1.This Act may be cited as
the Fire Safe Communities Act of
2009
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term fire hazard area means an area at
significant risk from wildland fire as determined by—
(A)the applicable
State forestry agency or equivalent State agency; or
(B)the Under
Secretary.
(2)The term fire safe community means—
(A)a subdivision of
a State that has adopted a national wildland fire code, standard, or ordinance;
or
(B)a municipality at
risk that has adopted local ordinances that—
(i)are
consistent with more than one of the elements set out in paragraph (4)(C)(ii);
and
(ii)the Under
Secretary determines provide generally accepted levels of fire
protection.
(3)The term municipality at risk means a
subdivision of a State that is located in, or contains, a fire hazard
area.
(4)National
wildland fire code, standard, or ordinanceThe term
national wildland fire code, standard, or ordinance means—
(A)the most recent
publication of National Fire Protection Association code number 1141, 1142, or
1144;
(B)the most recent
publication of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code of the
International Code Council; or
(C)any other code
which—
(i)the Under
Secretary determines provides the same, or better, standards for protection
against wildland fire as a code described in subparagraph (A) or (B);
and
(ii)may
include—
(I)specifications
for construction materials and techniques for use in municipalities at
risk;
(II)guidelines for
the placement of utilities, defensible space, and vegetation management;
(III)enforcement
mechanisms for compliance with defensible space requirements;
(IV)zoning and site
design standards for new residential construction, including the width and
placement of surrounding fuel breaks and description of unsafe areas to locate
new homes, such as the top of highly dangerous canyons that funnel wildfire
heat;
(V)specifications
for water supplies for firefighting;
(VI)requirements for
adequate firefighting protection, including requirements for fire stations and
equipment;
(VII)guidelines for
the participation of fire professionals in the development of local fire
protection models;
(VIII)standards for
the protection of roads and bridges;
(IX)standards for
the egress capacities of roads and bridges;
(X)guidelines for
the marking of buildings and homes; and
(XI)requirements for
the replacement of combustible roofing material on existing homes.
(5)The term Under Secretary means the Under
Secretary for Federal Emergency Management of the Department of Homeland
Security.
3.Additional fire
management assistance grants for fire safe communities
(a)The Under Secretary may reduce the amount of the share of
non-Federal funds required by the Fire Management Assistance Grant Program to
10 percent of the grant amount for a municipality at risk if such municipality
has adopted a—
(1)national wildland
fire code, standard, or ordinance; or
(2)local ordinance,
standard, or code that requires the retrofit of existing construction that
provides for increased protection for the municipality from the threat of
wildfire, such as a requirement to replace combustible roofing material used in
existing structures.
(b)Not
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under
Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a final rule that includes a
definition of the term local ordinance, standard, or code that requires
the retrofit of existing construction that provides for increased protection
for the municipality from the threat of wildfire
as used in subsection
(a)(2).
(c)Fire management
assistance grant program definedIn this section, the term
Fire Management Assistance Grant Program means the fire management
assistance grant program carried out pursuant to section 420 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187).
4.Grants for
responsible development
(a)Subject to the availability of funds for this purpose,
the Under Secretary shall award grants to municipalities at risk—
(1)to encourage
responsible development in such municipalities;
(2)to mitigate the
catastrophic effects of fires; and
(3)to encourage the
retrofit of existing wildfire-prone structures.
(b)Grants awarded under
this section may be used as follows:
(1)To enforce
requirements related to hazardous fuel reduction or brush clearing requirements
on private land.
(2)To enforce
requirements related to residential construction or the code-inspection of new
and existing construction with respect to wildland fire.
(3)To award
subgrants to be used for the replacement of combustible roofs with roofs made
of non-combustible roofing material, or for enclosing eaves according to the
standards recommended.
(4)To carry out
programs to educate community planners and zoning officials on historic
wildfire patterns and fire-resistant community planning.
(c)The amount of a grant awarded under this section may not
exceed $1,000,000.
(d)
(1)An application for a grant under this section shall be
made at such time and in such manner as the Under Secretary shall
require.
(2)
(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the Under Secretary shall
require that a person awarded a grant under this section for a purpose
described in subsection (a) provide non-Federal funds in an amount equal to 25
percent of the amount of such grant for such purpose.
(B)The
Under Secretary may waive the requirement of subparagraph (A) in extraordinary
circumstances.
(3)Applications
for grants under this section shall be reviewed by a panel of individuals
who—
(A)(i)are fire protection
experts; or
(ii)have significant expertise in fire
management, fire policy, community planning, or issues related to a fire hazard
area; and
(B)are appointed by
the Under Secretary.
(4)The
panel under paragraph (3) shall give priority to the application for a grant
under this section of a municipality at risk that has adopted an ordinance that
requires the mandatory replacement of combustible roofing materials on existing
structures.
(e)A grant awarded under
this section shall be expended not later than 3 years after the date the grant
is awarded.
(f)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for fiscal
year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter.
5.Forest Service
and Department of the Interior grantsSection 10A of the Cooperative Forestry
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106c) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(a)—
(A)in the matter
preceding paragraph (1)—
(i)by
inserting and the Secretary of the Interior
after The
Secretary
; and
(ii)by
striking State foresters and equivalent State officials
and
inserting State foresters, equivalent State officials, and local
officials
;
(B)in paragraph
(3)—
(i)by
striking trees and forests
and inserting trees, forests,
and rangelands
; and
(ii)by
inserting and rangeland
after overall forest
;
and
(C)in paragraph
(4)—
(i)by
inserting and rangeland
after all forest
;
and
(ii)by
inserting and other vegetation
after forest
cover
;
(2)in subsection
(b)—
(A)in paragraph
(1)—
(i)in
subparagraph (C), by striking and
at the end;
(ii)in
subparagraph (D), by striking wildfires.
and inserting
wildfires; and
; and
(iii)by adding at
the end the following new subparagraph:
(E)to enhance the
capacity of local governments to integrate fire-resistant community and home
design into local planning, zoning, building codes, property maintenance codes,
and brush clearing ordinances.
;
(B)by amending
paragraph (2) to read as follows:
(2)Administration
and implementationThe Program shall be—
(A)administered by
the Chief of the Forest Service and the Secretary of the Interior; and
(B)implemented
through State foresters or equivalent State
officials.
;
(C)in paragraph
(3)—
(i)in
the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking Secretary,
and inserting Secretary and the Secretary of the
Interior,
;
(ii)by
redesignating subparagraphs (F), (G), and (H) as subparagraphs (G), (H), and
(I), respectively; and
(iii)by inserting
after subparagraph (E) the following:
(F)programs to build
the capacity of local governments to design and maintain fire-resistant
communities;
;
(D)in paragraph (4),
by inserting or the Secretary of the Interior
after by
the Secretary
; and
(E)in paragraph (5),
by inserting and the Secretary of the Interior
after The
Secretary
;
(3)by redesignating
subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively;
(4)by inserting
after subsection (b), the following new subsection (c):
(c)Pilot program
for fire safe communities To coordinate across jurisdictional
boundaries
(1)The
Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior may carry out a pilot program to
assess the feasibility and advisability of awarding grants to fire safe
communities located near Federal land to assist in Federal efforts to prevent
and manage fires.
(2)A grant awarded under the pilot program may be used as
follows:
(A)To implement or
enforce local ordinances consistent with a nationally recognized wildland fire
code, standard, or ordinance.
(B)To complete
cooperative fire agreements that articulate the roles and responsibilities for
Federal, State, and local government entities in local wildfire suppression and
protection.
(C)To develop or
implement community wildfire protection plans to better focus resources to
address priority areas for hazardous fuels reduction projects.
(D)To expand
education programs to raise the awareness of homeowners and citizens of
wildland fire protection practices.
(E)To implement
training programs for firefighters on wildland firefighting techniques and
mitigation strategies.
(F)To acquire
equipment to facilitate wildland fire preparedness and mitigation.
(3)
(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), a person awarded a grant
under the pilot program to assist in Federal efforts to prevent and manage
fires shall provide non-Federal funds in an amount equal to 25 percent of the
amount of such grant for such purpose.
(B)The
Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior may waive the requirements of
subparagraph (A) in extraordinary circumstances.
(4)Fire safe
community definedIn this subsection, the term fire safe
community has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the
Fire Safe Communities Act of
2009.
;
(5)in subsection
(d), as redesignated by paragraph (3), by inserting and the Secretary of
the Interior
after section, the Secretary
; and
(6)in subsection
(e), as redesignated by paragraph (3)—
(A)in the matter
preceding paragraph (1), by striking to the Secretary
;
(B)in paragraph (1),
by striking and
at the end; and
(C)by striking
paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
(2)to the
Secretary—
(A)$35,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013; and
(B)such sums as are
necessary for each fiscal year thereafter; and
(3)to the Secretary
of the Interior—
(A)$15,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013; and
(B)such sums as are
necessary for each fiscal year
thereafter.
.