Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fire Recovery Improvement Act”.
Fire Recovery Improvement Act
A BILL
To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act to allow additional flood prevention measures on certain lands, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Additional flood prevention measures
The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“16. Additional flood prevention measures
“(a) Forest Service lands—In carrying out this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, may—
“(1) carry out activities on eligible lands to address the effects of flooding in downstream communities; and
“(2) carry out activities to mitigate potential effects of flooding in downstream communities upon the receipt of an independent hydraulic study that shows that severe and repetitive flooding is likely in such communities.
“(b) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) Downstream community—The term downstream community means a community that—
“(A) is located on land not under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service; and
“(B) is threatened by post-wildfire flooding in such community due to a post-wildfire burn scar on adjacent or upstream Forest Service lands.
“(2) Eligible land—The term eligible land means land that is—
“(A) located in a county in which less than 50 percent of the land is privately owned; and
“(B) under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service.”