Wildfire risk reduction

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, for the activities described in subsection (c), $3,369,200,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. Of the Federal land or Indian forest land or rangeland that has been identified as having a very high wildfire hazard potential, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall, by not later than September 30, 2027, conduct restoration treatments and improve the Fire Regime Condition Class of 10,000,000 acres that are located in— Of the amounts made available under subsection (a) for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026— $20,000,000 shall be made available for entering into an agreement with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish and operate a program that makes use of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program to rapidly detect and report wildfire starts in all areas in which the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture has financial responsibility for wildland fire protection and prevention, of which— $600,000,000 shall be made available for the salaries and expenses of Federal wildland firefighters in accordance with subsection (d), of which— $100,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture— for— preplanning fire response workshops that develop— workforce training for staff, non-Federal firefighters, and Native village fire crews for— of which— $20,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an agreement with a Southwest Ecological Restoration Institute established under the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004 (16 U.S.C. 6701 et seq.)— to facilitate coordination and use of existing and future interagency fuel treatment data, including geographic data, for the purposes of— to publish a report every 5 years showing the extent to which treatments described in subparagraph (A) and previous wildfires affect the boundaries of wildfires, categorized by— $20,000,000 shall be available for activities conducted under the Joint Fire Science Program, of which— $500,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture— for— of which— $500,000,000 shall be made available for planning and conducting prescribed fires and related activities, of which— $500,000,000 shall be made available for developing or improving potential control locations, in accordance with paragraph (7)(A)(i)(II), including installing fuelbreaks (including fuelbreaks studied under subsection (i)), with a focus on shaded fuelbreaks when ecologically appropriate, of which— $200,000,000 shall be made available for contracting or employing crews of laborers to modify and remove flammable vegetation on Federal land and for using materials from treatments, to the extent practicable, to produce biochar and other innovative wood products, including through the use of existing locally based organizations that engage young adults, Native youth, and veterans in service projects, such as youth and conservation corps, of which— $200,000,000 shall be made available for post-fire restoration activities that are implemented not later than 3 years after the date that a wildland fire is contained, of which— $8,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary of Agriculture— Subject to the availability of appropriations, not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall, using the amounts made available under subsection (c)(2), coordinate with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to develop a distinct “wildland firefighter” occupational series. Any individual employed as a wildland firefighter on the date on which the occupational series established under paragraph (1) takes effect may elect— Using the amounts made available under subsection (c)(2), beginning October 1, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall— seek to convert not fewer than 1,000 seasonal wildland firefighters to wildland firefighters that— Using the amounts made available under subsection (c)(2), not later than October 1, 2022, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall— Subject to the availability of appropriations, not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, using the amounts made available under subsection (c)(10)— provide up to 5 years of additional funding of any proposal originally selected for funding under the Program prior to September 30, 2018— select project proposals for funding under the Program in a manner that— gives priority to a project proposal that will treat acres that— are located in— takes into consideration— Subject to the availability of appropriations, not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, using amounts made available under subsection (c)(12), establish a program, which shall be separate from the program established under section 5133 of title 42, under which the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the States, shall award grants to at-risk communities, including Indian Tribes— In awarding grants under the program described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall give priority to an at-risk community that is— A grant— Except as provided in clause (ii), the non-Federal cost (including the administrative cost) of carrying out a project using funds from a grant awarded under the program described in paragraph (1) shall be— The Secretary of Agriculture may waive the cost-sharing requirement under clause (i) for a project that serves an underserved community. The Secretary of Agriculture shall not award a grant under paragraph (1) to an at-risk community that is located in a county or community that— has not adopted an ordinance or regulation that requires the construction of new roofs on buildings to adhere to standards that are similar to, or more stringent than— In carrying out projects using amounts made available under this section, the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, as applicable, shall prioritize funding for projects— The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall complete and submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives an annual report describing the number of acres of land on which projects carried out using funds made available under this section improved the Fire Regime Condition Class of the land described in subsection (b). Not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture shall initiate a study of the construction and maintenance of a system of strategically placed fuelbreaks to control wildfires in western States. The study under paragraph (1) shall review— Not later than 90 days after the date of completion of the study under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine whether to initiate the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement implementing the system described in that paragraph in appropriate locations. Not later than 120 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall establish a 5-year monitoring, maintenance, and treatment plan that— includes an innovative plan and process— Not later than 5 years after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with State and local governments, shall publish a long-term, outcome-based monitoring, maintenance, and treatment strategy— A project carried out using funding authorized under paragraphs (11)(A)(i), (13), or (14) of subsection (c) shall be considered an authorized hazardous fuel reduction project pursuant to section 6512 of this title.