USC - Definitions

View all text of Subchapter I [§ 6511 - § 6518]

§ 6511. DefinitionsIn this subchapter:

(1) At-risk communityThe term “at-risk community” means an area—

(A) that is comprised of—

(i) an interface community as defined in the notice entitled “Wildland Urban Interface Communities Within the Vicinity of Federal Lands That Are at High Risk From Wildfire” issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with title IV of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (

(ii) a group of homes and other structures with basic infrastructure and services (such as utilities and collectively maintained transportation routes) within or adjacent to Federal land;

(B) in which conditions are conducive to a large-scale wildland fire disturbance event; and

(2) Authorized hazardous fuel reduction project

(A) In general

(B) InclusionThe term “authorized hazardous fuel reduction project” includes, using the measures and methods described in subparagraph (A), the installation of—

(i) a natural or manmade change in fuel characteristics that affects fire behavior such that a fire can be more readily controlled (commonly known as a “fuel break”); and

(ii) a natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check a fire or to provide a control line from which to work to stop or check a fire (commonly known as a “firebreak”).

(3) Community wildfire protection planThe term “community wildfire protection plan” means a plan for an at-risk community that—

(A) is developed within the context of the collaborative agreements and the guidance established by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and agreed to by the applicable local government, local fire department, and State agency responsible for forest management, in consultation with interested parties and the Federal land management agencies managing land in the vicinity of the at-risk community;

(B) identifies and prioritizes areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommends the types and methods of treatment on Federal and non-Federal land that will protect 1 or more at-risk communities and essential infrastructure; and

(4) Condition class 2The term “condition class 2”, with respect to an area of Federal land, means the condition class description developed by the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general technical report entitled “Development of Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland Fire and Fuel Management” (RMRS–87), dated April 2000 (including any subsequent revision to the report), under which—

(A) fire regimes on the land have been moderately altered from historical ranges;

(B) there exists a moderate risk of losing key ecosystem components from fire;

(C) fire frequencies have increased or decreased from historical frequencies by 1 or more return intervals, resulting in moderate changes to—

(i) the size, frequency, intensity, or severity of fires; or

(ii) landscape patterns; and

(D) vegetation attributes have been moderately altered from the historical range of the attributes.

(5) Condition class 3The term “condition class 3”, with respect to an area of Federal land, means the condition class description developed by the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general technical report referred to in paragraph (4) (including any subsequent revision to the report), under which—

(A) fire regimes on land have been significantly altered from historical ranges;

(B) there exists a high risk of losing key ecosystem components from fire;

(C) fire frequencies have departed from historical frequencies by multiple return intervals, resulting in dramatic changes to—

(i) the size, frequency, intensity, or severity of fires; or

(ii) landscape patterns; and

(D) vegetation attributes have been significantly altered from the historical range of the attributes.

(6) DayThe term “day” means—

(A) a calendar day; or

(B) if a deadline imposed by this subchapter would expire on a nonbusiness day, the end of the next business day.

(7) Decision documentThe term “decision document” means—

(A) a decision notice (as that term is used in the Forest Service Handbook);

(B) a decision record (as that term is used in the Bureau of Land Management Handbook); and

(8) Fire regime IThe term “fire regime I” means an area—

(A) in which historically there have been low-severity fires with a frequency of 0 through 35 years; and

(B) that is located primarily in low elevation forests of pine, oak, or pinyon juniper.

(9) Fire regime IIThe term “fire regime II” means an area—

(A) in which historically there are stand replacement severity fires with a frequency of 0 through 35 years; and

(B) that is located primarily in low- to mid-elevation rangeland, grassland, or shrubland.

(10) Fire regime IIIThe term “fire regime III” means an area—

(A) in which historically there are mixed severity fires with a frequency of 35 through 100 years; and

(B) that is located primarily in forests of mixed conifer, dry Douglas fir, or wet Ponderosa pine.

(11) Implementation Plan

(12) Municipal water supply system

(13) Resource management planThe term “resource management plan” means—

(A) a land and resource management plan prepared for 1 or more units of land of the National Forest System described in section 6502(1)(A) of this title under section 1604 of this title; or

(B) a land use plan prepared for 1 or more units of the public land described in section 6502(1)(B) of this title under section 1712 of title 43.

(14) SecretaryThe term “Secretary” means—

(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to land of the National Forest System described in section 6502(1)(A) of this title; and

(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands described in section 6502(1)(B) of this title.

(15) Threatened and endangered species habitatThe term “threatened and endangered species habitat” means Federal land identified in—

(A) a determination that a species is an endangered species or a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);

(B) a designation of critical habitat of the species under that Act; or

(16) Wildland-urban interfaceThe term “wildland-urban interface” means—

(A) an area within or adjacent to an at-risk community that is identified in recommendations to the Secretary in a community wildfire protection plan; or

(B) in the case of any area for which a community wildfire protection plan is not in effect—

(i) an area extending ½-mile from the boundary of an at-risk community;

(ii) an area within 1½ miles of the boundary of an at-risk community, including any land that—(I) has a sustained steep slope that creates the potential for wildfire behavior endangering the at-risk community;(II) has a geographic feature that aids in creating an effective fire break, such as a road or ridge top; or(III) is in condition class 3, as documented by the Secretary in the project-specific environmental analysis; and

(iii) an area that is adjacent to an evacuation route for an at-risk community that the Secretary determines, in cooperation with the at-risk community, requires hazardous fuel reduction to provide safer evacuation from the at-risk community.

(Pub. L. 108–148, title I, § 101, Dec. 3, 2003, 117 Stat. 1889; Pub. L. 115–141, div. O, title II, § 203, Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1064.)