ACRES Act

House Bill

H.R. 204

119th Congress

ACRES Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 3, 2025

Primary Sponsor

David Rouzer

Representative

Republican

NC-7

Cosponsors

0

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary

This bill establishes requirements for reporting and tracking hazardous fuels reduction activities that reduce wildfire risk. USDA and Interior must report annually in budget materials on acres treated. They must implement standardized tracking procedures including data accuracy reviews, verification methods, analysis of short and long-term effectiveness, and methods to distinguish wildland-urban interface acres. GAO must study and report on implementation. The goal is accurate accounting of vegetation management to reduce wildfire danger.

Latest Action

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill establishes requirements for reporting and tracking hazardous fuels reduction activities that reduce wildfire risk. USDA and Interior must report annually in budget materials on acres treated. They must implement standardized tracking procedures including data accuracy reviews, verification methods, analysis of short and long-term effectiveness, and methods to distinguish wildland-urban interface acres. GAO must study and report on implementation. The goal is accurate accounting of vegetation management to reduce wildfire danger.

Last updated: 1/4/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the ACRES ActThis bill establishes requirements regarding reports about hazardous fuels reduction activities and standardized procedures for tracking data for hazardous fuels reduction. Hazardous fuels reduction activities means any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire but excludes the award of contracts to conduct hazardous fuels reduction activities.First, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior must include in the materials submitted in support of the President's budget each fiscal year a report on the number of acres of federal land on which such activities were carried out during the preceding year.Next, USDA and Interior must implement standardized procedures for tracking data related to such activities. The standardized procedures must include<ul><li>regular, standardized data reviews of the accuracy and timely input of data used to track hazardous fuels reduction activities;</li><li>verification methods that validate whether such data accurately correlates to such activities;</li><li>an analysis of the short- and long-term effectiveness of such activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and</li><li>for hazardous fuels reduction activities that occur partially within the wildland-urban interface, methods to distinguish which acres are located within and which located outside the wildland-urban interface.</li></ul>Finally, the Government Accountability Office must (1) conduct a study on this bill's implementation, and (2) submit a report to Congress with the results of the study.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Requires annual reporting on hazardous fuels reduction acres
Mandates standardized data tracking procedures
Includes effectiveness analysis of fuels reduction activities
Distinguishes wildland-urban interface from other treated areas
GAO must study implementation and report to Congress

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

For land management agencies: Improved tracking and reporting requirements. For wildfire prevention: Better data on fuels reduction effectiveness. For budget process: Transparency on vegetation management activities. For communities in fire-prone areas: Accountability for protection efforts. For Congress: Enhanced oversight of wildfire risk reduction.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Public Lands and Natural Resources

Related Subjects

Congressional oversight

Fires

Forests, forestry, trees

Government studies and investigations

Hazardous wastes and toxic substances

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

204, 119th Congress (2025). "ACRES Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-hr-204