HR178Referred to Committee

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2025-01-03
Introduced
9
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Tom McClintock
Tom McClintock
Republican · CA · Representative
Votes with party: 92.5% (586 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/M001177

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (9)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

9 cosponsors on record at Congress.gov. The named list is syncing into Govwatch and will appear here shortly — view on Congress.gov in the meantime.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-429, Part I.

2026-01-08

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

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Previously

Plain-English Summary

This bill sets out requirements for wildfire suppression and management activities carried out by the Forest Service. These requirements apply to Forest Service land that (1) has a severe, extreme, or exceptional drought intensity rating; (2) has a National Wildland Fire Preparedness level of 5 (i.e., the highest level of wildland fire activity); or (3) is located in a fireshed ranked in the top 10% of wildfire exposure. Within 24 hours of detecting a wildfire on such Forest Service land, the service must use all available resources to extinguish the wildfire. Additionally, the service may not inhibit the firefighting activities of state and local agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfires on the Forest Service land. Further, the service may only initiate a backfire or burnout as part of a fire suppression strategy if it is ordered by the responsible incident commander or is necessary to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel. The service must use all available resources to control any initiated fire until it is extinguished. The bill also limits the service's use of prescribed fires (i.e., the controlled application of fire by a team of experts under specified weather conditions to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire). When using prescribed fires as a fire resource management tool, the service must comply with applicable laws and regulations and immediately suppress any prescribed fire that exceeds its prescription.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Public Lands and Natural Resources
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Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.