US Codex
Bill
Notes

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

H.R. 6903 · 117th Congress · Mar 2, 2022 · Lineage

A BILL

Section 1 Suppression of wildfires

(a)
In general— The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service—
(1)
shall—
(A)
to the maximum extent practicable—
(i)
use all available resources to carry out wildfire suppression with the purpose of extinguishing wildfires detected on National Forest System lands not later than 24 hours after such a wildfire is detected; and
(ii)
immediately suppress any prescribed fire that exceeds prescription;
(B)
not inhibit the suppression efforts of State or local firefighting agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfire on National Forest System lands;
(2)
may only use fire as a resource management tool if the fire is a prescribed fire that complies with applicable law and regulations;
(3)
may only initiate a backfire or burnout during a wildfire by order of the responsible incident commander; and
(4)
shall control any such initiated backfire or burnout until extinguished.
(b)
Penalty— Any person aggrieved by a violation of paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a) may bring a civil action against the United States in the appropriate Federal district court for actual damages.