Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act
The Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act would create a new, dedicated grant program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), run in coordination with the Chief of the Forest Service, to help communities prepare for and withstand wildfires. Eligible entities (states, Indian Tribes, local governments or fire departments, volunteer fire departments, or coalitions of two or more of these) could receive grants to either implement a community protection and wildfire resilience plan or to develop such a plan if one does not yet exist. Grants for project implementation could go up to $10 million, while grants to develop a plan could go up to $250,000. The bill requires a minimum 25% non-federal match for projects and 0% for plan development, with a preference for local contractors and labor. It authorizes $1 billion annually from 2025 through 2029 and includes related oversight provisions (GAO reports), plus complementary updates like wildfire risk mapping, a study on radio communications interoperability, and an expansion of structure hardening under a separate wildfire grant program. In addition to creating and funding the grant program, the bill directs updates to risk maps, supports improving communications among responding agencies, and expands eligible activities to include certain defensible-space and structure-hardening measures. It also contemplates potential incentives for insurance coverage and seeks to assess and improve federal authorities and funding gaps related to wildfire protection.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a new Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Grant Program within FEMA (separate from the Stafford Act) to fund projects or plan development aimed at wildfire protection and resilience.
- 2Eligible entities include a state, an Indian Tribe, a local government unit (including fire districts/departments), a volunteer fire department, or a collaboration of at least two such entities.
- 3Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Grants (for project implementation): up to $10 million per grant; funds must support a diverse set of resilience strategies described in the community’s plan.
- 4Plan Development Grants: up to $250,000 to develop a new plan or update an existing plan to meet the Act’s requirements.
- 5Plan requirements: plans must be developed with broad stakeholder input (local government, tribes, first responders, utilities, NGOs, and relevant state agencies) and cover topics such as early detection, evacuation, defensible space, infrastructure hardening, land-use planning, vulnerable populations, and coordination with existing wildfire/evacuation plans.
- 6Preference for local involvement: grant recipients should prioritize local contracting and hiring, and may partner with AmeriCorps or conservation corps.
- 7Cost-sharing: non-federal match required (minimum 25% for project grants; 0% for plan development); match can be cash, in-kind, or volunteer time; potential low-interest federal loan option for low-income communities.
- 8Funding level: authorizes $1,000,000,000 each fiscal year from 2025 through 2029.
- 9GAO oversight and studies: requires GAO to report on federal authorities/programs to protect communities from wildfires and to study potential plan certification for wildfire survivability and insurance incentives, plus metrics insurers could use.
- 10Updated risk mapping and at-risk communities: expands the Healthy Forests Restoration Act definition of at-risk communities and requires updated risk maps at least every five years, including Tribal at-risk communities.
- 11Radio communications study: requires a GAO-backed report within two years on radio frequency availability, interoperability barriers, and potential solutions, with coordination across federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.
- 12Structure hardening expansion: amends the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program to explicitly include structure hardening and related protective measures as “covered projects.”