Congress orders study of wildfire rules across land boundaries

What it does

The bill tells the Government Accountability Office to study federal rules and programs. These rules affect how wildfires are stopped. The study looks at where federal land meets state, local, tribal, or private land. The office will report back within two years with ideas to stop wildfires better and keep people safe.

Who it affects

People in areas with wildfires could gain from the study. It may find better ways to stop fires. The study does not make new rules or take away safeguards right now.

One thing to notice

The study may lead to changes in federal rules about stopping wildfires later. The office will check if current rules make stopping wildfires harder across many kinds of land.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

6 cosponsors: 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• Jun 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period…”
• Jan 14, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
• Feb 11, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Feb 11, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
• Jun 2, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3767)”
• Jun 2, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 4 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $3,610,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 83 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.

Joe Neguse, who sponsored the bill, received $1,057,229 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Property Casualty Insurance Association — $3,540,000 in 2 reports
• International Association of Fire Chiefs — $70,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Government Accountability Office — A federal agency that studies how government programs work and reports to Congress.
• federal — Run by the national government, not by states or cities.
• safeguards — Rules that keep people and the land safe.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.