118th Congress Agriculture and Food
H.R. 934: To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.
Reported
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed House (not reached)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill sets out requirements for wildfire suppression and management activities carried out by the Forest Service.
These requirements apply to Forest Service land that (1) has a severe, extreme, or exceptional drought intensity rating; (2) has a National Wildland Fire Preparedness level of 5 (i.e., the highest level of wildland fire activity); or (3) is located in a fireshed ranked in the top 10% of wildfire exposure.
Within 24 hours of detecting a wildfire on covered Forest Service land, the service must use all available resources to extinguish the wildfire. Additionally, the service may not inhibit the firefighting activities of state and local agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfires on covered Forest Service land.
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Further, the service may not initiate a backfire or burnout as part of a fire suppression strategy unless it is ordered by the responsible incident commander or is necessary to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel. The service must use all available resources to control any initiated fire until it is extinguished.
The bill also limits the service's use of prescribed fires (i.e., the controlled application of fire by a team of experts under specified weather conditions to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire). The service must comply with all applicable laws and regulations concerning prescribed fires and must immediately suppress a prescribed fire that exceeds its prescription.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Doug LaMalfa R-CAOriginal
- Ken Calvert R-CA
- Darrell Issa R-CA
- Dan Newhouse R-WA
- Jay Obernolte R-CA
- John Duarte R-CA
- Kevin Kiley I-CA
Who scored on this bill
- 1Tom McClintock SponsorIntroduced, reported2 events+20
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Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
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History
- Introduced in the House by Tom McClintock.
Show the full action history (9 actions)
- Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 118-924, Part I.
- Subcommittee on Federal Lands Discharged
- Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Subcommittee Hearings Held.
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry.
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
- Introduced in House
- Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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.