[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S55-S56]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. Daines):
  S. 21. A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to 
modify the definition of the term ``at-risk community'' ; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the 
Community Wildfire Protection Act, bipartisan legislation that Senator 
Daines and I are reintroducing today.
  This bill would ensure that those communities that are deemed to be 
under the greatest threat from wildfire are eligible to receive 
existing Federal wildfire grants. This sounds obvious but unfortunately 
is not the case under current law.
  The current definition of an ``at-risk community'' was codified in 
the 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act. That law requires that, in 
addition to experiencing significant wildfire risk, an eligible 
community must either be adjacent to Federal land or included on a list 
generated in 2001 consisting of voluntary input from States and Tribes.
  Unfortunately, this 2001 list is far from objective or comprehensive. 
Communities on the list were not added based on an objective evaluation 
of their wildfire risk or threat to life and property, only whether an 
individual Governor or Tribal leader decided to add them. To make 
matters worse, there are obvious omissions from the list that show its 
inadequacy, and in fact, 19 States and territories never submitted a 
single community.

[[Page S56]]

  For example, large California cities such as Fresno, Fairfield, and 
Napa are not encompassed by this definition, all of which have 
experienced recent major wildfires. The list also omits Grizzly Flats, 
CA, which was devastated by the 2021 Caldor Fire, despite its proximity 
to Federal lands, as well as countless other small towns at great risk 
of wildfire.
  These small, rural towns are frequently at the highest risk of 
wildfire and lack the resources to undertake wildfire resiliency 
projects on their own. Obviously, these are some of the towns that 
would most benefit from addition Federal help but because of the 
outdated definition, may not be eligible.
  Aligning the definition in law for at-risk communities to today's 
environmental realities is more important than ever given the increased 
spread, frequency, and destructiveness of wildfires, especially in the 
West.
  Our bill would simply end the practice of making Federal grants 
contingent on this outdated, incomplete list or proximity to Federal 
lands. Instead, our legislation would allow communities to be eligible 
based on the most up-to-date quantitative wildfire risk data for the 
entire United States--data already maintained by the U.S. Forest 
Service.
  The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $1 billion 
for community wildfire resilience grants, and last year's Inflation 
Reduction Act included an historic $1.8 billion for wildfire resilience 
on federal forestlands. Congress has done the work of providing funding 
for wildfire resilience. Now it must ensure that these projects can be 
targeted where they are most necessary and completed with the swiftness 
that the wildfire crisis demands.
  I am pleased to work with Senator Daines on this commonsense bill 
that will save lives, save communities, and ensure that Federal dollars 
are spent as effectively as possible. This change would help more 
communities in our home States of California and Montana and others 
throughout the West access Federal grants to reduce hazardous fuels 
around their communities and utilize authorities to complete them in a 
timely fashion, thereby reducing the threat posed by wildfire.
  I am proud that our bill has received the support of the National 
Association of Counties, Rural County Representatives of California, 
the National Association of State Foresters, the Pacific Forest Trust, 
and the California Fire Safe Council.
  Our bill is simple, but it would correct a glaring oversight in 
current law and ensure that billions of dollars in wildfire resiliency 
funding are applied where they are most needed. I urge my colleagues to 
cosponsor this legislation.
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