National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021
Latest action · Oct 21, 2021 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-455.
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.
- IntroducedMay 20, 2021
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to significantly increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted on federal lands.
Before the end of FY2023, Interior and USDA shall each have carried out a minimum of one prescribed fire on each unit of the National Forest System (with exceptions), unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, unit of the National Park System, and Bureau of Land Management district (1) that includes an area that has a historical low-severity fire regime, has a historical fire-return interval of not more than 35 years, and is larger than 100 acres; and (2) less than half of which was burned by a wildland fire during the previous 10-year period.
Interior shall establish a collaborative prescribed fire program to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to conduct prescribed fires in priority landscapes.
Interior shall establish an incentive program to encourage the implementation of large, cross-boundary prescribed fires.
Interior and USDA shall hire additional employees and provide training to increase the number of skilled and qualified prescribed fire practitioners in the departments and other organizations.
To address the public health and safety risk of the expanded use of prescribed fire, USDA and Interior shall conduct research to improve or develop, among other things, cost-effective, and consistent mitigation strategies for communities impacted adversely by smoke from prescribed fire.
Cosponsors 4
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 20, 2021 to Mar 14, 2022; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | May 20, 2021 |
| D-WV | Joe Manchin III | Original | May 20, 2021 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | May 20, 2021 |
| D-CA | Alex Padilla | Mar 14, 2022 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Referred May 20, 2021Hearings Oct 21, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 21, 2021Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-455.
- May 20, 2021Introduced in Senate
- May 20, 2021Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 117-455 | PENDING LEGISLATION149 pages | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Oct 21, 2021 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3442 | National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021 | Related bill | Jul 9, 2021 |
| S 4625 | National Prescribed Fire Act of 2020 | Reintroduction of | Nov 18, 2020 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Air quality
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of the Interior
- Ecology
- Emergency planning and evacuation
- Employee hiring
- Employment and training programs
- Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
- Fires
- First responders and emergency personnel
- Forests, forestry, trees
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government liability
- Government trust funds
- Indian lands and resources rights
- Intergovernmental relations
- Marketing and advertising
- Parks, recreation areas, trails
- Public contracts and procurement
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- State and local government operations
- Temporary and part-time employment
- Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
- Wages and earnings
- Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
- Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 20, 2021Introduced in Senate
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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
