HR731-119

What This Bill Does

The Green Tape Elimination Act creates a 10-year exemption for hazardous-fuel reduction activities on federal land. Covered activities are not treated as major federal actions requiring an environmental impact statement under NEPA section 102(2)(C) and may be carried out without regard to federal requirements related to the Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Migratory Bird Conservation Act. The bill also amends the Clean Air Act so EPA must exclude air-quality monitoring data directly due to a covered hazardous-fuel activity from national ambient air-quality standard exceedance or violation determinations. Covered activities include fuel breaks, firebreaks, prescribed fire, wildland fire use, crushing, piling, thinning, pruning, cutting, and removing hazardous fuels.

Who Benefits and How

Federal land management agencies benefit because prescribed fire, thinning, fuel breaks, firebreaks, and other hazardous-fuel reduction work can proceed with fewer environmental review steps for 10 years. Wildfire-prone communities benefit if faster fuel reduction lowers wildfire intensity or improves fire control near federal lands. Hazardous-fuel contractors benefit from more projects proceeding with fewer review delays. State air regulators receive a statutory rule for monitoring data directly caused by covered fuel work.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Environmental advocacy organizations, wildlife conservation interests, and historic-preservation stakeholders bear the burden because the bill removes several review and consultation hooks. EPA must determine when air-quality impacts are directly due to covered activities and exclude those data from violation calculations. Federal land managers must define covered activities and administer the exemption. People affected by prescribed-fire smoke or mechanical fuel work may have fewer review opportunities.

Key Provisions

• Exempts hazardous-fuel reduction activities on federal land from NEPA major-federal-action treatment for 10 years.
• Allows covered activities to proceed without regard to specified wildlife, historic-preservation, migratory bird, and related requirements.
• Requires EPA to exclude air-quality monitoring data directly caused by covered activities from NAAQS exceedance or violation determinations.
• Defines hazardous-fuel reduction to include fuel breaks, firebreaks, prescribed fire, wildland fire use, thinning, pruning, cutting, piling, crushing, and removal.