[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4249-H4251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ACCURATELY COUNTING RISK ELIMINATION SOLUTIONS ACT

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1567) to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous 
fuels reduction activities, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1567

       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 ``Accurately Counting Risk 
     Elimination Solutions Act'' or the ``ACRES Act''.

     SEC. 2. ACCURATE HAZARDOUS FUELS REDUCTION REPORTS.

       (a) Inclusion of Hazardous Fuels Reduction Report in 
     Materials Submitted in Support of the President's Budget.--
       (1) In general.--Beginning with the first fiscal year that 
     begins after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each 
     fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall include 
     in the materials submitted in support of the President's 
     budget pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United States 
     Code, a report on the number of acres of Federal land on 
     which the Secretary concerned carried out hazardous fuels 
     reduction activities during the preceding fiscal year.
       (2) Requirements.--For purposes of the report required 
     under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall--
       (A) in determining the number of acres of Federal land on 
     which the Secretary concerned carried out hazardous fuels 
     reduction activities during the period covered by the 
     report--
       (i) record acres of Federal land on which hazardous fuels 
     reduction activities were completed during such period; and
       (ii) record each acre described in clause (i) once in the 
     report, regardless of whether multiple hazardous fuels 
     reduction activities were carried out on such acre during 
     such period; and
       (B) with respect to the acres of Federal land recorded in 
     the report, include information on--
       (i) which such acres are located in the wildland-urban 
     interface;
       (ii) the level of wildfire risk (high, moderate, or low) on 
     the first and last day of the period covered by the report;
       (iii) the types of hazardous fuels activities completed for 
     such acres, delineating between whether such activities were 
     conducted--

       (I) in a wildfire managed for resource benefits; or
       (II) through a planned project;

       (iv) the cost per acre of hazardous fuels activities 
     carried out during the period covered by the report;
       (v) the region or system unit in which the acres are 
     located; and
       (vi) the effectiveness of the hazardous fuels reduction 
     activities on reducing the risk of wildfire.
       (3) Transparency.--The Secretary concerned shall make each 
     report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly available on 
     the website of the Department of Agriculture and the 
     Department of the Interior, as applicable.
       (b) Accurate Data Collection.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall 
     implement standardized procedures for tracking data related 
     to hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out by the 
     Secretary concerned.
       (2) Elements.--The standardized procedures required under 
     paragraph (1) shall include--
       (A) regular, standardized data reviews of the accuracy and 
     timely input of data used to track hazardous fuels reduction 
     activities;
       (B) verification methods that validate whether such data 
     accurately correlates to the hazardous fuels reduction 
     activities carried out by the Secretary concerned;
       (C) an analysis of the short- and long-term effectiveness 
     of the hazardous fuels reduction activities on reducing the 
     risk of wildfire; and
       (D) for hazardous fuels reduction activities that occur 
     partially within the wildland-urban interface, methods to 
     distinguish which acres are located within the wildland-urban 
     interface and which acres are located outside the wildland-
     urban interface.
       (3) Report.--Not later than 2 weeks after implementing the 
     standardized procedures required under paragraph (1), the 
     Secretary concerned shall submit to Congress a report that 
     describes--
       (A) such standardized procedures; and
       (B) program and policy recommendations to Congress to 
     address any limitations in tracking data related to hazardous 
     fuels reduction activities under this subsection.
       (c) GAO Study.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall--
       (1) conduct a study on the implementation of this Act, 
     including any limitations with respect to--
       (A) reporting hazardous fuels reduction activities under 
     subsection (a); or
       (B) tracking data related to hazardous fuels reduction 
     activities under subsection (b); and
       (2) submit to Congress a report that describes the results 
     of the study under paragraph (1).
       (d) Definitions.--In this Act:
       (1) Hazardous fuels reduction activity.--The term 
     ``hazardous fuels reduction activity''--
       (A) means any vegetation management activity to reduce the 
     risk of wildfire, including mechanical treatments and 
     prescribed burning; and
       (B) does not include the awarding of contracts to conduct 
     hazardous fuels reduction activities.
       (2) Federal lands.--The term ``Federal lands'' means lands 
     under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or 
     the Secretary of Agriculture.
       (3) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
     means--
       (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National 
     Forest System lands; and
       (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public 
     lands and units of the National Park System.
       (4) Wildland-urban interface.--The term ``wildland-urban 
     interface'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of 
     the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
       (e) No Additional Funds Authorized.--No additional funds 
     are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act, and 
     the activities authorized by this Act are subject to the 
     availability of appropriations made in advance for such 
     purposes.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 1567, as amended, the bill now 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arkansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Representative Tiffany's 
legislation, H.R. 1567, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination 
Solutions, or ACRES Act.
  This is a commonsense, good governance bill that will bring sorely 
needed transparency and accountability to the misleading way our 
Federal land managers are tracking and reporting hazardous fuel 
treatments.
  We remain in the midst of a historic catastrophic wildfire crisis 
that has devoured an average of 7 million acres every year for the last 
two decades. This alarming figure is more than double the annual losses 
seen during the 1990s.

[[Page H4250]]

  This worsening problem is directly linked to insufficient forest 
management, which has created a dangerous build-up of hazardous fuels 
in our forest. Despite the clear need to confront this crisis head on, 
Federal land management agencies like the Forest Service are still 
failing to increase the pace and scale of their treatments.
  Even more concerning is the recent investigative reporting by NBC 
News that found that the Forest Service is overreporting the number of 
acres they treat annually by over 20 percent. This happens because the 
Forest Service will count the same piece of land toward its risk 
reduction goals multiple times if different treatments, such as 
prescribed thinning and burning, are completed on that land.
  In some extreme cases, the Forest Service counted the same parcel of 
land 30 times, meaning the agency reported to Congress that they 
reduced hazardous fuels on 30 acres when, in fact, only one acre had 
received treatment.
  This problem gets worse if treatments can span several years. For 
example, NBC News found an example of a hazardous fuels reduction 
project in southern California that lasted for 5 years. The Forest 
Service reported that they treated 744 acres of land when, in fact, 
only 173 acres had been treated.
  If the Forest Service were treating at the order of magnitude that 
they need to be treating, these numbers wouldn't matter, but I think 
inflating the numbers is just a way to try to cover up the inadequate 
management that is happening. Instead of talking about hundreds of 
acres, we need to be talking about thousands and tens of thousands and 
even hundreds of thousands of acres that are being treated.

                              {time}  1645

  This kind of reporting means that the Forest Service suggested to 
Congress and the public that they are doing as much as four times more 
work than they had actually accomplished. This is absolutely 
unacceptable, particularly in an area where wildfire risk and the risk 
to communities is extremely high.
  This legislation simply requires the Forest Service to submit data to 
Congress annually that details their hazardous fuels reduction work by 
only counting each individual acre once even if multiple treatments 
were performed. This exact idea has been supported in reports from the 
Government Accountability Office and USDA's Office of Inspector 
General.
  The fact that we need to pass legislation to tell the Forest Service 
to count the way that we all learned how to count should show us just 
how deep this problem runs within our agencies when it comes to 
confronting our catastrophic wildfire crisis.
  By holding Federal land managers accountable for their actual work, 
the work that they are doing on the ground to help improve forest 
health and to make our Nation's forests safer for all of us, we are 
required to do this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Tiffany for bringing this bill 
forward. I ask that we support this bill strongly, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
                                         House of Representatives,


                                     Committee on Agriculture,

                                Washington, DC, September 5, 2023.
     Hon. Bruce Westerman,
     Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter confirms our mutual 
     understanding regarding H.R. 1567, the ``Accurately Counting 
     Risk Elimination Solutions Act'', or the ``ACRES Act''. Thank 
     you for collaborating with the Committee on Agriculture on 
     the matters within our jurisdiction.
       The Committee on Agriculture will forego any further 
     consideration of this bill. However, by foregoing 
     consideration at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction 
     over any subject matter contained in this or similar 
     legislation. The Committee on Agriculture also reserves the 
     right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of 
     conferees should it become necessary and ask that you support 
     such a request.
       We would appreciate a response to this letter confirming 
     this understanding with respect to H.R. 1567 and request a 
     copy of our letters on this matter be published in the 
     Congressional Record during Floor consideration.
           Sincerely,
                                            Glenn ``GT'' Thompson,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Natural Resources,

                                Washington, DC, September 6, 2023.
     Hon. Glenn ``GT'' Thompson,
     Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I write regarding H.R. 1567, the 
     Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the 
     ACRES Act, which was ordered reported by the Committee on 
     Natural Resources on April 28, 2023.
       I recognize that the bill contains provisions that fall 
     within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture and 
     appreciate your willingness to forgo action on the bill. I 
     acknowledge that the Committee on Agriculture will not 
     formally consider H.R. 1567 and agree that the inaction of 
     your Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any 
     jurisdiction over the subject matter contained therein.
       I am pleased to support your request to name members of the 
     Committee on Agriculture to any conference committee to 
     consider such provisions. I will ensure that our exchange of 
     letters is included in the Congressional Record during floor 
     consideration of the bill. I appreciate your cooperation 
     regarding this legislation.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Bruce Westerman,
                         Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources.

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1567 introduced by my colleague from 
Wisconsin, Representative Tiffany.
  The United States Forest Service manages millions of acres of 
forestland, including vital watersheds, critical wildlife habitat, and 
countless outdoor recreational areas.
  The Forest Service's 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy Implementation 
Plan stresses the importance of fire-adapted landscapes and hazardous 
fuel treatments to build resilient forests.
  Wildfire risk reduction projects are complex multistep processes 
requiring significant planning and investments often carried out over 
several years.
  Therefore, it is important that we receive accurate, transparent, and 
accessible data on how forest management projects are being planned and 
implemented.
  This legislation would require the agency to include a report in the 
President's annual budget on hazardous fuel activities carried out in a 
given fiscal year to account for each treated acre.
  This ongoing reporting requirement will enhance transparency and 
accountability, providing critical information that can help guide 
investments in management of our national forests--including how we 
deploy our historic investments in wildfire risk reduction efforts that 
were included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and in the 
Inflation Reduction Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal 
Lands and the sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for his support 
throughout the process in regard to this bill.
  There is very little that I can add to what the chairman of the 
Natural Resources Committee has laid out in his opening remarks in 
regard to the need for the ACRES Act. One of the few things I can add 
is a picture.
  The picture to my right here shows the need for this bill. When the 
amount of acres that are being treated are not counted accurately, we 
end up with a situation where those acres that should be treated don't 
get treated. This is the Grizzly Flats fire a couple years ago that 
wiped out that community. The Forest Service knew that it was time that 
these treatments needed to be put in place, and they weren't, and a 
community was destroyed out in the great State of California.
  This bill will bring transparency to the misleading and inaccurate 
way hazardous fuels treatments are reported. Decades of mismanagement 
of our Federal lands have left our forests overstocked and created 
tinderbox conditions.
  We have long known the reported pace and scale of forest management 
has been insufficient to truly address our forest health crisis. There 
is a better way to manage our public lands, and that starts with 
holding our Federal land management agencies accountable by requiring 
accurate reporting on the effectiveness of their work in fuel 
reduction.
  According to troubling reports, the situation is even worse than we 
have been led to believe, as agencies have

[[Page H4251]]

been overstating their treatments by over 20 percent.
  Accurate reporting is necessary to broadly track the progress made on 
our larger wildfire mitigation targets, as well as individual projects.
  The ACRES Act is a simple solution to hold our Federal agencies 
accountable to see the actual work they are doing to reduce the 
enormous risk of wildfire.
  American taxpayers deserve to know they are getting what they paid 
for. This bill is one of the steps needed to help ensure that happens.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am 
prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we do everything in 
our power to ensure that our forests are being managed properly. The 
ACRES Act is one small step in the right direction. It is a commonsense 
solution to a problem that really shouldn't even exist in the first 
place.
  Again, I thank the ranking member in the minority for supporting this 
bill. The idea that we are actually moving toward more forest 
management is encouraging to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 1567, 
which will require the Department of Agriculture and the Department of 
the Interior to submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels 
reduction activity.
  Hazardous fuels reduction activity is an important effort to curb 
wildfires.
  Some sources state that wildfires cost the United States upwards of 
$3 billion in damage from 2022 to 2023 and have destroyed 616,486 acres 
across the United States since January of this year.
  In the State of Texas alone, three quarters of the state have been 
issued a wildfire declaration.
  In the city of Houston, wildfires have damaged the air quality and 
burned through several homes, negatively affecting many civilians' 
lives.
  Due to both the environmental and economic havoc that wildfires 
present, it is important that we have accurate reporting to best 
prepare for these disasters.
  This bill is important because it monitors the risk elimination 
solutions for wildfires in an accurate and dependable manner while also 
allowing oversight of the USDA and the Interior.
  This bill is a first step to accurately determine effective methods 
to reduce the risk of wildfire and because of this I ask my colleagues 
to support this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1567, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________