Official Summaries

Fire Department Repayment Act of 2025

This bill requires standard operating procedures for reciprocal fire suppression cost share agreements, which are agreements between federal, state, and local governments to share the costs of suppressing wildfires that occur across multiple jurisdictions. 

The Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, Homeland Security, and Defense must establish standard operating procedures relating to payment timelines for fire suppression cost share agreements established under the Reciprocal Fire Protection Act. The departments must also review each agreement that is in operation within a year of this bill's enactment and modify an agreement as necessary to comply with the standard operating procedures.

The standard operating procedures must require that (1) each fire suppression cost share agreement be aligned with each of the cooperative fire protection agreements applicable to the entity subject to such fire suppression cost share agreement, and (2) the federal paying entity reimburse a local fire department if the fire department submits an invoice in accordance with cost settlement procedures.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 345 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 345

  To require the standardization of reciprocal fire suppression cost 
               share agreements, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 13, 2025

 Mr. Harder of California (for himself and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
  Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Armed 
   Services, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the standardization of reciprocal fire suppression cost 
               share agreements, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Department Repayment Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CERTAIN FIRE SUPPRESSION COST SHARE 
              AGREEMENTS.

    (a) Establishment of Standard Operating Procedures.--Not later than 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretaries 
shall--
            (1) establish standard operating procedures relating to 
        payment timelines for fire suppression cost share agreements 
        established under the Act of May 27, 1955 (42 U.S.C. 1856a) 
        (commonly known as the ``Reciprocal Fire Protection Act''); and
            (2) with respect to each fire suppression cost share 
        agreement in operation on such date--
                    (A) review each such agreement; and
                    (B) modify each agreement as necessary to comply 
                with the standard operating procedures required under 
                paragraph (1).
    (b) Alignment of Fire Suppression Cost Share Agreements With 
Cooperative Fire Protection Agreements.--The standard operating 
procedures required under subsection (a)(1) shall include a requirement 
that each fire suppression cost share agreement be aligned with each of 
the cooperative fire protection agreements applicable to the entity 
subject to such fire suppression cost share agreement.
    (c) Payments Pursuant to Cost Share Agreements.--With respect to 
payments made pursuant to fire suppression cost share agreements, the 
standard operating procedures required under subsection (a)(1) shall 
require that the Federal paying entity reimburse a local fire 
department if such fire department submits an invoice in accordance 
with cost settlement procedures.
    (d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Secretaries should carry out reciprocal fire suppression cost share 
agreement repayments to local fire suppression organizations as soon as 
practicable after fire suppression occurs but not later than 1 year 
after fire suppression occurs.
    (e) Secretaries Defined.--In this section, the term ``Secretaries'' 
means--
            (1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior;
            (3) the Secretary of Homeland Security; and
            (4) the Secretary of Defense.
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