Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023

Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1242 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1242

   To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in 
        responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2023

 Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Schiff, Ms. 
  Jacobs, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
      Committees on Agriculture, Intelligence (Permanent Select), 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and 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 make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in 
        responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Support for Fighting 
Wildfires Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TO REIMBURSE STATE COSTS OF 
              FIGHTING CERTAIN WILDLAND FIRES.

    Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR FIREGUARD PROGRAM.

    (a) Authority.--Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 510. Authorization for FireGuard Program
    ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Defense may use members of 
the National Guard to carry out a program to aggregate, analyze, and 
assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency 
partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to 
support any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program shall 
be known as the `FireGuard Program'.
    ``(b) Resources; Limitation.--If the Secretary carries out a 
program under this section, the Secretary--
            ``(1) shall transfer the functions, personnel, assets, and 
        capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in existence on the day 
        before the date of enactment of the Military Support for 
        Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023, to the FireGuard Program 
        authorized under this section;
            ``(2) may direct the Director of the National Geospatial-
        Intelligence Agency to provide such assistance as the Secretary 
        determines necessary to carry out the FireGuard Program; and
            ``(3) may not reduce support, or transfer responsibility 
        for support to an interagency partner, for the FireGuard 
        Program authorized under this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``510. Authorization for FireGuard Program.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) is amended by striking section 
515.

SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF AIRCRAFT TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS FOR WILDFIRE 
              SUPPRESSION AND OTHER PURPOSES.

    Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) by striking ``the seven 
        demilitarized HC-130H aircraft specified in subparagraph (C)'' 
        and inserting ``not fewer than seven demilitarized HC-130H 
        aircraft'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(1);
            (3) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ``not more'' and 
        insert ``not fewer''; and
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``purposes;'' and 
                inserting ``purposes, search and rescue, or emergency 
                operations pertaining to wildfires; and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3).

SEC. 5. NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR USE OF NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE 
              AGENCY RESOURCES DURING A MAJOR DISASTER.

    The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may not 
require the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land 
management agency to reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence 
Agency for use of resources for any request approved by the Director 
pertaining to--
            (1) a request made by such a Federal agency through the 
        National Interagency Fire Center; or
            (2) an area of Federal land affected by extreme weather, as 
        that term is defined in section 328(c) of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 
        U.S.C. 221 note).

SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM ECONOMY ACT FOR CERTAIN REQUESTS MADE THROUGH 
              THE NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER.

    Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as 
the ``Economy Act''), shall not apply to any assistance provided by the 
Department of Defense to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a 
Federal land management agency under a request--
            (1) made through the National Interagency Fire Center; and
            (2) pertaining to an area covered by a declaration of a 
        major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170).

SEC. 7. GUIDANCE FOR USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY THE NATIONAL 
              GUARD.

    (a) New Guidance.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue new 
guidance that treats the use of unmanned aircraft systems by the 
National Guard for covered activities in a manner no more restrictive 
than the use of other aircraft for covered activities.
    (b) Covered Activities Defined.--In this section, ``covered 
activities'' means the following:
            (1) Emergency operations.
            (2) Search and rescue operations.
            (3) Defense support to civil authorities.
            (4) Support under section 502(f) of title 32, United States 
        Code.

SEC. 8. STUDY ON USE OF CH-47 CHINOOKS TO RESPOND TO WILDFIRES.

    Not later one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to Congress a 
report--
            (1) on the feasibility and effectiveness of using CH-47 
        Chinooks with firefighting modifications to--
                    (A) respond to wildfires; and
                    (B) perform search and rescue activities; and
            (2) that identifies the governmental organizations 
        (including Federal, State, and local government organizations) 
        that would be most effective with respect to using the aircraft 
        described in paragraph (1) to carry out the activities 
        specified in that paragraph.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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