116 HR 1242 IH: Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023 U.S. House of Representatives 2023-02-28 text/xml EN 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.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 1242IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFebruary 28, 2023Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Jacobs, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Transportation and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023.

2.

Requirement of Secretary of Defense to reimburse State costs of fighting certain wildland fires

Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking may and inserting shall.

3.

Authorization for FireGuard Program

(a)

Authority

Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

510.

Authorization for FireGuard Program

(a)

Authorization

The Secretary of Defense may use members of the National Guard to carry out a program to aggregate, analyze, and assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to support any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program shall be known as the FireGuard Program.(b)

Resources; limitation

If the Secretary carries out a program under this section, the Secretary—(1)shall transfer the functions, personnel, assets, and capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in existence on the day before the date of enactment of the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023, to the FireGuard Program authorized under this section;(2)may direct the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide such assistance as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the FireGuard Program; and(3)may not reduce support, or transfer responsibility for support to an interagency partner, for the FireGuard Program authorized under this section.

.(b)

Clerical amendment

The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:510. Authorization for FireGuard Program..(c)

Conforming amendment

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117–81) is amended by striking section 515.

4.

Transfer of aircraft to other departments for wildfire suppression and other purposes

Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113–66) is amended—(1)in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) by striking the seven demilitarized HC–130H aircraft specified in subparagraph (C) and inserting not fewer than seven demilitarized HC–130H aircraft;(2)by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(1);(3)in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking not more and insert not fewer; and(4)in subsection (c)—(A)in paragraph (1), by striking purposes; and inserting purposes, search and rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to wildfires; and;(B)in paragraph (2), by striking ; and and inserting a period; and(C)by striking paragraph (3).

5.

No reimbursement for use of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency resources during a major disaster

The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may not require the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency to reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for use of resources for any request approved by the Director pertaining to—(1)a request made by such a Federal agency through the National Interagency Fire Center; or(2)an area of Federal land affected by extreme weather, as that term is defined in section 328(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 221 note).

6.

Exemption from Economy Act for certain requests made through the National Interagency Fire Center

Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the Economy Act), shall not apply to any assistance provided by the Department of Defense to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency under a request—(1)made through the National Interagency Fire Center; and(2)pertaining to an area covered by a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).

7.

Guidance for use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard

(a)

New guidance

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue new guidance that treats the use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard for covered activities in a manner no more restrictive than the use of other aircraft for covered activities.(b)

Covered activities defined

In this section, covered activities means the following:(1)Emergency operations.(2)Search and rescue operations.(3)Defense support to civil authorities.(4)Support under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code.

8.

Study on use of CH–47 Chinooks to respond to wildfires

Not later one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report—(1)on the feasibility and effectiveness of using CH–47 Chinooks with firefighting modifications to—(A)respond to wildfires; and(B)perform search and rescue activities; and(2)that identifies the governmental organizations (including Federal, State, and local government organizations) that would be most effective with respect to using the aircraft described in paragraph (1) to carry out the activities specified in that paragraph.