House Committee on Natural Resources holds hearing on two LaMalfa bills
The House Committee on Natural Resources held a legislative hearing on four bills, including Congressman LaMalfa’s legislation — the TOXIC Act and the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023.
H.R. 1586, the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023, was introduced in response to a lawsuit from a radical environmental group that is suing to block use of fire retardant. It would require firefighting agencies to get National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits to continue using fire retardant and are calling for an injunction on the use of this critical tool. If this injunction is granted, firefighting agencies would be stripped of one of their most effective tools to fight devastating fires. The lives and safety of first responders, residents, property, and millions of acres of forested land would be at much greater risk and result in wildfire of greater intensity.
H.R. 1473, the TOXIC Act, is a bipartisan bill (with California Democrat Congressman Scott Peters) that gives resources to law enforcement to eradicate illegal marijuana grows on public lands, increase fines and penalties for such cultivation and establishes a fund to restore land damaged by that activity. This bill aims to combat the massive amount of organized crime and illegal cartel grow operations overwhelming rural areas, including Siskiyou County.
“Both the TOXIC Act and the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act are common sense, bipartisan pieces of legislation that will improve the health of forested land and make rural residents safer,” LaMalfa said. “Every lawmaker on either side of the aisle should be in support of that. Our forests need action to prevent damage from both cartel grows and wildfire. I’m happy to see hearings early on in the House Natural Resources Committee on both of these priorities to rural California and to America.”
