This bill requires the federal land managers to set a standard for how quickly they must respond to wildland fire incidents on Federal lands. It defines "response time" as the period from ignition to evaluation for suppression by a public safety officer or volunteer. The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior (and FEMA for consultation) must set the standard within 90 days. The bill sets a goal, where practicable, of a response time of not more than 30 minutes and deployment of fire suppression assets within 3 hours. It also requires a joint report to Congress within 1 year that must include a single point of contact at the Department of the Interior, a unified budget request for wildland fire activities, key performance indicators for each listed agency, descriptions of current aviation and ground fleets and estimates of the fleet needed to meet the goals, needed changes to ordering and dispatch systems, possible streamlining of contracting to allow contract activation and awards within one year, and resources and authorities needed to make contracted firefighting assets available year-round nationwide.
If enacted, federal agencies that manage Federal lands would have to set and aim to meet specific response-time standards for wildland fires. Agencies must produce a joint report to certain congressional committees describing who will coordinate federal response, what assets they have, what more they would need to meet the response goals, and how contracting and dispatching might change.
No publicly available information on estimated costs or appropriations is included in the bill text. The bill does require a "unified budget request" to be included in the required report, but does not itself specify funding amounts.
No publicly available information in the bill text or provided metadata states arguments or statements from supporters about the bill's purpose or expected benefits.
No publicly available information in the bill text or provided metadata states objections or arguments from opponents of the bill.