Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025

Key Points

• The bill directs federal agencies to speed up the deployment of wildfire detection technology, including sensors, cameras, satellites, and drones, in areas at high risk for wildfires. It also requires annual forums for companies developing new fire technology to meet with wildland fire managers.
• Indian Tribes would gain eligibility for financial assistance to acquire slip-on tanker units, a portable firefighting tool, expanding access that previously only covered local governments. The bill also requires guidance on how to mobilize these units during wildfire response.
• When a fire is started by military training or operations, the Department of Defense would be required to reimburse state agencies for fire suppression costs. States would submit itemized requests, and DoD would pay from its operations and maintenance budget.
• The bill creates permanent Burned Area Emergency Response Teams to handle the dangerous aftermath of wildfires, including removing dead trees, stabilizing hazardous materials, preventing erosion, and stopping the spread of invasive species for up to one year after a fire is contained.
• A new Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account would be created in the U.S. Treasury, funded at up to $100 million per year, to pay for ecosystem restoration, reforestation, watershed repair, and fixing damaged infrastructure on federal and some non-federal land after wildfires.
• FEMA would be able to fund state-run websites that guide disaster survivors through available recovery resources, listing federal, state, and local assistance options and explaining mitigation alternatives for sequential hazards like post-wildfire flooding.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.