[House Report 110-704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Rept. 110-704
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 1
======================================================================
``FEDERAL LAND ASSISTANCE, MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT ACT'' OR ``FLAME
ACT''
_______
June 10, 2008.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 5541]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 5541) to provide a supplemental funding source for
catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities on
Department of the Interior and National Forest System lands, to
require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture to develop a cohesive wildland fire management
strategy, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that
the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Land
Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act'' or ``FLAME Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Flame Fund for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression
activities.
Sec. 3. Cohesive wildland fire management strategy.
Sec. 4. Review of certain wildfires to evaluate cost containment in
wildland fire suppression activities.
Sec. 5. Reducing risk of wildfires in fire-ready communities.
SEC. 2. FLAME FUND FOR CATASTROPHIC EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION
ACTIVITIES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Federal land.--The term ``Federal land'' means the
following:
(A) Public lands, as defined in section 103 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1702).
(B) Units of the National Park System.
(C) Refuges of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
(D) Lands held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of Indian tribes or individual Indians.
(E) Lands in the National Forest System, as defined
in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
(2) Flame fund.--The term ``Flame Fund'' means the Federal
Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Fund established
by this section.
(3) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned''
means--
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to
Federal land described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C),
and (D) of paragraph (1); and
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to
National Forest System land.
(4) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture,
acting jointly.
(b) Establishment and Availability of Flame Fund.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of
the United States a fund to be known as the Federal Land
Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Fund.
(2) Contents.--The Flame Fund shall consist of the following
amounts:
(A) Amounts appropriated to the Flame Fund pursuant
to the authorization of appropriations in subsection
(c).
(B) Amounts transferred to the Flame Fund pursuant to
subsection (d).
(3) Availability.--Subject to subsection (e), amounts in the
Flame Fund shall be available to the Secretaries to pay the
costs of catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression
activities that are separate from amounts annually appropriated
to the Secretaries for the predicted annual workload for
wildland fire suppression activities, based on analyses of
historical workloads and anticipated increased workloads due to
changing environmental or demographic conditions.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized to
be appropriated to the Flame Fund such funds as may be
necessary to carry out this section. It is the intent of
Congress that the amount appropriated to the Flame Fund for
fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year equal the
average amount expended by the Secretaries for emergency
wildland fire suppression activities over the five fiscal years
preceding that fiscal year.
(2) Emergency designation.--Amounts appropriated to the Flame
Fund for fiscal year 2009 are designated as an emergency
requirement pursuant to section 501 of H. Con. Res. 376 (109th
Congress), as made applicable to the House of Representatives
by section 511(a)(4) of H. Res. 6 (110th Congress), and for
subsequent fiscal years pursuant to corresponding congressional
resolutions authorizing the designation of emergency spending.
(3) Notice of insufficient funds.--The Secretaries shall
notify the congressional committees specified in subsection
(h)(2) whenever only an estimated two months worth of funding
remains in the Flame Fund.
(d) Transfer of Excess Wildland Fire Suppression Amounts Into Flame
Fund.--At the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary concerned shall
transfer to the Flame Fund amounts appropriated to the Secretary
concerned for wildland fire suppression activities for the fiscal year,
but not obligated for wildland fire suppression activities before the
end of the fiscal year.
(e) Use of Flame Fund.--
(1) Declaration required.--Amounts in the Flame Fund shall be
made available to the Secretary concerned only after the
Secretaries issue a declaration that a wildland fire
suppression activity is eligible for funding through the Flame
Fund.
(2) Declaration criteria.--A declaration by the Secretaries
under paragraph (1) shall be based on the following criteria:
(A) In the case of an individual wildland fire
incident--
(i) the fire covers 300 or more acres;
(ii) the severity of the fire, which may be
based on incident complexity or the potential
for increased complexity; and
(iii) the threat posed by the fire, including
the potential for loss of lives, property, or
critical resources.
(B) Consistent with subsection (f), in the case of a
firefighting season, cumulative wildland fire
suppression activities, when the costs of those
activities for the Secretary concerned are projected to
exceed amounts annually appropriated.
(3) Transfer of amounts to secretary concerned.--After
issuance of a declaration under paragraph (1) and upon the
request of the Secretary concerned, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall transfer from the Flame Fund to the Secretary
concerned such amounts as the Secretaries determine are
necessary for wildland fire suppression activities associated
with the declared suppression emergency.
(4) State, private, and tribal land.--Use of the Flame Fund
for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities
on State and private land and, where applicable, tribal land
shall be consistent with existing agreements where the
Secretaries have agreed to assume responsibility for wildland
fire suppression activities on the land.
(f) Treatment of Anticipated and Predicted Activities.--The Secretary
concerned shall continue to fund anticipated and predicted wildland
fire suppression activities within the appropriate agency budget for
each fiscal year. Use of the additional funding made available through
the Flame Fund is intended to supplement the budgeted and appropriated
agency funding and is to be used only for purposes and in instances
consistent with this section.
(g) Prohibition on Other Transfers.--All amounts in the Flame Fund,
as well as all funds appropriated for the purpose of wildland fire
suppression on Federal land, must be obligated before the Secretary
concerned may transfer funds from non-fire accounts for wildland fire
suppression.
(h) Accounting and Reports.--
(1) Accounting and reporting system.--The Secretaries shall
establish an accounting and reporting system for the Flame Fund
compatible with existing National Fire Plan reporting
procedures.
(2) Annual report.--The Secretaries shall submit to the
Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Agriculture,
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate an annual report on the use of
the funds from the Flame Fund, together with any
recommendations that the Secretaries may have to improve the
administrative control and oversight of the Flame Fund.
(3) Public availability.--The annual report required by
paragraph (2) shall be made available to the public.
SEC. 3. COHESIVE WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.
(a) Strategy Required.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report that contains a
cohesive wildland fire management strategy, consistent with the
recommendations contained in recent Comptroller General reports
regarding this issue.
(b) Elements of Strategy.--The strategy required by subsection (a)
shall address the findings of the Comptroller General in the reports
referred to in such subsection and include the following elements:
(1) A system to identify the most cost effective means for
allocating fire management budget resources.
(2) An illustration of plans by the Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of Agriculture to reinvest in non-fire
programs.
(3) A description of how the Secretaries will employ
appropriate management response.
(4) A system for assessing the level of risk to communities.
(5) A system to ensure that the highest priority fuels
reduction projects are being funded first.
(c) Notice of Prescribed Fires.--As part of the strategy required by
subsection (a) for the Forest Service, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall ensure that, before any prescribed fire is used on National
Forest System land, owners of adjacent private land are notified in
writing of the date and scope of the proposed prescribed fire.
SEC. 4. REVIEW OF CERTAIN WILDFIRES TO EVALUATE COST CONTAINMENT IN
WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES.
(a) Review Required.--The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture shall conduct a review, using independent panels, of
each wildfire incident for which the Secretary concerned incurs
expenses in excess of $10,000,000.
(b) Report.--The Secretary concerned shall submit to the Committee on
Natural Resources, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a report containing the
results of each review conducted under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. REDUCING RISK OF WILDFIRES IN FIRE-READY COMMUNITIES.
(a) Fire-Ready Community Defined.--In this section, the term ``fire-
ready community'' means a community that--
(1) is located within a priority area identified pursuant to
subsection (b);
(2) has a cooperative fire agreement that articulates the
roles and responsibilities for Federal, State and local
government entities in local wildfire suppression and
protection;
(3) has local codes that require fire-resistant home design
and building materials;
(4) has a community wildfire protection plan (as defined in
section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16
U.S.C. 6502)); and
(5) is engaged in a successful collaborative process that
includes multiple interested persons representing diverse
interests and is transparent and nonexclusive, such as a
resource advisory committee established under section 205 of
the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act
of 2000 (Public Law 106-393; 16 U.S.C. 500 note).
(b) Fire Risk Mapping.--As soon as is practicable after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior (in this section referred to as the
``Secretaries'') shall develop regional maps of communities most at
risk of wildfire and in need of hazardous fuel treatment and
maintenance. The maps shall identify priority areas for hazardous fuels
reduction projects, including--
(1) at-risk communities in fire-prone areas of the wildland-
urban interface (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6502));
(2) watersheds and municipal drinking water sources;
(3) emergency evacuation corridors;
(4) electricity transmission corridors; and
(5) low-capacity or low-income communities.
(c) Local Wildland Firefighting Capability Grants.--
(1) Grants available.--The Secretaries may provide cost-share
grants to fire-ready communities to assist such communities in
carrying activities authorized by paragraph (2).
(2) Eligible activities.--Grant funds may be used for the
following:
(A) Education programs to raise awareness of
homeowners and citizens about wildland fire protection
practices, including FireWise or similar programs.
(B) Training programs for local firefighters on
wildland firefighting techniques and approaches.
(C) Equipment acquisition to facilitate wildland fire
preparedness.
(D) Implementation of a community wildfire protection
plan.
(d) Wildland Fire Cost-Share Agreements.--In developing any wildland
fire cost-share agreement with a State Forester or equivalent official,
the Secretaries shall, to the greatest extent possible, encourage the
State and local communities involved to become fire-ready communities.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretaries to carry out this section such sums as
may be necessary.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 5541 is to provide a supplemental
funding source for catastrophic emergency wildland fire
suppression activities on Department of the Interior and
National Forest System lands, to require the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a cohesive
wildland fire management strategy, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Federal land management agencies are facing escalating
costs of fighting wildland fire, and these costs are eroding
other programs and impacting the core mission of these
agencies. Over the past 18 years, the Wildland Fire Management
portion of the Forest Service Budget has increased from 13
percent to 48 percent. The largest component of Wildland Fire
Management spending is fire suppression.
Current wildland fire suppression budgeting practice for
both the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service is
regulated by the 10-year fire suppression average. The 10-year
average originated from an agreement between CBO, OMB, and the
Committee on Budget a decade ago or more. Both the current and
previous Administrations have used the 10-year average because
it provides a method of budgeting for an activity that is
largely unpredictable. According to the Forest Service, their
annual fire suppression costs have exceeded $1 billion in five
of the past eight years, meaning that the 10-year average
suppression cost figure continues to increase while the overall
budget for the Forest Service has been shrinking.
The skyrocketing cost of fighting fires has forced drastic
reductions in other Forest Service accounts, a trend that
continues in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget request. The most
significant cut this year was to State and Private Forestry,
which this year's budget request cuts by 58%. The FY09 budget
request proposes a 13% decrease in fire preparedness and a 4%
decrease in funding for hazardous fuels treatments ($297
million, down from $310 million in the FY 2008 enacted level).
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 authorized $760
million annually for hazardous fuels treatments on Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. Combined
with the BLM FY 2009 budget request for hazardous fuels
reduction of $202.8 million, the total Administration request
for hazardous fuels reduction on federal lands is $499.8
million, only 65% of the level authorized by Congress.
Both the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior
have had to ``rob Peter to pay Paul'' by borrowing funds from
other agency accounts to cover these escalating costs.
According to both agencies, in Fiscal Year 2008, the Forest
Service spent $741 million more than was budgeted for wildland
fire suppression, and the Department of the Interior spent $249
million more than was budgeted for wildland fire suppression.
In the case of the Forest Service, very large fires
threatening people and property account for the vast majority
of wildland fire suppression costs, as 2% of fires account for
80% of total expenditures.
Current and forecasted climatic conditions and demographic
trends indicate that wildfire challenges will continue to
increase in the coming years. While wildland fire is an
important and necessary ecological process that renews the
productivity of fire-adapted ecosystems, researchers are
concerned that the frequency and intensity of wildfires is
increasing. Also increasing are the impacts of wildland fire on
people and infrastructure due to changes in the rate and
location of growth across the West. A May 11, 2007 article in
USA Today stated that since 2000, roughly 450,000 people--
enough to populate a city the size of Atlanta--moved to rural
western areas at most risk from wildfire. The article further
stated that about 3.5 million people now inhabit these areas,
and the population risk in high-fire areas grew 15% faster than
the West as a whole. This results in significantly higher costs
for wildland fire suppression activities than are currently
reflected in the agency budget requests fixed by the 10-year
average.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that
federal land management agencies lack a cohesive wildland fire
management strategy identifying the long-term options and
funding needs for reducing excess vegetation, responding to
wildland fire, and containing costs. The GAO has requested that
the agencies complete a cohesive wildland fire management
strategy for nearly a decade. In May 2006, GAO released a
follow-up report (GAO-06-671R) finding that ``the agencies
still have not prepared a tactical plan outlining the critical
steps and associated time frames for completing a cohesive
wildland fire management strategy, as we recommended.''
While the Forest Service and the BLM released a document in
February 2006 entitled ``Protecting People and Natural
Resources,'' the GAO stated that the interagency document
``does not identify long-term options and related funding for
reducing fuels and responding to wildland fire as we called
for.'' The GAO then stated in testimony before the Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on June 19, 2007,
that ``perhaps most important[ly], without a clear vision of
what they are trying to achieve and a systematic approach for
achieving it, the agencies--and Congress and the American
people--have little assurance that their cost-containment
efforts will lead to substantial improvement''.
In a report entitled Implementation of the Healthy Forests
Initiative (report no. 08601-6-AT), the USDA Inspector General
also found that the Forest Service lacks a system to ensure
that the highest priority fuels reduction projects are being
funded first. The IG found that the Forest Service lacked a
consistent analytical process for assessing the level of risk
that communities faced from wildland fire and determining if a
hazardous fuels project would be cost-beneficial.
H.R. 5541 has received the support of the five former
Chiefs of the Forest Service, the Western Governors'
Association, the National Association of State Foresters, the
National Association of Counties, members of the Rural Voices
for Conservation Coalition, the National Federation of Federal
Employees, the Wilderness Society, the National Parks
Conservation Association, and nearly 40 other organizations.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 5541 was introduced on March 6, 2008 by Committee on
Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) and is
cosponsored on a bipartisan basis by more than 40 members. The
bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and
within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests, and Public Lands. The bill was also referred to the
Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Agriculture. On
April 10, 2008, the Committee on Natural Resources held a
hearing on the bill.
On April 17, 2008, the Full Natural Resources Committee met
to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged from
further consideration of the legislation. Chairman Nick Rahall
(D-WV) offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to
require that annual reports on the FLAME Fund are made
available to the public; to require the Secretaries of the
Interior and Agriculture to conduct a review of wildland fire
incidents that result in expenses greater than $10,000,000; to
require the Secretaries to notify Congress whenever funding in
the FLAME Fund drops to a level estimated to cover only two
months' worth of expenditures; and to reduce the risk of
catastrophic wildland fires to communities.
Representative Bill Sali (R-ID) offered an amendment to the
amendment in the nature of a substitute that would amend the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to legislate
categorical exclusions from the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969. The Sali amendment was ruled non-germane.
Representative Henry Brown (R-SC) offered an amendment to
the amendment in the nature of a substitute that would require
the Secretary of Agriculture to notify private property owners
in writing of prescribed fire activities. The Brown amendment
was adopted by voice vote.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by
Chairman Rahall was then adopted by voice vote. The bill, as
amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title; table of contents
Section 1 cites the short title of the bill as the
``Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act'',
and lists a table of contents.
Section 2. FLAME Fund for catastrophic emergency wildland fire
suppression activities
Section 2 of the FLAME Act as amended establishes a federal
FLAME Fund for catastrophic, emergency wildland fire
suppression activities. This would include federal lands
managed by the Bureau of Land Management, units of the National
Park System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, land held in
trust by the United States for the benefit of Indian tribes or
individual Indians, and National Forest System land.
The FLAME Fund would be separate from the regularly
budgeted and appropriated wildland fire suppression funding and
is to be used only for suppression of catastrophic, emergency
wildland fires. The federal land management agencies will
continue to fund anticipated and predicted wildland fire
suppression activities within their annual budgets.
Section 2(c)(2) of H.R. 5541, as amended, specifically
provides that amounts appropriated to the FLAME Fund annually
be designated as emergency spending pursuant to congressional
resolutions authorizing the designation of emergency spending.
Under the bill as amended, monies for the FLAME fund will be
appropriated annually by such sums as may be necessary, but it
is the intent that the appropriations will be based on the
average costs incurred by the federal land management agencies
for emergency wildland suppression activities over the
preceding five fiscal years. Section 2(c)(3) of H.R. 5541, as
amended, requires the Secretaries to notify Congress any time
an estimated two months of funding remains in the FLAME Fund.
Section 2(e) of H.R. 5541 as amended, provides that the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior may
declare catastrophic, emergency wildland fire suppression
activities eligible for the FLAME fund only by issuing a
Suppression Emergency Declaration. The declaration shall
evaluate the size, severity, and threat of the individual
wildland fire incident. The FLAME Fund would be available for
catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities on
state and private land where consistent with existing
agreements by which the agencies have agreed to assume
responsibility for wildland fire suppression activities on
those lands.
Section 3. Cohesive wildland fire management strategy
Section 3 requires the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report to Congress one
year after enactment containing a cohesive wildland fire
management strategy. Section 3 requires the report to address
the GAO and USDA IG recommendations by including a system
identifying the most cost-effective means for allocating fire
management resources, a system for assessing the level of risk
to communities, an illustration of plans to re-invest in non-
fire programs, a description of use of appropriate management
response, and a system ensuring that the highest priority fuels
reduction projects are being funded first.
Section 4. Review of certain wildfires to evaluate cost containment in
wildland fire suppression activities
Section 4 requires the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a review, using independent
panels, of each wildfire incident for which the Secretary
concerned incurs expenses in excess of $10,000,000 and submit
the results of each review to Congress.
Section 5. Reducing risk of wildlfires in fire-ready communities
Section 5(a) defines fire-ready communities as communities
that are located within a priority area identified in
subsection (b); have cooperative agreements that articulate
roles in local wildlfire suppression and protection; have local
codes that require fire-resistant home design and building
materials; have a community wildfire protection plan; and are
engaged in a successful collaborative process.
Section 5(b) requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior to develop regional maps of
communities most at risk of wildfire and in need of hazardous
fuel treatment and maintenance.
Section 5(c) authorizes the Secretaries to provide cost-
share grants to fire-ready communities for education programs
to raise awareness of homeowners and citizens about wildland
fire protection practices; training programs for local
firefighters on wildland firefighting techniques; equipment
acquisition to facilitate wildland fire preparedness; and
implementation of a community wildfire protection plan.
Section 5(d) states that in developing any wildland fire
cost-share agreement with a State Forester or equivalent
official, the Secretaries shall, to the greatest extent
possible, encourage the State and local communities involved to
become fire-ready communities.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to provide a supplemental funding
source for catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression
activities on Department of the Interior and National Forest
System lands, to require the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to develop a cohesive wildland fire
management strategy, and for other purposes.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 5541--Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act
(FLAME Act)
Summary: H.R. 5541 would establish the Federal Land
Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Fund (Flame Fund) to
finance some fire suppression activities managed by the Forest
Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The bill also
would authorize those agencies to provide grants to certain
communities to improve local fire fighting capabilities.
Lastly, the bill would require the agencies to submit several
new reports to the Congress regarding the incidence and
management of wildland fires.
CBO expects that creating the Flame Fund and authorizing
appropriations to that fund for fire suppression would have no
effect on the federal budget because agencies already receive
appropriations under existing authorities and have permanent
authority to transfer funds from other accounts to cover fire
suppression costs. Implementing this legislation might change
the timing of appropriations for fire suppression but not the
total cost of that activity.
CBO estimates that carrying out other provisions of the
bill, including new reporting requirements and grant programs,
would cost $100 million over the 2009-2013 period, assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting the
legislation would not affect revenues or direct spending.
H.R. 5541 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 5541 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300
(natural resources and environment).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
------------------------------------------------------
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Spending for Grants and Reports:
Estimated Authorization Level........................ 20 20 20 20 20
Estimated Outlays.................................... 12 18 20 25 25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the
legislation will be enacted near the beginning of fiscal year
2009 and that necessary amounts will be appropriated near the
start of each fiscal year. Estimated outlays are based on
historical spending patterns for similar activities.
Flame Fund
H.R. 5541 would establish the Flame Fund and authorize
appropriations to the fund equaling the average amount
obligated for fire suppression over the five preceding years.
Those amounts would be in addition to annual appropriations
made under existing authorities to cover the ``predicted annual
workload for wildland fire suppression activities.'' Agencies
could continue to transfer funds from other accounts to cover
those costs, if necessary, after all funds specifically
appropriated for suppression have been obligated.
Under current law, annual appropriations for fire
suppression are typically equal to the rolling average of
annual obligations for those activities over the previous 10
years. When the 10-year average is not sufficient to cover
those costs, the agencies are authorized to transfer funds from
any other accounts to pay suppression costs. In many years, the
10-year average has not been sufficient to cover actual costs,
requiring agencies to use transfer authority. When agencies
transfer funds form other accounts, they are required to
reimburse those accounts when additional appropriations become
available. Supplemental appropriations also may be provided.
CBO expects that the appropriation of additional funds
authorized by the legislation, could result in fewer transfers
from other program accounts to pay for suppression, but
establishing the Flame Fund would not change the total amount
spent on suppression. Although the timing of appropriations for
suppression could change (if fewer supplemental appropriations
would be required), this bill would not modify the total cost
of suppression activities.
Grants and reporting requirements
H.R. 5541 would authorize the Secretaries to provide grants
to communities in fire-prone areas near wildlands to help them
enhance their fire fighting capability. The grants could be
used to develop education programs and to purchase equipment.
The bill also would require the Secretaries to submit reports
to the Congress detailing how they use amounts available in the
Flame Fund and the strategies they use for managing and paying
for wildland fire activities.
Based on information from the Forest Service and BLM and
assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates
that implementing those provisions would cost about $100
million over the 2009-2013 period.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 5541
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or
tribal governments. Assuming appropriation of estimated
amounts, local communities would receive $100 million over the
2009-2013 period for training and activities related to
firefighting.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Tyler Kruzich and
Deborah Reis; Impact on state local, and tribal governments:
Melissa Merrell; Impact on the private-sector: Amy Petz.
Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 5541 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
We welcome efforts to address the growing problem of
finding funds to pay for the suppression of wildfires on public
lands. H.R. 5541 establishes a fund (Federal Land Assistance,
Management, and Enhancement Fund or FLAME) for use when certain
criteria are met and the cumulative suppression costs for the
season exceed the annual appropriations. However, the enormous
cost of suppressing wildfires is a symptom, not the cause of
the problem and we strongly urge the expansion of H.R. 5541 to
apply the lessons of history and the insights provided by
science to improve the management of our forest and rangelands
to ensure that they are healthy, biologically diverse,
productive and present a reduced threat to the safety of forest
communities. By limiting this debate to changes in accounts and
funding mechanisms for wildfire suppression we are missing a
crucial opportunity. We should couple this with meaningful
reform in our forest management practices. The one thing
repeated by every witness on the panels at the hearing on this
bill, from both Republicans and Democrats, was the critical
need to reduce hazardous fuels on our public lands. That is
ultimately the only way we can truly ease the budgetary burdens
of wildfires. Anything short of that just shifts the wildfire
funding problem to future Congresses.
In addressing the magnitude of the fires we are facing and
the ongoing increase in fire suppression costs, more must be
done than just adjusting funding sources. History has shown, as
the witnesses testified last week that we will continue to have
larger and larger fires, until we reduce fuel-loading. This
means communities in the western United States will see homes
burned, watersheds damaged and even lives lost unless we do
what we can to protect them and pre-empt devastating fires--the
kind of pre-emption pointed to by Governor Napolitano that
protected so many people and homes in the 2006 Woody Fire near
Flagstaff.
During the hearing on H.R. 5541, Governor Napolitano
highlighted the close relationship between pre-fire management
and the costs of fire-fighting itself. As the Governor
testified, the 2006 Woody Fire near Flagstaff, Arizona, was
halted before it reached 100 acres because of the hazardous
fuels treatments that had been done in that area. According to
Governor Napolitano, those treatments dramatically minimized
the fire's devastation.
Similarly, our colleague Norm Dicks testified last week
about the large fuel loads that continue to accumulate. He
pointed out that today we are seeing much longer fire seasons
because of climate change. Congressman Dicks further commented
that larger fires have resulted from the increasing tree
density and fuel loads. These large fires then release enormous
amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, further compounding the
influence of climate change to the overall problem.
We must provide a broad range of tools, including those
that allow hazardous fuels to be reduced thereby protecting
communities, homes, and potentially the lives of homeowners
near and in federally-managed lands.
Across the west, many communities have put the time and
energy into developing Community Wildlife Protection Plans, but
implementation of many of these plans has been significantly
delayed, in large part, because of the NEPA process. These
CWPPs, as my colleagues know, are cooperative plans, requiring
community collaboration and input in the formation of the plan.
By delaying treatment for the safety of communities, we permit
those communities to be threatened by large fires. With this
bill we should be not only providing an additional funding
mechanism for wildfire suppression, but we should also be
providing the tools necessary for timely treatments to protect
these communities from the large and devastating fires and
preserve our pristine national forests.
During the Poe Cabin fire in Idaho, in one area the fire
moved some three miles in a mere 20 minutes, burning as hot as
1500 degrees Fahrenheit. In that area, several homes that had
defensible space around them due to fuel reductions on private
land survived the fire. One homeowner was able to get his wife
out while he himself stayed just a bit longer to finish loading
his truck. However, because of the fast moving and intense
fire, combined with the heavy fuel-loading on federal ground,
he became trapped by the fire and was unable to leave. While
this could have quickly become a tragic story, this man lived
and his house survived, thanks to fuel-reduction that had been
done on private land around his home.
In today's climate, we cannot address funding for
suppressing these large wildfires without addressing a primary
cause as well--the increasing and unchecked fuel loads in our
national forests that surround or are adjacent to homes and
communities. H.R. 5541 only addresses one aspect of the
problem--the suppression funding side--without providing real
relief and dealing with the underlying problem to help prevent
wildfires, or at least prevent the spread of the large and
devastating fires.
Don Young.
Rob Bishop.
Robert J. Wittman.
Stevan Pearce.
Bill Sali.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Adrian Smith.