Establishing the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee

In contrast to effective ground-level coordination with States, including at the National Interagency Fire Center on suppression activity and the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) on Federal-State policy coordination, agencies do not adequately or effectively coordinate with each other at the policy level to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire severity. This order will ensure that agencies effectively work together in coordinating Federal wildland fire management policy to improve funding allocations for hazardous fuel projects, performance measures for suppression operations and hazardous fuels mitigation, procurement, Federal-State cooperation and cost sharing, cross-jurisdictional post-wildfire rehabilitation, monitoring of electric transmission lines and other critical infrastructure, and other functions.

(a) Improve coordination among agencies on wildland fire management policy, implementation, and oversight issues;

(b) Reduce unnecessary duplication across the Federal Government by coordinating and consolidating existing wildland fire-related councils, working groups, and other formal cross-agency initiatives, as appropriate;

(c) Efficiently and effectively manage preparedness resources, initial attack response, extended attack and large-fire support, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and hazardous fuels at a cross-boundary, landscape scale;

(d) Promote integrated planning and procurement among agencies for Federal investments in wildland fire management infrastructure;

(e) Support workforce development and efforts to recruit, train, and retain Federal wildland firefighters to efficiently and effectively respond to wildfire on public lands, and to protect life, property, and community infrastructure; and

(f) Coordinate Federal engagement with State, local, and tribal government entities, including Federal policy positions in the WFLC.

(a) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior (Co-Chairs), and shall include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), and the heads of such other agencies, or their designated representatives, as the Co-Chairs deem appropriate.

(b) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall meet quarterly.

(a) Effectively managing preparedness resources, initial attack response, extended attack and large-fire support, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and hazardous fuels at a cross-boundary, landscape scale;

(b) Developing and adopting additional hazardous fuels performance measures that go beyond the traditional output reporting of total acreage for fuel removal to transparently demonstrate a strategic focus on projects that, by consensus agreement, pose the highest risks to life, property, and community infrastructure;

(c) Developing and adopting additional wildland fire suppression operations performance measures for large wildfires, and for aviation asset deployment, that go beyond the traditional output reporting of acres burned, dollars spent, and gallons of retardant dropped to demonstrate strategic use of high-cost human capital, equipment, and aircraft as opposed to traditional reliance on overwhelming force;

(d) Developing and adopting new technologies to bring to bear cutting-edge management of the wildland fire program to improve the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of suppression operations;

(e) Developing and adopting data-driven decision-making in order to support infrastructure, allowing for better integration of wildland fire research and development into ground-level suppression operations and hazardous fuel mitigation;

(f) Evaluating personnel policies to ensure that they allow for the year-round availability of a well-trained firefighting force at all levels, from apprentice to incident command, and the most efficient division of responsibility between line officers and incident commanders to support wildfire response and hazardous fuels reduction;

(g) Strengthening government and industry collaboration with critical infrastructure owners and operators, including electric utilities, to better manage and mitigate risks, improve and invest in technology research and development, deploy technologies in concert with the private sector, exchange lessons learned in training and monitoring capabilities, and share operational practices;

(h) Examining regulatory and other issues that negatively impact hazardous fuel reduction and post-wildfire rehabilitation program performance, including coordination across agencies on projects requiring compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ;

(i) Coordinating among Federal land managers to assure efficient and consistent approaches between agencies to review and approve utility vegetation management actions to improve or maintain the reliability of the grid or reduce wildfire risk; and

(j) Developing a coordinated budget strategy that addresses the trade-offs between suppression, preparedness, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and fuels treatment to ensure a balanced commitment of resources and investment in areas at risk or affected by wildfire.

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.