---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 551d"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "551d"
heading: "Wildland firefighter safety"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/551d"
units:
  - "Chapter 3 — Forests; Forest Service; Reforestation; Management"
  - "Subchapter I — General Provisions"
---

# §551d. Wildland firefighter safety

- (a) **Definitions—** In this section:
  - (1) **Secretaries—** The term “[Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3)” means—
    - (A) the [Secretary](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3) of the Interior, acting through the Directors of the Bureau of Land Management, the United States [Fish and Wildlife](/usc/16/3102.md?p=17) Service, the National [Park](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-3) Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
    - (B) the [Secretary](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3) of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
  - (2) **Wildland firefighter—** The term “wildland firefighter” means any [person](/usc/16/450rr–1.md?p=b) who participates in wildland firefighting activities—
    - (A) under the direction of either of the [Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3); or
    - (B) under a contract or compact with a federally recognized Indian tribe.
- (b) **Annual report to Congress—**
  - (1) **In general—** The [Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3) shall jointly submit to Congress an annual report on the wildland firefighter safety practices of the [Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3), including training programs and activities for wildland fire suppression, prescribed burning, and wildland fire use, during the preceding calendar year.
  - (2) **Timeline—** Each report under [paragraph (1)](#b-1) shall—
    - (A) be submitted by not later than March of the year following the calendar year covered by the report; and
    - (B) include—
      - (i) a description of, and any changes to, wildland firefighter safety practices, including training programs and activities for wildland fire suppression, prescribed burning, and wildland fire use;
      - (ii) statistics and trend analyses;
      - (iii) an estimate of the amount of Federal funds expended by the [Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3) on wildland firefighter safety practices, including training programs and activities for wildland fire suppression, prescribed burning, and wildland fire use;
      - (iv) progress made in implementing recommendations from the Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or an agency report relating to a wildland firefighting fatality issued during the preceding 10 years; and
      - (v) a description of—
        - (I) the provisions relating to wildland firefighter safety practices in any Federal contract or other agreement governing the provision of wildland firefighters by a non-Federal entity;
        - (II) a summary of any actions taken by the [Secretaries](/usc/16/580p.md?p=3) to ensure that the provisions relating to safety practices, including training, are complied with by the non-Federal entity; and
        - (III) the results of those actions.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 111–11, title III, § 3101, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1127.)