[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Sullivan):
  S. 485. A bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to provide hazard 
mitigation assistance for mitigating and preventing post-wildfire 
flooding and debris flow, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. PADILLA, Madam President, I rise to introduce the Fire 
Suppression and Response Funding Act and the Hazard and Flooding 
Mitigation Funding Equity Act, two bills that would help both 
California and our Nation meet the increasing challenges posed by 
natural disasters.
  Currently, FEMA's Fire Management Assistance Grant, FMAG, program is 
available to State, local, and Tribal governments for the mitigation, 
management, and control of fires that threaten such destruction that 
they would constitute a major disaster.
  However, current law does not account for extreme circumstances like 
consecutive events or have any flexibility like other Federal 
assistance programs and only allows for reimbursement of expenses 
incurred after an FMAG is granted.
  The Fire Suppression and Response Funding Act would explicitly allow 
for FMAGs to cover the predeployment of assets and resources during 
times of extreme risk before a catastrophic fire breaks out. These 
predeployed assets are critical tools to help State, local, and Tribal 
governments suppress and contain a fire in its early stages before it 
constitutes a major disaster declaration.
  Additionally, this bill states that the Federal cost share of FMAGs 
shall be not less than 75 percent of the eligible cost of such 
assistance, making FMAGs consistent with other FEMA disaster assistance 
and allowing for necessary flexibility to address consecutive wildfires 
in the same area. This bill does not mandate any cost share increase 
but simply allows for flexibility as FEMA considers FMAGs on an 
incident-by-incident basis.
  As we have seen in the West, wildfires strip away vegetation in the 
form of burn scars, leaving the soil vulnerable to erosion and 
mudslides. When these burn scars are met with heavy rainfall, they 
often produce debris flows of loose mud, soil, and rock that pose 
serious threats to life, property, and public infrastructure. Post-fire 
events of this type are well documented throughout Southern California 
and across the Western United States. After the most recent atmospheric 
river event in California, thousands of people were evacuated due to 
large scale flooding and fears of debris flows in areas recently 
affected by wildfires.
  The Hazard and Flooding Mitigation Funding Equity Act would make 
FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, HMGP, which covers flood 
protection, consistent with other FEMA disaster assistance by stating 
that the Federal cost share of HMGP shall be not less than 75 percent 
of the eligible cost of such assistance. This bill does not mandate any 
increase but simply allows for flexibility and increased Federal 
assistance where necessary to address concurrent extreme weather and 
wildfire events.
  This bill will better support State and local governments to rebuild 
and mitigate future risk from flooding like we saw recently in 
California and postfire risks we have seen across the West.
  These bills represent commonsense ways to proactively mitigate, 
effectively respond, and equitably recover from disasters. I look 
forward to working with my colleagues to enact them as soon as 
possible.
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