[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1437 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1437

    To amend title 32, United States Code, to authorize and provide 
 flexibility for the use of the National Guard for support of civilian 
                        firefighting activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2015

Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Tillis, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
Enzi, and Mr. Burr) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
            and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title 32, United States Code, to authorize and provide 
 flexibility for the use of the National Guard for support of civilian 
                        firefighting activities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Modular Airborne Firefighting System 
Flexibility Act''.

SEC. 2. USE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD FOR SUPPORT OF CIVILIAN FIREFIGHTING 
              ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Operational Use Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 1 of title 32, United States Code, 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 116. Operational use: support for civilian firefighting 
              activities
    ``(a) Basis of Authority.--The authority in this section is based 
on a recognition of the basic premises of the National Incident 
Management System and the National Response Framework that--
            ``(1) incidents are typically managed at the local level 
        first; and
            ``(2) local jurisdictions retain command, control, and 
        authority over response activities for their jurisdictional 
        areas.
    ``(b) Assistance to Civilian Firefighting Organizations 
Authorized.--Members and units of the National Guard are authorized to 
support firefighting operations, missions, or activities, including 
aerial firefighting employment of the Modular Airborne Firefighting 
System (MAFFS), undertaken in support of a Federal or State agency or 
other civilian authority.
    ``(c) Role of Governor and State Adjutant General.--For the 
purposes of subsection (a)--
            ``(1) the Governor of a State shall be the principal 
        civilian authority; and
            ``(2) the adjutant general of the State--
                    ``(A) shall be the principal military authority, 
                when acting in the adjutant general's State capacity; 
                and
                    ``(B) has the primary authority to mobilize members 
                and units of the National Guard of the State in any 
                duty status under this title the adjutant general 
                considers appropriate to employ necessary forces when 
                funds to perform such operations, missions, or 
                activities are reimbursed.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by adding at 
        the end the following new item:

``116. Operational use: support for civilian firefighting 
                            activities.''.
    (b) Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) Support.--Section 328(b) of such 
title is amended by inserting ``duty as specified in section 116(b) of 
this title or may perform'' after ``subsection (a) may perform''.
    (c) Federal Technician Support.--Section 709(a)(3) of such is 
amended by inserting ``duty as specified in section 116(b) of this 
title or'' after ``the performance of'' the first place it appears.
            (1) To authorize and provide flexibility for the use of the 
        National Guard for support of civilian firefighting activities.
                                 <all>