Rep. Royce Advances Wildfire Prevention and Response Reform

Press Release

U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) released the following statement after voting for passage of H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015:

"As this historic drought continues, Congress needs to revamp how we respond to wildfires to better protect our citizens and their property. This bipartisan bill streamlines federal efforts to combat wildfires by improving forest management, allowing FEMA to coordinate with the Forest Service when responding to disasters, and fixing the currently broken funding system for fighting fires. The bill also encourages swift reforestation after large wildfires which will help preserve property values for California's homeowners as well as the natural beauty of our state."

The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 utilizes tools that the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management can implement immediately to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and insect infestations, mitigate damage to municipal watersheds, and swiftly harvest wildfire-killed trees to pay for post-wildfire reforestation.

The bill also creates a separate emergency funding account for fire response. This funding structure mirrors existing federal funding mechanisms for responses to other natural disasters, and would prevent borrowing from other agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service or U.S. Department of the Interior. Since 2000, these agencies have run out of money to fight emergency fires eight times. Under this bill, routine wildfire fighting costs, which make up about 70% of the cost of wildfire suppression, would continue to be funded through the normal appropriations process. Larger fires, which account for approximately 1% of all wild land fires, would be treated like similar natural disasters that are funded through emergency disaster funds.

The legislation passed the House of Representatives on July 9, 2015, with Rep. Royce's support.

Source