Establishing the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee
Record date: 2021-01-21
( printed page 6549) Executive Order 13976 of January 14, 2021 Establishing the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose. Federal wildland fire management lacks a single focal point of responsibility for policy leadership and accountability for cost controls. While executive departments and agencies (agencies) have implemented Executive Order 13855 of December 21, 2018 (Promoting Active Management of America's Forests, Rangelands, and
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2021-01476
- Publication date
- 2021-01-21
- Citation
- 86 FR 6549
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 6549) Executive Order 13976 of January 14, 2021 Establishing the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose. Federal wildland fire management lacks a single focal point of responsibility for policy leadership and accountability for cost controls. While executive departments and agencies (agencies) have implemented Executive Order 13855 of December 21, 2018 (Promoting Active Management of America's Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands To Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk), and similar Administration efforts, more must be done to continue to improve interagency coordination. In contrast to effective ground-level coordination with States, including at the National Interagency Fire Center on suppression activity and the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) on Federal-State policy coordination, agencies do not adequately or effectively coordinate with each other at the policy level to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire severity. This order will ensure that agencies effectively work together in coordinating Federal wildland fire management policy to improve funding allocations for hazardous fuel projects, performance measures for suppression operations and hazardous fuels mitigation, procurement, Federal-State cooperation and cost sharing, cross-jurisdictional post-wildfire rehabilitation, monitoring of electric transmission lines and other critical infrastructure, and other functions. Sec. 2 . Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) Improve coordination among agencies on wildland fire management policy, implementation, and oversight issues; (b) Reduce unnecessary duplication across the Federal Government by coordinating and consolidating existing wildland fire-related councils, working groups, and other formal cross-agency initiatives, as appropriate; (c) Efficiently and effectively manage preparedness resources, initial attack response, extended attack and large-fire support, post-wildfire rehabilitation, and hazardous fuels at a cross-boundary, landscape scale; (d) Promote integrated planning and procurement among agencies for Federal investments in wildland fire management infrastructure; (e) Support workforce development and efforts to recruit, train, and retain Federal wildland firefighters to efficiently and effectively respond to wildfire on public lands, and to protect life, property, and community infrastructure; and (f) Coordinate Federal engagement with State, local, and tribal government entities, including Federal policy positions in the WFLC. Sec. 3 . Interagency Wildland Fire Subcabinet. To promote efficient and effective coordination across agencies engaged in Federal wildland firefighting and to facilitate coordinated and strategic wildland fire management actions, an interagency Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee (to be known as the Wildland Fire Subcabinet) is hereby established. ( printed page 6550) (a) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior (Co-Chairs), and shall include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), and the heads of such other agencies, or their designated representatives, as the Co-Chairs deem appropriate. (b) The Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall meet quarterly. Sec. 4 . Reducing Inefficiencies and Duplication. Currently, several Federal wildfire-related councils, task forces, working groups, and other formal cross-agency initiatives (Federal interagency working groups) exist to address wildland fire management policy. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall, to the extent practicable, identify all such Federal interagency working groups and provide recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on coordinating and consolidating these Federal interagency working groups, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. Sec. 5 . Improving Wildland Fire Management Policy Coordination, Implementation, and Oversight. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall develop, publish, and implement a strategic plan addressing the issues described in this section. To implement this strategic plan, the Wildland Fire Subcabinet shall develop specific measurable goals, performance targets, and dashboard reporting for consideration by each Federal agency represented on the Wildland Fire Subcabinet, using common data standards at the wildfire and hazardous fuels program level. This strategic plan shall address the issues described below: (a) Effectively
The excerpt is reproduced from the public federal record and may omit later sections, tables, signatures or attachments. Open the official source for the complete text.
Questions for accountability
- What legal authority does this government action cite?
- Which agencies or officials were directed to act?
- What measurable implementation, cost, deadline or later court action followed?
How to use this page
This is a source-record entry, not a truth-rating by itself. It preserves the action, date and original government publication so it can be connected to later claims, implementation records, court decisions, costs and measurable outcomes. Editorial claim reviews on this site use separate finding labels and explain the evidence for those findings.