Emergency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008
Latest action · Nov 19, 2008 Referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 14, 2008
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Emergency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008 - Establishes a Federal Wildland Fire Emergency Suppression Fund to cover the costs of federal wildland fire suppression activities associated with a declared emergency wildland fire incident.
Sets forth the criteria for which declarations of emergency wildland fire incidents may be made under this Act. Requires a declaration of such an incident to only be made by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or a designee of the Secretary concerned at the subcabinet level.
Allows the Secretary concerned to only access the Fund if the President's annual budget requested funds for wildland fire operations amounting to at least the ten-fiscal year average of expenditures for wildland fire operations.Requires the Secretaries to jointly report every six months on expenditures from and deposits to the Fund.
Permits any excess funds for wildland fire operations to be transferred to support reforestation and rehabilitation of forests following wildland fires. Limits the areas in which such funds may be expended.
Requires review of wildfire incidents resulting in expenses greater than $10 million.
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a national map of landscape areas most at risk of wildfire and in need of hazardous fuel treatment and maintenance.
Authorizes such Secretary to: (1) provide cost-share grants to fire-ready communities to increase their capacity to defend against wildland fire; and (2) enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with a State Forester or equivalent official to implement good neighbor projects on such lands.
Cosponsors 11
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 14, 2008 to Jul 15, 2008, with 6 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-ID | Bill Sali | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| R-AK | Don Young | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| D-CA | Joe Baca | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| D-CO | John T. Salazar | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| R-UT | Rob Bishop | Original | Mar 14, 2008 |
| D-SD | Stephanie Herseth Sandlin | Apr 9, 2008 | |
| R-OR | Greg Walden | Apr 17, 2008 | |
| R-WY | Barbara Cubin | Apr 30, 2008 | |
| D-ME | Michael H. Michaud | May 7, 2008 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Jul 15, 2008 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 19, 2008Referred to the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
- Apr 10, 2008Committee Hearings Held.
- Mar 14, 2008Introduced in House
- Mar 14, 2008Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Mar 14, 2008Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E415-416)
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
- Congress
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Economics and Public Finance
- Emergency Management
- Federal budgets
- Federal-state relations
- Fire prevention
- Forest fires
- Forest management
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government trust funds
- Grants-in-aid
- Maps
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Reforestation
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 14, 2008Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.