Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

To address the growing threat of wildfires, the measure:

• Provides the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service with approximately $3.4 billion in funding in fiscal years 2022-2026 for land restoration projects, technology and equipment acquisitions, data improvements, communication upgrades, at-risk community tracking, and more.
• Directs the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to implement changes in existing policies and procedures addressing the capabilities and safety of wildland firefighting personnel. This includes working with the Office of Personnel Management to create a wildland firefighter occupational series that will provide full-time employment and include duties like reducing hazardous fuels on public lands.
• Establishes a Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program through the Department of Agriculture that awards grants to at-risk communities to develop or improve community wildfire protection plans and carry out projects included in those plans.
• Creates the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission to study and improve federal policies relating to “the prevention, mitigation, suppression, and management of wildland fires in the United States” and “the rehabilitation of land in the United States devastated by wildland fires.”