I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3553 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study with respect 
to the effectiveness of available wildfire mitigation methods in reducing 
the risk of wildfire and the severity of damages from wildfire in commu-
nities within or adjacent to shrubland ecosystems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2025 
Mr. MIN (for himself, Mrs. KIM, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. HUFFMAN, 
Ms. RIVAS, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. WHITESIDES, Mr. HARDER of California, 
Ms. ANSARI, and Ms. JACOBS) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on 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 direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study 
with respect to the effectiveness of available wildfire miti-
gation methods in reducing the risk of wildfire and the 
severity of damages from wildfire in communities within 
or adjacent to shrubland ecosystems, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Resiliency 
and Understanding of Shrublands to Halt Fires Act’’ or 
the ‘‘BRUSH Fires Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SHRUBLAND WILDFIRE MITIGATION STUDY. 
(a) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall conduct a study to evaluate the effectiveness of 
wildfire mitigation methods available to the Forest 
Service as a means of reducing the risk of wildfire 
in covered ecosystems and the severity of damages 
from such wildfire in communities within or adjacent 
to covered ecosystems. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the study 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, with re-
spect to covered ecosystems— 
(A) evaluate the effectiveness and longevity 
of— 
(i) hazardous fuels management ac-
tivities, including fuel modification through 
the use of strategic fuel breaks; and 
(ii) practices for maintaining the 
health of native ecosystems, including— 
(I) mitigating the development 
and spread of invasive species, includ-
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ing invasive weeds, grasses, and other 
vegetation; or 
(II) improving the resprouting of 
native shrub species on lands affected 
by wildfire; 
(B) evaluate the effectiveness of policies 
and protocols of the Forest Service with respect 
to limiting unintentional ember ignitions attrib-
utable to the public or man-made structures, in-
cluding electrical infrastructure; 
(C) study the conditions (including weath-
er, seasonality, and topography) under which 
each wildfire mitigation method evaluated under 
the study is most and least effective in reducing 
the risk of wildland fire; 
(D) identify administrative, operational, 
and budgetary factors that impede the ability of 
wildland fire managers and wildland firefighters 
to implement wildfire mitigation methods evalu-
ated under the study; and 
(E) evaluate the effectiveness of partner-
ships between the Forest Service and non-Fed-
eral entities in reducing the vulnerability of 
homes, roadways, and other high-risk structures 
to ember ignition. 
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(3) COORDINATION; CONSULTATION.— 
(A) 
INTERAGENCY
COORDINATION.—In 
carrying out the study under paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall, to the extent practicable and to 
avoid the duplication of research activities of 
the Federal Government, act in coordination 
with— 
(i) entities within the Forest Service 
with expertise in wildfire risk reduction 
and ecology in covered ecosystems, includ-
ing the Shrub Sciences Laboratory and the 
Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems 
program; and 
(ii) the heads of Federal agencies con-
ducting wildfire mitigation activities or 
hazardous fuels management activities in 
covered ecosystems, including the Sec-
retary of the Interior. 
(B) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 
study under paragraph (1), the Secretary may, 
and is encouraged to, solicit consultation from 
non-Federal public and private entities with rel-
evant expertise in wildfire mitigation in covered 
ecosystems, as determined by the Secretary. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
on which the study under subsection (a)(1) is complete, 
the Secretary shall submit to the relevant Congressional 
committees, and make publicly available, a report that in-
cludes— 
(1) a summary of the results of the study; 
(2) based on the results of the study, identifica-
tion by the Secretary of— 
(A) best practices for land managers in re-
ducing the risk of wildfire in covered eco-
systems; and 
(B) any areas implicated by the study that 
merit further research; 
(3) a comparison of the polices and protocols of 
the Forest Service with respect to reducing the risk 
of wildfire in covered ecosystems and the best prac-
tices identified under paragraph (2)(A); and 
(4) an evaluation by the Secretary of opportuni-
ties to improve coordination between the Forest 
Service and non-Federal entities on activities to im-
prove wildfire resilience in covered ecosystems and 
reduce risks of harm from wildfire to the built envi-
ronment, particularly in the wildland-urban inter-
face. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) COVERED
ECOSYSTEMS.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered ecosystems’’ means shrubland ecosystems, in-
cluding— 
(A) chaparral; 
(B) coastal sage scrub; 
(C) sagebrush; 
(D) shrub-steppe; 
(E) xeric shrubland; and 
(F) any other dryland shrub ecosystem in 
which wildfire management presents a signifi-
cant challenge, as determined by the Secretary. 
(2) HAZARDOUS
FUELS
MANAGEMENT
ACTIV-
ITY.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels management activ-
ity’’ means an activity to manage vegetation to re-
duce the risk of wildfire. 
(3) 
RELEVANT
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant Congressional commit-
tees’’ means— 
(A) the committees on Appropriations, 
Natural Resources, and Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(B) the committees on Appropriations, En-
ergy and Mineral Resources, and Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 
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(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Chief of the Forest Service. 
(5) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 
‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 
Æ 
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