[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2353 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2353

To provide for cost-share waivers for projects carried out in response 
 to wildland fires caused by certain Government actions, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2023

 Mr. Lujan (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for cost-share waivers for projects carried out in response 
 to wildland fires caused by certain Government actions, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Responsible Wildland Fire Recovery 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to ensure that victims of wildland fires 
resulting from management activities conducted by the Department of 
Agriculture on National Forest System land are eligible to receive 100 
percent funding for the cost of remediating direct and indirect damages 
under authorized Federal recovery programs.

SEC. 3. COST-SHARE WAIVER FOR REHABILITATION FROM WILDLAND FIRES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered matching requirement.--The term ``covered 
        matching requirement'' means a requirement under a program of 
        the Secretary for wildland fire recovery for a State, Indian 
        Tribe, locality, or individual to provide matching funds, in 
        cash, for a project.
            (2) Covered wildland fire.--The term ``covered wildland 
        fire'' means a wildland fire that the Secretary determines to 
        be a result of management activities conducted by the Secretary 
        on National Forest System land.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (4) Wildland fire.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``wildland fire'' means 
                any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation or 
                natural fuels.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``wildland fire'' 
                includes wildfire, prescribed fire, and any direct or 
                indirect damage resulting in watershed impairment.
    (b) Waiver.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary may waive any covered matching requirement for a project in 
response to a covered wildland fire that is in an area affected by that 
covered wildland fire.
                                 <all>