S. 508: FLAME Act Amendments of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-02-12 · Public Lands and Natural Resources · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-02-12 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 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 Amendments of 2015

Plain summary

FLAME Act Amendments of 2015 Amends the FLAME Act of 2009 to revise how the FLAME Funds for the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) are funded. Makes amounts appropriated to a FLAME Fund available to USDA or Interior for wildfire suppression operations if the department concerned notifies the relevant congressional committees that a wildfire suppression event is eligible for funding from the FLAME Fund. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits to accommodate appropriations for wildfire suppression operations in the Wildland Fire Management accounts at USDA or Interior. Requires adjustments for fire suppression to be made if all amounts in the FLAME Fund established under the FLAME Act of 2009 have been expended and other specified conditions are met. Amends existing disaster funding adjustments to discretionary spending limits to add provisions related to fire suppression adjustments. Authorizes USDA to conduct projects that involve the management or sale of national forest material within certain National Forest System (NFS) lands. Amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to authorize the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to obligate funds to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs (cancellation ceiling) in stages that are economically or programmatically viable with respect to an agreement or contract for a stewardship end result contracting project. Requires the Forest Service and BLM to submit written notice to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget 30 days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract that includes a cancellation ceiling exceeding $25 million if proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to the ceiling is not included. Allows the Forest Service and BLM, if the offset value of the forest products to be removed exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, to: (1) use the excess to satisfy any outstanding liabilities for cancelled agreements or contracts; or (2) if there are no such outstanding liabilities, apply the excess to other authorized stewardship projects.

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

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A “Yea” vote

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

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

FLAME Act Amendments of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

John Barrasso (R-WY)

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 (2)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.

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-114s508.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s508 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114