(A) shall be comprised of individual land-
scape-scale firesheds identified as being a high 
risk fireshed in the ‘‘Wildfire Crisis Strategy’’ 
published by the Forest Service in January 
2022; 
(B) shall be comprised of individual land-
scape-scale firesheds identified by the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, as being in the top 20 percent of the 7,688 
firesheds published by the Rocky Mountain Re-
search Station of the Forest Service in 2019 for 
wildfire exposure based on the following cri-
teria— 
(i) wildfire exposure and corresponding 
risk to communities, including risk to struc-
tures and life; 
(ii) 
wildfire 
exposure 
and 
cor-
responding risk to municipal watersheds, 
including tribal water supplies and systems; 
and 
(iii) risk of forest conversion due to 
wildfire; 
(C) shall not overlap with any other 
fireshed management areas; 
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(D) may contain Federal and non-Federal 
land, including Indian forest lands or range-
lands; and 
(E) where the Secretary concerned shall 
carry out fireshed management projects. 
(2) FURTHER
FIRESHED
MANAGEMENT
AREA 
DESIGNATIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—On the date that is 5 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act 
and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, 
shall submit to the relevant Congressional Com-
mittees an updated map of firesheds based on the 
Fireshed Registry maintained under section 103. 
(B) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 60 days 
after submitting an updated fireshed map under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall, based on 
such map, designate additional fireshed manage-
ment areas that are identified as being in the 
top 20 percent of firesheds at risk of wildfire ex-
posure based on the criteria specified in subpara-
graphs (B), (C), (D), and (E) of paragraph (1). 
(b) APPLICABILITY
OF NEPA.—The designation of 
fireshed management areas under this section shall not be 
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subject to the requirements of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
SEC. 102. FIRESHED CENTER. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary of 
the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, shall jointly establish a Fireshed 
Center (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Center’’) com-
prised of at least one career representative from each 
of the following: 
(A) The Forest Service. 
(B) The Bureau of Land Management. 
(C) The National Park Service. 
(D) The Bureau of Indian Affairs. 
(E) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
(F) The U.S. Geological Survey. 
(G) The Department of Defense. 
(H) The Department of Homeland Security. 
(I) The Department of Energy. 
(J) The Federal Emergency Management 
Agency. 
(K) The National Science Foundation. 
(L) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration. 
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(M) The National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration. 
(N) The National Institute of Standards 
and Technology. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary of 
the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, shall jointly appoint a Director of 
the Center, who— 
(A) shall be an employee of the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey or the Forest Service; 
(B) shall serve an initial term of not more 
than 7 years; and 
(C) may serve one additional term of not 
more than 7 years after the initial term de-
scribed in subparagraph (B). 
(3) ADDITIONAL
REPRESENTATION.—The Sec-
retary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service 
and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, may jointly 
appoint additional representatives of Federal agencies 
to the Center, as the Secretaries determine necessary. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Center are to— 
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(1) comprehensively assess and predict fire and 
smoke in the wildland and built environment inter-
face across jurisdictions to inform— 
(A) land and fuels management; 
(B) community, public health, and built en-
vironment risk reduction; and 
(C) fire response and post-fire recovery; 
(2) provide data aggregation, real-time pre-
dictive services, and science-based decision support 
services; 
(3) reduce fragmentation and duplication across 
Federal land management agencies with respect to 
predictive service and decision support functions re-
lated to wildland fire and smoke; 
(4) promote coordination and sharing of data re-
garding wildland fire and smoke decision making be-
tween Federal agencies, States, Indian Tribes, local 
governments, academic or research institutions, and 
private entities; 
(5) streamline procurement processes and cyber-
security systems related to addressing wildland fire 
and smoke; 
(6) provide publicly accessible data, models, tech-
nologies (including mapping technologies), assess-
ments, and fire weather forecasts to support short- 
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and long-term planning regarding wildland fire and 
smoke risk reduction and post-fire recovery; and 
(7) maintain the Fireshed Registry established 
under section 103. 
(c) MEMORANDA
OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Center 
may enter into memorandums of understanding, contracts, 
or other agreements with State governments, Indian Tribes, 
local governments, academic or research institutions, and 
private entities to improve the information and operations 
of the Center. 
(d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, TECHNICAL SERVICES, 
AND STAFF SUPPORT.— 
(1) USGS SUPPORT.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall make personnel of the U.S. Geological Sur-
vey available to the Center for such administrative 
support, technical services, and development and dis-
semination of data as the Secretary determines nec-
essary to carry out this section. 
(2) USFS SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall make 
personnel of the Forest Service available to the Center 
for such administrative support, technical services, 
and the development and dissemination of informa-
tion related to fireshed management and the Fireshed 
Registry as the Secretary determines necessary to 
carry out this section. 
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SEC. 103. FIRESHED REGISTRY. 
(a) FIRESHED
REGISTRY.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Fireshed Center appointed under 
section 102, shall maintain a Fireshed Registry on a pub-
licly accessible website that provides interactive geospatial 
data on individual firesheds, including information on— 
(1) wildfire exposure delineated by ownership, 
including rights-of-way for utilities and other public 
or private purposes; 
(2) any hazardous fuels management activities 
that have occurred within an individual fireshed in 
the past 10 years; 
(3) wildfire exposure with respect to such 
fireshed delineated by— 
(A) wildfire exposure and corresponding 
risk to communities, including risk to structures 
and life; 
(B) wildfire exposure and corresponding 
risk to municipal watersheds, including tribal 
water supplies and systems; and 
(C) risk of forest conversion due to wildfire; 
(4) the percentage of the fireshed that has burned 
in wildfires in the past 10 years, including, to the ex-
tent practicable, delineations of acres that have 
burned at a high severity; 
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(5) spatial patterns of wildfire exposure, includ-
ing plausible extreme fire events; and 
(6) any hazardous fuels management activities 
planned for the fireshed, including fireshed manage-
ment projects. 
(b) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS.—The 
Director shall make data from the Fireshed Registry avail-
able to local communities developing or updating commu-
nity wildfire protection plans. 
(c) REQUIREMENT
TO MAINTAIN.—As part of the 
website containing the Fireshed Registry, the Director 
shall— 
(1) publish fireshed assessments created under 
section 105; and 
(2) maintain a searchable database to track— 
(A) the status of Federal environmental re-
views, permits, and authorizations for fireshed 
management projects, including— 
(i) a comprehensive permitting time-
table; 
(ii) the status of the compliance of each 
lead agency, cooperating agency, and par-
ticipating agency with the permitting time-
table with respect to such fireshed manage-
ment projects; 
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(iii) any modifications of the permit-
ting timetable required under clause (i), in-
cluding an explanation as to why the per-
mitting timetable was modified; and 
(iv) information about project-related 
public meetings, public hearings, and public 
comment periods, which shall be presented 
in English and the predominant language 
of the community or communities most af-
fected by the project, as that information be-
comes available; 
(B) the projected cost of such fireshed man-
agement projects; and 
(C) in the case of completed fireshed man-
agement projects, the effectiveness of such projects 
in reducing the wildfire exposure within an ap-
plicable fireshed, including wildfire exposure de-
scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of sub-
section (a)(3). 
(d) RELIANCE ON EXISTING ASSESSMENTS.—In car-
rying out this section, the Director may rely on assessments 
completed or data gather through existing partnerships, to 
the extent practicable. 
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SEC. 104. SHARED STEWARDSHIP. 
(a) JOINT AGREEMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after 
receiving a written request from a Governor of a State or 
an Indian Tribe, the Secretary concerned shall enter into 
a shared stewardship agreement (or similar agreement) 
with such Governor or Indian Tribe to jointly— 
(1) promote the reduction of wildfire exposure, 
based on the criteria in section 101(a)(1)(B), in 
fireshed management areas across jurisdictional 
boundaries; and 
(2) conduct fireshed assessments under section 
105. 
(b) ADDITIONAL FIRESHED MANAGEMENT AREAS.— 
With respect to a shared stewardship agreement (or similar 
agreement) with a Governor of a State or an Indian Tribe 
entered into under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned, 
if requested by such Governor or Indian Tribe, may— 
(1) designate additional fireshed management 
areas under such agreement; and 
(2) update such agreement to address new wild-
fire threats. 
SEC. 105. FIRESHED ASSESSMENTS. 
(a) FIRESHED ASSESSMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date on which the Secretary concerned enters into 
an agreement with a Governor of a State or an In-
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dian Tribe under section 104, the Secretary concerned 
and such Governor or Indian Tribe shall, with respect 
to the fireshed management areas designated in such 
State, jointly conduct a fireshed assessment that— 
(A) identifies— 
(i) using the best available science, 
wildfire exposure risks within each such 
fireshed management area, including sce-
nario planning and wildfire hazard map-
ping and models; and 
(ii) each at-risk community within 
each fireshed management area; 
(B) identifies potential fireshed manage-
ment projects to be carried out in such fireshed 
management areas, giving priority— 
(i) primarily, to projects with the pur-
pose of reducing— 
(I) wildfire exposure and cor-
responding risk to communities, in-
cluding risk to structures and life; 
(II) wildfire exposure and cor-
responding risk to municipal water-
sheds, including tribal water supplies 
and systems; 
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(III) risk of forest conversion due 
to wildfire; or 
(IV) any combination of purposes 
described in subclauses (I) through 
(III); and 
(ii) secondarily, to projects with the 
purpose of protecting— 
(I) critical infrastructure, includ-
ing utility infrastructure; 
(II) wildlife habitats, including 
habitat for species listed under the En-
dangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.); 
(III) the built environment, in-
cluding residential and commercial 
buildings; 
(IV) resources of an Indian Tribe, 
as defined by the Indian Tribe; or 
(V) any combination of purposes 
described in subclauses (I) through 
(IV); 
(C) includes— 
(i) a strategy for reducing the threat of 
wildfire to at-risk communities in the 
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wildland-urban interface on both Federal 
and non-Federal land; 
(ii) a timeline for the implementation 
of fireshed management projects; 
(iii) long-term benchmark goals for the 
completion of fireshed management projects 
in the highest wildfire exposure areas so 
that such projects contribute to the develop-
ment and maintenance of healthy and resil-
ient landscapes; and 
(iv) policies to ensure fireshed manage-
ment projects comply with applicable forest 
plans and incorporate the best available 
science; 
(D) shall be regularly updated based on the 
best available science, as determined by the Sec-
retary concerned; and 
(E) shall be publicly available on a website 
maintained by the Secretary concerned. 
(2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION.—Upon 
the written request of a local government, the Sec-
retary concerned and the Governor of the State in 
which the local government is located may allow such 
local government to participate in producing the 
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fireshed assessment under paragraph (1) for such 
State. 
(3) INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT.— 
(A) MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING.— 
In carrying out a fireshed assessment under this 
subsection, the Secretary concerned may enter 
into memorandums of understanding with other 
Federal agencies or departments, States, Indian 
Tribes, private entities, or research or edu-
cational institutions to improve, with respect to 
such assessment, the use and integration of— 
(i) 
advanced 
remote 
sensing 
and 
geospatial technologies; 
(ii) statistical modeling and analysis; 
or 
(iii) any other technology or combina-
tion of technologies and analyses that the 
Secretary concerned determines will benefit 
the quality of information of such an assess-
ment. 
(B) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE.—In using 
the best available science for the fireshed assess-
ments completed under subsection (a)(1), the 
Secretary concerned and Governor shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, incorporate— 
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(i) traditional ecological knowledge 
from Indian Tribes; 
(ii) data from State forest action plans 
and State wildfire risk assessments; 
(iii) data from the Fireshed Registry 
maintained under section 103; and 
(iv) data from other Federal, State, 
Tribal, and local governments or agencies. 
(b) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—Fireshed assessments 
conducted under this section shall not be subject to the re-
quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
SEC. 106. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 
(a) FIRESHED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned, act-
ing through a responsible official, shall carry out 
fireshed management projects in fireshed management 
areas designated under section 101 in accordance 
with this section. 
(2) FIRESHED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.—The re-
sponsible official shall carry out the following forest 
and vegetation management activities as fireshed 
management projects under this section: 
(A) Conducting hazardous fuels manage-
ment activities. 
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(B) Creating fuel breaks and fire breaks. 
(C) Removing hazard trees, dead trees, 
dying trees, or trees at risk of dying, as deter-
mined by the responsible official. 
(D) Developing, approving, or conducting 
routine maintenance under a vegetation manage-
ment, facility inspection, and operation and 
maintenance plan submitted under section 
512(c)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and Man-
agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772(c)(1)). 
(E) Removing trees to address overstocking 
or crowding in a forest stand, consistent with the 
appropriate basal area of the forest stand as de-
termined by the responsible official. 
(F) Using chemical or re-seeding and plant-
ing treatments to address insects and disease and 
control vegetation competition or invasive spe-
cies. 
(G) Any activities recommended by an ap-
plicable fireshed assessment carried out under 
section 105. 
(H) Any activities recommended by an ap-
plicable community wildfire protection plan. 
(I) Any combination of activities described 
in this paragraph. 
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(3) EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—For any fireshed man-
agement area designated under section 101, the 
following shall have the force and effect of law: 
(i) Section 220.4(b) of title 36, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act), with respect to 
lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec-
retary. 
(ii) Section 46.150 of title 43, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act), with respect to 
lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 
of the Interior. 
(iii) Section 402.05 of title 50, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act). 
(iv) Section 800.12 of title 36, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act). 
(B) UTILIZATION
OF
EXISTING
STREAM-
LINED AUTHORITIES IN FIRESHED MANAGEMENT 
AREAS.— 
(i) IN
GENERAL.—Fireshed manage-
ment projects carried out under this section 
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shall be considered authorized projects 
under the following categorical exclusions: 
(I) Section 603(a) of the Healthy 
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
U.S.C. 6591b(a)). 
(II) Section 605(a) of the Healthy 
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
U.S.C. 6591d(a)). 
(III) 
Section 
606(b) 
of 
the 
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 
2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591e(b)). 
(IV) Section 40806(b) of the In-
frastructure Investment and Jobs Act 
(16 U.S.C. 6592b(b)). 
(V) Section 4(c)(4) of the Lake 
Tahoe Restoration Act (Public Law 
106–506; 114 Stat. 2353). 
(VI) Subject to subsection (d) of 
section 40807 of the Infrastructure In-
vestment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 
6592c) in the same manner as author-
ized emergency actions (as defined in 
subsection (a) of such section) are sub-
ject to such subsection. 
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