

17 qualified nongovernmental organizations, including 

18 through the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, to 

19 establish prioritization criteria for expending funds 

20 under this section for each activity described in sub21 section (e). 

22 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing criteria 

23 under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall 

24 give priority to a project that is— 


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1 (A) implemented across a large contiguous 

2 area; 

3 (B) cross-boundary in nature; 

4 (C) in an area that is threatening to, or lo5 cated in, the wildland-urban interface; 

6 (D) in an area identified as a priority area 

7 in a statewide forest resource assessment; 

8 (E) on acres at high or very high risk of 

9 experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to 

10 suppress; 

11 (F) in an area that is designated as critical 

12 habitat and in need of ecological restoration or 

13 enhancement; or 

14 (G) supportive of potential operational de15 lineations or a strategic response zone. 

16 SEC. 102. POLICIES AND PRACTICES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall significantly 

18 increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted 

19 on Federal land. 

20 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR PRESCRIBED FIRES.—From 

21 amounts appropriated to carry out the activity described 

22 in section 101(e)(1), the Secretaries may carry out pre23 scribed fires on not more than 20,000,000 acres of Fed24 eral land per year. 


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1 (c) REQUIRING MINIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to the 

2 availability of appropriations, the Secretaries shall carry 

3 out prescribed fires annually on at least 1,000,000 acres 

4 of Federal land. 

5 (d) INCREASE IN FAMILIARITY WITH PRESCRIBED

6 FIRES IN LOCAL UNITS.—Subject to the availability of 

7 appropriations, not later than September 30, 2023, the 

8 Secretaries shall each have carried out a minimum of 1 

9 prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest Sys10 tem, unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of 

11 the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Manage12 ment district under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries— 

13 (1) that includes an area that— 

14 (A) has a historical low-severity fire re15 gime; 

16 (B) has a historical fire-return interval of 

17 not more than 35 years; and 

18 (C) is larger than 100 acres; and 

19 (2) less than 50 percent of the land of which 

20 was burned by a wildland fire during the previous 

21 10-year period. 

22 SEC. 103. COLLABORATIVE PRESCRIBED FIRE PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

24 within the Department of the Interior a collaborative pre25 scribed fire program (referred to in this section as the 


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1 ‘‘program’’) to provide financial assistance to eligible enti2 ties, including units of Federal land management agencies, 

3 Indian Tribes, and prescribed fire councils, for the imple4 mentation of proposals for the conduct of prescribed fires 

5 in priority landscapes in accordance with applicable exist6 ing policies, including the National Cohesive Wildland Fire 

7 Management Strategy. 

8 (b) PROPOSAL CRITERIA.—To be eligible for selection 

9 for the program, a proposal shall— 

10 (1) identify and prioritize planned prescribed 

11 fires for a 6-year period within a landscape; 

12 (2) establish annual accomplishment targets for 

13 prescribed fires under the proposal; 

14 (3) be developed through a collaborative proc15 ess; 

16 (4) be implemented across multiple jurisdic17 tions; 

18 (5) provide an estimate of— 

19 (A) the amount of annual Federal financial 

20 assistance necessary to implement the proposal; 

21 and 

22 (B) the amount of non-Federal funds that 

23 would be leveraged; 

24 (6) describe benefits to sensitive wildlife species 

25 of concern; and 


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1 (7) describe any established record of successful 

2 collaborative planning or use of prescribed fire by 

3 the eligible entity. 

4 (c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Subject to the avail5 ability of appropriations, the Secretary shall select pro6 posals for financial assistance under the program that, as 

7 determined by the Secretary, would likely use the least 

8 amount of Federal funding to treat the most acres at high 

9 or very high risk of experiencing a wildfire that would be 

10 difficult to suppress. 

11 (d) LIMITATIONS.— 

12 (1) NUMBER OF PROJECTS.—The Secretary 

13 may select not more than 20 proposals to be funded 

14 under the program in any fiscal year. 

15 (2) PROJECT FUNDING.—The Secretary may 

16 not provide more than $1,000,000 of Federal funds 

17 under the program to any 1 project in a fiscal year. 

18 (3) PROJECT PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary 

19 shall cease funding any proposal that, for 3 consecu20 tive years, fails to meet the annual accomplishment 

21 targets that were established under subsection 

22 (b)(2). 

23 (e) PRESCRIBED FIRE TRAINING EXCHANGES.—Not 

24 less frequently than once every 3 years, a recipient of fi25 nancial assistance under the program shall provide to local 


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1 entities and non-local entities experiential training relating 

2 to prescribed fires. 

3 (f) REPORTING.— 

4 (1) PROJECT REPORTING.—A recipient of fi5 nancial assistance under the program shall annually 

6 submit to the Secretary a report summarizing, at a 

7 minimum— 

8 (A) the numbers of acres treated with pre9 scribed fire by the recipient under the program; 

10 and 

11 (B) the amount of Federal and non-Fed12 eral funds used by the recipient under the pro13 gram. 

14 (2) PROGRAM REPORTING.—Not later than 2 

15 years after the first fiscal year in which funding is 

16 made available to carry out prescribed fires under 

17 the program, and every 2 years thereafter, the Sec18 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

19 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 

20 on Natural Resources of the House of Representa21 tives a report on the program. 

22 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2031, 

25 to remain available until expended. 


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1 SEC. 104. LARGE CROSS-BOUNDARY PRESCRIBED FIRE IN2 CENTIVE PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap4 propriations, the Secretary shall establish an incentive 

5 program to encourage the implementation of large, cross6 boundary prescribed fires by providing incentive payments 

7 for conducting a qualified prescribed fire. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED PRESCRIBED FIRES.— 

9 (1) CRITERIA.—A qualified prescribed fire 

10 under the program under this section is a prescribed 

11 fire that— 

12 (A) occurred on not less than 2 parcels of 

13 land that were under different ownership; 

14 (B) had a target area identified in a pre15 scribed fire plan of not less than 50,000 acres; 

16 and 

17 (C) is on land under Federal, State, or 

18 local government ownership. 

19 (2) MULTIPLE FIRES.—The Secretary may con20 sider a series of prescribed fires conducted within 1 

21 fiscal year by the same 1 or more entities to be a 

22 qualified prescribed fire under the program under 

23 this section if the series of fires collectively meet the 

24 criteria under paragraph (1). 

25 (c) PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (1) STATE AND COUNTY INCENTIVE PAY2 MENTS.—The Secretary shall make payments to the 

3 State and county in which a qualified prescribed fire 

4 was implemented in an amount not greater than 

5 $100,000. 

6 (2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.—In the 

7 case of each qualified prescribed fire on a unit of the 

8 National Forest System, the Secretary shall transfer 

9 to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

10 Chief of the Forest Service, an amount not greater 

11 than $100,000, which shall be used for that unit of 

12 the National Forest System. 

13 (3) OTHER FEDERAL LAND.—In the case of 

14 each qualified prescribed fire on land under the ju15 risdiction of the Secretary, the Secretary shall in16 crease the funding allocation to the agency of the 

17 Department of the Interior that manages the land in 

18 an amount not greater than $100,000. 

19 (4) INDIAN COUNTRY.—In the case of each 

20 qualified prescribed fire in Indian country (as de21 fined in section 1151 of title 18, United States 

22 Code), the Secretary shall make a payment to the 

23 applicable Indian Tribe in an amount not greater 

24 than $100,000. 


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1 TITLE II—FACILITATING IMPLE2 MENTATION AND OUTREACH 

3 SEC. 201. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec5 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a State, an Indian 

6 Tribe, a county or municipal government, a fire district, 

7 a nongovernmental organization, including the Nature 

8 Conservancy, or a private entity. 

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretaries may enter 

10 into a cooperative agreement or contract with an eligible 

11 entity to authorize the eligible entity to coordinate, plan, 

12 or conduct a prescribed fire on Federal land. 

13 (c) SUBCONTRACTS.—A State, Indian Tribe, or coun14 ty that enters into a cooperative agreement or contract 

15 under subsection (b) may enter into a subcontract, in ac16 cordance with applicable contracting procedures of the 

17 State, Indian Tribe, or county, to conduct a prescribed 

18 fire on Federal land pursuant to that cooperative agree19 ment or contract. 

20 (d) AGENT OF SECRETARY.—A cooperative agree21 ment or contract entered into under subsection (b) may 

22 authorize the eligible entity to serve as the agent for the 

23 Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture in coordinating, 

24 planning, or conducting a prescribed fire— 

25 (1) on Federal land; or 


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1 (2) across an area that— 

2 (A) includes adjacent landowners; and 

3 (B) includes Federal land. 

4 (e) INDEMNITY REQUIREMENTS.—Each eligible enti5 ty contracted for implementing a prescribed fire shall pro6 cure and maintain sufficient indemnity insurance during 

7 the entire period of performance under the cooperative 

8 agreement or contract entered into under this section. 

9 (f) APPLICABLE LAW.—A prescribed fire conducted 

10 under this section shall be carried out on a project-to11 project basis under existing authorities of the applicable 

12 agency responsible for the management of the Federal 

13 land. 

14 (g) PRESERVATION OF DECISION AUTHORITY.—No 

15 project authorized under this section may be undertaken 

16 without the prior written approval of the Secretary or the 

17 Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (h) LONG-TERM CONTRACTS.—A cooperative agree19 ment or contract with an eligible entity under subsection 

20 (b) may authorize the eligible entity to conduct a series 

21 of prescribed fires on Federal land for a period of not 

22 longer than 10 years. 

23 SEC. 202. HUMAN RESOURCES. 

24 (a) PRESCRIBED FIRE WORKFORCE.— 


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1 (1) TRAINING.—The Secretaries shall hire addi2 tional employees and provide training and develop3 ment activities, including through partnerships with 

4 community colleges, to increase the number of 

5 skilled and qualified prescribed fire practitioners in 

6 the Department of the Interior, the Department of 

7 Agriculture, Indian Tribes, and other qualified orga8 nizations, including training in smoke management 

9 practices. 

10 (2) TEMPORARY WORKERS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of12 fice of Personnel Management shall provide to 

13 the Secretaries direct hire authority in accord14 ance with section 3304(a)(3) of title 5, United 

15 States Code, to appoint qualified individuals to 

16 positions performing temporary or emergency 

17 work relating to prescribed fires, including 

18 training, implementation, and post-prescribed 

19 burning activities. 

20 (B) TERM OF EMPLOYMENT.—The term of 

21 the appointment of an individual under sub22 paragraph (A) shall be restricted to a period 

23 that— 

24 (i) begins not more than 72 hours 

25 prior to planned ignition; and 


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1 (ii) ends not more than 72 hours after 

2 the prescribed fire has stopped burning. 

3 (3) OVERTIME PAYMENTS.— 

4 (A) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the 

5 amendment made by subparagraph (B) is to 

6 allow the Secretaries to use additional new 

7 budget authority for wildfire suppression for the 

8 cost of overtime payments to employees imple9 menting a prescribed fire. 

10 (B) AMENDMENT.—Section 

11 251(b)(2)(F)(ii)(II) of the Balanced Budget 

12 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

13 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(F)(ii)(II)) is amended— 

14 (i) in item (bb), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

15 the end; 

16 (ii) in item (cc), by striking the period 

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (iii) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(dd) overtime payments to 

21 employees implementing a pre22 scribed fire (as defined in section 

23 3 of the National Prescribed Fire 

24 Act of 2021).’’. 

25 (4) DEDICATED PRESCRIBED FIRE CREWS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall 

2 establish not fewer than 1 crew of Federal em3 ployees the primary responsibility of which is 

4 implementing prescribed fires. 

5 (B) TERM OF EMPLOYMENT.—Notwith6 standing section 213.104 or 316.401 of title 5, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu8 lations), an employee of a crew established 

9 under subparagraph (A) may— 

10 (i) be hired as a seasonal employee or 

11 temporary employee; and 

12 (ii) work more than 1,040 hours per 

13 year. 

14 (C) PERMANENT PRESCRIBED FIRE EM15 PLOYEES.—The Secretaries may noncompeti16 tively convert a Federal seasonal employee of a 

17 crew established under this paragraph to a Fed18 eral permanent employee, subject to paragraph 

19 (5). 

20 (5) CONVERSION OF SEASONAL FIREFIGHTERS

21 TO PERMANENT EMPLOYEES.—The Secretaries may 

22 noncompetitively convert a Federal seasonal em23 ployee to a Federal permanent employee if— 

24 (A) the listed job duties of the employee 

25 include wildland firefighting; 


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1 (B) the employee received a rating of at 

2 least ‘‘Fully Successful’’ in each of the perform3 ance appraisals of the employee for the 5 most 

4 recent seasons of Federal employment of the 

5 employee; and 

6 (C) the job duties and performance stand7 ards of the position into which the permanent 

8 employee converts include implementing pre9 scribed fires. 

10 (6) EMPLOYMENT OF FORMERLY INCARCER11 ATED INDIVIDUALS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in 

13 consultation with the Attorney General and 

14 State departments of corrections, shall seek to 

15 provide a career pathway, including through 

16 partnerships with the Corps Network, to indi17 viduals described in subparagraph (B) to work 

18 as prescribed fire practitioners. 

19 (B) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An indi20 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) is an in21 dividual that— 

22 (i) has been convicted in any court of 

23 a criminal offense, other than arson, and 

24 was sentenced to a term of imprisonment 

25 for that offense; and 


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1 (ii) during the term of imprisonment 

2 described in clause (i), served on a 

3 wildland firefighting crew or received other 

4 comparable training. 

5 (7) UNDERREPRESENTED EMPLOYEES.—To 

6 further address the gender disparity in wildland fire7 fighting, the Secretaries shall support the develop8 ment and participation of women in leadership op9 portunities, mentorship networks, and training in 

10 prescribed fire, including the Fire Leadership for 

11 Women course and Women-In-Fire Training Ex12 change— 

13 (A) to develop strong leaders; 

14 (B) to increase the number of women over15 seeing prescribed fires; and 

16 (C) to enhance the longevity and success of 

17 women in wildland fire management. 

18 (8) VETERANS CREWS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in 

20 consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Af21 fairs, shall seek— 

22 (i) to provide a career pathway to in23 dividuals described in subparagraph (B) to 

24 work as prescribed fire practitioners; and 


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1 (ii) to establish crews composed pre2 dominantly of veterans to conduct pre3 scribed fires. 

4 (B) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An indi5 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) is an in6 dividual who— 

7 (i) served in the active military, naval, 

8 or air service; and 

9 (ii) was discharged or released under 

10 conditions other than dishonorable. 

11 (9) INTER-TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The Sec12 retaries may provide funding to Tribal and inter13 Tribal organizations, including the Intertribal Tim14 ber Council, to provide training and workforce devel15 opment opportunities in wildland fire. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL TRAINING CENTERS.—Subject to 

17 the availability of appropriations, not later than Sep18 tember 30, 2023, the Secretary, in cooperation with the 

19 Secretary of Agriculture (and the Secretary of Defense in 

20 the case of a center located on a military installation), 

21 shall— 

22 (1) establish and operate a prescribed fire 

23 training center in a western State; 

24 (2) continue to operate a prescribed fire train25 ing center in an eastern State; 


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1 (3) establish a virtual prescribed fire training 

2 center; and 

3 (4) establish and operate a managed-wildfire 

4 training center. 

5 (c) COMPETENCIES FOR FIREFIGHTERS.— 

6 (1) UPDATES TO REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

7 FOR SPECIFIC FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS.—The Sec8 retaries, in coordination with the Fire Executive 

9 Council, the National Association of State Foresters, 

10 and the Intertribal Timber Council, shall task the 

11 National Wildfire Coordinating Group to add a re12 quirement for an individual to obtain the necessary 

13 certification to serve in— 

14 (A) the position of a single-resource boss; 

15 and 

16 (B) any other positions determined to be 

17 necessary by the Secretaries. 

18 (2) ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE.—The Secre19 taries shall require significant additional experience, 

20 gained exclusively during a prescribed fire, to obtain 

21 a certification described in paragraph (1). 

22 (d) INDEMNITY OF FEDERAL AND TRIBAL EMPLOY23 EES.—Except in the case of gross negligence, a Federal 

24 employee or an employee contracted by an Indian Tribe 

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1 tion Act (25 U.S.C. 5321 et seq.) overseeing a prescribed 

2 fire that escaped— 

3 (1) shall not be subject to criminal prosecution; 

4 and 

5 (2) shall not be subject to civil proceedings, ex6 cept in accordance with section 2672 of title 28, 

7 United States Code. 

8 SEC. 203. LIABILITY OF CERTIFIED PRESCRIBED FIRE MAN9 AGERS. 

10 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LAW.—In this section, 

11 the term ‘‘covered law’’ means a State law that establishes 

12 the standard of care in a civil suit against a certified pre13 scribed fire manager for an escaped prescribed fire to be 

14 ‘‘gross negligence’’, if the certified prescribed fire man15 ager— 

16 (1) obtained a permit for the prescribed fire; 

17 (2) conducted the prescribed fire consistent 

18 with a written prescribed fire plan; 

19 (3) was at the site of prescribed fire for the du20 ration of the prescribed fire; 

21 (4) ensured adequate personnel, equipment, and 

22 firebreaks were in place during the prescribed fire, 

23 in accordance with the written prescribed fire plan; 

24 and 


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1 (5) complied with any applicable Federal, Trib2 al, State, and local laws. 

3 (b) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—Subject to the 

4 availability of appropriations, in accordance with rec5 ommendation A3C of the special report of the Western 

6 Governors’ National Forest and Rangeland Management 

7 Initiative, dated June 2017, the Secretary may enter into 

8 a memorandum of agreement with the National Gov9 ernors’ Association to host a conference, at which gov10 ernors can meet to discuss the benefits of addressing li11 ability protection and possible incentives for States to 

12 enact a covered law. 

13 (c) FUNDING.—The Secretary may provide not more 

14 than $1,000,000 under the memorandum of agreement 

15 under subsection (b). 

16 SEC. 204. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW. 

17 (a) SMOKE MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) POLICY.—The Secretaries shall ensure that 

19 policies, training, and programs of the Secretaries 

20 are consistent with this subsection— 

21 (A) to facilitate greater use of prescribed 

22 fire; and 

23 (B) to address public health and safety, in24 cluding impacts from smoke from prescribed 

25 fires. 


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1 (2) EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.—When a smoke2 sensitive facility or vulnerable individual is identified 

3 in an area to be impacted by smoke from a pre4 scribed fire, the Secretaries may expend funding ap5 propriated for hazardous fuel reduction to mitigate 

6 the impacts of the prescribed fire. 

7 (3) COORDINATION AMONG FEDERAL AND

8 STATE AIR QUALITY AGENCIES AND FEDERAL AND

9 STATE LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.—The Admin10 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 

11 cooperation with Federal and State land manage12 ment agencies, shall coordinate with State, Tribal, 

13 and local air quality agencies that regulate smoke 

14 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) 

15 to facilitate the use of prescribed fire on Federal 

16 land and State, Tribal, and private land, including 

17 by— 

18 (A) streamlining the decisionmaking proc19 ess for approving the use of prescribed fire 

20 under a State, Tribal, or local government 

21 smoke management program; and 

22 (B)(i) promoting basic smoke management 

23 practices; 

24 (ii) disseminating information about basic 

25 smoke management practices; and 


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1 (iii) educating landowners that use pre2 scribed fire about the importance of— 

3 (I) using basic smoke management 

4 practices; and 

5 (II) including basic smoke manage6 ment practices as a component of a pre7 scribed fire plan. 

8 (4) EXCEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATIONS.— 

9 (A) REQUIREMENT TO SEEK EXCEPTIONAL

10 EVENT DEMONSTRATION.—Subject to subpara11 graph (C), the appropriate State or Tribal air 

12 quality agency shall develop and submit to the 

13 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

14 Agency a demonstration in accordance with sec15 tion 50.14 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula16 tions (or successor regulations), if— 

17 (i) the Secretary, the Secretary of Ag18 riculture, a State land management agen19 cy, or an Indian Tribe conducts a pre20 scribed fire on Federal land or State land, 

21 as applicable, in accordance with a State 

22 or Tribal smoke management program that 

23 incorporates basic smoke management 

24 practices; and 


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1 (ii) the prescribed fire described in 

2 clause (i) contributes to an exceedance or 

3 other violation of a national ambient air 

4 quality standard under section 109 of the 

5 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409), as meas6 ured using a Federal reference monitor or 

7 an equivalent method. 

8 (B) DEMONSTRATION ASSISTANCE.—For 

9 an exceedance or other violation described in 

10 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

11 or Secretary of Agriculture, with the concur12 rence of the State or Tribal air quality agency, 

13 may assist with the development of the dem14 onstration under that subparagraph. 

15 (C) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Subparagraph 

16 (A) shall not apply if the exceedance or other 

17 violation described in clause (ii) of that sub18 paragraph is the result of— 

19 (i) a violation of a smoke management 

20 program; 

21 (ii) a failure to use basic smoke man22 agement practices; or 

23 (iii) a violation of applicable permit 

24 conditions. 


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1 (5) EXEMPTION FOR LARGE PRESCRIBED

2 FIRES.— 

3 (A) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

4 EXEMPTION.—Consistent with subsection (b) of 

5 section 118 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 7418), a prescribed fire conducted on Federal 

7 land by the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri8 culture that burns more than 1,000 acres per 

9 day shall be deemed to be in the paramount in10 terest of the United States and shall be exempt 

11 from requirements with respect to the control of 

12 pollution from Federal facilities under that Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) if the Secretary or the 

14 Secretary of Agriculture determines that the 

15 prescribed fire— 

16 (i) will be conducted in an area where 

17 the terrain or fuel load makes the area in18 accessible or unsafe for firefighting per19 sonnel; 

20 (ii) is necessary to reduce hazardous 

21 fuels; 

22 (iii) will be conducted to minimize 

23 smoke impacts on populated areas through 

24 the use of basic smoke management prac25 tices; and 


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1 (iv) will be conducted under a smoke 

2 management program, if applicable. 

3 (B) STATE EXEMPTION.—If the Secretary 

4 concerned conducts a prescribed fire that is 

5 deemed to be in the paramount interest of the 

6 United States under subparagraph (A) on Fed7 eral land, a prescribed fire conducted by a State 

8 land management agency on State or private 

9 land that is contiguous to that Federal land 

10 shall be exempt from any applicable national 

11 ambient air quality standards under section 109 

12 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409). 

13 (C) TRIBAL EXEMPTION.—Consistent with 

14 subsection (b) of section 118 of the Clean Air 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 7418), a prescribed fire con16 ducted on Tribal land by an Indian Tribe that 

17 burns more than 1,000 acres per day shall be 

18 deemed to be in the paramount interest of the 

19 United States and shall be exempt from re20 quirements with respect to the control of pollu21 tion from Federal facilities under that Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) if the Indian Tribe deter23 mines that the prescribed fire— 

24 (i) will be conducted in an area where 

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1 accessible or unsafe for firefighting per2 sonnel; 

3 (ii) is necessary to reduce hazardous 

4 fuels; 

5 (iii) will be conducted to minimize 

6 smoke impacts on populated areas through 

7 the use of basic smoke management prac8 tices; and 

9 (iv) will be conducted under a smoke 

10 management program, if applicable. 

11 (D) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Consistent with 

12 section 118(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 7418(b))— 

14 (i) an exemption granted under this 

15 paragraph shall apply to the applicable en16 tity for a period of not more than 1 year; 

17 and 

18 (ii) on a new determination of the 

19 Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, or 

20 an Indian Tribe under subparagraph (A) 

21 or (C), as applicable, additional exemptions 

22 under this paragraph may be granted for 

23 subsequent periods after the expiration of 

24 the exemption described in clause (i), each 


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1 of which shall apply for a period of not 

2 more than 1 year. 

3 (6) STATE AND TRIBAL STANDARDS.— 

4 (A) APPROVAL OF STATE OR TRIBAL

5 STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding section 110 of 

6 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410), when ap7 proving a State or Tribal implementation plan 

8 under that section, the Administrator of the 

9 Environmental Protection Agency may not ap10 prove any standards with respect to— 

11 (i) preventing nuisance impacts that 

12 result from prescribed fires that incor13 porate basic smoke management practices; 

14 or 

15 (ii) criteria pollutants that result from 

16 prescribed fires that are more stringent 

17 than what is required to meet the national 

18 ambient air quality standards for those 

19 pollutants under section 109 of that Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 7409), as measured using a 

21 Federal reference monitor or an equivalent 

22 method. 

23 (B) STATE AND TRIBAL ENFORCEMENT.— 

24 A State or Indian Tribe may not enforce stand25 ards in a State or Tribal implementation plan 


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1 that was approved under the Clean Air Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) before the date of enact3 ment of this Act with respect to— 

4 (i) preventing nuisance impacts that 

5 result from prescribed fires that incor6 porate basic smoke management practices; 

7 or 

8 (ii) criteria pollutants that result from 

9 prescribed fires that are more stringent 

10 than what is required to meet the national 

11 ambient air quality standards for those 

12 pollutants under section 109 of that Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 7409), as measured using a 

14 Federal reference monitor or an equivalent 

15 method. 

16 (C) AMENDMENT TO ANTI-BACKSLIDING

17 PROVISION.—If a State or Tribal implementa18 tion plan under section 110 of the Clean Air 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 7410) is revised to include a 

20 smoke management program for prescribed 

21 fires in that implementation plan, subsection (l) 

22 of that section shall not apply with respect to 

23 that revision. 

24 (7) EVALUATION.—The Secretary or the Sec25 retary of Agriculture, as applicable, shall conduct an 


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1 evaluation to facilitate learning new approaches for 

2 predicting and preventing exceedances during subse3 quent prescribed fires if the Secretary or the Sec4 retary of Agriculture— 

5 (A) conducts a prescribed fire on Federal 

6 land— 

7 (i) for which a demonstration is devel8 oped and submitted under paragraph 

9 (4)(A); or 

10 (ii) that is subject to an exemption 

11 under paragraph (5)(A); and 

12 (B) the prescribed fire described in sub13 paragraph (A) contributes to an exceedance of 

14 a national ambient air quality standard under 

15 section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 7409). 

17 (8) PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH.—To address 

18 the public health and safety risk of the expanded use 

19 of prescribed fire under this Act, the Secretary of 

20 Agriculture and the Secretary, in coordination with 

21 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency and the Director of the Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention, shall conduct research to 

24 improve or develop— 

25 (A) wildland fire smoke prediction models; 


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1 (B) smoke impact display tools for the 

2 public and decisionmakers; 

3 (C) appropriate, cost-effective, and con4 sistent mitigation strategies for communities 

5 impacted adversely by smoke from prescribed 

6 fire; 

7 (D) consistent nationally and scientifically 

8 supported messages regarding personal protec9 tion equipment for the public; and 

10 (E) prescribed fire activity tracking and 

11 emission inventory systems for planning and 

12 post-treatment accountability. 

13 (b) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF

14 1969 EFFICIENCIES.— 

15 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

16 is to require the Secretaries to develop a series of 

17 categorical exclusions from the requirements of the 

18 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

19 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for implementing prescribed 

20 fires in accordance with this subsection. 

21 (2) PREVIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DECI22 SIONS.—The Secretaries shall— 

23 (A) gather and evaluate all of the decision 

24 memos, decision notices, and records of decision 

25 and associated findings of no significant impact 


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1 or environmental impact statements under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) prepared for recent pre4 scribed fire projects; 

5 (B) review any documented environmental 

6 impacts of those prescribed fire projects, if the 

7 Secretaries monitored or evaluated the effects 

8 of the implemented actions; and 

9 (C) develop findings of— 

10 (i) similarities and differences among 

11 prescribed fire projects; and 

12 (ii) elements and mitigation measures 

13 that consistently appeared in those pre14 scribed fire projects that did not individ15 ually or cumulatively have a significant im16 pact on the environment. 

17 (3) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries 

19 shall publish in the Federal Register for public re20 view and comment a series of notices of proposed 

21 categorical exclusions from the requirements of the 

22 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

23 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for implementing prescribed 

24 fire projects in, at a minimum, the following forest 

25 types: 


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1 (A) Longleaf pine forest. 

2 (B) Shortleaf pine forest. 

3 (C) Ponderosa pine forest. 

4 (D) Pinyon-juniper forest. 

5 (E) Dry-site Douglas-fir forest. 

6 (F) Chaparral shrubland. 

7 (4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

8 Secretaries shall apply the extraordinary cir9 cumstances procedures under section 220.6 of title 

10 36, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu11 lations), in determining whether to use a categorical 

12 exclusion established under this subsection. 

13 (5) OREGON AND CALIFORNIA GRANT LANDS.— 

14 On Oregon and California Railroad grant land re15 vested in the United States by the Act of June 9, 

16 1916 (39 Stat. 218, chapter 137), the Secretary, 

17 acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land 

18 Management, shall— 

19 (A) implement not fewer than 2 impact 

20 demonstration projects to assess the environ21 mental effects of prescribed fires; 

22 (B) monitor the actual environmental ef23 fects during and after that implementation; and 

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1 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

2 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for prescribed fires on that 

3 land. 

4 SEC. 205. PRESCRIBED FIRE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act6 ing through the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Sec7 retary, acting through the Director of the Office of 

8 Wildland Fire, may enter into a memorandum of agree9 ment with the Longleaf Alliance to carry out a national 

10 prescribed fire education program, including the use of— 

11 (1) the character known as ‘‘Burner Bob’’; and 

12 (2) an anthropomorphic black-backed wood13 pecker character, to be known as ‘‘Burner Betty’’. 

14 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—A prescribed fire edu15 cation program authorized under subsection (a) may in16 clude— 

17 (1) public service advertisements; 

18 (2) the use of social media; 

19 (3) campaign and educational activities and ma20 terials; 

21 (4) commercial licensing; 

22 (5) character images and appearances; and 

23 (6) awards and recognition. 


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1 TITLE III—REPORTING; 

2 TERMINATION 

3 SEC. 301. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL FIRE PLAN4 NING AND OPERATIONS DATABASE. 

5 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en6 sure an accurate reporting of annual prescribed fire ac7 complishments in the United States. 

8 (b) COST-SHARE.—Subject to the availability of ap9 propriations, the Secretary may provide financial assist10 ance to States to pay a portion of the costs associated 

11 with annually reporting prescribed fire accomplishments 

12 to the National Fire Planning and Operations Database. 

13 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—If, by December 31 

14 of each year, a State has not reported to the National Fire 

15 Planning and Operations Database, at a minimum, the 

16 number of acres treated using prescribed fire in the State, 

17 the State shall not be eligible to receive any amounts made 

18 available under this Act for the previous fiscal year. 

19 SEC. 302. TERMINATION DATE. 

20 The authority to carry out this Act terminates on the 

21 date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act. 

Æ 


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