ACRES Act
3/6/2025, 9:06 AMSummary of Bill HR 204
Bill 119 HR 204, also known as the Hazardous Fuels Reduction Reporting Act, aims to ensure that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior provide accurate reports on their hazardous fuels reduction activities. The bill requires these agencies to submit detailed and transparent reports on their efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires by removing hazardous fuels such as dead trees, brush, and other flammable materials from forests and public lands.The purpose of this legislation is to improve accountability and oversight of hazardous fuels reduction programs, which are crucial for preventing and mitigating the devastating impacts of wildfires. By requiring accurate reporting, Congress can better assess the effectiveness of these programs and allocate resources more efficiently to protect communities and natural resources from the threat of wildfires.
Overall, Bill 119 HR 204 seeks to enhance the transparency and effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction activities carried out by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. This legislation is an important step towards improving wildfire management and protecting our forests and public lands for future generations.
Congressional Summary of HR 204
Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the ACRES Act
This bill establishes requirements regarding reports about hazardous fuels reduction activities and standardized procedures for tracking data for hazardous fuels reduction. Hazardous fuels reduction activities means any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire but excludes the award of contracts to conduct hazardous fuels reduction activities.
First, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior must include in the materials submitted in support of the President's budget each fiscal year a report on the number of acres of federal land on which such activities were carried out during the preceding year.
Next, USDA and Interior must implement standardized procedures for tracking data related to such activities. The standardized procedures must include
- regular, standardized data reviews of the accuracy and timely input of data used to track hazardous fuels reduction activities;
- verification methods that validate whether such data accurately correlates to such activities;
- an analysis of the short- and long-term effectiveness of such activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and
- for hazardous fuels reduction activities that occur partially within the wildland-urban interface, methods to distinguish which acres are located within and which located outside the wildland-urban interface.
Finally, the Government Accountability Office must (1) conduct a study on this bill's implementation, and (2) submit a report to Congress with the results of the study.
