[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 16 (Monday, January 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           WILDFIRE RECOVERY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, as you know, the issue of wildfire in the 
West has been very devastating for several years now--many, many 
years--but there have been incredibly large fires in the last 5 and 7 
to 10 years or so. So we have needed more and more help from FEMA post-
fire.
  So what we are working on is bipartisan legislation that is going to 
be called H.R. 7070 that will direct FEMA to update its regulations for 
the fire management assistance grant, public assistance, and mitigation 
programs.
  This will help to respond to unique challenges of wildfires and 
improve wildfire mitigation after a fire, like debris removal, 
emergency protective measures, and impacts to drinking water sources. 
So it will help improve FEMA's cost-benefit analysis for wildfire 
projects to help them be more competitive for Federal funding.
  I find this is extremely important in communities that are devastated 
after a fire, and it is still fairly new territory for FEMA when we are 
talking about the size and scope of fires we have had in recent years 
jumping from four- and five-digit size fires to six digits, hundreds of 
thousands, even 1 million acres like the Dixie fire in my district a 
couple years ago.
  So this legislation will give FEMA more flexibility and better serve 
the people.

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