United States HR 9682: Ending Major Borderland Environmental Ruin from Wildfires (EMBER) Act

Bill Text

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118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 9682
To mitigate environmental degradation and wildland fires caused by illegal
immigration along the southern border of the United States, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To mitigate environmental degradation and wildland fires
caused by illegal immigration along the southern border
of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Major Border-4
land Environmental Ruin from Wildfires (EMBER) Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT-1
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-2
mittees’’ means— 3
(A) the Committees on Natural Resources, 4
Agriculture, Homeland Security, and the Judi-5
ciary of the House of Representatives; and 6
(B) the Committees on Energy and Nat-7
ural Resources, Agriculture, Nutrition, and 8
Forestry, Homeland Security and Governmental 9
Affairs, and the Judiciary of the Senate. 10
(2) BORDER STATE.—The term ‘‘Border State’’ 11
means a State that abuts the southern border. 12
(3) COVERED FEDERAL LANDS.— 13
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 14
Federal lands’’ means land— 15
(i) owned by the United States; 16
(ii) located in a unit that shares an 17
exterior boundary with the southern bor-18
der; and 19
(iii) administered by— 20
(I) the National Park Service; 21
(II) the Bureau of Land Manage-22
ment; 23
(III) the United States Fish and 24
Wildlife Service; 25
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(IV) the Bureau of Reclamation; 1
or 2
(V) the Forest Service. 3
(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘covered Fed-4
eral lands’’ does not include Federal lands held 5
in trust for Indian Tribes. 6
(4) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘‘oper-7
ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 8
section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 9
U.S.C. 1701 note; Public Law 109–367). 10
(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-11
retary concerned’’ means— 12
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-13
spect to lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec-14
retary of the Interior; and 15
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 16
through the Chief of the Forest Service, with 17
respect to National Forest System lands. 18
(6) SOUTHERN BORDER.—The term ‘‘southern 19
border’’ means the international border between the 20
United States and Mexico. 21
SEC. 3. SOUTHERN BORDER FUELS MANAGEMENT INITIA-22
TIVE. 23
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 24
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 25
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the Interior shall establish a program to be known as the 1
‘‘Southern Border Fuels Management Initiative’’ (in this 2
section referred to as the ‘‘Initiative’’). 3
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Initiative is to 4
carry out vegetation management activities along the 5
southern border in order to— 6
(1) reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire 7
along the southern border and improve landscape re-8
silience; 9
(2) improve operational control of the southern 10
border; and 11
(3) improve visibility and sight lines along the 12
southern border to increase safety for law enforce-13
ment. 14
(c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the Initiative, the 15
Secretary shall— 16
(1) reduce hazardous fuels along the southern 17
border; 18
(2) address invasive or non-native species along 19
the southern border that contribute to wildfire risk 20
or decrease operation efficiency of border patrol op-21
erations; 22
(3) install fuel breaks along the southern bor-23
der; and 24
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(4) set targets for acres to treat under the pro-1
gram for each fiscal year. 2
(d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the Initiative, 3
the Secretary shall coordinate and may enter into memo-4
randums of understanding with the Forest Service, U.S. 5
Border Patrol, and State, local, or Tribal law enforcement 6
agencies. 7
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 8
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte