SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Land Assist-
ance, Management and Enhancement Act’’ or ‘‘FLAME 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FLAME FUND FOR CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCY 
WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 
means the following: 
(A) Public lands, as defined in section 103 
of the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 
(B) Units of the National Park System. 
(C) Refuges of the National Wildlife Ref-
uge System. 
(D) Lands held in trust by the United 
States for the benefit of Indian tribes or indi-
vidual Indians. 
(E) Lands in the National Forest System, 
as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 
of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 
(2) FLAME FUND.—The term ‘‘Flame Fund’’ 
means the Federal Land Assistance, Management, 
and Enhancement Fund established by this section. 
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(3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-
spect to Federal land described in subpara-
graphs (A), (B), (C), and (E) of paragraph (1); 
and 
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-
spect to National Forest System land. 
(4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT AND AVAILABILITY OF FLAME 
FUND.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 
the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 
known as the Federal Land Assistance, Manage-
ment, and Enhancement Fund. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The Flame Fund shall consist 
of the following amounts: 
(A) Amounts appropriated to the Flame 
Fund pursuant to the authorization of appro-
priations in subsection (c). 
(B) Amounts transferred to the Flame 
Fund pursuant to subsection (d). 
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(C) Any interest earned on investment of 
amounts in the Flame Fund under paragraph 
(4). 
(3) AVAILABILITY.—Subject to subsection (e), 
amounts in the Flame Fund shall be available to the 
Secretaries to pay the costs of catastrophic emer-
gency wildland fire suppression activities that are 
separate from amounts annually appropriated to the 
Secretaries for the predicted annual workload for 
wildland fire suppression activities, based on anal-
yses of historical workloads and anticipated in-
creased workloads due to changing environmental or 
demographic conditions. 
(4) INVESTMENT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 
of the Treasury shall invest such portion of the as-
sets of the Flame Fund as the Secretary of the 
Treasury determines is not required to meet antici-
pated withdrawals during the then-current fiscal 
year or the next fiscal year. Investments may be 
made only in interest-bearing obligations of the 
United States. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Flame 
Fund for fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal 
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year an amount equal to the average amount ex-
pended by the Secretaries for emergency wildland 
fire suppression activities over the five preceding fis-
cal years. 
(2) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—Amounts ap-
propriated to the Flame Fund for fiscal year 2009 
are designated as an emergency requirement pursu-
ant to section 501 of H. Con. Res. 376 (109th Con-
gress), as made applicable to the House of Rep-
resentatives by section 511(a)(4) of H. Res. 6 
(110th Congress), and for subsequent fiscal years 
pursuant to corresponding congressional resolutions 
authorizing the designation of emergency spending. 
(d) TRANSFER OF EXCESS WILDLAND FIRE SUP-
PRESSION AMOUNTS INTO FLAME FUND.—At the end of 
each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall transfer to 
the Flame Fund amounts appropriated to the Secretary 
concerned for wildland fire suppression activities for the 
fiscal year, but not obligated for wildland fire suppression 
activities before the end of the fiscal year. 
(e) USE OF FLAME FUND.— 
(1) DECLARATION REQUIRED.—Amounts in the 
Flame Fund shall be made available to the Secretary 
concerned only after the Secretaries issue a declara-
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tion that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligi-
ble for funding through the Flame Fund. 
(2) DECLARATION CRITERIA.—A declaration by 
the Secretaries under paragraph (1) shall be based 
on the following criteria: 
(A) In the case of an individual wildland 
fire incident— 
(i) the size of the fire, including fires 
of 300 acres or greater; 
(ii) the severity of the fire, which may 
be based on incident complexity or the po-
tential for increased complexity; and 
(iii) the threat posed by the fire, in-
cluding the potential for loss of lives, prop-
erty, or critical resources. 
(B) In the case of a firefighting season, 
cumulative wildland fire suppression activities, 
when the costs of those activities for the Sec-
retary concerned are projected to exceed 
amounts annually appropriated. 
(3) TRANSFER
OF
AMOUNTS
TO
SECRETARY 
CONCERNED.—After issuance of a declaration under 
paragraph (1) and upon the request of the Secretary 
concerned, the Secretary of the Treasury shall trans-
fer from the Flame Fund to the Secretary concerned 
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such amounts as the Secretaries determine are nec-
essary for wildland fire suppression activities associ-
ated with the declared suppression emergency. 
(4) STATE, PRIVATE, AND TRIBAL LAND.—Use 
of the Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency 
wildland fire suppression activities on State and pri-
vate land and, where applicable, tribal land shall be 
consistent with existing agreements where the Secre-
taries have agreed to assume responsibility for 
wildland fire suppression activities on the land. 
(f) TREATMENT OF ANTICIPATED AND PREDICTED 
ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding the establishment of the 
Flame Fund, the Secretary concerned shall continue to 
fund anticipated and predicted wildland fire suppression 
activities within the appropriate agency budget for each 
fiscal year. Use of the additional funding made available 
through the Flame Fund is intended to supplement the 
budgeted and appropriated agency funding and is to be 
used only for purposes and in instances consistent with 
this section. 
(g) PROHIBITION
ON
OTHER
TRANSFERS.—All 
amounts in the Flame Fund, as well as all funds appro-
priated for the purpose of wildland fire suppression on 
Federal land, must be obligated before the Secretary con-
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cerned may transfer funds from non-fire accounts for 
wildland fire suppression. 
(h) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS.— 
(1) ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.— 
The Secretaries shall establish an accounting and re-
porting system for the Flame Fund compatible with 
existing National Fire Plan reporting procedures. 
(2) ANNUAL
REPORT.—The Secretaries shall 
submit to the Committee on Natural Resources and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Af-
fairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate an annual report on the use of the funds 
from the Flame Fund, together with any rec-
ommendations that the Secretaries may have to im-
prove the administrative control and oversight of the 
Flame Fund. 
SEC. 3. COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRAT-
EGY. 
(a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub-
mit to Congress a report that contains a cohesive wildland 
fire management strategy, consistent with the rec-
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ommendations contained in recent Comptroller General re-
ports regarding this issue. 
(b) ELEMENTS
OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re-
quired by subsection (a) shall address the findings of the 
Comptroller General in the reports referred to in such sub-
section and include the following elements: 
(1) A system to identify the most cost effective 
means for allocating fire management budget re-
sources. 
(2) An illustration of plans by the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to rein-
vest in non-fire programs. 
(3) A description of how the Secretaries will 
employ appropriate management response. 
(4) A system for assessing the level of risk to 
communities. 
(5) A system to ensure that the highest priority 
fuels reduction projects are being funded first. 
Æ 
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