Wildfire, Drought Package Dominated by O'Halleran Wins

WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, new legislation to address drought and wildfire nationwide. The package of bills includes six bills introduced by Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01).

The legislative package includes policies and resources to support the creation of a National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program that would coordinate federal efforts across scientific and operational agencies to reduce the loss of life and property from wildland fires in the face of climate change. This package also includes policies and resources to support a demonstration program for innovative technologies to improve electric grid resilience with respect to wildfires.

“There is no longer a wildfire “season” in Arizona—with a mega-drought, long-overlooked and overgrown forests, and the compounding effects of climate change, deadly wildfires happen year-round,” said O’Halleran, who represents a Congressional district with all or parts of all six National Forests in Arizona. “All across our beautiful state, these fires threaten Arizonans’ safety, property, businesses, watersheds, our treasured public lands, and our irreplicable natural resources, and create devastating burn scars through which waters flow and flood homes and businesses. We are long-overdue a comprehensive legislative package to address this ever-growing problem. I was proud to vote in favor of our legislation today, and to see so many initiatives I have worked on included.”

O’Halleran-sponsored legislation wrapped into the final package include three bills introduced as part of a new wildfire package last month, following the Pipeline Fire near Flagstaff: 

-Conservation Jobs Act – legislation to improve the Forest Service’s ability to directly hire qualified job corps graduates who specialize in programs like forestry or firefighting. The bill permits up to 50 new hires per year.

-Forest Service Law Enforcement Enhancement Act – legislation that would authorize the Forest Service to hire more law enforcement officers, with a priority on areas prone to wildfire and located in areas of substantial public use.

-DRIP Act – legislation to establish a $10 million competitive grant program to remove nonnative plant species that contribute to drought conditions. The language is intended to prioritize the removal of plants like the Salt Cedar which uses a significant amount of water and harms the environment.

Additionally included is the Grid Mapping Resilience Act, an O’Halleran bill that directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to maintain a map identifying critical electric grid infrastructure that is vulnerable to natural disasters, and improve information sharing within the federal government.

Also within the package are two tribal water settlements that O’Halleran has fought to advocate for since coming to Washington in 2017:

-White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Settlement – long an issue O’Halleran has worked to advance, this language amends the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s (WMAT) water rights settlement to increase the authorization to construct the Tribe’s rural water system by $530 million.

-Hualapai Water Settlement – a priority of O’Halleran’s, this measure authorizes and approves the Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Agreement to resolve the Hualapai Tribe’s water claims to the Colorado River in the State of Arizona. It also authorizes $180 million so that the Tribe can manage the construction of a water supply project to provide reliable water supplies to the Hualapai Reservation.

“Tribes within the First District have been waiting decades for the federal approvals necessary to ensure they have safe, clean drinking water,” said O’Halleran. “We cannot go another Congress without fully passing these critical settlements into law.”

Additionally, there are many key O’Halleran-championed pieces of the package:

-Wildland Firefighter Pay Parity – the measure included within the House package would establish a new minimum pay rate for wildland firefighters equivalent to General Schedule Level 6 (GS-6), step 3. The new minimum would be about $20 per hour or $43,000 per year for full-time firefighters.

-Authorization for Fire and Non-Fire Salaries and Expenses – would authorize a 40 percent increase to wildfire preparedness (Wildland Fire Management) and non-fire (National Forest System) salaries and expense accounts of the U.S. Forest Service. 

-Language that authorizes the Forest Service to fill recreation management and planning vacancies to help address growing demand for recreational opportunities on National Forest System land.

-Additional language to help implement the Forest Service’s 10-Year National Wildfire Plan. Initial authorizations include investments already identified by the Biden Administration, including 2.4 million acres under the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) and the Greater Prescott Area Wildfire Protection and Restoration Act, covering 401,000 Arizona acres.

-Language to authorize $500 million for the Interior Department to use available legal authorities to prevent key reservoirs of the Colorado River from declining to critically low water elevations.

-The WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act, legislation that would waive the non-federal cost share requirement for tribes receiving WaterSMART grants, which help to advance projects to improve water supply availability.

-A measure that establishes an interagency Water Data Council to support the development and implementation of a National Water Data Framework. The language would help state, local, and tribal governments, water users, nongovernmental organizations, and private businesses to improve water data sets and data infrastructure.

“I’m beyond pleased that my colleagues in the House, from districts both rural and urban, have come together to recognize the imminent threats that drought and wildfire pose to our nation and to the health of American families,” said O’Halleran following the House vote. “The Senate must take up and pass our package without delay.”