Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act”.
Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act
A BILL
To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.
Sec. 2 Requirement of Secretary of Defense to reimburse State costs of fighting certain wildland fires
Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking “may” and inserting “shall”.
Sec. 3 Authorization for FireGuard Program
Authority— Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“510. Authorization for FireGuard Program
“(a) Authorization—The Secretary of Defense may use members of the National Guard to carry out a program to aggregate, analyze, and assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to support any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program shall be known as the “FireGuard Program”.
“(b) Resources; limitation—If the Secretary carries out a program under this section, the Secretary—
“(1) shall transfer the functions, personnel, assets, and capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in existence on the day before the date of enactment of the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act, to the FireGuard Program authorized under this section;
“(2) may direct the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide such assistance as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the FireGuard Program; and
“(3) may not reduce support, or transfer responsibility for support to an interagency partner, for the FireGuard Program authorized under this section.”
Clerical amendment— The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Sec. 4 Amendment to budgeting of Department of Defense relating to extreme weather
Section 328(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 221 note) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;
in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
“(3) a calculation of the annual costs to the Department for assistance provided to—
“(A) the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Federal land management agencies—
“(i) pursuant to requests for such assistance; and
“(ii) approved under the National Interagency Fire Center; and
“(B) any State, Territory, or possession under title 10 or title 32, United States Code, regarding extreme weather.”
Sec. 5 Expanded consultation in training of National Guard personnel on wildfire response
Section 351 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115–91) is amended by inserting “and the National Interagency Fire Center” after “Bureau”.
Sec. 6 Transfer of aircraft to other departments for wildfire suppression and other purposes
Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113–66) is amended—
by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(1); and
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1), by striking “purposes;” and inserting “purposes, search and rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to wildfires; and”;
in paragraph (2), by striking “; and ” and inserting a period; and
by striking paragraph (3).
Sec. 7 Transfer of excess aircraft to other departments of the Federal Government
Section 1091 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) is amended—
by striking subsections (c) and (e) and redesignating subsections (d), (f), and (g) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively;
in subsection (c), as redesignated—
in paragraph (1), by striking “up to seven”; and
by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
“(2) Expiration of right of refusal—A right of refusal afforded the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of Homeland Security under paragraph (1) with regards to an aircraft shall expire upon official notice of such Secretary to the Secretary of Defense that such Secretary declines such aircraft.”
in subsection (d), as redesignated—
in paragraph (1), by inserting “, search and rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to wildfires” after “purposes”; and
in paragraph (2), by inserting “, search and rescue, emergency operations pertaining to wildfires,” after “efforts”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(f) Reporting—Not later than November 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on aircraft transferred, during the fiscal year preceding the date of such report, to—
“(1) the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of Homeland Security under this section;
“(2) the chief executive officer of a State under section 112 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112–81); or
“(3) the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Governor of California, under section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113–66; 127 Stat. 881).”
Sec. 8 Updated review and enhancement of existing authorities for using Air Force and Air National Guard modular airborne fire-fighting systems and other Department of Defense assets to fight wildfires
Section 1058 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108–136; 31 U.S.C. 1535 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(g) Updated review and enhancement
“(1) Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act, the Director shall submit to Congress a report—
“(A) containing the results of a second review conducted under subsection (a) and a second determination made under subsection (b); and
“(B) based on such second determination, describing the new modifications proposed to be made to existing authorities under subsection (c) or (d), including whether there is a need for legislative changes to further improve the procedures for using Department of Defense assets to fight wildfires.
“(2) The new modifications described in paragraph (1)(B) shall not take effect until the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the report is submitted to Congress under this subsection.”
Sec. 9 No reimbursement for use of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency resources during a major disaster
The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may not require the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency to reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for use of resources for any request approved by the Director pertaining to—
a request made by such a Federal agency through the National Interagency Fire Center; or
an area of Federal land affected by extreme weather, as that term is defined in section 328(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 221 note).
Sec. 10 Exemption from Economy Act for certain requests made through the National Interagency Fire Center
Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the “Economy Act”), shall not apply to any assistance provided by the Department of Defense to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency under a request—
made through the National Interagency Fire Center; and
pertaining to an area covered by a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).
Sec. 11 Guidance for use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard
New guidance— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue new guidance that treats the use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard for covered activities in a manner no more restrictive than the use of other aircraft for covered activities.
Covered activities defined— In this section, “covered activities” means the following:
Emergency operations.
Search and rescue operations.
Defense support to civil authorities.
Support under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code.
Sec. 12 Implementation of certain recommendations regarding use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard
Not later than September 30, 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall implement recommendations of the Secretary described in section 519C(a)(2) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283).