Environmental review

(a) Smoke management agencies (1) Policy The Secretaries shall ensure that policies, training, and programs of the Secretaries are consistent with this subsection— (A) to facilitate greater use of prescribed fire; and (B) to address public health and safety, including impacts from smoke from wildfires and prescribed fires. (2) Coordination among Federal, Tribal, and State air quality agencies and Federal, Tribal, and State land management agencies To facilitate the use of prescribed fire on Federal, State, Tribal, and private land, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with Federal and State land management agencies, shall coordinate with State, Tribal, and local air quality agencies that regulate smoke under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.)— (A) to the maximum extent practicable, to provide State, Tribal, and local air quality agencies with guidance, data, imagery, or modeling to support the development of exceptional event demonstrations in accordance with sections 50.14 and 51.930 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations); (B) to develop archives and automated tools to provide State, Tribal, and local air quality agencies with the data, imagery, and modeling under subparagraph (A); (C) to develop decision support tools for State, Tribal, and local air quality agencies to assist in determining whether an exceptional event demonstration, if the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency concurs with such demonstration, would have regulatory significance; (D) to provide technical assistance, best practices, or templates to States, Indian Tribes, and local governments for use in approving the use of prescribed fire under a State, Tribal, or local government smoke management program; (E) (i) to promote basic smoke management practices and other best practices to protect the public from wildland fire smoke; (ii) to disseminate information about basic smoke management practices; (iii) to educate landowners that use prescribed fire about the importance of— (I) using basic smoke management practices; and (II) including basic smoke management practices as a component of a prescribed fire plan; and (iv) to share with the public, in coordination with other public health agencies, information about measures that individuals can take to protect themselves from wildland fire smoke; and (F) to develop guidance and tools to streamline the demonstration of a clear causal relationship between prescribed fire smoke and a related exceedance of a national ambient air quality standard. (3) Exceptional event demonstrations (A) In general The appropriate State or Tribal air quality agency (including any local air quality agency delegated authority by a State) may develop and submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency an exceptional event demonstration in accordance with sections 50.14 and 51.930 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), for a prescribed fire. (B) Approval The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall concur with an exceptional event demonstration submitted under subparagraph (A) in accordance with the requirements of sections 50.14 and 51.930 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). To meet requirement that the applicable prescribed fire was not reasonably controllable or preventable and that the applicable prescribed fire was a human activity unlikely to recur, the State or Tribal air quality agency shall demonstrate in that exceptional event demonstration that, at a minimum, the applicable prescribed fire was— (i) conducted in accordance with a State or Tribal smoke management program or basic smoke management practices; and (ii) consistent with a land or resource management plan with a stated objective to establish, restore, or maintain a sustainable and resilient ecosystem. (C) Demonstration assistance for Federal land For any prescribed fire conducted on Federal land, the Secretary concerned— (i) shall assist with the development of an exceptional event demonstration under subparagraph (A) on request of a State or Tribal air quality agency; and (ii) may develop and submit an exceptional event demonstration under subparagraph (A) with the concurrence of the applicable State or Tribal air quality agency. (4) Programs and research To address the public health and safety risk of the expanded use of prescribed fire under this title, the Secretaries, in coordination with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall conduct research to improve or develop— (A) wildland fire smoke prediction models; (B) smoke impact display tools for the public and decisionmakers; (C) appropriate, cost-effective, and consistent strategies to mitigate the impacts of smoke from prescribed fire on nearby communities; (D) consistent nationally and scientifically supported messages regarding personal protection equipment for the public; and (E) prescribed fire activity tracking and emission inventory systems for planning and post-treatment accountability. (b) Development of landscape-Scale Federal prescribed fire plans (1) Inclusion of landscape-scale prescribed fire plans The Secretary concerned shall, with respect to units of the National Forest System or Bureau of Land Management districts with existing prescribed fire programs— (A) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, determine which of those units or districts have landscape-scale prescribed fire plans; and (B) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act— (i) determine whether each plan described in subparagraph (A) requires revision; (ii) establish a schedule for the revision of each plan described in subparagraph (A) that requires revision; and (iii) develop landscape-scale prescribed fire plans for any units or districts that do not have landscape-scale prescribed fire plans. (2) Environmental compliance In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall— (A) comply with— (i) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); (ii) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); (iii) division A of subtitle III of title 54, United States Code; and (iv) any other applicable laws; and (B) consider the site-specific environmental consequences of the landscape-scale prescribed fire decisions under this subsection. (3) Collaborative development In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall collaborate with diverse actors from academia, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management research and development programs, nongovernmental organizations, cultural fire practitioners, and other entities, as determined appropriate by the Secretary concerned. (4) Consultation with Indian Tribes The Secretary concerned shall engage in government-to-government consultation with Indian Tribes in complying with this subsection. (5) Reports Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress of the Secretary concerned with respect to carrying out this subsection.