Sec. 101. Prescribed fire accounts
584 words·~3 min read·
/bill/116/s/4625/is/section-101A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In this section, the term Secretary concerned means— the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to an account established by this section for the Department of Agriculture; and the Secretary, with respect to an account established by this section for the Department of the Interior. There are established in the Treasury of the United States the following accounts: The Prescribed Fire account for the Department of Agriculture. The Prescribed Fire account for the Department of the Interior. There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter for the accounts established by subsection
(b)such sums as are necessary to carry out this section, not to exceed $300,000,000. For fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter, each Secretary concerned shall submit, through the budget request of the President, a request for amounts in the Wildland Fire Management appropriation account of the Secretary concerned to carry out the activities described in subsection (e). The Secretary concerned shall use amounts in the accounts established by subsection
(b)as follows: The Secretary concerned shall— develop a prescribed fire burn plan, carry out necessary environmental review, conduct outreach to the public, Indian Tribes, and adjacent landowners, and implement a prescribed fire on Federal land; hire additional personnel and procure additional equipment, including unmanned aerial systems equipped with an aerial ignition system, to implement a greater number of prescribed fires; provide training for the implementation of a prescribed fire; conduct post-prescribed burning activities, including reseeding to prevent the spread of invasive species; and conduct monitoring for safety and fire effects. The Secretary concerned may assist State, Tribal, local government, or private prescribed fire programs— to provide federally sponsored insurance administered by States, in conjunction with State-sponsored training and certification programs, for private persons implementing prescribed fires; to establish a training or certification program for teams comprised of citizens or local fire services to conduct prescribed fires on private land, consistent with any standards developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group or State prescribed fire standards; to enable additional fire managers and apparatus, whether provided by the local resources of an agency, private contractors, nongovernmental organizations, Indian Tribes, local fire services, or qualified individuals, to be present while implementing a prescribed fire; pursuant to the memorandum of agreement authorized under section 203; or to finance the implementation of a prescribed fire on State, Tribal, or private land and any post-prescribed burning activities as are determined to be necessary by the Secretary concerned. The Secretary concerned may provide technical or financial assistance to a prescribed fire council or prescribed burn association for the establishment or operation of the council or association. The Secretary may provide funding for the collaborative prescribed fire program established under section 103. The Secretary may provide funding for the large cross-boundary prescribed fire program established under section 104. Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary concerned shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes, and qualified nongovernmental organizations, including through the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, to establish prioritization criteria for expending funds under this section for each activity described in subsection (e). In establishing criteria under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall give priority to projects that are— implemented across large contiguous areas; cross-boundary in nature; in areas that are threatening to, or located in, the wildland-urban interface; within an area identified as a priority area in a statewide forest resource assessment; or on acres at high or very high risk of experiencing a wildfire that would be difficult to suppress.