Collaborative prescribed fire program

(a) In general The Secretary concerned, in coordination with the other Secretary concerned, shall establish a Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program (referred to in this section as the program) to select and fund prescribed fire projects (each of which is referred to in this section as a project) in accordance with— (1) the prioritization criteria established under section 11102(c); (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); (3) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); (4) the applicable land use or land management plan; and (5) any other applicable law. (b) Eligibility criteria To be eligible for nomination under subsection (c), a proposal for a project shall— (1) be consistent with a landscape restoration strategy— (A) that is complete or substantially complete; (B) that identifies and prioritizes prescribed fire treatments for a 10-year period within a landscape that is— (i) not less than 50,000 acres; (ii) composed primarily of forested Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned, but may also include other Federal, State, Tribal, or private land, if a treatment on that land would benefit the applicable Federal land; and (iii) in need of— (I) active ecosystem restoration; or (II) maintenance activities to retain previously treated land in a wildfire-resilient state; (C) that incorporates the best available science and scientific application tools to identify project areas; (D) that fully maintains, or contributes toward the restoration of, the structure and composition of old growth stands according to the pre-fire suppression old growth conditions characteristic of the forest type— (i) taking into account the contribution of the stand to landscape fire adaptation and watershed health; and (ii) retaining the large trees contributing to old growth structure; (E) under which would be carried out any forest restoration treatments that reduce hazardous fuels through the use of fire for ecological restoration and maintenance and reestablishing natural fire regimes, where appropriate, which— (i) may include site preparation, if necessary to prepare the landscape for reestablishment of a natural fire regime; and (ii) shall maximize the retention of large trees, as appropriate for the forest type, to the extent that the trees promote fire-resilient stands; and (F) under which— (i) no permanent roads would be established; and (ii) funding would be committed to decommission all temporary roads constructed to carry out the strategy; (2) be developed and implemented through a collaborative process that— (A) includes multiple interested persons representing diverse interests; and (B) is transparent and nonexclusive; (3) describe plans, as applicable— (A) to reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire; (B) to improve fish and wildlife habitat, including for endangered, threatened, and sensitive species; (C) to maintain or improve water quality and watershed function; (D) to prevent, remediate, or control invasions of exotic species; (E) to maintain, decommission, and rehabilitate roads and trails; (F) to report annually on performance, including setting accomplishment targets for each year; (G) to take into account any applicable community wildfire protection plan; and (H) to mitigate smoke impacts on nearby communities; (4) include an analysis of any anticipated cost savings, including savings resulting from— (A) a reduced risk of wildfire damages, especially to high-value resources; and (B) a decrease in the unit costs of implementing ecological restoration treatments over time; (5) include estimates of— (A) the amount of annual Federal funding necessary to implement the proposed project; and (B) the amount of new non-Federal investment for carrying out the proposed project that would be leveraged; (6) describe the collaborative process described in paragraph (2) through which the proposal was developed, including a description of— (A) participation by, or consultation with, State, local, and Tribal governments; and (B) any established record of successful collaborative planning and implementation of prescribed fire projects on National Forest System land and other land included in the proposal by the collaborators; (7) propose to benefit local economies by providing local employment or training opportunities through contracts, grants, or agreements for planning, design, implementation, or monitoring with— (A) local private, nonprofit, or cooperative entities; (B) Youth Conservation Corps crews or related partnerships with State, local, and nonprofit youth groups; (C) existing or proposed small or micro businesses, clusters, or incubators; or (D) other entities that will hire or train local individuals to complete those contracts, grants, or agreements; and (8) be subject to any other requirements that the Secretary concerned determines to be necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the program. (c) Nomination process (1) Submission A proposal for a project shall be submitted to the appropriate Regional Forester, State Director, or other similar official. (2) Nomination (A) In general An official described in paragraph (1) may nominate for selection by the Secretary concerned any proposals received by the official under that paragraph that meet the eligibility criteria described in subsection (b). (B) Concurrence In the case of a proposal for a project that involves activities on the land of both Secretaries, a nomination under subparagraph (A) shall include the concurrence of the appropriate official for the applicable land that is not under the jurisdiction of the official nominating the proposal. (3) Other land In the case of a proposal for a project that involves activities on land that is not under the jurisdiction of either Secretary concerned, a nomination under subparagraph (A) shall include evidence that the landowner intends to participate in, and provide appropriate funding to carry out, the activities. (d) Selection process (1) In general The Secretary concerned, in consultation with the other Secretary concerned, shall select for implementation proposals for projects— (A) that have been nominated under subsection (c)(2); (B) that meet the eligibility criteria described in subsection (b); and (C) in accordance with the prioritization criteria established under section 11102(c). (2) Criteria In selecting proposals under paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall give special consideration to— (A) the strength of the proposal, including the landscape restoration strategy described in subsection (b)(1) of the proposal; (B) the strength of the ecological case of the proposal and the proposed ecological restoration strategies under the proposal; (C) the strength of the collaborative process described in subsection (b)(2) through which the proposal was developed and the likelihood of successful collaboration throughout implementation; (D) the extent to which the proposal is likely to achieve reductions in long-term wildfire risk and increased protection of high-value resources; (E) the extent to which an appropriate level of non-Federal investment would be leveraged in carrying out the proposed project; and (F) ensuring geographic diversity of projects implemented under this section. (3) Limitation The Secretary concerned may select not more than— (A) 20 proposals under paragraph (1) to be funded during any fiscal year; and (B) the number of proposals under paragraph (1) that the Secretary concerned determines are likely to receive adequate funding. (e) Reporting (1) Project reporting A recipient of financial assistance to carry out a project under the program shall annually submit to the Secretary concerned a report summarizing, at a minimum, with respect to the year covered by the report— (A) the number of acres of land treated with prescribed fire by the recipient under the program; and (B) the amount of Federal and non-Federal funds used by the recipient under the program. (2) Program report Not later than 5 years after the first fiscal year in which funding is made available to carry out projects under the program, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall submit to the congressional committees a report describing the program, including an assessment of whether, and to what extent, the program is fulfilling the purposes of this section. (f) Limitations (1) Total funding The Secretary concerned shall not provide more than $20,000,000 in total funding for projects under the program in any fiscal year. (2) Project size limitation The Secretary concerned shall not provide more than $1,000,000 for any 1 project under the program in any fiscal year. (3) Project sunset The Secretary concerned shall not provide funding for a project under the program for a period of more than 10 fiscal years. (4) Project cancellation The Secretary concerned shall cease funding any project under the program that, for 3 consecutive years, fails to meet the annual accomplishment targets set under subsection (b)(3)(F). (g) Funding Of the amounts made available under section 11102(a), the Secretary concerned may use to carry out this section not more than $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2036.