Wildfire Resilient Communities Act
Bill: S.2650 | Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff (D-OR)
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Wildfire Resilient Communities Act
This bill provides funding and sets forth provisions to address wildland fire management in certain at-risk communities that are within the vicinity of federal lands that are at high risk from wildfire.
The bill provides funding for specified federal agencies to carry out hazardous fuels reduction projects. These federal agencies shall prioritize projects that (1) are conducted in areas that are within or adjacent to at-risk communities or high value watersheds, have very high wildfire hazard potential, or are in fire regime I, II, or III; or (2) are designed to integrate and advance two or more of the goals established in a specified wildland fire management report to create fire-adapted communities, to restore and maintain resilient landscapes, and to achieve safe, effective fire response.
The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior shall furnish financial and technical assistance to at-risk communities that are adjacent to federal land, including through states, to assist such communities in planning and preparing for wildfire.
The bill makes permanent the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The bill removes the limits on the number of proposals that may be funded for ecological restoration treatments for priority forest landscapes under the program. The Forest Service may continue to select the number of proposals that are determined likely to receive adequate funding.
The bill establishes the County Stewardship Fund for making payments to counties that have a contract for a stewardship contracting project on federal land within their boundaries.

To provide mandatory funding for hazardous fuels reduction projects on 
             certain Federal land, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire Resilient Communities 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS ON CERTAIN 
              FEDERAL LAND.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agency head.--The term ``agency head'' means--
                    (A) the Director of the National Park Service;
                    (B) the Chief of the Forest Service;
                    (C) the Director of the Bureau of Land Management;
                    (D) the Director of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service; and
                    (E) the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
            (2) At-risk community; fire regime i; fire regime ii; fire 
        regime iii.--The terms ``at-risk community'', ``fire regime 
        I'', ``fire regime II'', and ``fire regime III'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 101 of the Healthy 
        Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
            (3) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means Federal 
        land under the jurisdiction of the applicable agency head.
            (4) Hazardous fuels reduction project.--The term 
        ``hazardous fuels reduction project'' means the removal or 
        modification of flammable vegetation or woody debris through 
        prescribed fire, thinning, brush removal, mastication, pruning, 
        slash treatment, or a combination of those methods, on the 
        condition that the method is ecologically appropriate, cost-
        effective, and selected on a site-specific basis.
    (b) Hazardous Fuels Reduction Projects.--
            (1) In general.--The agency heads shall carry out hazardous 
        fuels reduction projects on covered land.
            (2) Project priorities.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        agency heads shall prioritize hazardous fuels reduction 
        projects that are--
                    (A) conducted in areas that--
                            (i) are within or adjacent to--
                                    (I) at-risk communities; or
                                    (II) high-value watersheds;
                            (ii) have very high wildfire hazard 
                        potential; or
                            (iii) are in fire regime I, fire regime II, 
                        or fire regime III; or
                    (B) designed to integrate and simultaneously 
                advance 2 or more of the goals established in the 
                report of the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
                Secretary of the Interior entitled ``The National 
                Strategy: the Final Phase of the Development of the 
                National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy'' 
                and dated April 2014--
                            (i) to create fire-adapted communities;
                            (ii) to restore and maintain resilient 
                        landscapes; and
                            (iii) to achieve safe, effective fire 
                        response.
    (c) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--On the first October 1 following the date 
        of enactment of this Act, out of any funds in the Treasury not 
        otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        transfer to the agency heads, in accordance with an allocation 
        formula established by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
        $30,000,000,000, to remain available until expended.
            (2) Receipt and acceptance.--The agency heads shall be 
        entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out 
        this section the funds transferred under paragraph (1), without 
        further appropriation.
            (3) Administrative and planning costs.--Not more than 10 
        percent of funding made available under paragraph (1) may be 
        used for administrative and planning costs.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY PLANNING ASSISTANCE FOR AT-RISK COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) At-risk community; community wildfire protection 
        plan.--The terms ``at-risk community'' and ``community wildfire 
        protection plan'' have the meanings given those terms in 
        section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
        U.S.C. 6511).
            (2) Federal land.--The term ``Federal land'' means the 
        following:
                    (A) National Forest System land reserved from the 
                public domain.
                    (B) The following land administered by the 
                Secretary of the Interior:
                            (i) Public lands (as defined in section 103 
                        of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
                        of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)).
                            (ii) A unit of the National Park System.
                            (iii) A unit of the National Wildlife 
                        Refuge System.
                            (iv) Land held in trust for an Indian 
                        Tribe.
            (3) Hazardous fuels reduction project.--The term 
        ``hazardous fuels reduction project'' means the removal or 
        modification of flammable vegetation or woody debris through 
        prescribed fire, thinning, brush removal, mastication, pruning, 
        slash treatment, or a combination of those methods, on the 
        condition that the method is ecologically appropriate, cost-
        effective, and selected on a site-specific basis.
            (4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
            (5) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture.
    (b) Development of Map.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and periodically thereafter, the Secretaries 
shall develop and publish a map depicting at-risk communities, 
including Tribal at-risk communities.
    (c) Planning and Preparing At-Risk Communities for Wildfire.--
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretaries shall 
provide financial and technical assistance to at-risk communities 
adjacent to Federal land, including through States, to assist the at-
risk communities in planning and preparing for wildfire, including--
            (1) cosponsoring and supporting the expansion of--
                    (A) the Firewise USA Program;
                    (B) the Ready, Set, Go program;
                    (C) the Living with Wildfire program; or
                    (D) programs similar to the programs referred to in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (C) that are designed to 
                advance fire-adapted communities;
            (2) supporting the development, updating, and 
        implementation of community wildfire protection plans;
            (3) carrying out risk assessments and creating maps that 
        depict wildfire risk, investment scenarios, and tradeoffs to 
        assist in planning for response and suppression resource needs 
        and implementing hazardous fuels reduction projects;
            (4) sharing costs to create defensible space for a distance 
        of not less than 100 feet around a residence that was built 
        before the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (5) planning and implementing cross-boundary hazardous 
        fuels reduction projects as identified in a community wildfire 
        protection plan.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $1,000,000,000 to carry out this section for each fiscal 
year.

SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Proposal Selection Process.--Section 4003(d) of the Omnibus 
Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303(d)) is amended by 
striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
            ``(3) Limitation.--The Secretary may select not more than 
        the number of proposals under paragraph (1) that the Secretary 
        determines are likely to receive adequate funding.''.
    (b) Permanent Reauthorization.--Section 4003(f)(6) of the Omnibus 
Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303(f)(6)) is amended by 
striking ``$80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023'' and 
inserting ``$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year 
thereafter''.

SEC. 5. COUNTY STEWARDSHIP FUND.

    Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
U.S.C. 6591c) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (k); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
    ``(j) County Stewardship Fund.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established in the Treasury of 
        the United States a fund to be known as the `County Stewardship 
        Fund' (referred to in this section as the `Fund'), to be 
        administered by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Deposits.--Each fiscal year, an amount equal to 25 
        percent of the amounts collected as receipts under subsection 
        (e) during the preceding fiscal year shall be deposited in the 
        Fund.
            ``(3) Availability.--Amounts in the Fund shall--
                    ``(A) be used only for purposes described in 
                paragraph (4); and
                    ``(B) remain available until expended.
            ``(4) Purposes.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each fiscal year, the Chief or 
                the Director, as applicable, shall distribute from 
                amounts in the Fund to each county in which a contract 
                under subsection (b) was carried out on Federal land in 
                the county during the preceding fiscal year a payment 
                of an amount equal to 25 percent of the receipts 
                generated from that contract.
                    ``(B) Use of funds.--A county receiving a payment 
                under subparagraph (A) may use the payment for any 
                governmental purposes.''.
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