U.S. Representatives Panetta, Carbajal, and Brownley Urge Wildfire Funding Fix in Omnibus Package

WASHINGTON, DC – After the most destructive California wildfire season on record, Central Coast Reps. Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), and Julia Brownley (CA-26) requested that Congress include a fix to the disruptive wildfire budgeting practice in their must-pass FY 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The letter addresses the long-term problem of consistently underfunding fire suppression, a practice which currently forces federal agencies to steal from fire prevention and mitigation funds to fight fires, so-called "fire borrowing."

The United States Forest Service (USFS) spent a record $2.4 billion to put out fires in FY 2018, requiring $527 million in transfers from other mitigation accounts within the USFS.

"Two years ago, my community on the central coast of California experienced one of the most expensive wildfires in U.S. history, the Soberanes fire. To prevent future fires from devastating our community, Congress must properly fund the U.S. Forest Services' efficient, effective, and life-saving forest management activities." said Congressman Panetta. "Stronger investments in fire prevention efforts, including fuel breaks, ensure forest health and reduce wildfire risk in communities across California and the nation."

"Congress' failure to address this critical budgeting issue forces USFS to delay maintenance and puts Central Coast families in greater danger," said Congressman Carbajal. "Properly funding wildfire mitigation on federal lands means saving more money in the long-term. Our firefighters face longer and more destructive fire seasons in California, working around the clock to put out fires near our homes and businesses. We owe them the resources to implement measures that are proven to help control future wildfires."

"For many years, my colleagues and I have been trying to address the problem of ‘fire-borrowing.'" said Congresswoman Brownley. "We simply must make sure that the U.S. Forest Service has access to the resources necessary to address wildfire suppression without having to decimate other programs. I am hopeful this can be addressed in the upcoming Omnibus, and I am frustrated that Speaker Ryan has not allowed legislation to fix this problem to come to the floor for a vote."

Congressman Panetta is a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to fix the way the federal government funds the fight against wildfires, H.R. 2862, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, which was introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho. The bill categorizes wildfire response as a natural disaster, while continuing to fund routine wildfire costs through the normal budgeting and appropriations process. The bill would end the practice of fire borrowing by funding large wildfires from disaster accounts similar to accounts used to fund other natural disasters, freeing up funding for critical fire mitigation and suppression activities like fuel reduction, preparedness and site rehabilitation for burned areas.

A copy of the letter can be found here and the text is below:

Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi:

As you continue to negotiate a final spending bill for the 2018 fiscal year, we strongly urge you to include language to fix the way Congress funds wildfire suppression and fuels management efforts. Since 2000, we have seen prolonged fire seasons with the frequency and size of fires also rising. This has led to an increase in the amount of spending drastically needed for fire suppression activities. In turn, the United States Forest Service (USFS) has continuously exceeded the amount of funds appropriated to fight wildfires, which has come at the expense of other programs that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and increase the ability of land to recover from these disasters.

This past year alone was the most expensive year on record. The USFS spent a record $2.4 billion on wildfire suppression, requiring $527 million in transfers from other accounts within the USFS. While the transfer of funds is generally repaid in subsequent appropriations bills, this is a disruptive practice that impedes land management agencies from doing potentially life-saving mitigation activities that would reduce the risks of wildfires. It means the USFS can't do prescribed burns, fuels management, or insect control because Congress has failed to provide a mechanism to adequately fund the agency and provide certainty for them to move forward with fire mitigation activities.

Unfortunately, the impacts of these wildfires are widespread. In 2017, there were 14 federal firefighter fatalities. This past year, the Thomas Fire became the largest fire in California's history—burning nearly 282,000 acres and triggering mudslides that claimed the lives of 23 individuals.

Again, we ask that any final spending bill for FY18 include language that would address this issue. We stand ready to provide any assistance. This is a fix that is overdue and we need to address.

Sincerely,

PERMALINK: https://carbajal.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=269