Ranking Member Huffman Calls Out Republican Ploy to Gut Environmental Protections, Ignoring the Chance to Help Communities and Firefighters

“Wildfire is deadly serious. In a matter of minutes, iconic landscapes, entire neighborhoods can be reduced to ashes. I know because it's happened all too often in my district. It's not something politicians should use as a pretext to jam through unrelated industry favors or special interest agendas that undermine our foundational environmental protections,” said Ranking Member Huffman. 

“If you scratch beneath the surface of H.R. 471, you start seeing problems starting with the fact that the beneficial provisions are totally unfunded. There is simply no money. No resources to help any of the good things actually happen. There are also several poison pills that have the potential to undermine science-based management and public engagement. On top of doing nothing to address the key driver of catastrophic wildfires – climate change – the so-called Fix Our Forests Act inappropriately co-opts emergency authorities under the National Environmental Policy Act, undercuts the Endangered Species Act, and even makes it more difficult for communities to engage and scrutinize or even know about projects that could directly impact them.

“I had been hopeful that the amendment process would be an opportunity to address some of the critical gaps in this bill. Especially the absence of the pay raise for our federal wild land firefighters. That, too, has been left out. What happened in Los Angeles this month is a national tragedy. And in moments like this we should overcome all politics and find ways to work together on solutions that actually help the people we are here to serve.

“House Democrats are committed to supporting a robust, all-of-government response and to doing that in a way that acknowledges critical realities. Starting with the climate crisis and the role of human-caused climate change [...] and second, the reality that solutions, including many of the ones in this bill, actually require resources in order to mean something. They need to be backed up by dedicated funding in order to mean more than just thoughts and prayers. Rushing bills like this to the floor to capitalize on a crisis does not always lead to the best outcome. We should know that by now. Let's hope this is not a model for the entire 119th Congress,” Huffman concluded.

BACKGROUND ON H.R. 471

H.R. 471 uses the pretext of wildfire response to advancelongstanding GOP goals of undercutting bedrock environmental laws and public health protectionsand dramatically limiting public input.This opens the door for Republicans to gut environmental reviews on all manner of polluting projects with devastating consequences for underservedcommunities. The so-called “Fix Our Forests Act”: 

DEMOCRATS DELIVER

Democrats are confronting the wildfire crisis with a comprehensive approach that meets the needs of our communities and planet. We secured more than $15 billion in historic investments through the Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to keep communities safe by restoring healthy ecosystems; promoting beneficial fire through prescribed burns; reducing hazardous fuels that increase the intensity and speed of wildfires; providing planning resources to at-risk communities; and supporting better pay for wildland firefighters. Democrats also secured more than $1 billion to staff up permitting offices, which has dramatically shortened project timelines by upwards of 23%.

With these investments, the Biden-Harris administration treated a record-breaking number of hazardous fuels on Forest Service lands. Over the past three years, the Forest Service—along with partners, communities, and tribes—has treated 11.78 million acres of hazardous fuels. Keeping communities safe and confronting the wildfire crisis doesn’t have to come at the cost of our public health and environmental protections orpublic input.