HR 1242

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 28, 2023

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Jacobs, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Transportation and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To make improvements to the role of the Department of Defense in responding to domestic emergencies, including wildfires.

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 “Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023”.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TO REIMBURSE STATE COSTS OF FIGHTING CERTAIN WILDLAND FIRES.

Section 2691(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking “may” and inserting “shall”.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR FIREGUARD PROGRAM.

(a) Authority.—Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: “Sec. 510. Authorization for FireGuard Program

“(a) Authorization.—The Secretary of Defense may use members of the National Guard to carry out a program to aggregate, analyze, and assess multi-source remote sensing information for interagency partnerships in the detection and monitoring of wildfires, and to support any emergency response to such wildfires. Such a program shall be known as the ‘FireGuard Program’.

“(b) Resources; Limitation.—If the Secretary carries out a program under this section, the Secretary—

“(1) shall transfer the functions, personnel, assets, and capabilities of the FireGuard Program, in existence on the day before the date of enactment of the Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023, to the FireGuard Program authorized under this section;

“(2) may direct the Director of the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency to provide such assistance as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the FireGuard Program; and

“(3) may not reduce support, or transfer responsibility for support to an interagency partner, for the FireGuard Program authorized under this section.”.

(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

“510. Authorization for FireGuard Program.”.

(c) Conforming Amendment.—The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81) is amended by striking section 515.

SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF AIRCRAFT TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS FOR WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION AND OTHER PURPOSES.

Section 1098 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) by striking “the seven demilitarized HC-130H aircraft specified in subparagraph (C)” and inserting “not fewer than seven demilitarized HC-130H aircraft”;

(2) by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection (a)(1);

(3) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking “not more” and insert “not fewer”; and

(4) in subsection (c)—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “purposes;” and inserting “purposes, search and rescue, or emergency operations pertaining to wildfires; and”;

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking “; and” and inserting a period; and

(C) by striking paragraph (3).

SEC. 5. NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR USE OF NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RESOURCES DURING A MAJOR DISASTER.

The Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency may not require the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency to reimburse the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for use of resources for any request approved by the Director pertaining to—

(1) a request made by such a Federal agency through the National Interagency Fire Center; or

(2) an area of Federal land affected by extreme weather, as that term is defined in section 328(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 U.S.C. 221 note).

SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM ECONOMY ACT FOR CERTAIN REQUESTS MADE THROUGH THE NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER.

Section 1535(b) of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the “Economy Act”), shall not apply to any assistance provided by the Department of Defense to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a Federal land management agency under a request—

(1) made through the National Interagency Fire Center; and

(2) pertaining to an area covered by a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).

SEC. 7. GUIDANCE FOR USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY THE NATIONAL GUARD.

(a) New Guidance.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue new guidance that treats the use of unmanned aircraft systems by the National Guard for covered activities in a manner no more restrictive than the use of other aircraft for covered activities.

(b) Covered Activities Defined.—In this section, “covered activities” means the following:

(1) Emergency operations.

(2) Search and rescue operations.

(3) Defense support to civil authorities.

(4) Support under section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code.

SEC. 8. STUDY ON USE OF CH-47 CHINOOKS TO RESPOND TO WILDFIRES.

Not later one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report—

(1) on the feasibility and effectiveness of using CH-47 Chinooks with firefighting modifications to—

(A) respond to wildfires; and

(B) perform search and rescue activities; and

(2) that identifies the governmental organizations (including Federal, State, and local government organizations) that would be most effective with respect to using the aircraft described in paragraph (1) to carry out the activities specified in that paragraph. <all>