Fire Department Repayment Act

Summary#

This bill requires four federal Secretaries (Agriculture, Interior, Homeland Security, and Defense) to set standard operating procedures within 1 year for payment timelines for reciprocal fire suppression cost share agreements under the Reciprocal Fire Protection Act. The Secretaries must review each agreement in operation on that date and modify them if needed to follow the new procedures. The procedures must align each fire suppression cost share agreement with any cooperative fire protection agreements that apply to the same entity. The procedures must also require that a federal paying entity reimburse a local fire department when that department submits an invoice in accordance with cost settlement procedures. The bill includes a sense of Congress that repayments should occur as soon as practicable but not later than 1 year after the fire suppression event.

What it means for you#

• If you are a local fire department in a reciprocal cost share agreement, the bill would require federal agencies to adopt standard payment rules and to reimburse you when you submit an invoice according to settlement procedures.
• If you work for the named federal agencies, you must create and apply these procedures and review existing agreements to make them comply.
• The bill expresses that repayments should happen promptly and no later than 1 year after the suppression activity.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The bill text indicates supporters want consistent payment timelines, alignment between cost share and cooperative agreements, and clear rules to ensure local departments are reimbursed after submitting invoices. It also states a goal that repayments occur promptly and within one year.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.