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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3553 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3553
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study with
respect to the effectiveness of available wildfire mitigation methods
in reducing the risk of wildfire and the severity of damages from
wildfire in communities within or adjacent to shrubland ecosystems, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2025
Mr. Min (for himself, Mrs. Kim, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Levin, Mr. Huffman,
Ms. Rivas, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Whitesides, Mr. Harder of California, Ms.
Ansari, and Ms. Jacobs) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the
Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study with
respect to the effectiveness of available wildfire mitigation methods
in reducing the risk of wildfire and the severity of damages from
wildfire in communities within or adjacent to shrubland ecosystems, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Building Resiliency and
Understanding of Shrublands to Halt Fires Act'' or the ``BRUSH Fires
Act''.
SEC. 2. SHRUBLAND WILDFIRE MITIGATION STUDY.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a study to
evaluate the effectiveness of wildfire mitigation methods
available to the Forest Service as a means of reducing the risk
of wildfire in covered ecosystems and the severity of damages
from such wildfire in communities within or adjacent to covered
ecosystems.
(2) Elements.--In carrying out the study under paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall, with respect to covered ecosystems--
(A) evaluate the effectiveness and longevity of--
(i) hazardous fuels management activities,
including fuel modification through the use of
strategic fuel breaks; and
(ii) practices for maintaining the health
of native ecosystems, including--
(I) mitigating the development and
spread of invasive species, including
invasive weeds, grasses, and other
vegetation; or
(II) improving the resprouting of
native shrub species on lands affected
by wildfire;
(B) evaluate the effectiveness of policies and
protocols of the Forest Service with respect to
limiting unintentional ember ignitions attributable to
the public or man-made structures, including electrical
infrastructure;
(C) study the conditions (including weather,
seasonality, and topography) under which each wildfire
mitigation method evaluated under the study is most and
least effective in reducing the risk of wildland fire;
(D) identify administrative, operational, and
budgetary factors that impede the ability of wildland
fire managers and wildland firefighters to implement
wildfire mitigation methods evaluated under the study;
and
(E) evaluate the effectiveness of partnerships
between the Forest Service and non-Federal entities in
reducing the vulnerability of homes, roadways, and
other high-risk structures to ember ignition.
(3) Coordination; consultation.--
(A) Interagency coordination.--In carrying out the
study under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, to the
extent practicable and to avoid the duplication of
research activities of the Federal Government, act in
coordination with--
(i) entities within the Forest Service with
expertise in wildfire risk reduction and
ecology in covered ecosystems, including the
Shrub Sciences Laboratory and the Maintaining
Resilient Dryland Ecosystems program; and
(ii) the heads of Federal agencies
conducting wildfire mitigation activities or
hazardous fuels management activities in
covered ecosystems, including the Secretary of
the Interior.
(B) Consultation.--In carrying out the study under
paragraph (1), the Secretary may, and is encouraged to,
solicit consultation from non-Federal public and
private entities with relevant expertise in wildfire
mitigation in covered ecosystems, as determined by the
Secretary.
(b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which the
study under subsection (a)(1) is complete, the Secretary shall submit
to the relevant Congressional committees, and make publicly available,
a report that includes--
(1) a summary of the results of the study;
(2) based on the results of the study, identification by
the Secretary of--
(A) best practices for land managers in reducing
the risk of wildfire in covered ecosystems; and
(B) any areas implicated by the study that merit
further research;
(3) a comparison of the polices and protocols of the Forest
Service with respect to reducing the risk of wildfire in
covered ecosystems and the best practices identified under
paragraph (2)(A); and
(4) an evaluation by the Secretary of opportunities to
improve coordination between the Forest Service and non-Federal
entities on activities to improve wildfire resilience in
covered ecosystems and reduce risks of harm from wildfire to
the built environment, particularly in the wildland-urban
interface.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered ecosystems.--The term ``covered ecosystems''
means shrubland ecosystems, including--
(A) chaparral;
(B) coastal sage scrub;
(C) sagebrush;
(D) shrub-steppe;
(E) xeric shrubland; and
(F) any other dryland shrub ecosystem in which
wildfire management presents a significant challenge,
as determined by the Secretary.
(2) Hazardous fuels management activity.--The term
``hazardous fuels management activity'' means an activity to
manage vegetation to reduce the risk of wildfire.
(3) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant
Congressional committees'' means--
(A) the committees on Appropriations, Natural
Resources, and Agriculture of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the committees on Appropriations, Energy and
Mineral Resources, and Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry of the Senate.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
(5) Wildland-urban interface.--The term ``wildland-urban
interface'' has the meaning given such term in section 101 of
the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
Subcommittee Hearings Held
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