§1748a–2 Reporting Requirements

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture (whichever applies), working with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, must prepare an annual report within 180 days after the end of any fiscal year in which the extra new budget authority was used. The report must be sent to the House Committees on Appropriations, the Budget, and Natural Resources and to the Senate Committees on Appropriations, the Budget, and Energy and Natural Resources. The report must also be made available to the public. The report must show how the extra money was obligated and spent on wildfire suppression. It must name the risk factors that affected firefighting decisions. It must analyze a statistically significant sample of large fires and, for each, cover cost drivers; how well risk management and strategy matched; any ecological or other landscape benefits; the effect of preparedness investments; effectiveness measured as resources lost versus dollars spent; whether fuel treatments changed fire behavior or costs; firefighter exposure levels; suggested corrective actions; and any other relevant factors. The report must also give overall fire management and spending by fire size, cost, region, and other factors, including any spending in the first two quarters of the next fiscal year that is tied to suppression in the reported year, describe lessons learned, and include any other items the Secretary finds necessary.