H.R. 5963

119 HR 5963 IH: Responsible Wildland Fire Recovery Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-11-07
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I
 119th CONGRESS  1st Session
 H. R. 5963
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 November 7, 2025
  Ms. Leger Fernandez  introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Agriculture , and in addition to the Committee on  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 provide for cost-share waivers for projects carried out in response to wildland fires caused by certain Government actions, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Responsible Wildland Fire Recovery Act  .
2.
Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that parties affected by wildland fires resulting from management activities conducted by the Department of Agriculture on National Forest System land are eligible to receive 100 percent funding for the cost of remediating direct and indirect damages under authorized Federal recovery programs.
3.
Cost-share waiver for rehabilitation from wildland fires
(a)
Definitions
In this section:
(1)
Covered matching requirement
The term  covered matching requirement  means a requirement under a program of the Secretary for wildland fire recovery for a State, Indian Tribe, locality, or individual to provide matching funds, in cash, for a project.
(2)
Covered wildland fire
The term  covered wildland fire  means a wildland fire that the Secretary determines to be a result of management activities conducted by the Secretary on National Forest System land.
(3)
Secretary
The term  Secretary  means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(4)
Wildland fire
(A)
In general
The term  wildland fire  means any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation or natural fuels.
(B)
Inclusions
The term  wildland fire  includes wildfire, prescribed fire, and any direct or indirect damage resulting in watershed impairment.
(b)
Waiver
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may waive any covered matching requirement for a project in response to a covered wildland fire that is in an area affected by that covered wildland fire.