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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3609 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3609
To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 8 (legislative day, January 7), 2026
Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant
program, and for other purposes.
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 ``Community Protection and Wildfire
Resilience Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) Chief.--The term ``Chief'' means the Chief of the
Forest Service.
(3) Community protection and wildfire resilience plan.--The
term ``community protection and wildfire resilience plan''
means a plan that--
(A) is developed by an eligible entity in
coordination with--
(i) the local community and government;
(ii) local Indian Tribes;
(iii) local law enforcement, firefighters,
first responders, fire managers, and utilities;
(iv) non-governmental organizations
carrying out relevant projects or relevant
operations locally; and
(v) State agencies responsible for--
(I) fire prevention and emergency
response;
(II) other emergency response;
(III) public safety;
(IV) environmental protection; and
(V) forest management;
(B) includes strategies and activities relating
to--
(i) improving early detection technology,
public outreach and education, alerts and
warnings, evacuation planning, evacuation
execution, and access for first responders;
(ii) addressing vulnerable populations,
including the elderly, children, individuals
with disabilities, and homeless individuals;
(iii) hardening and increasing the
resiliency of critical infrastructure and
homes, including through incentive programs;
(iv) applying community-scale defensible
space projects, developed collaboratively with
the entities described in clauses (i) through
(iii) of subparagraph (A), across contiguous
areas;
(v) building local capacity to implement
and oversee the plan;
(vi) implementing strategic land use
planning;
(vii) educating community members about
ways to improve community resilience;
(viii) coordinating any existing wildfire
plans, such as a community wildfire protection
plan or a community emergency evacuation plan;
and
(ix) incorporating information from a map
generated pursuant to section 210(a) of
division O of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 115-
141); and
(C) may consist of existing plans or other efforts,
provided that any such plan complies with subparagraphs
(A) and (B).
(4) Critical infrastructure.--The term ``critical
infrastructure'' means any public safety, health, education,
transportation, communications, or water or power utility
infrastructure or any private infrastructure necessary to
preserve community safety, resilience, or continuity of
operation of such infrastructure with respect to a wildfire
threat.
(5) Defensible space project.--The term ``defensible space
project''--
(A) means a project that is conducted within a
radius of not more than 100 feet around a home,
business, or administrative facility, and is comprised
of vegetation pruning, such as annual removal of tree
seedlings and saplings, lower limbs of mature trees,
cutting of grasses and reducing density and continuity
of shrubs, and removal of most small twigs and leaves;
or
(B) at the discretion of the Administrator, if a
project funded under the program is being carried out
in a State that has established, by law, a more
restrictive definition of the term, has the meaning
given the term in State law.
(6) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a State;
(B) an Indian Tribe;
(C) a unit of general local or regional government,
including a fire protection district or a municipal
fire department;
(D) a volunteer fire department; or
(E) a collaborative effort of not less than 2
entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (D).
(7) Program.--The term ``program'' means the grant program
established under section 3(a).
(8) State.--The term ``State'' means a State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any
other territory or possession of the United States.
SEC. 3. COMMUNITY PROTECTION AND WILDFIRE RESILIENCE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator, acting through the United
States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall
establish a program, which shall be separate from the program
established under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133), under which the
Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities to--
(1) in the case of an eligible entity that has a community
protection and wildfire resilience plan, carry out projects
described in the community protection and wildfire resilience
plan of the eligible entity in accordance with subsection (c);
or
(2) in the case of an eligible entity that does not have a
community protection and wildfire resilience plan, develop a
community protection and wildfire resilience plan in accordance
with subsection (d).
(b) Criteria for Grants.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator, acting through the
United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the
Chief, shall establish criteria to award grants under the
program.
(2) Communities.--Amounts provided under the program shall
be used to conduct projects and activities only in communities
in existence on the date of enactment of this Act.
(3) Priority.--In awarding grants under the program, the
Administrator shall give priority to eligible entities that
will carry out projects or plans supporting a community located
in an area with a high risk for fire or wildfire, as evidenced
by a State wildfire hazard map or a map generated pursuant to
section 210(a) of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 115-141).
(c) Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Grants.--
(1) Use of grant funds.--An eligible entity that receives a
grant under the program to carry out projects shall use grant
funds to carry out projects that support a diverse portfolio of
community protection and wildfire resilience strategies
described in the community protection and wildfire resilience
plan of the eligible entity.
(2) Grant amounts.--A grant under this subsection shall be
for not more than $10,000,000.
(d) Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Plan Development
Grants.--
(1) Use of grant funds.--An eligible entity that receives a
grant under the program to develop a plan shall use grant funds
to develop a community protection and wildfire resilience plan
for the eligible entity.
(2) Grant amounts.--An award under this subsection shall be
for not more than $250,000.
(e) Preference for Local Contractors and Labor.--In carrying out a
project using a grant awarded under the program, the grant recipient
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, give preference to
contracting with entities, and hiring individuals, from the area in
which the project is being carried out, including by partnering with
local corps groups, such as AmeriCorps or a conservation corps.
(f) Cost-Sharing.--
(1) Non-federal share requirement.--The non-Federal share
of the cost (including the administrative cost) of carrying out
a project using funds from a grant awarded under the program--
(A)(i) shall be not less than 25 percent of the
cost of the project to be carried out using grant funds
in accordance with subsection (c); and
(ii) shall be 0 percent of the cost of the project
to be carried out using grant funds in accordance with
subsection (d);
(B) may be provided by--
(i) a State, a unit of local government, an
Indian Tribe, a nonprofit organization, private
industry, or a combination of those entities;
or
(ii) volunteer hours and in-kind donations;
and
(C) may, in the case of a project that serves a
low-income community, be in the form of a low-interest
Federal loan to the eligible entity carrying out the
project through the Community Disaster Loan program
authorized under section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5184).
(2) Waiver; reduction.--In carrying out the program, the
Administrator may waive or reduce the non-Federal share amount
required under paragraph (1).
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out the program $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2025 through 2029.
SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall publish a report--
(1) on authorities and programs of the Federal Government
that are available to protect communities from wildfires; and
(2) that includes an assessment of the Comptroller General
with respect to impediments to the implementation of such
programs, including gaps in funding.
SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall publish a study that
includes--
(1) an assessment of the Comptroller General with respect
to--
(A) the potential for a community protection and
wildfire resilience plan to qualify for a certification
identifying a level of wildfire survivability and
resilience; and
(B) methods that could be used by the Federal
Government to incentivize insurance companies to accept
a certification described in subparagraph (A); and
(2) an identification of any metrics that could be provided
to insurance companies as assurance that a community has
wildfire resilience measures in place.
SEC. 6. UPDATING LIST OF AT-RISK COMMUNITIES.
(a) In General.--Subparagraph (A) of section 101(1) of the Healthy
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511(1)(A)) is amended to
read as follows:
``(A) that is comprised of a group of homes and
other structures with basic infrastructure and services
(such as utilities and collectively maintained
transportation routes) within or adjacent to Federal
land;''.
(b) Map.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator, acting
through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with
the Chief, shall develop and publish a map depicting at-risk
communities (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511), as amended by this section),
including Tribal at-risk communities.
SEC. 7. REPORT ON RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator, acting through the United States Fire
Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall prepare a
report relating to insufficient radio frequencies, barriers to
interoperability of radio frequencies, and available products and
technologies for overcoming barriers to interoperability for wildfire
management.
(b) Cooperation.--In preparing the report under subsection (a), the
Administrator shall coordinate with--
(1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(2) agencies responsible for the management of Federal
land;
(3) State fire marshals;
(4) State and local emergency response agencies;
(5) Tribal fire departments and emergency managers; and
(6) municipal fire departments, fire protection districts,
and volunteer fire departments in relevant communities.
(c) Compatibility; Additional Frequencies.--The report under
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) a determination on whether the entities described in
subsection (b) have the ability to communicate by way of radio
during a potential fire suppression effort for a community
conflagration;
(2) a determination on whether--
(A) the reserved radio frequencies are sufficient
for wildfire management; or
(B) additional frequencies, listed by type and
location, are recommended to be reserved or obtained;
(3) an analysis of commercially available technology and
products to enable radios from multiple agencies operating on
different radio frequencies to be interoperable; and
(4) if the Administrator determines under paragraph (1)
that any entities do not have the ability to communicate, a
plan for ensuring such entities would be able to communicate
adequately during a fire suppression effort for a community
conflagration.
SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNITY WILDFIRE DEFENSE GRANT PROGRAM TO ALLOW
STRUCTURE HARDENING.
Section 40803(f) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (16
U.S.C. 6592(f)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``projects'' and
inserting ``projects (including projects described in paragraph
(3)(D))''; and
(2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Projects described.--A project referred to in
paragraph (1)(B) is a project for any of the following:
``(i) The construction, modification, or
maintenance of a structure to make the
structure resistant to the intrusion of flames
or embers.
``(ii) The modification of a structure or
an area adjacent to a structure (including
vegetation and miscellaneous structures, such
as garages, sheds, and fencing) if such
modification is carried out--
``(I) to reduce the exposure of the
structure to direct contact from
flames, radiation, or embers from
wildfire; and
``(II) with consideration for the
potential effects on the structure of
nearby combustible features (including
vegetation, vehicles, and miscellaneous
structures, such as garages, sheds, and
fencing).''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
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