I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6639 
To amend the Wildfire Suppressing Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to facilitate 
inter-agency agreements with the Air National Guard and the Air Force 
Reserve to secure Defense Support to Civil Authority (DSCA) missions 
in the initial airborne response to fighting wildfires. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 5, 2012 
Mr. GALLEGLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 
Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Wildfire Suppressing Aircraft Transfer Act 
of 1996 to facilitate inter-agency agreements with the 
Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve to secure 
Defense Support to Civil Authority (DSCA) missions 
in the initial airborne response to fighting wildfires. 
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. AIR NATIONAL GUARD AND AIR FORCE RE-
SERVE WILDFIRE RESPONSE. 
The Wildfire Suppressing Aircraft Transfer Act of 
1996 (Public Law 104–307; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 3. USE OF AIR NATIONAL GUARD AND AIR FORCE RE-
SERVE FOR INITIAL AIRBORNE RESPONSE TO 
FIGHTING WILDFIRES. 
‘‘(a) INTER-AGENCY AGREEMENTS.—Subject to sub-
section (b), in order to prevent the loss of life and reduce 
property losses from wildfires, section 1535(a)(4) of title 
31, United States Code, shall not apply to limit the use 
of inter-agency agreements with the Air National Guard 
or Air Force Reserve to procure the services of a unit of 
the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve to conduct 
Defense Support to Civil Authority (DSCA) missions uti-
lizing military fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft in-
cluding Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) 
units in the initial airborne response to fighting wildfires. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—Section 1535(a)(4) of title 31, 
United States Code, shall not apply to inter-agency agree-
ments described in subsection (a) only when the Incident 
Commander determines— 
‘‘(1) privately contracted fixed-wing aerial fire-
fighting aircraft are unavailable; 
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‘‘(2) it necessary for military fixed-wing aerial 
firefighting aircraft including MAFFS units to per-
form an initial airborne response; or 
‘‘(3) it necessary that military fixed-wing aerial 
firefighting aircraft including MAFFS units are 
needed to supplement privately contracted fixed-wing 
aerial firefighting aircraft. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall be interpreted as diminishing the role of contractor- 
owned and operated fixed-wing aircraft as the primary 
source of aerial firefighting assets for the Federal wildland 
firefighting agencies’’. 
Æ 
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