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<BillSummaries>
<item congress="114" measure-type="hr" measure-number="2996" measure-id="id114hr2996" originChamber="HOUSE" orig-publish-date="2015-07-09" update-date="2015-10-15">
<title>To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to establish wildfire on Federal lands as a major disaster.</title>
<summary summary-id="id114hr2996v00" currentChamber="HOUSE" update-date="2015-10-15">
<action-date>2015-07-09</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in House</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p>Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to define a "major disaster for wildfire on federal lands" as any wildfire that, in the determination of the President, warrants assistance under this Act to supplement the efforts and resources of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture: (1) on federal lands, or (2) on non-federal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement.</p> <p>Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a request to the President for a declaration that such a major disaster exists. Requires such a request to: </p> <ul> <li>certify that the amount appropriated in the current fiscal year for wildfire suppression operations of the federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary, net of any concurrently enacted rescissions of wildfire suppression funds, increases the total unobligated balance of amounts available for wildfire suppression by an amount equal to or greater than the average total costs incurred by such agencies per year for wildfire suppression operations over the previous 10 fiscal years; </li> <li>certify that the amount available for wildfire suppression operations of the federal land management agencies under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary will be obligated not later than 30 days after such Secretary notifies the President that wildfire suppression funds will be exhausted to fund ongoing and anticipated wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which such request is based; and </li> <li>specify the amount required in the current fiscal year to fund wildfire suppression operations related to the wildfire on which such request is based. </li></ul> <p>Authorizes the President to: (1) declare that such a major disaster exists based on such a request, (2) establish a specific account for assistance pursuant to such a declaration, and (3) transfer funds from such account to the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct wildfire suppression operations on such lands. Requires the respective Secretary to secure reimbursement of transferred amounts used for wildfire suppression operations on non-federal land.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
<dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
<dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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