118 S796 IS: Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023 U.S. Senate 2023-03-14 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.

II118th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 796IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESMarch 14, 2023Ms. Lummis (for herself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public WorksA BILLTo exempt discharges of fire retardant by Federal land management agencies, State governments, political subdivisions of States, and Tribal governments from the permitting requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023.

2.

Permitting requirements for certain discharges of fire retardant

(a)

Definition of Federal land management agency

In this section, the term Federal land management agency means—(1)the Forest Service;(2)the National Park Service;(3)the Bureau of Land Management;(4)the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;(5)the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and(6)the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (b)

No permitting required

Notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), a permit under section 402 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) shall not be required for the discharge of fire retardant in connection with fire suppression, control, or prevention activities carried out by a Federal land management agency, a State government, a political subdivision of a State, or a Tribal government.