S. 561: FLAME Act

111th Congress · introduced 2009-03-10 · Public Lands and Natural Resources · Latest: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-03-10 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

FLAME Act

Plain summary

Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act or FLAME Act - Establishes in the Treasury the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Fund (Flame Fund). Requires amounts in the Flame Fund to be made available to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries) to pay the costs of catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities that are separate from amounts annually appropriated for the predicted annual workload for such activities. Makes amounts in the Flame Fund available to the Secretaries only after such Secretaries issue a declaration that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligible for funding through the Fund. Directs such Secretaries to establish an accounting and reporting system for the Flame Fund. Requires such Secretaries to: (1) report annually to Congress on the use of the funds from the Flame Fund, together with recommendations to improve administrative control and oversight of the Fund; and (2) submit a report to Congress that contains a cohesive wildland fire management strategy, consistent with the recommendations of Comptroller General reports. Requires the Secretaries to conduct a review of wildfires for which expenses exceeding $10 million were incurred. Authorizes the Secretaries to make grants to fire-ready communities, as defined by this Act, to carry out activities to reduce risks from wildfires.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

FLAME Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · 14 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Thune (R-SD), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s561.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>

Record fed-us-cong111-s561 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111