HouseH.R. 10916119th Congress
Aquatic Restoration and Conservation Act
Full Text
Official text as published. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search within the document.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10916 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10916
To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior to jointly develop a strategy to increase the use of aquatic
restoration and conservation activities in wildfire risk mitigation and
post-fire recovery efforts, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 26, 2026
Mr. Neguse (for himself and Ms. Pettersen) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in
addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior to jointly develop a strategy to increase the use of aquatic
restoration and conservation activities in wildfire risk mitigation and
post-fire recovery efforts, 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 ``Aquatic Restoration and Conservation
Act''.
SEC. 2. JOINT STRATEGY FOR USE OF AQUATIC RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION
ACTIVITIES FOR WILDFIRE RISK MITIGATION AND POST-WILDFIRE
RECOVERY.
(a) Strategy.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretaries, in consultation with State, Tribal, and
local governments and relevant stakeholders, shall jointly develop a
strategy to increase the use of aquatic restoration and conservation
activities as a method of wildfire risk mitigation and post-fire
recovery on covered lands.
(b) Requirements.--In developing the strategy under subsection (a),
the Secretaries shall--
(1) assess and consider the best available scientific
information on the benefits of aquatic restoration and
conservation activities as wildfire risk mitigation and post-
wildfire recovery efforts;
(2) identify any gaps in the best available scientific
information described in paragraph (1), and any related
research, and include in the strategy, if applicable, a plan to
address each such gap;
(3) assess the workforce training and development capacity
of the Department of the Interior and the Department of
Agriculture and consider how such capacity may be leveraged as
part of the strategy;
(4) identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness of
wildfire risk mitigation and post-wildfire recovery efforts of
the Secretaries on covered lands through the increased use of
aquatic restoration and conservation activities--
(A) in authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects
on covered lands;
(B) in other authorized activities (to the extent
relevant to such efforts) pursuant to the authorities
provided in--
(i) title I of the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.);
(ii) the first paragraph under the heading
``forest ecosystems health and recovery
(revolving fund, special account)'' in title I
of the Department of the Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (43 U.S.C.
1736a);
(iii) chapter 349 of the Act of September
20, 1922 (16 U.S.C. 594);
(iv) sections 10091 and 102711 of title 54,
United States Code;
(v) the National Wildlife Refuge System
Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd,
668ee);
(vi) the National Indian Forest Resources
Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.);
(vii) chapter 1093 of the Act of June 17,
1902 (32 Stat. 388) (commonly referred to as
the ``Reclamation Acts'');
(viii) the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et
seq.); and
(ix) any other authority provided to the
Secretaries;
(C) in projects carried out using grant funds
issued under programs of the Department of Agriculture
or the Department of the Interior that support wildfire
risk mitigation; and
(D) in projects carried out pursuant to a contract
or stewardship agreement;
(5) incorporate into the strategy, to the extent
practicable, any relevant land management plans of the Forest
Service or resource management plans of the Department of the
Interior existing as of the date on which the strategy is
developed, including, if applicable--
(A) land use plans under section 202 of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1712);
(B) land and resource management plans under
section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604);
(C) forest management plans, as defined in section
304 of the National Indian Forest Resources Management
Act (25 U.S.C. 3103); and
(D) watershed protection and restoration action
plans under section 304 of the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6542);
(6) incorporate into the strategy, to the extent
practicable, any relevant public planning documents shared by
State, local, and Tribal governments;
(7) identify and leverage such additional information,
resources, programs, or activities of the Department of
Agriculture or the Department of the Interior as the
Secretaries determine appropriate; and
(8) identify how the Secretaries intend to incorporate
aquatic restoration and conservation into wildfire risk
reduction, wildfire response planning, post-fire recovery, and
long-term land management activities of each Secretary.
(c) Cooperative Agreements.--To facilitate the development of the
strategy under subsection (a), the Secretaries may enter into a
cooperative agreement or mutual benefit agreement with the following:
(1) The National Park Foundation.
(2) The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
(3) The National Forest Foundation.
(4) The Foundation for America's Public Lands.
(5) 1 or more Indian Tribes.
(d) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the completion of the
development of the strategy under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall
jointly submit a report describing the strategy developed under
subsection (a) to--
(1) the Committees on Agriculture and Natural Resources of
the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
and Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Authorized hazardous fuel reduction project.--The term
``authorized hazardous fuel reduction project'' has the meaning
given such term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
(2) Aquatic restoration and conservation.--The term
``aquatic restoration and conservation'' means any activity
resulting in the protection or enhancement of wet meadows,
stream or river corridors, floodplains, riparian areas, or
wetlands for the purposes of mitigating wildfire risk,
improving post-wildfire recovery, or improving watershed
health.
(3) Covered lands.--The term ``covered lands'' means
Federal lands subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of
Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior.
(4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(5) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through
the Chief of the Forest Service; and
(B) the Secretary of the Interior.
<all>