Title: Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act
This bill addresses the role of the Department of Defense (DOD) in wildfire emergency response, including by authorizing DOD to implement the FireGuard Program to aggregate, analyze, and assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5560 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5560

   To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in 
        responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 12, 2021

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Ms. Jacobs of California, and Mr. Carbajal) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in 
        responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.

    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 ``Military Support for Fighting 
Wildfires Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TO REIMBURSE STATE COSTS OF 
              FIGHTING CERTAIN WILDLAND FIRES.

    Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR FIREGUARD PROGRAM.

    (a) Authority.--Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 510. Authorization for FireGuard Program
    ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Defense may use members of 
the National Guard to carry out a program to aggregate, analyze, and 
assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency 
partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to 
support any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program shall 
be known as the `FireGuard Program'.
    ``(b) Resources; Limitation.--If the Secretary carries out a 
program under this section, the Secretary--
            ``(1) shall transfer the functions, personnel, assets, and 
        capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in existence on the day 
        before the date of enactment of the Military Support for 
        Fighting Wildfires Act, to the FireGuard Program authorized 
        under this section;
            ``(2) may direct the Director of the National Geospatial-
        Intelligence Agency to provide such assistance as the Secretary 
        determines necessary to carry out the FireGuard Program; and
            ``(3) may not reduce support, or transfer responsibility 
        for support to an interagency partner, for the FireGuard 
        Program authorized under this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``510. Authorization for FireGuard Program.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO BUDGETING OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RELATING TO 
              EXTREME WEATHER.

    Section 328(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 U.S.C. 221 note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) a calculation of the annual costs to the Department 
        for assistance provided to--
                    ``(A) the Federal Emergency Management Agency or 
                Federal land management agencies--
                            ``(i) pursuant to requests for such 
                        assistance; and
                            ``(ii) approved under the National 
                        Interagency Fire Center; and
                    ``(B) any State, Territory, or possession under 
                title 10 or title 32, United States Code, regarding 
                extreme weather.''.

SEC. 5. EXPANDED CONSULTATION IN TRAINING OF NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL 
              ON WILDFIRE RESPONSE.

    Section 351 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91) is amended by inserting ``and the 
National Interagency Fire Center'' after ``Bureau''.

SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF AIRCRAFT TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS FOR WILDFIRE 
              SUPPRESSION AND OTHER PURPOSES.

    Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``purposes;'' and 
                inserting ``purposes, search and rescue, or emergency 
                operations pertaining to wildfires; and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3).

SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF EXCESS AIRCRAFT TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF THE FEDERAL 
              GOVERNMENT.

    Section 1091 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2013 (Public Law 112-239; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (c) and (e) and redesignating 
        subsections (d), (f), and (g) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), 
        respectively;
            (2) in subsection (c), as redesignated--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``up to seven''; 
                and
                    (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Expiration of right of refusal.--A right of refusal 
        afforded the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security under paragraph (1) with regards to an 
        aircraft shall expire upon official notice of such Secretary to 
        the Secretary of Defense that such Secretary declines such 
        aircraft.'';
            (3) in subsection (d), as redesignated--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, search and 
                rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to 
                wildfires'' after ``purposes''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, search and 
                rescue, emergency operations pertaining to wildfires,'' 
                after ``efforts''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Reporting.--Not later than November 1, 2022, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on 
Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on 
aircraft transferred, during the fiscal year preceding the date of such 
report, to--
            ``(1) the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security under this section;
            ``(2) the chief executive officer of a State under section 
        112 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2012 (Public Law 112-81); or
            ``(3) the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, or the Governor of California, under section 1098 
        of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 
        (Public Law 113-66; 127 Stat. 881).''.

SEC. 8. UPDATED REVIEW AND ENHANCEMENT OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES FOR 
              USING AIR FORCE AND AIR NATIONAL GUARD MODULAR AIRBORNE 
              FIRE-FIGHTING SYSTEMS AND OTHER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
              ASSETS TO FIGHT WILDFIRES.

    Section 1058 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136; 31 U.S.C. 1535 note) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Updated Review and Enhancement.--(1) Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of the Military Support for Fighting 
Wildfires Act, the Director shall submit to Congress a report--
            ``(A) containing the results of a second review conducted 
        under subsection (a) and a second determination made under 
        subsection (b); and
            ``(B) based on such second determination, describing the 
        new modifications proposed to be made to existing authorities 
        under subsection (c) or (d), including whether there is a need 
        for legislative changes to further improve the procedures for 
        using Department of Defense assets to fight wildfires.
    ``(2) The new modifications described in paragraph (1)(B) shall not 
take effect until the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on 
which the report is submitted to Congress under this subsection.''.

SEC. 9. NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR USE OF NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE 
              AGENCY RESOURCES DURING A MAJOR DISASTER.

    The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may not 
require the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land 
management agency to reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence 
Agency for use of resources for any request approved by the Director 
pertaining to--
            (1) a request made by such a Federal agency through the 
        National Interagency Fire Center; or
            (2) an area of Federal land affected by extreme weather, as 
        that term is defined in section 328(c) of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 
        U.S.C. 221 note).

SEC. 10. EXEMPTION FROM ECONOMY ACT FOR CERTAIN REQUESTS MADE THROUGH 
              THE NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER.

    Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as 
the ``Economy Act''), shall not apply to any assistance provided by the 
Department of Defense to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a 
Federal land management agency under a request--
            (1) made through the National Interagency Fire Center; and
            (2) pertaining to an area covered by a declaration of a 
        major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170).

SEC. 11. GUIDANCE FOR USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY THE NATIONAL 
              GUARD.

    (a) New Guidance.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue new 
guidance that treats the use of unmanned aircraft systems by the 
National Guard for covered activities in a manner no more restrictive 
than the use of other aircraft for covered activities.
    (b) Covered Activities Defined.--In this section, ``covered 
activities'' means the following:
            (1) Emergency operations.
            (2) Search and rescue operations.
            (3) Defense support to civil authorities.
            (4) Support under section 502(f) of title 32, United States 
        Code.

SEC. 12. IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING USE OF 
              UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY THE NATIONAL GUARD.

    Not later than September 30, 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall 
implement recommendations of the Secretary described in section 
519C(a)(2) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283).
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