,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #adbh  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #a1    
#bjac ,mr4 ,bennet 7for himself and ,mr4
 ,crapo7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,homeland ,security and  
,governmental ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to  
amend the ,robert ,t4 ,stafford         
,disaster ,relief and ,emergency        
,assistance ,act to provide for wildfire
 mitigation grants1 and for other       
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,prepare1 ,ready1   
,equip1 and ,prevent ,areas at ,risk of 
,emergency ,wildfires ,act of #bjac or  
the ,,prepare ,act of #bjac4  #b4       
,wildfire mitigation ,title ,,ii of the 
,robert ,t4 ,stafford ,disaster ,relief 
and ,emergency ,assistance ,act 7#db    
,u4,s4,c4 #eaca et seq47 is amended by  
inserting after section #bjc the        
following3  #bjc;,a4 ,wildfire          
mitigation  7a7 ,definitions ,in this   
section--  7#a7 the term ,administrator 

means the ,administrator of the ,federal
 ,emergency ,management ,agency2  7#b7  
the term community wildfire protection  
plan has the meaning given the term in  
section #aja of the ,healthy ,forests   
,restoration ,act of #bjjc 7#af         
,u4,s4,c4 #feaa72  7#c7 the term local  
mitigation plan means a mitigation plan 
developed under section #cbb7;b7 that   
addresses wildfire mitigation and       
preparedness2 and  7#d7 the term ,state 
mitigation plan means a mitigation plan 
developed under section #cbb7;c7 that   
addresses wildfire mitigation and       
preparedness4  7b7 ,establishment of    
wildfire mitigation and preparedness    
grant program ,the ,president1 acting   
through the ,administrator1 shall       
establish a pilot program to make grants
 to ,states for wildfire mitigation and 
preparedness4  7c7 ,use of funds ,a     
grant under this section may be used by 
a ,state--  7#a7 to reduce the hazardous
 fuel load by reducing the use of fuels 
that may contribute to catastrophic     

wildfires in high-risk areas2  7#b7 to  
invest in personnel and organizations to
 improve wildfire preparedness2  7#c7 to
 invest in vehicles and other equipment 
to improve wildfire preparedness2  7#d7 
to invest in air tankers or other       
airborne assets to help contain1        
suppress1 and monitor wildfires2  7#e7  
to prevent damage from runoff into      
waterways and floods caused by erosion  
from wildfires2 and  7#f7 at the        
discretion of the ,governor of a ,state1
 for any other wildfire mitigation and  
preparedness activities on ,federal1    
,state1 or private land in the ,state1  
unless otherwise prohibited by law4  7d7
 ,eligibility for assistance  7#a7 ,in  
general  7,a7 ,eligibility ,a ,state    
shall be eligible for assistance under  
this section if the section #dbj grant  
ratio for such ,state is equal to or    
greater than #aej percent of the ,state 
population ratio4  7,b7 ,ratios ,for    
purposes of subparagraph 7,a7--  7i7 the
 section #dbj grant ratio shall be equal

 to the quotient of--  7,i7 the number  
of declarations for a grant under       
section #dbj received by the ,state     
during the #aj years prior to the date  
on which an application for assistance  
is submitted under this section1 divided
 by  7,,ii7 the total number of         
declarations for a grant under section  
#dbj in the ,united ,states during the  
#aj years prior to the date on which an 
application for assistance is submitted 
under this section2 and  7ii7 the ,state
 population ratio shall be equal to the 
quotient of--  7,i7 the population of   
the ,state1 based on the most recent    
data available from the ,bureau of the  
,census on the date on which an         
application for assistance is submitted 
under this section1 divided by  7,,ii7  
the population of the ,united ,states1  
based on the most recent data available 
from the ,bureau of the ,census on the  
date on which an application for        
assistance is submitted under this      
section4  7#b7 ,waiver ,the ,president  

may waive the requirement of paragraph  
7#a7 if a ,state--  7,a7 files a        
petition for waiver of the requirement  
of paragraph 7#a72 and  7,b7            
demonstrates that significant           
environmental changes or shifts in      
forest health put the ,state at an      
elevated risk for catastrophic          
wildfires1 as determined by the         
,president4  7#c7 ,local assistance ,the
 ,governor of a ,state may award funds  
received under this section1 to be used 
solely for the purposes set forth under 
subsection 7c71 to--  7,a7 any county or
 municipality in that ,state with a     
community wildfire protection plan or a 
local mitigation plan2 or  7,b7 any     
other entity that is explicitly         
referenced in and central to1 in the    
determination of the ,governor1 the     
design of a community wildfire          
protection plan or a local mitigation   
plan4  7e7 ,criteria for assistance ,in 
determining whether to award a grant to 
a ,state under this section1 the        

,president shall--  7#a7 give preference
 to--  7,a7 a ,state with a high level  
of need for assistance based on the best
 scientific data available1 as          
determined by the ,president in         
consultation with the ,chief of the     
,forest ,service2  7,b7 a ,state that   
provides matching non-,federal funds1   
including funds from nongovernmental    
entities1 equal to not less than #ajj   
percent of the amount of ,federal funds 
made available under this section2 and  
7,c7 a ,state that previously received a
 grant under this section and           
efficiently and effectively used the    
,federal funds for wildfire mitigation  
and preparedness activities in the      
,state1 as determined by the ,president2
 and  7#b7 consider environmental       
conditions in a ,state1 including       
environmental changes1 deteriorating    
forest health1 and overall wildfire     
risk4  7f7 ,application for assistance  
7#a7 ,in general ,to request a grant    
under this section1 a ,state shall      

submit an application to the ,president 
in such form1 in such manner1 and       
containing such information as the      
,president may reasonably require4  7#b7
 ,contents ,in addition to any other    
requirements that may be specified by   
the ,president1 a ,state submitting an  
application for a grant under this      
section shall demonstrate that--  7,a7  
the ,state has a publicly available     
,state mitigation plan2  7,b7 the ,state
 shall provide matching non-,federal    
funds equal to not less than #ej percent
 of the amount of ,federal funds made   
available under this subsection2 and    
7,c7 a county or municipality that may  
receive funds from the grant has a      
community wildfire protection plan or a 
local mitigation plan4  7g7 ,report ,not
 later than #a year after the date of   
receipt of a grant under this section1 a
 ,state shall submit to the             
,administrator a report1 which shall be 
made publicly available1 on the use of  
funds made available under the grant4   

7h7 ,funding for assistance  7#a7       
,predisaster mitigation fund ,subject to
 the availability of funds in the       
,national ,predisaster ,mitigation ,fund
 established under section #bjc7;i71 the
 ,president shall use not less than     
#bj1jjj1jjj and not more than           
#cj1jjj1jjj from unobligated amounts in 
the ,national ,predisaster ,mitigation  
,fund for each of fiscal years #bjad    
through #bjai in carrying out this      
section4  7#b7 ,rule of construction    
,nothing in this section shall be       
construed to increase the amount of     
appropriations authorized for the       
,department of ,homeland ,security in   
any given fiscal year4  4