| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to funding for certain volunteer fire departments, to the |
|
|
preparation for and the prevention, management, and potential |
|
|
effects of wildfires, and to emergency communications in this |
|
|
state. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Fuel loading" means the amount of combustible |
|
|
material in a defined space expressed quantitatively in terms of |
|
|
weight of fuel per unit area. |
|
|
(2) "Service" means the Texas A&M Forest Service. |
|
|
(3) "University" means West Texas A&M University. |
|
|
(b) The service and university shall jointly conduct a study |
|
|
to determine the status and condition of fuel loading in wildfire |
|
|
risk zones in this state and the corresponding risk of wildfire to |
|
|
the residents, homes, businesses, and ecology of this state. |
|
|
(c) In conducting the study, the service and university |
|
|
shall: |
|
|
(1) establish wildfire risk zones based on fuel |
|
|
loading and the risk of wildfire to the residents, homes, |
|
|
businesses, and ecology of this state within geographic areas |
|
|
defined by the service; and |
|
|
(2) solicit and consider information from: |
|
|
(A) the Department of Public Safety; |
|
|
(B) the Department of Agriculture, including the |
|
|
Prescribed Burning Board; |
|
|
(C) the Texas Division of Emergency Management; |
|
|
(D) the Parks and Wildlife Department; |
|
|
(E) the Texas Commission on Environmental |
|
|
Quality; |
|
|
(F) the State Soil and Water Conservation Board; |
|
|
(G) the comptroller of public accounts; and |
|
|
(H) other natural resource representatives as |
|
|
necessary. |
|
|
(d) The study must: |
|
|
(1) for each wildfire risk zone established under |
|
|
Subsection (c)(1) of this section, consider: |
|
|
(A) the risk that fuel loading poses; |
|
|
(B) the projected loss of life, property, and |
|
|
natural resources should a wildfire occur in the zone; |
|
|
(C) the financial impact of costs associated |
|
|
with: |
|
|
(i) reconstruction in the zone after a |
|
|
wildfire; |
|
|
(ii) potential loss of production in the |
|
|
natural resource and agricultural industries in the zone after a |
|
|
wildfire; and |
|
|
(iii) fuel loading mitigation and asset |
|
|
hardening in the zone; and |
|
|
(D) whether the money invested in fuel loading |
|
|
mitigation in the zone exceeds or is less than the value of property |
|
|
protected by the investment and the amount of the excess or |
|
|
shortage; |
|
|
(2) assess the overall economic benefits to this state |
|
|
of: |
|
|
(A) prescribed burning; |
|
|
(B) fuel loading control for wildfire |
|
|
prevention; and |
|
|
(C) public investment in fuel loading reduction |
|
|
projects; and |
|
|
(3) recommend changes to existing law to ensure that |
|
|
public and private natural resource managers have the authority and |
|
|
ability to appropriately mitigate fuel loading risks in each |
|
|
established risk zone. |
|
|
(e) Not later than December 1, 2026, the service and |
|
|
university shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, |
|
|
the speaker of the house of representatives, and each standing |
|
|
committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over the |
|
|
service or university or another state agency from which |
|
|
information is solicited under this section a written report that |
|
|
includes a summary of the study and any legislative recommendations |
|
|
based on the study. |
|
|
(f) This section expires May 1, 2027. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 88, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 88.1255 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 88.1255. STATEWIDE DATABASE OF FIREFIGHTING |
|
|
EQUIPMENT. (a) In this section, "fire department" means: |
|
|
(1) a volunteer fire department; or |
|
|
(2) a department of a municipality, county, or special |
|
|
district or authority that provides firefighting services. |
|
|
(b) The Texas A&M Forest Service shall create and maintain a |
|
|
comprehensive database that shows in real time the statewide |
|
|
inventory of firefighting equipment available for use in responding |
|
|
to wildfires. |
|
|
(c) The database must: |
|
|
(1) include a description of the type of firefighting |
|
|
equipment each fire department in this state has available for use |
|
|
in responding to wildfires; |
|
|
(2) include contact information for the fire |
|
|
department with the equipment; |
|
|
(3) be searchable by location and equipment type; and |
|
|
(4) be accessible by all fire departments in this |
|
|
state and allow each fire department to update the database |
|
|
information regarding the fire department's available equipment. |
|
|
(d) The Texas A&M Forest Service shall: |
|
|
(1) establish and maintain an electronic system to at |
|
|
least annually notify a fire department that provides the |
|
|
department's firefighting equipment information to the database of |
|
|
the requirement to update the information in the database; and |
|
|
(2) assist a fire department that provides the |
|
|
department's firefighting equipment information to the database in |
|
|
updating the database annually or as soon as practicable after any |
|
|
change in equipment availability. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 614.102, Government Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (i) to read as follows: |
|
|
(i) At least 10 percent of appropriations for a state fiscal |
|
|
year from the fund for the purpose of providing assistance to |
|
|
volunteer fire departments under the program is allocated for |
|
|
volunteer fire departments located in areas of this state the |
|
|
service determines are at high risk for large wildfires. If the |
|
|
amount of assistance requested under this subsection in a state |
|
|
fiscal year is less than the amount allocated under this |
|
|
subsection, the remainder may be used for other types of assistance |
|
|
requests. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |