(1) liability protections afforded to those em-
ployees when acting within the scope of their em-
ployment; 
(2) the limits on any liability protections under 
paragraph (1); and 
(3) reimbursements available for qualified em-
ployees for professional liability insurance under sec-
tion 636 of division A of Public Law 104–208 (5 
U.S.C. prec. 5941 note). 
(c) INDEMNITY OF OTHER COOPERATORS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of en-
actment of this Act, a covered entity shall be consid-
ered to be an employee of the Federal Government 
for purposes of chapter 171 of title 28, United 
States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 
Claims Act’’), while that covered entity is engaged in 
covered activities. 
(2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, 
in consultation with the Attorney General, shall 
issue guidance on the necessary provisions and im-
plementation requirements for contracts or agree-
ments that would extend liability protections to cov-
ered entities under paragraph (1). 
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(3) REIMBURSEMENT.—Beginning in the first 
fiscal year that begins after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretaries shall request, through 
annual appropriations, funds sufficient to reimburse 
the Treasury for any claims paid during the prior 
fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (1). 
(d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section limits or other-
wise affects— 
(1) the application of any statutory or judicial 
immunity to Federal employees; 
(2) the application of chapter 171 of title 28, 
United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed-
eral Tort Claims Act’’), to Federal employees; or 
(3) the application of section 314 of Public Law 
101–512 (25 U.S.C. 5321 note). 
SEC. 204. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW. 
(a) SMOKE MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.— 
(1) POLICY.—The Secretaries shall ensure that 
policies, training, and programs of the Secretaries 
are consistent with this subsection— 
(A) to facilitate greater use of prescribed 
fire; and 
(B) to address public health and safety, in-
cluding impacts from smoke from wildfires and 
prescribed fires. 
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(2) COORDINATION AMONG FEDERAL, TRIBAL, 
AND STATE AIR QUALITY AGENCIES AND FEDERAL, 
TRIBAL, AND
STATE
LAND
MANAGEMENT
AGEN-
CIES.—To facilitate the use of prescribed fire on 
Federal, State, Tribal, and private land, the Admin-
istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 
cooperation with Federal and State land manage-
ment agencies, shall coordinate with State, Tribal, 
and local air quality agencies that regulate smoke 
under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.)— 
(A) to the maximum extent practicable, to 
provide State, Tribal, and local air quality 
agencies with guidance, data, imagery, or mod-
eling to support the development of exceptional 
event demonstrations in accordance with sec-
tions 50.14 and 51.930 of title 40, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations); 
(B) to develop archives and automated 
tools to provide State, Tribal, and local air 
quality agencies with the data, imagery, and 
modeling under subparagraph (A); 
(C) to develop decision support tools for 
State, Tribal, and local air quality agencies to 
assist in determining whether an exceptional 
event demonstration, if the Administrator of the 
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Environmental Protection Agency concurs with 
such demonstration, would have regulatory sig-
nificance; 
(D) to provide technical assistance, best 
practices, or templates to States, Indian Tribes, 
and local governments for use in approving the 
use of prescribed fire under a State, Tribal, or 
local government smoke management program; 
(E)(i) to promote basic smoke manage-
ment practices and other best practices to pro-
tect the public from wildland fire smoke; 
(ii) to disseminate information about basic 
smoke management practices; 
(iii) to educate landowners that use pre-
scribed fire about the importance of— 
(I) using basic smoke management 
practices; and 
(II) including basic smoke manage-
ment practices as a component of a pre-
scribed fire plan; and 
(iv) to share with the public, in coordina-
tion with other public health agencies, informa-
tion about measures that individuals can take 
to protect themselves from wildland fire smoke; 
and 
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(F) to develop guidance and tools to 
streamline the demonstration of a clear causal 
relationship between prescribed fire smoke and 
a related exceedance of a national ambient air 
quality standard. 
(3) EXCEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 
or Tribal air quality agency (including any local 
air quality agency delegated authority by a 
State) may develop and submit to the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
an exceptional event demonstration in accord-
ance with sections 50.14 and 51.930 of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu-
lations), for a prescribed fire. 
(B) APPROVAL.—The Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency shall concur 
with an exceptional event demonstration sub-
mitted under subparagraph (A) in accordance 
with the requirements of sections 50.14 and 
51.930 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 
(or successor regulations), including that the 
applicable prescribed fire was not reasonably 
controllable or preventable and that the applica-
ble prescribed fire was a human activity un-
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likely to recur, if the State or Tribal air quality 
agency demonstrates in that exceptional event 
demonstration that, at a minimum, the applica-
ble prescribed fire was— 
(i) conducted in accordance with a 
State or Tribal smoke management pro-
gram or basic smoke management prac-
tices; and 
(ii) consistent with a land or resource 
management plan with a stated objective 
to establish, restore, or maintain a sustain-
able and resilient ecosystem. 
(C) DEMONSTRATION
ASSISTANCE
FOR 
FEDERAL LAND.—For any prescribed fire con-
ducted on Federal land, the Secretary con-
cerned— 
(i) shall assist with the development 
of an exceptional event demonstration 
under subparagraph (A) on request of a 
State or Tribal air quality agency; and 
(ii) may develop and submit an excep-
tional event demonstration under subpara-
graph (A) with the concurrence of the ap-
plicable State or Tribal air quality agency. 
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(4) PROGRAMS
AND
RESEARCH.—To address 
the public health and safety risk of the expanded use 
of prescribed fire under this Act, the Secretaries, in 
coordination with the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall 
conduct research to improve or develop— 
(A) wildland fire smoke prediction models; 
(B) smoke impact display tools for the 
public and decisionmakers; 
(C) appropriate, cost-effective, and con-
sistent strategies to mitigate the impacts of 
smoke from prescribed fire on nearby commu-
nities; 
(D) consistent nationally and scientifically 
supported messages regarding personal protec-
tion equipment for the public; and 
(E) prescribed fire activity tracking and 
emission inventory systems for planning and 
post-treatment accountability. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF LANDSCAPE-SCALE FEDERAL 
PRESCRIBED FIRE PLANS.— 
(1) INCLUSION
OF
LANDSCAPE-SCALE
PRE-
SCRIBED
FIRE
PLANS.—The Secretary concerned 
shall, with respect to units of the National Forest 
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System or Bureau of Land Management districts 
with existing prescribed fire programs— 
(A) not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, determine which of those 
units or districts have landscape-scale pre-
scribed fire plans; and 
(B) not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act— 
(i) determine whether each plan de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) requires revi-
sion; 
(ii) establish a schedule for the revi-
sion of each plan described in subpara-
graph (A) that requires revision; and 
(iii) develop landscape-scale prescribed 
fire plans for any units or districts that do 
not have landscape-scale prescribed fire 
plans. 
(2) ENVIRONMENTAL
COMPLIANCE.—In car-
rying out paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned 
shall— 
(A) comply with— 
(i) the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 
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(ii) the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 
(iii) division A of subtitle III of title 
54, United States Code; and 
(iv) any other applicable laws; and 
(B) consider the site-specific environmental 
consequences of the landscape-scale prescribed 
fire decisions under this subsection. 
(3) COLLABORATIVE
DEVELOPMENT.—In car-
rying out paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned 
shall collaborate with diverse actors from academia, 
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management re-
search and development programs, nongovernmental 
organizations, cultural fire practitioners, and other 
entities, as determined appropriate by the Secretary 
concerned. 
(4) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—The 
Secretary concerned shall engage in government-to- 
government consultation with Indian Tribes in com-
plying with this subsection. 
(5) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and annually there-
after, the Secretary concerned shall submit to Con-
gress a report describing the progress of the Sec-
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retary concerned with respect to carrying out this 
subsection. 
SEC. 205. PRESCRIBED FIRE EDUCATION PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall carry out a 
national prescribed fire education program focused on fire 
ecology and prescribed fire planning and implementation. 
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—A prescribed fire edu-
cation program under subsection (a) may include— 
(1) public service advertisements; 
(2) the use of social media; 
(3) campaign and educational activities and ma-
terials; 
(4) commercial licensing; 
(5) character images and appearances; and 
(6) awards and recognition. 
TITLE III—REPORTING 
SEC. 301. ANNUAL REPORTS TO NATIONAL FIRE PLANNING 
AND OPERATIONS DATABASE. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
sure an accurate reporting of annual prescribed fire ac-
complishments in the United States. 
(b) COST-SHARE.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, the Secretary may provide financial assist-
ance to States to pay a portion of the costs associated 
with annually reporting to the National Fire Planning and 
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Operations Database (or a successor database) the pre-
scribed fire accomplishments of the State. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—If, by December 31 
of a calendar year, a State has not submitted to the Na-
tional Fire Planning and Operations Database (or a suc-
cessor database) a report describing, at a minimum, the 
number of acres on which uncharacteristic wildfire risk is 
effectively mitigated using prescribed fire in the State, the 
State shall not be eligible to receive any amounts made 
available under this Act for the previous fiscal year. 
SEC. 302. ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretaries shall 
each submit to the congressional committees a report de-
scribing the activities carried out under this Act. 
Æ 
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