Federal agencies would be directed to increase the use of prescribed fire — intentionally set, controlled burns — on public land by 10% each year for the next decade. The bill creates a Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program with up to $20 million per year in project funding, establishes new training centers (including an Indigenous-led cultural burning center), and treats non-federal burn crews as federal employees under the Federal Tort Claims Act so they are covered for liability when working on federal land. To cut through one of the biggest bottlenecks, the bill allows landscape-scale burn plans to serve as environmental review documents under NEPA, pre-authorizing individual prescribed fires without requiring a separate environmental analysis for each one. It also addresses the smoke problem by working with the EPA and state air quality agencies to streamline the process for classifying prescribed fire smoke as an "exceptional event" so it does not count against communities' clean air standards. Seasonal firefighters could be converted to permanent positions focused on prescribed fire work, and the bill creates career pathways for veterans and formerly incarcerated individuals with firefighting experience.
Congressional Summary
National Prescribed Fire Act of 2025This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to increase the number and size of prescribed fires conducted on federal lands.For 10 years, Interior and USDA must annually conduct prescribed fires on federal land so that the total acreage where prescribed fires are conducted is 10% greater than the previous fiscal year. Interior and USDA must establish a collaborative prescribed fire program to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to conduct prescribed fires in priority landscapes.Interior and USDA may enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with states, Indian tribes, counties, municipal governments, fire districts, nongovernmental organizations, or private entities to coordinate prescribed fires on federal land.Interior and USDA must expand employment opportunities for prescribed fire practitioners, including by expanding hazard pay, supporting underrepresented groups, and establishing additional training centers. To address the public health and safety risk of the expanded use of prescribed fire, the Environmental Protection Agency must coordinate with state, tribal, and local air quality agencies to support the environmental review of wildland fires.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-06-10
- Date Added
- 2026-03-30