Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhance-
ment Act’’ or ‘‘FLAME Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activi-
ties. 
Sec. 3. Cohesive wildland fire management strategy. 
Sec. 4. Review of certain wildfires to evaluate cost containment in wildland fire 
suppression activities. 
Sec. 5. Reducing risk of wildfires in fire-ready communities. 
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. 
(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 (D) 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). 
(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. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Flame 
Fund such funds as may be necessary to carry out 
this section. It is the intent of Congress that the 
amount appropriated to the Flame Fund for fiscal 
year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year equal the 
average amount expended by the Secretaries for
emergency wildland fire suppression activities over 
the five fiscal years preceding that fiscal year. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF 
CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS AS EMERGENCY REQUIRE-
MENT.—It is the sense of Congress that the 
amounts appropriated to the Flame Fund that are 
above the average of the obligations of the preceding 
10 years for wildland fire suppression in the Forest 
Service and the Department of the Interior, adjusted 
for inflation, should be designated as amounts nec-
essary to meet emergency needs, and the new budget 
authority and outlays resulting therefrom should not 
count for the purposes of titles III and IV of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 
(3) NOTICE
OF
INSUFFICIENT
FUNDS.—The 
Secretaries shall notify the congressional committees 
specified in subsection (h)(2) whenever only an esti-
mated two months worth of funding remains in the 
Flame Fund. 
(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-
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 fire covers 300 or more acres; 
(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) Consistent with subsection (f), in the 
case of a firefighting season, cumulative 
wildland fire suppression activities, when the 
costs of those activities for the Secretary con-
cerned are projected to exceed amounts annu-
ally 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 
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.—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
(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The annual report 
required by paragraph (2) shall be made available to 
the public. 
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-
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. 
(c) NOTICE OF PRESCRIBED FIRES.—As part of the 
strategy required by subsection (a) for the Forest Service, 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that, before any 
prescribed fire is used on National Forest System land, 
owners of adjacent private land are notified in writing of 
the date and scope of the proposed prescribed fire. 
SEC. 4. REVIEW OF CERTAIN WILDFIRES TO EVALUATE 
COST CONTAINMENT IN WILDLAND FIRE SUP-
PRESSION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a re-
view, using independent panels, of each wildfire incident 
for which the Secretary concerned incurs expenses in ex-
cess of $10,000,000. 
(b) REPORT.—The Secretary concerned shall submit 
to the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee 
on Agriculture, and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Af-
fairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
a report containing the results of each review conducted 
under subsection (a). 
SEC. 5. REDUCING RISK OF WILDFIRES IN FIRE-READY 
COMMUNITIES. 
(a) FIRE-READY COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘fire-ready community’’ means a com-
munity that— 
(1) is located within a priority area identified 
pursuant to subsection (b); 
(2) has a cooperative fire agreement that ar-
ticulates the roles and responsibilities for Federal, 
State and local government entities in local wildfire 
suppression and protection; 
(3) has local codes that require fire-resistant 
home design and building materials; 
(4) has a community wildfire protection plan 
(as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests 
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6502)); and 
(5) is engaged in a successful collaborative 
process that includes multiple interested persons 
representing diverse interests and is transparent and 
nonexclusive, such as a resource advisory committee 
established under section 205 of the Secure Rural 
Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 
2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 U.S.C. 500 note).
(b) FIRE RISK MAPPING.—As soon as is practicable 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall develop re-
gional maps of communities most at risk of wildfire and 
in need of hazardous fuel treatment and maintenance. The 
maps shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels re-
duction projects, including— 
(1) at-risk communities in fire-prone areas of 
the wildland-urban interface (as defined in section 
101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 
(16 U.S.C. 6502)); 
(2) watersheds and municipal drinking water 
sources; 
(3) emergency evacuation corridors; 
(4) electricity transmission corridors; and 
(5) low-capacity or low-income communities. 
(c) LOCAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY 
GRANTS.— 
(1) GRANTS AVAILABLE.—The Secretaries may 
provide cost-share grants to fire-ready communities 
to assist such communities in carrying activities au-
thorized by paragraph (2). 
(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds may 
be used for the following:
(A) Education programs to raise aware-
ness of homeowners and citizens about wildland 
fire protection practices, including FireWise or 
similar programs. 
(B) Training programs for local fire-
fighters on wildland firefighting techniques and 
approaches. 
(C) Equipment acquisition to facilitate 
wildland fire preparedness. 
(D) Implementation of a community wild-
fire protection plan. 
(d) WILDLAND FIRE COST-SHARE AGREEMENTS.— 
In developing any wildland fire cost-share agreement with 
a State Forester or equivalent official, the Secretaries 
shall, to the greatest extent possible, encourage the State 
and local communities involved to become fire-ready com-
munities. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry 
out this section such sums as may be necessary. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 9, 2008. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5541 
AN ACT 
To provide a supplemental funding source for cata-
strophic emergency wildland fire suppression ac-
tivities on Department of the Interior and Na-
tional Forest System lands, to require the Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri-
culture to develop a cohesive wildland fire man-
agement strategy, and for other purposes.