“A bill to establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines eight terms for purposes of the Act: (1) "Administrator" (FEMA Administrator); (2) "Chief" (Forest Service Chief); (3) "community protection and wildfire resilience plan" (a collaboratively developed plan with local stakeholders addressing wildfire detection, evacuation, vulnerable populations, infrastructure resiliency, defensible space, land use planning, education, and existing plans, incorporating maps from section 210(a) of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note)); (4) "critical infrastructure" (public safety, health, education, transportation, communications, water/power utilities, or private infrastructure essential to community safety and operations); (5) "defensible space project" (vegetation management, such as pruning and removal, within 100 feet of homes, businesses, or facilities, or as defined under State law if more restrictive); (6) "eligible entity" (States, Indian Tribes, local/regional governments including fire districts, volunteer fire departments, or collaboratives of two or more); (7) "program" (the grant program under section 3(a)); and (8) "State" (includes U.S. territories and possessions).
This section establishes a Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Grant Program, administered by the FEMA Administrator through the United States Fire Administrator in coordination with the Forest Service Chief and separate from FEMA's pre-disaster hazard mitigation grants under the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5133). The program awards grants to eligible entities either (1) to implement projects supporting a diverse portfolio of wildfire resilience strategies outlined in the entity's existing community protection and wildfire resilience plan (capped at $10 million per grant, with a minimum 25% non-Federal cost share that is waivable or reducible) or (2) to develop such a plan (capped at $250,000, with no required non-Federal cost share). Grants must prioritize high wildfire risk areas per state hazard maps or Community Wildfire Defense Grant maps (16 U.S.C. 6501 note), apply only to communities existing as of enactment, and prefer local contractors and labor (e.g., AmeriCorps). The program authorizes $1 billion annually for FY2025 through FY2029.
This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to publish a report, not later than one year after the date of enactment, on (1) federal authorities and programs available to protect communities from wildfires and (2) an assessment of impediments to their implementation, including funding gaps.
This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to publish, not later than one year after enactment, a study assessing (1) the potential for a community protection and wildfire resilience plan to qualify for certification of a level of wildfire survivability and resilience, and federal methods to incentivize insurance companies to accept such certification; and (2) metrics that could assure insurance companies a community has wildfire resilience measures in place.
This section revises the definition of "at-risk community" in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) by specifying that such a community consists solely of a group of homes and other structures with basic infrastructure and services (such as utilities and collectively maintained transportation routes) within or adjacent to federal land (removing the prior alternative inclusion of wildland-urban interface communities identified in a 2001 federal notice). (As background, HFRA authorizes hazardous fuel reduction projects on certain federal lands, with priority for at-risk communities that have a community wildfire protection plan.) It further directs the FEMA Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Forest Service chief, to develop and publish a map depicting at-risk communities (as defined in HFRA section 101, as amended), including Tribal at-risk communities, not later than 180 days after enactment and every five years thereafter.
This section directs the Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, to prepare, not later than two years after the date of enactment, a report on insufficient radio frequencies, barriers to radio interoperability, and available products and technologies to overcome those barriers for wildfire management. In preparing the report, the Administrator must coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture, federal land management agencies, state fire marshals, state and local emergency response agencies, Tribal fire departments and emergency managers, and municipal fire departments, fire protection districts, and volunteer fire departments in relevant communities. The report must include (1) a determination of whether those entities can communicate via radio during fire suppression for a community conflagration; (2) a determination of whether reserved radio frequencies are sufficient for wildfire management or if additional frequencies—listed by type and location—are needed; (3) an analysis of commercially available technologies and products to enable interoperability across different agency radio frequencies; and (4) if applicable, a plan to ensure adequate communications during fire suppression for a community conflagration.
This section expands eligible projects under the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program—administered by the Secretary of Agriculture through the Forest Service—to expressly include structure hardening activities. Specifically, it (1) revises the description of eligible cross-boundary projects to reference new structure hardening projects and (2) adds as eligible projects the construction, modification, or maintenance of structures to resist flames or embers, as well as modifications to structures or adjacent areas (including vegetation, garages, sheds, fencing, and vehicles) to reduce exposure to wildfire flames, radiation, embers, or nearby combustibles. (Thus, grants may now fund retrofitting homes and defensible space improvements in high-risk wildfire areas.)