H.R. 10061 — Wildfire Response and Readiness Act

This section excludes fires ignited primarily for pile burning from the definition of prescribed fire used throughout this subtitle.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to use up to 15 percent of annual hazardous fuels management appropriations for prescribed fire activities on federal land or non-federal land that benefits federal resources. Authorized uses include procurement contracts and grants to states, tribes, local governments, and nonprofits for environmental reviews, site preparation, surveys, public outreach, training, post-fire monitoring, and support for the Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program. The Secretaries must establish prioritization criteria that favor cross-boundary projects in the wildland-urban interface, high wildfire-risk areas, critical habitat, and tribal trust resources.

This section requires the Secretaries to increase the total acreage of prescribed fires on Federal land by 10 percent each year for 10 consecutive fiscal years beginning with the first fiscal year after enactment. It also directs development of regional prescribed fire operational strategies, in coordination with State, local, and Tribal governments, that describe fire deficits by region and the staffing and funding needed to address them.

This section establishes a Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program under which the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior select and fund prescribed fire projects. Eligible projects must cover landscapes of at least 50,000 acres, follow a completed or substantially complete landscape restoration strategy that prioritizes treatments for 10 years, incorporate best available science, maintain old-growth stands, avoid new permanent roads, and be developed through a transparent collaborative process involving diverse stakeholders; projects must also reduce wildfire risk, improve habitat and water quality, mitigate smoke, analyze cost savings, leverage nonfederal funds, and provide local employment or training.

This section authorizes the Secretary concerned to enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with eligible entities—including States, Indian Tribes, counties or municipal governments, fire districts, nongovernmental organizations, and private entities—to coordinate, plan, or conduct prescribed fires on Federal land. Agreements may last up to 10 years and permit subcontracting by States, Indian Tribes, or counties.

This section expands the prescribed fire workforce by directing hazard pay differentials for Federal employees conducting prescribed fires, requiring a report on fuels workforce incentives, establishing at least one multiparty task force per Geographic Area Coordination Center within 180 days, permitting conversion of qualified seasonal firefighters to permanent positions, and creating career pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals and veterans. It also requires new prescribed fire training centers in uncovered regions within 2 years, including an Indigenous-led center, shortens certification timelines while mandating prescribed fire experience, and creates mechanisms for non-Federal practitioners to join Federal resource ordering and reimbursement.

This section extends Federal Tort Claims Act coverage to non-Federal entities conducting covered activities related to wildland fires, prescribed fires, or culturally objective prescribed fires on Federal land while under direct Federal supervision pursuant to a contract or agreement. It directs the Secretaries, in coordination with the Attorney General, to develop a voluntary training course on liability protections for Federal employees and to issue implementing guidance within one year of enactment.

This section directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to align policies and programs with greater use of prescribed fire while addressing smoke impacts on public health. It requires the EPA Administrator, in coordination with Federal, State, and Tribal agencies, to provide guidance, data, modeling tools, and technical assistance for exceptional event demonstrations under Clean Air Act regulations (40 C.F.R. §§ 50.14 and 51.930) and to develop smoke prediction models and mitigation strategies with the CDC. It also requires the Secretaries to determine which National Forest System units and BLM districts have landscape-scale prescribed fire plans within 1 year of enactment and to develop or revise such plans within 2 years.

This section establishes a national prescribed fire education program focused on fire ecology and prescribed fire planning and implementation. The program may include public service advertisements, social media use, campaign and educational activities and materials, commercial licensing, character images, and awards and recognition.

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide cost-share assistance to states for reporting annual prescribed fire accomplishments to the National Fire Planning and Operations Database. It bars any state from receiving funds under this title for the prior fiscal year if it fails to submit, by December 31, a report stating the number of acres on which uncharacteristic wildfire risk was mitigated using prescribed fire.

This section requires the Secretaries to submit annual reports to the congressional committees describing activities carried out under this title, beginning one year after enactment.

This section reauthorizes the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program through 2034 (from 2023). It doubles the annual funding cap per proposal to $8 million (from $4 million), raises the maximum number of proposals to 20 (from 10) and the per-region limit to 4 (from 2), adds eligibility for proposals addressing pathogens, standardized monitoring, conflict resolution, Federal staffing support for collaboratives, conservation finance and good neighbor agreements, cross-boundary work in the wildland-urban interface, and watershed health and drinking water sources.

This section expands the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership program to include wildfire recovery and enhancement of soil, water, and related natural resources as eligible activities. It requires the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service to consider Forest Service management plans and collaborate on forestry science using the best available science. It directs evaluation of proposals to address post-wildfire impacts and priorities identified in state forest action plans or similar plans. It prohibits activities inconsistent with the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It extends the program through FY2031 (from 2023).

This section authorizes the Forest Service to enter into contracts, grants, or agreements with State forestry agencies, local private or nonprofit entities, institutions of higher education, Indian Tribes, and multistate coalitions for the collection and maintenance of native seeds and the production of seedlings for revegetation. It also expands the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to include those activities and to make institutions of higher education eligible participants.

This section establishes the Post-Disaster Reforestation and Restoration Program. It directs the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, to annually identify covered federal and Indian forest lands or rangelands requiring reforestation or restoration after unplanned disturbances unlikely to regenerate naturally, propose and fund priority projects through grants and contracts (including under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act), conduct outreach to tribes and other stakeholders, and submit annual reports to the House and Senate agriculture and natural resources committees, with authority terminating 7 years after enactment.

This section limits the 25 percent set-aside for fencing repair or replacement to amounts made available for section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978. It establishes the Emergency Forest Watershed Program authorizing the Secretary, acting through sponsors such as states, Indian Tribes, and water districts, to undertake emergency watershed protection measures on National Forest System land after natural disasters, with agreements providing partial and final payments, waived matching requirements, 2-year project completion timelines, up to 3 years of post-completion monitoring, and liability protections for sponsors except in cases of willful negligence.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, to partner with Federal agencies, States, Indian Tribes, nonprofits, and private nurseries to provide training, technical assistance, and research on reforestation supply chains; promote information sharing on climate, genetics, and seed issues; deliver international assistance; coordinate workforce and economic development efforts; expand supply chains through research and infrastructure; and shorten timelines for seed collection permits on National Forest System lands. It also requires the Secretary to establish, within 2 years of enactment, a grant program for State forestry agencies, Indian Tribes, and qualified private nurseries to develop or expand nursery and seed orchard capacity, improve seed and seedling operations, implement quality controls, and support workforce development, funded at up to $5,000,000 per fiscal year from the Reforestation Trust Fund.

This section requires the Secretary to disburse payments under the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (16 U.S.C. 2206) and the Emergency Watershed Program (16 U.S.C. 2203) within 90 days after approving applications for wildfire-related emergency measures on nonindustrial private forest land. It imposes the same 90-day deadline on the Secretary for essential community facilities loans and grants (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)), the President for predisaster mitigation, hazard mitigation, debris removal, and individual assistance under the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), and the SBA Administrator for disaster loans (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) when the applicant is restoring such land after wildfire damage.

This section authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to include permission for electrical utilities to cut and remove trees or vegetation near distribution or transmission lines on National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management lands within special use permits or easements, without a separate timber sale, if consistent with applicable land management plans and environmental laws. It requires any utility that sells removed material to remit the proceeds, less transportation costs, to the Secretary concerned.

This section establishes one or more permanent Burned Area Emergency Response Teams within 180 days of enactment to coordinate immediate post-wildfire emergency stabilization and erosion prevention for up to 1 year after containment. The teams survey burn severity, remove hazardous dead or dying trees and materials, conduct landscape stabilization prioritizing public safety, prevent invasive species spread, and inform the public of resulting hazards, using funds authorized under section 40803(c)(16) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This section establishes the Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account in the Treasury for the Department of Agriculture. It authorizes appropriations of up to $100 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2036 to fund post-wildfire rehabilitation projects, primarily on federal land, that restore ecosystems or repair critical infrastructure. Projects must begin after containment and finish within five years. The Secretary must prioritize projects by downstream water resource effects, may enter cost-share agreements with non-federal entities (non-federal share not to exceed 20 percent), and must submit annual reports to Congress beginning in fiscal year 2027.

This section establishes the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for the management of wildfire-related invasive species. Not later than 180 days after enactment of the Wildfire Response and Readiness Act, the Secretary must create the prize competition under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act to award annual prizes for technological advances that manage wildfire-related invasive species. It creates a Management of Wildfire-Related Invasive Species Technology Advisory Board of at least 9 members appointed by the Secretary and requires the National Invasive Species Council to administer the competition. The Board and all authority terminate on December 31, 2028.

This section prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from authorizing road construction, road reconstruction, or logging in inventoried roadless areas where the Roadless Rule bars such activities. The Roadless Rule is the January 12, 2001, regulation (36 C.F.R. part 294), as modified for Idaho on October 16, 2008, and for Colorado on July 3, 2012, and December 19, 2016.

This section defines terms used in the subtitle, including the Plan as the plan required under section 12202(a), the Secretaries as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary concerned as the Secretary of Agriculture for National Forest System lands and the Secretary of the Interior for public lands.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, to implement a 10-year National Wildfire Plan covering hazardous fuels reduction and prescribed fire, vegetation and watershed management to protect mature and old-growth forests and advance at-risk species recovery, recreation and wilderness programs, Joint Fire Science Program activities, and other wildfire-related work. It requires prioritizing landscape-scale restoration projects and soliciting proposals from states, counties, and tribes for fuels treatments and water quality improvements.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to select and implement not more than 20 landscape-scale forest restoration projects on National Forest System land during the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment. Projects must satisfy eligibility criteria including a collaborative group with diverse interests, a landscape assessment covering at least 100,000 acres (80,000 in limited cases or 50,000 acres east of the 100th meridian), restoration treatments that reintroduce characteristic fire and protect old-growth conditions, consistency with environmental laws, no new permanent roads in roadless areas, and multiparty monitoring with adaptive management.

This section directs the Secretaries, to the maximum extent practicable, to identify projects under the Plan for execution by qualified youth or conservation corps or nonprofit wilderness and trails stewardship organizations—including the Corps Network, National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, and American Trails—and to enter cooperative agreements with them. It also requires waiver of matching funds requirements.

This section establishes the Community Resilience and Restoration Fund at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation within 180 days of enactment to fund projects that protect and restore habitats on public, Tribal, and private lands to improve community resilience to wildfire, drought, extreme heat, and other climate threats. It requires at least 8 percent of annual appropriations for planning and capacity building, caps administrative costs at 4 percent each for the Foundation and the Fish and Wildlife Service, and directs at least $10 million annually to projects by Indian Tribes.

This section requires the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture to submit annual reports to Congress, beginning one year after enactment, on progress toward the goals of the 10-year national wildfire plan. The reports must include the amount of funding appropriated for the plan in the prior fiscal year and recommendations to improve implementation.

This section narrows the definition of an at-risk community under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act to areas comprised of a group of homes and other structures with basic infrastructure and services within or adjacent to Federal land (from also including interface communities as defined in the 2001 Federal Register notice). It requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Forest Service Chief, to publish a map of at-risk communities, including Tribal ones, within 180 days of enactment and every 5 years thereafter.

This section expands the community wildfire defense grant program to include covered projects for structure hardening. Covered projects are defined as construction, modification, or maintenance of a structure to resist intrusion by flames or embers, and modification of a structure or adjacent area (including vegetation, garages, sheds, and fencing) to reduce direct exposure to wildfire, with consideration of nearby combustible features. It also incorporates activities authorized under section 21103 of the Wildfire Response and Readiness Act into the program's eligible uses.

This section authorizes an additional $1,000,000,000 per fiscal year for the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the community wildfire defense grant program under section 40803(f) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This section directs the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture (through the Forest Service), FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency to improve grant programs for community wildfire risk reduction and postfire recovery within 90 days of enactment by increasing accessibility and outreach, reducing application complexity and administrative burdens, reviewing barriers to quick fund access, and increasing technical assistance to applicants, recipients, and subrecipients.

This section allows FEMA grantees and subgrantees to receive and use excess management cost funds—the difference between authorized rates and actual expenditures at grant closeout—for capacity-building activities to prepare for, recover from, or mitigate major disasters or emergencies, and for management costs tied to any disaster, emergency, preparedness measure, or mitigation activity under sections 203, 204, 205, or 404. Such funds remain available for 5 years after they are provided. It applies to grants for disasters declared on or after enactment and funded with post-enactment appropriations. It also directs a GAO study on actual management costs for major disasters over the prior 5 years and requires FEMA to update its Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide with wildfire-specific recovery guidance within 1 year.

This section establishes a program providing grants to States and Indian Tribal governments for pre-disaster mitigation activities on individual residential households in high-risk disaster areas. It requires eligible-area designations reviewed every 5 years, State or Tribal plans assessing insurance availability and affordability, income eligibility capped at $250,000 adjusted gross income ($500,000 for joint returns), multi-tiered mitigation standards, and guidance to insurers on premium incentives.

This section directs the Comptroller General to publish a report within one year of enactment assessing federal authorities and programs available to protect communities from wildfires, including an evaluation of impediments to implementation such as funding gaps.

This section directs the Comptroller General to publish a study within one year of enactment assessing the potential for community protection and wildfire resilience plans to qualify for certifications of wildfire survivability and resilience, as well as methods for the Federal Government to incentivize insurance companies to accept such certifications. It also requires identification of metrics that could assure insurers that communities have wildfire resilience measures in place.

This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, to conduct a study within one year evaluating the effectiveness of hazardous fuels management activities, native ecosystem maintenance practices, ember ignition policies, and Forest Service-nonfederal partnerships in reducing wildfire risk and damage severity in covered shrubland ecosystems, including chaparral, sagebrush, and coastal sage scrub. The Secretary must submit a report with best practices, policy comparisons, and coordination recommendations to the House and Senate committees on Appropriations, Natural Resources, Energy and Natural Resources, and Agriculture within 90 days after completing the study.

This section requires the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to publish an annual joint report, beginning no later than one year after enactment, on the use of seven specified emergency authorities. The report must detail the number of uses, acres affected, state and management unit, specific authority, public comment period duration, and formal consultation completion date for one authority, and may be consolidated into the President’s annual budget submission.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report within 18 months of enactment to the House and Senate committees on agriculture and natural resources. The report must identify solutions to track implementation and effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction and forest restoration on Federal land, including metrics for wildfire hazard reduction, place-based outcomes, national monitoring standards, catastrophic risk, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and resilience, modeling challenges, and advanced technologies.

This section establishes special premium pay rules for covered wildland firefighters employed by the Forest Service and Department of the Interior. It disregards premium pay for emergency wildfire suppression services when applying the aggregate pay limits under section 5547 and the aggregate compensation limit under section 5307, but caps total basic pay, premium pay, and hazard pay at the level II Executive Schedule rate for the calendar year. It authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to waive the cap after jointly prescribing criteria and requires records of uses of the authority. For calendar year 2026, it includes incident standby premium pay in the section 5547 limits. The new section 5547a takes effect in January 2027.

This section establishes paid rest and recuperation leave for covered wildland firefighters employed by the Forest Service or Department of the Interior after completing service on a qualifying incident. The leave must be used immediately after the incident, is paid in the same manner as annual leave, may not be accumulated or paid out if unused, and takes effect on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2026.

This section establishes a publicly accessible Federal Wildland Firefighter Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Database to track chronic diseases from on-the-job environmental exposure among current and former federal wildland firefighters, requires annual updates, and directs development of mitigation recommendations. It requires the Secretaries to establish by January 1, 2027, a mental health program that includes an awareness campaign, onboarding training, peer support for firefighters and families, expanded Critical Incident Stress Management, and unlimited trauma-informed services; provides each firefighter 7 consecutive days of paid mental health leave annually that does not accumulate; and directs the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to recognize PTSD and related injuries for long-term coverage while expanding the Special Claims Unit to expedite processing.

This section makes service as a Federal wildland firefighter since January 1, 1989, creditable for FERS retirement upon written election and deposit under section 8411(f). It deems a firefighter disabled for annuity purposes after 12 months (from 18 months) if suffering from specified environmental exposure diseases. It includes overtime pay received on or after enactment as basic pay and establishes a separate normal-cost percentage for Federal wildland firefighters.

This section requires pay, benefits, and bonuses for Federal structural firefighters to be comparable to those provided to Federal wildland firefighters not later than 1 year after enactment. It directs the Director to submit a report to Congress on whether such pay is competitive.

This section provides annual pay increases for Federal wildland firefighters equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, beginning in the first pay period one year after enactment. It requires the Secretaries to report to Congress within one year on whether Federal wildland firefighter pay, benefits, and bonuses are comparable to those for non-Federal firefighters in the same locations. It extends hazardous duty differential pay under 5 U.S.C. 5545(d) to prescribed fire, parachuting, tree climbing over 20 feet, hazard tree removal, and other designated work. It establishes a recruitment and retention bonus of at least $1,000 (adjusted annually by CPI), paid once per year upon completion of a work capacity test; a housing allowance for deployments more than 50 miles from a firefighter’s primary residence; and a voluntary tuition assistance program providing at least $4,000 per year per firefighter for education and career transition, with annual adequacy reviews.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program within 6 months of enactment. The program provides next-of-kin notifications, travel expense reimbursements, case management, benefits information, and interagency liaison for firefighters and wildland fire support personnel critically injured, ill, or killed in the line of duty, without altering existing Line of Duty Death benefits.

This section revises the definition of firefighter under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System to cover employees whose duties primarily involve controlling and extinguishing non-wildland or wildland fires, as well as certain transferred supervisory or administrative employees after three years of qualifying service. It grants credit for service performed from October 1, 2003, through the day before enactment by individuals who would have qualified as firefighters but for breaks in service, upon written election and remittance of additional employee and agency contributions plus interest. It requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to notify and assist eligible individuals. It provides that Federal wildland firefighters retaining coverage under chapters 83 or 84 while employed by tribal organizations retain enhanced retirement benefits. It permits job-sharing between a civil service wildland fire position and a higher-classified tribal government position.

This section prohibits the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service from using federal funds to initiate reductions in force or to carry out involuntary separations of competitive service employees, career excepted service employees, or career Senior Executive Service appointees through September 30, 2030, except for cause based on misconduct, delinquency, or performance, unless the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees provide prior notification and approval.

This section prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from closing any Forest Service research and development facility, including through reorganization, without prior notification and approval by the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.