Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1567) 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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1567
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.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. 1567, as amended, the bill now under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Representative Tiffany's legislation, H.R. 1567, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions, or ACRES Act.
This is a commonsense, good governance bill that will bring sorely needed transparency and accountability to the misleading way our Federal land managers are tracking and reporting hazardous fuel treatments.
We remain in the midst of a historic catastrophic wildfire crisis that has devoured an average of 7 million acres every year for the last two decades. This alarming figure is more than double the annual losses seen during the 1990s.
This worsening problem is directly linked to insufficient forest management, which has created a dangerous build-up of hazardous fuels in our forest. Despite the clear need to confront this crisis head on, Federal land management agencies like the Forest Service are still failing to increase the pace and scale of their treatments.
Even more concerning is the recent investigative reporting by NBC News that found that the Forest Service is overreporting the number of acres they treat annually by over 20 percent. This happens because the Forest Service will count the same piece of land toward its risk reduction goals multiple times if different treatments, such as prescribed thinning and burning, are completed on that land.
In some extreme cases, the Forest Service counted the same parcel of land 30 times, meaning the agency reported to Congress that they reduced hazardous fuels on 30 acres when, in fact, only one acre had received treatment.
This problem gets worse if treatments can span several years. For example, NBC News found an example of a hazardous fuels reduction project in southern California that lasted for 5 years. The Forest Service reported that they treated 744 acres of land when, in fact, only 173 acres had been treated.
If the Forest Service were treating at the order of magnitude that they need to be treating, these numbers wouldn't matter, but I think inflating the numbers is just a way to try to cover up the inadequate management that is happening. Instead of talking about hundreds of acres, we need to be talking about thousands and tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of acres that are being treated.
This kind of reporting means that the Forest Service suggested to Congress and the public that they are doing as much as four times more work than they had actually accomplished. This is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in an area where wildfire risk and the risk to communities is extremely high.
This legislation simply requires the Forest Service to submit data to Congress annually that details their hazardous fuels reduction work by only counting each individual acre once even if multiple treatments were performed. This exact idea has been supported in reports from the Government Accountability Office and USDA's Office of Inspector General.
The fact that we need to pass legislation to tell the Forest Service to count the way that we all learned how to count should show us just how deep this problem runs within our agencies when it comes to confronting our catastrophic wildfire crisis.
By holding Federal land managers accountable for their actual work, the work that they are doing on the ground to help improve forest health and to make our Nation's forests safer for all of us, we are required to do this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Tiffany for bringing this bill forward. I ask that we support this bill strongly, and I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC, September 5, 2023. Hon. Bruce Westerman, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter confirms our mutual understanding regarding H.R. 1567, the ``Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act'', or the ``ACRES Act''. Thank you for collaborating with the Committee on Agriculture on the matters within our jurisdiction.
The Committee on Agriculture will forego any further consideration of this bill. However, by foregoing consideration at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over any subject matter contained in this or similar legislation. The Committee on Agriculture also reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees should it become necessary and ask that you support such a request.
We would appreciate a response to this letter confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 1567 and request a copy of our letters on this matter be published in the Congressional Record during Floor consideration. Sincerely, Glenn ``GT'' Thompson, Chairman. ____ House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC, September 6, 2023. Hon. Glenn ``GT'' Thompson, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I write regarding H.R. 1567, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the ACRES Act, which was ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources on April 28, 2023.
I recognize that the bill contains provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture and appreciate your willingness to forgo action on the bill. I acknowledge that the Committee on Agriculture will not formally consider H.R. 1567 and agree that the inaction of your Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained therein.
I am pleased to support your request to name members of the Committee on Agriculture to any conference committee to consider such provisions. I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation. Sincerely, Bruce Westerman, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to ensure that our forests are being managed properly. The ACRES Act is one small step in the right direction. It is a commonsense solution to a problem that really shouldn't even exist in the first place.
Again, I thank the ranking member in the minority for supporting this bill. The idea that we are actually moving toward more forest management is encouraging to me.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 1567, which will require the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activity.
Hazardous fuels reduction activity is an important effort to curb wildfires.
Some sources state that wildfires cost the United States upwards of $3 billion in damage from 2022 to 2023 and have destroyed 616,486 acres across the United States since January of this year.
In the State of Texas alone, three quarters of the state have been issued a wildfire declaration.
In the city of Houston, wildfires have damaged the air quality and burned through several homes, negatively affecting many civilians' lives.
Due to both the environmental and economic havoc that wildfires present, it is important that we have accurate reporting to best prepare for these disasters.
This bill is important because it monitors the risk elimination solutions for wildfires in an accurate and dependable manner while also allowing oversight of the USDA and the Interior.
This bill is a first step to accurately determine effective methods to reduce the risk of wildfire and because of this I ask my colleagues to support this bill.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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