H.R. 3396 would require, within one year of enactment, the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Homeland Security, and the Interior to establish standard timelines for payments to nonfederal entities for activities related to wildfire suppression. Under current law, the timing for such payments are included in the cost-sharing agreements for fire suppression that federal agencies and nonfederal entities develop for wildfires that cross jurisdictions. The bill also would require the relevant agencies to review existing agreements and, if necessary, modify them to comply with the standard timelines. Using information from the affected agencies, CBO estimates that establishing standard timelines for payments and modifying existing agreements would cost less than $500,000 over the 2024-2029 period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
In addition, H.R. 3396 would codify two policies that are commonly practiced or required by law. Those policies concern aligning the payment structure of the cost-sharing agreements to the cooperative agreements for fire protection (documents that outline conditions for all cost-sharing agreements within a region) and reimbursing local fire departments. Because those provisions are met under current policy and law, CBO estimates that implementing them would not affect the federal budget.
