Introduced in Senate — S. 3609

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 3609

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 8 (legislative day, January 7), 2026

Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant program, 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 Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act.

Sec. 2. Definitions

In this Act:

(1) Administrator

The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(2) Chief

The term Chief means the Chief of the Forest Service.

(3) Community protection and wildfire resilience plan

The term community protection and wildfire resilience plan means a plan that—

(A)

is developed by an eligible entity in coordination with—

(i)

the local community and government;

(ii)

local Indian Tribes;

(iii)

local law enforcement, firefighters, first responders, fire managers, and utilities;

(iv)

non-governmental organizations carrying out relevant projects or relevant operations locally; and

(v)

State agencies responsible for—

(I)

fire prevention and emergency response;

(II)

other emergency response;

(III)

public safety;

(IV)

environmental protection; and

(V)

forest management;

(B)

includes strategies and activities relating to—

(i)

improving early detection technology, public outreach and education, alerts and warnings, evacuation planning, evacuation execution, and access for first responders;

(ii)

addressing vulnerable populations, including the elderly, children, individuals with disabilities, and homeless individuals;

(iii)

hardening and increasing the resiliency of critical infrastructure and homes, including through incentive programs;

(iv)

applying community-scale defensible space projects, developed collaboratively with the entities described in clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A), across contiguous areas;

(v)

building local capacity to implement and oversee the plan;

(vi)

implementing strategic land use planning;

(vii)

educating community members about ways to improve community resilience;

(viii)

coordinating any existing wildfire plans, such as a community wildfire protection plan or a community emergency evacuation plan; and

(ix)

incorporating information from a map generated pursuant to section 210(a) of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 115–141); and

(C)

may consist of existing plans or other efforts, provided that any such plan complies with subparagraphs (A) and (B).

(4) Critical infrastructure

The term critical infrastructure means any public safety, health, education, transportation, communications, or water or power utility infrastructure or any private infrastructure necessary to preserve community safety, resilience, or continuity of operation of such infrastructure with respect to a wildfire threat.

(5) Defensible space project

The term defensible space project—

(A)

means a project that is conducted within a radius of not more than 100 feet around a home, business, or administrative facility, and is comprised of vegetation pruning, such as annual removal of tree seedlings and saplings, lower limbs of mature trees, cutting of grasses and reducing density and continuity of shrubs, and removal of most small twigs and leaves; or

(B)

at the discretion of the Administrator, if a project funded under the program is being carried out in a State that has established, by law, a more restrictive definition of the term, has the meaning given the term in State law.

(6) Eligible entity

The term eligible entity means—

(A)

a State;

(B)

an Indian Tribe;

(C)

a unit of general local or regional government, including a fire protection district or a municipal fire department;

(D)

a volunteer fire department; or

(E)

a collaborative effort of not less than 2 entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (D).

(7) Program

The term program means the grant program established under section 3(a).

(8) State

The term State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

Sec. 3. Community protection and wildfire resilience grant program

(a) Establishment

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall establish a program, which shall be separate from the program established under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133), under which the Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities to—

(1)

in the case of an eligible entity that has a community protection and wildfire resilience plan, carry out projects described in the community protection and wildfire resilience plan of the eligible entity in accordance with subsection (c); or

(2)

in the case of an eligible entity that does not have a community protection and wildfire resilience plan, develop a community protection and wildfire resilience plan in accordance with subsection (d).

(b) Criteria for grants

(1) In general

(2) Communities

Amounts provided under the program shall be used to conduct projects and activities only in communities in existence on the date of enactment of this Act.

(3) Priority

In awarding grants under the program, the Administrator shall give priority to eligible entities that will carry out projects or plans supporting a community located in an area with a high risk for fire or wildfire, as evidenced by a State wildfire hazard map or a map generated pursuant to section 210(a) of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (16 U.S.C. 6501 note; Public Law 115–141).

(c) Community protection and wildfire resilience grants

(1) Use of grant funds

An eligible entity that receives a grant under the program to carry out projects shall use grant funds to carry out projects that support a diverse portfolio of community protection and wildfire resilience strategies described in the community protection and wildfire resilience plan of the eligible entity.

(2) Grant amounts

A grant under this subsection shall be for not more than $10,000,000.

(d) Community protection and wildfire resilience plan development grants

(1) Use of grant funds

An eligible entity that receives a grant under the program to develop a plan shall use grant funds to develop a community protection and wildfire resilience plan for the eligible entity.

(2) Grant amounts

An award under this subsection shall be for not more than $250,000.

(e) Preference for local contractors and labor

In carrying out a project using a grant awarded under the program, the grant recipient shall, to the maximum extent practicable, give preference to contracting with entities, and hiring individuals, from the area in which the project is being carried out, including by partnering with local corps groups, such as AmeriCorps or a conservation corps.

(f) Cost-Sharing

(1) Non-Federal share requirement

The non-Federal share of the cost (including the administrative cost) of carrying out a project using funds from a grant awarded under the program—

(A)

(i)

shall be not less than 25 percent of the cost of the project to be carried out using grant funds in accordance with subsection (c); and

(ii)

shall be 0 percent of the cost of the project to be carried out using grant funds in accordance with subsection (d);

(B)

may be provided by—

(i)

a State, a unit of local government, an Indian Tribe, a nonprofit organization, private industry, or a combination of those entities; or

(ii)

volunteer hours and in-kind donations; and

(C)

may, in the case of a project that serves a low-income community, be in the form of a low-interest Federal loan to the eligible entity carrying out the project through the Community Disaster Loan program authorized under section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184).

(2) Waiver; reduction

In carrying out the program, the Administrator may waive or reduce the non-Federal share amount required under paragraph (1).

(g) Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the program $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.

Sec. 4. Government Accountability Office report

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall publish a report—

(1)

on authorities and programs of the Federal Government that are available to protect communities from wildfires; and

(2)

that includes an assessment of the Comptroller General with respect to impediments to the implementation of such programs, including gaps in funding.

Sec. 5. Government Accountability Office study

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall publish a study that includes—

(1)

an assessment of the Comptroller General with respect to—

(A)

the potential for a community protection and wildfire resilience plan to qualify for a certification identifying a level of wildfire survivability and resilience; and

(B)

methods that could be used by the Federal Government to incentivize insurance companies to accept a certification described in subparagraph (A); and

(2)

an identification of any metrics that could be provided to insurance companies as assurance that a community has wildfire resilience measures in place.

Sec. 6. Updating list of at-risk communities

(a) In general

Subparagraph (A) of section 101(1) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows:

(A)
that is comprised of a group of homes and other structures with basic infrastructure and services (such as utilities and collectively maintained transportation routes) within or adjacent to Federal land;

(b) Map

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall develop and publish a map depicting at-risk communities (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511), as amended by this section), including Tribal at-risk communities.

Sec. 7. Report on radio communications

(a) In general

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, acting through the United States Fire Administrator and in coordination with the Chief, shall prepare a report relating to insufficient radio frequencies, barriers to interoperability of radio frequencies, and available products and technologies for overcoming barriers to interoperability for wildfire management.

(b) Cooperation

In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Administrator shall coordinate with—

(1)

the Secretary of Agriculture;

(2)

agencies responsible for the management of Federal land;

(3)

State fire marshals;

(4)

State and local emergency response agencies;

(5)

Tribal fire departments and emergency managers; and

(6)

municipal fire departments, fire protection districts, and volunteer fire departments in relevant communities.

(c) Compatibility; additional frequencies

The report under subsection (a) shall include—

(1)

a determination on whether the entities described in subsection (b) have the ability to communicate by way of radio during a potential fire suppression effort for a community conflagration;

(2)

a determination on whether—

(A)

the reserved radio frequencies are sufficient for wildfire management; or

(B)

additional frequencies, listed by type and location, are recommended to be reserved or obtained;

(3)

an analysis of commercially available technology and products to enable radios from multiple agencies operating on different radio frequencies to be interoperable; and

(4)

if the Administrator determines under paragraph (1) that any entities do not have the ability to communicate, a plan for ensuring such entities would be able to communicate adequately during a fire suppression effort for a community conflagration.

Sec. 8. Amendment to community wildfire defense grant program to allow structure hardening

Section 40803(f) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(f)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1)(B), by striking projects and inserting projects (including projects described in paragraph (3)(D)); and

(2)

in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following:

(D) Projects described
A project referred to in paragraph (1)(B) is a project for any of the following:
(i)
The construction, modification, or maintenance of a structure to make the structure resistant to the intrusion of flames or embers.
(ii)
The modification of a structure or an area adjacent to a structure (including vegetation and miscellaneous structures, such as garages, sheds, and fencing) if such modification is carried out—
(I)
to reduce the exposure of the structure to direct contact from flames, radiation, or embers from wildfire; and
(II)
with consideration for the potential effects on the structure of nearby combustible features (including vegetation, vehicles, and miscellaneous structures, such as garages, sheds, and fencing).