[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 796 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 796

   To exempt discharges of fire retardant by Federal land management 
  agencies, State governments, political subdivisions of States, and 
  Tribal governments from the permitting requirements of the National 
    Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and for other purposes.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2023

  Ms. Lummis (for herself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, Mr. Daines, and Mr. 
   Sullivan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

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                                 A BILL


 
   To exempt discharges of fire retardant by Federal land management 
  agencies, State governments, political subdivisions of States, and 
  Tribal governments from the permitting requirements of the National 
    Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Protection and Wildland 
Firefighter Safety Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN DISCHARGES OF FIRE 
              RETARDANT.

    (a) Definition of Federal Land Management Agency.--In this section, 
the term ``Federal land management agency'' means--
            (1) the Forest Service;
            (2) the National Park Service;
            (3) the Bureau of Land Management;
            (4) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
            (5) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
            (6) the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
    (b) No Permitting Required.--Notwithstanding any provision of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), a permit 
under section 402 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) shall not be required 
for the discharge of fire retardant in connection with fire 
suppression, control, or prevention activities carried out by a Federal 
land management agency, a State government, a political subdivision of 
a State, or a Tribal government.
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