§6592 Wildfire Risk Reduction

Summary

Provides $3,369,200,000 for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to reduce wildfire risk and requires the Interior and Agriculture Departments, through the Forest Service, to restore and improve the Fire Regime Condition Class on 10,000,000 acres of Federal or Indian forest land or rangeland that are rated as very high wildfire hazard and are either in the wildland-urban interface or in public drinking water source areas by September 30, 2027. The money is split into many specific uses, including $20,000,000 for a NOAA satellite wildfire detection program ($10,000,000 to each Department); $600,000,000 for Federal wildland firefighter salaries and expenses ($120,000,000 to Interior and $480,000,000 to Agriculture); and smaller or mid‑size amounts for radio interoperability ($10,000,000), Reverse‑911 systems ($30,000,000), a slip‑on tanker pilot ($50,000,000), a mapping program ($1,200,000), preplanning and training ($100,000,000 split $50M each), data and research work ($20,000,000 and $20,000,000), collaborative landscape restoration ($100,000,000), thinning and timber treatments ($500,000,000 split $100M Interior/$400M Agriculture), community wildfire defense grants ($500,000,000), prescribed fire work ($500,000,000), building or improving control locations and fuelbreaks ($500,000,000), crews to remove flammable vegetation and make wood products ($200,000,000), post‑fire restoration within 3 years ($200,000,000), firewood bank support ($8,000,000), and $10,000,000 for detection and real‑time monitoring devices. Several deadlines and planning rules apply. Within 180 days after November 15, 2021 the agencies must create a “wildland firefighter” job series, publish an at‑risk communities map (and update it every 5 years), and begin other programs funded above. Beginning October 1, 2021 they must try to convert at least 1,000 seasonal firefighters to full‑time, year‑round jobs that reduce hazardous fuels at least 800 hours per year and may raise base pay by up to $20,000 or 50% in hard‑to‑staff areas. By October 1, 2022 they must issue firefighter health and exposure guidance and mental health programs. The Agriculture Secretary must start a Western fuelbreak study within 180 days after November 15, 2021 and decide within 90 days after the study whether to prepare a programmatic environmental review. Within 120 days after November 15, 2021 the two Departments must set a 5‑year monitoring, maintenance, and treatment plan to reach the 10,000,000‑acre goal, and within 5 years publish a long‑term strategy to sustain and expand treatments to cover 20,000,000 acres over 10 years. The agencies must report each year to Congress on acres improved, and certain projects funded here count as authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects.