H.R. 471 – Fix Our Forests Act
H.R. 471 - Fix Our Forests Act
Hearing Information
Meeting Announcement
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - 4:00pm H-313, the Capitol View Announcement »
Video
Bill Text
(as introduced)
Hearing Documents
Rule PDF
H. Rept. 119-1 PDF
Rule Information
COMMITTEE ACTION:
REPORTED BY A RECORD VOTE of 9-3 on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 53:
Agreed to by a record vote of 213-204, after agreeing to the previous question by a record vote of 214-204, on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
MANAGERS: Scott/McGovern
1. Structured rule for H.R. 471.
2. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
3. Provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees.
4. Provides that the bill shall be considered as read.
5. Waives all points of order against provisions in the bill.
6. Makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report. Each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
7. Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report.
8. Provides one motion to recommit.
9. Closed rule for S. 5.
10. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
11. Provides that the bill shall be considered as read.
12. Waives all points of order against provisions in the bill.
13. Provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees.
14. Provides one motion to commit.
Amendments (click each header to sort table ▲▼ by that column)
| # | Version # | Sponsor(s) | Party | Summary | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Version 1 | Lee (NV), Neguse (CO), Bergman (MI), Harder (CA), Peters (CA), Valadao (CA), Pettersen (CO), Ciscomani (AZ), Whitesides (CA) | Bi-Partisan | Provides a permanent pay fix for federal wildland firefighters. | Submitted |
| 2 | Version 1 | Neguse (CO), Harder (CA), Pettersen (CO) | Democrat | Inserts the updated text of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act, to improve pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters. | Submitted |
| 3 | Version 1 | Harder (CA) | Democrat | Increases the capacity of the Forest Service to assess wildfire smoke and monitoring. | Submitted |
| 4 | Version 1 | Harder (CA) | Democrat | Establishes the Middle Fire Leaders Academy to provide rapid training for wildfire and beneficial fire leaders. | Submitted |
| 5 | Version 1 | Harder (CA), Neguse (CO) | Democrat | Extends the Break in Service for Wildland Firefighter Special Retirement from 3 days to 2 years. | Submitted |
| 6 | Version 1 | Huffman (CA) | Democrat | Inserts the Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act, which would help communities implement science-based methods for mitigating wildfire damage and provide funding to design and implement new Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Plans with community members, first responders, and relevant state agencies. | Submitted |
| 7 | Version 1 | Leger Fernández (NM) | Democrat | Inserts authorizations for appropriations for activities in sections 102, 103, 105, 106, 201, 202, 205, 206, 301, 303, 312, 313, 315, 317, and 401. | Submitted |
| 8 | Version 1 | Leger Fernández (NM) | Democrat | Provides support for the collection and maintenance of native seeds and production of tree seedlings. Substantively identical to H.R. 5015 as Reported (Amended) by the House Natural Resources Committee (118th Congress). | Submitted |
| 9 | Version 1 | Carbajal (CA) | Democrat | Allows the U.S. Forest Service to approve the removal of hazardous trees near power lines on federal land without requiring a timber sale, easing a serious threat that has in the past been a major cause of destructive wildfires. | Made in Order |
| 10 | Version 1 | Schrier (WA), Valadao (CA) | Bi-Partisan | Increases the utilization of responsible wildfire and smoke mitigation strategies, tools, and technologies; and requires the development of regional prescribed fire operational strategies. | Submitted |
| 11 | Version 1 | Stansbury (NM) | Democrat | Revises forest system performance metrics based on the best available science, landscape resiliency, biodiversity, ecosystem services, watershed conditions, restoration, and other metrics, and authorizes funds for this work. | Submitted |
| 12 | Version 2 | Perry (PA) | Republican | Revised Strikes carbon sequestration and ecosystem services prioritization from section 301 biochar demonstration projects. | Made in Order |
| 13 | Version 1 | Pettersen (CO) | Democrat | Amends the Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program to strengthen risk reduction strategies in the built environment. | Submitted |
| 14 | Version 1 | Pettersen (CO) | Democrat | Require that the USFS, in collaboration with the National Forest Foundation, report to Congress an assessment about the opportunities to further utilize aquatic restoration and conservation activities as a wildfire risk reduction and post-fire recovery strategy. | Submitted |
| 15 | Version 1 | Pettersen (CO), Obernolte (CA) | Bi-Partisan | Allows states to purchase and integrate wildfire satellite monitoring technology for early detection, monitoring active fire behavior, burn intensity, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of prescribed fire treatments, and guiding post-disaster recovery through public-private partnerships. | Submitted |
| 16 | Version 1 | Min (CA), Barragán (CA), Brownley (CA), Whitesides (CA), Tran (CA), Sherman (CA), Gomez (CA) | Democrat | Expresses the sense of Congress that individuals that were adversely impacted by the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area that began on January 7, 2025 deserve to receive comprehensive federal disaster assistance, and that calls to condition this assistance are antithetical to our nation's values. | Submitted |
| 17 | Version 1 | Obernolte (CA), Pettersen (CO) | Bi-Partisan | Replaces "mid-wave" with "multi-spectral" which broadens the scope to include a wider range of technologies that are not confined to a single spectral band. | Submitted |
| 18 | Version 1 | Perry (PA) | Republican | Strikes the prioritization of resilience to climate change in the water source protection program in this bill. | Submitted |
| 19 | Version 1 | Friedman (CA) | Democrat | Strikes section 122 of the bill. | Submitted |
Committee Votes
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 4
Motion by Mr. McGovern to amend the rule to make in order amendment #2 to H.R. 471, offered by Representative Neguse, which inserts the updated text of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act, to improve pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters. Defeated: 3–9
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 5
Motion by Ms. Leger Fernández to amend the rule to make in order amendment #7 to H.R. 471, offered by Representative Leger Fernández. Amendment #7 would insert authorizations for appropriations for activities in various sections of the bill. Defeated: 3–9
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 6
Motion by Ms. Leger Fernández to amend the rule to make in order amendment #8 to H.R. 471, offered by Representative Leger Fernández. Amendment #8 would provide support for the collection and maintenance of native seeds and production of tree seedlings. Defeated: 3–9
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 7
Motion by Mr. Austin Scott to report the rule. Adopted: 9–3