Fire Department Repayment Act of 2022

Fire Department Repayment Act of 2022

This bill requires standard operating procedures for reciprocal fire suppression cost share agreements.

The Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, Homeland Security, and Defense shall

• establish standard operating procedures relating to fire suppression cost share agreements established under the Reciprocal Fire Protection Act; and
• with respect to each agreement in operation on one year after enactment of this bill, review each agreement and modify it as necessary to comply with the standard operating procedures.

The standard operating procedures shall include a requirement that each fire suppression cost share agreement be aligned with each of the cooperative fire protection agreements applicable to the entity subject to such fire suppression cost share agreement.

The standard operating procedures shall also include

• a requirement that the departments, to the maximum extent practicable, complete reviews, including second-level reviews of a fire suppression cost share agreement, as soon as practicable after a wildfire related to the area covered by such cost share agreement is contained; and
• a requirement that in completing such reviews, the department concerned consults with state and local fire suppression organizations.