National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021

Bill: 117-hr-3442
Sponsor: Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8]
Introduced: 2021-05-20 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Department of Agriculture
Department of the Interior
Ecology
Emergency planning and evacuation
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fires
First responders and emergency personnel
Forests, forestry, trees
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government liability
Government trust funds
Indian lands and resources rights
Intergovernmental relations
Marketing and advertising
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Public contracts and procurement
State and local government operations
Temporary and part-time employment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Wages and earnings
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: 

National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021
 

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to significantly increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted on federal lands.
 
Before the end of FY2023, Interior and USDA shall each have carried out a minimum of one prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest System, unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Management district (1) that includes an area that has a historical low-severity fire regime, has a historical fire-return interval of not more than 35 years, and is larger than 100 acres; and (2) less than half of which was burned by a wildland fire during the previous 10-year period. 
 
Interior shall establish a collaborative prescribed fire program to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to conduct prescribed fires in priority landscapes.
 
Interior shall establish an incentive program to encourage the implementation of large, cross-boundary prescribed fires.
 
Interior and USDA shall hire additional employees and provide training to increase the number of skilled and qualified prescribed fire practitioners in the departments and other organizations.
 
To address the public health and safety risk of the expanded use of prescribed fire, USDA and Interior shall conduct research to improve or develop, among other things, cost-effective, and consistent mitigation strategies for communities impacted adversely by smoke from prescribed fire.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-07-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.
action_date: 2021-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.
action_date: 2021-05-21
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, 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.
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, 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.
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, 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.
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and the Budget, 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.
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2021-05-20
text: Introduced in House