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Summary
- Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior to submit annual reports with budget materials on acres of Federal land where hazardous fuels reduction activities were completed.
- Requires each acre to be counted once in the report, regardless of multiple hazardous fuels reduction activities conducted on that acre.
- Requires reports to include information on wildland-urban interface locations, wildfire risk levels, types of activities, cost per acre, location, and effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction activities.
- Requires all reports to be made publicly available on the websites of the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior.
- Requires implementation of standardized data collection procedures within 90 days that include regular data reviews, verification methods, and effectiveness analysis.
- Requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study within 2 years on implementation of the act and report any limitations to Congress.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (13)
- Jul 23, 2026 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 490. · senate
- Jul 23, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee without amendment. Without written report. · senate
- Mar 4, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. · senate
- Feb 12, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. · senate
- Jan 22, 2025 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. · senate
- Jan 21, 2025 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. · house
- Jan 21, 2025 On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H244-245) · house
- Jan 21, 2025 Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H244-245)
- Jan 21, 2025 DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 204. · house
- Jan 21, 2025 Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H244-246) · house
- Jan 21, 2025 Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Text versions (4)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
- Business meeting to consider S.601 and H.R.1276, bills to remove restrictions from a parcel of land in Paducah, Kentucky, S.815, to designate the outdoor amphitheater at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia, as the "Rick Boucher Amphitheater", S.1135, to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, S.1981, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to utilize grazing for wildfire risk reduction, S.2102, to establish the Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., National Historic Site, S.2787, to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that ranchers who have grazing agreements on national grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other Federal land, S.3004, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau of Land Management land to the city of Price, Utah, S.3493, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Carson City, Nevada, S.3527, to release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, H.R.204, to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activities, H.R.952, to convey the reversionary interest of the United States in certain land in Sacramento, California, H.R.1829, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and the nominations of Stevan Pearce, of New Mexico, to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management, David LaCerte, of Louisiana, to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Kyle Haustveit, of North Dakota, to be Under Secretary of Energy.
- Hearings to examine S.462, to provide for economic development and conservation in Washoe County, Nevada, S.1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws, S.1464, to withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development, S.1497, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to establish the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and to modify the boundary of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, S.1981, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to utilize grazing for wildfire risk reduction, S.2417, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a special use permit with respect to the maintaining of a flagpole bearing the flag of the United States at Kyhv Peak Lookout Point, Utah, S.2554, to provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, S.2754, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the City of Ouray, Colorado, certain land managed by the Forest Service, together with a reservoir, S.2787, to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that ranchers who have grazing agreements on national grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other Federal land, S.2860, to unleash United States offshore critical minerals and resources, S.2968, to ensure access to certain public land, S.3004, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau of Land Management land to the city of Price, Utah, S.3082, to prohibit oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production in certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, S.3493, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Carson City, Nevada, S.3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, S.3527, to release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, S.3695, to amend Public Law 96-586 to modernize the authority of the Forest Service to acquire and administer land under that Act, H.R.204, to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activities, H.R.677, to establish a process to expedite the review of appeals of certain decisions by the Department of the Interior, H.R.952, to convey the reversionary interest of the United States in certain land in Sacramento, California, H.R.1829, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, H.R.3872, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals, H.R.3937, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Full text
AN ACT
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.
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.
Passed the House of Representatives January 21, 2025.
Attest:
Clerk. 119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 204
AN ACT
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.
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