Legislative Activity

The "Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act" directs the Under Secretary to establish a program to improve the lead time, accuracy, and dissemination of atmospheric river forecasts. This program will focus on enhancing data modeling, developing a unified forecast system, and incorporating social and economic sciences to better predict and communicate the impacts of atmospheric rivers. The Under Secretary is also required to maintain adequate aircraft and equipment for atmospheric river reconnaissance and establish at least one atmospheric river observatory in each West Coast state, including Alaska. Finally, the bill requires the Under Secretary to develop a plan detailing the activities, resources, and timelines to achieve the program's goals, ensuring it is submitted to relevant committees and made publicly available.

The "Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Amendment Act of 2025" amends existing law to establish an interest-bearing account within the U.S. Treasury for non-federal contributions to the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program. This fund will hold contributions and earned interest, making the funds available to the Secretary for program expenditures without further appropriation. The bill also outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Treasury Secretary and State Parties in managing and protecting these funds.

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025 establishes special base rates of pay for federal wildland firefighters, increasing their salaries based on their General Schedule grade. It also provides incident response premium pay for firefighters deployed to qualifying incidents and allows for rest and recuperation leave following deployments. The bill enables the transfer of funds between the Forest Service and the Department of Interior to ensure the continuation of salary increases.

The "Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act" increases the federal government's share of fire management assistance to at least 75% of eligible costs. It also directs FEMA to create rules for recommending increased federal cost shares for disaster relief and updates FEMA's grant policy to allow reimbursement for pre-deployment of resources by state, local, and tribal governments before a major disaster.