The North Rim and Kaibab National Forest Restoration Act of 2026 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (through NPS) and the Secretary of Agriculture (through USFS) to use emergency acquisition flexibilities under FAR part 18 to hire contractors more quickly for a defined set of recovery activities in areas of Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest burned by the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires. The statute limits the expedited authority to forest management and restoration activities, rebuilding and design of affected structures, grounds improvements, and other recovery efforts tied to the covered fires.
The bill builds in oversight and temporal limits: agencies must report every 180 days to specific congressional committees on costs, contractors, conflicts of interest, and progress; the authority expires upon project completion or five years after enactment (whichever is earlier); and agencies must prioritize Tribal and local businesses and may use non‑competitive contracts with existing concessioners to coordinate recovery work. The law also requires a joint cost study by Interior and Agriculture.
At a Glance
What It Does
Permits NPS and USFS to invoke emergency acquisition flexibilities (e.g., increased micro‑purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds) under FAR part 18 for specified recovery services inside the defined 'covered area.' The authority is narrowly circumscribed to listed activities and does not automatically apply to other services. Agencies must report every 180 days on expenditures, contractor identities, conflicts, waste, and timelines.
Who It Affects
Directly affects contracting offices at Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest, incumbent concessioners, Tribal and local businesses seeking contracts, and the small‑business contractor market in the region. Congressional oversight committees receive recurring reports and a mandated joint study by Interior and Agriculture examines costs.
Why It Matters
The bill creates a time‑limited procurement shortcut aimed at accelerating post‑fire restoration while formalizing oversight and local‑preference language. It is a targeted example of using FAR part 18 authorities for large wildfire recovery on federally managed public lands and shifts practical decisionmaking about speed versus competition to agency contracting officers and congressional committees.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The Act defines a 'covered area' as locations within Grand Canyon National Park or Kaibab National Forest affected by the Dragon Bravo Fire (North Rim) and the White Sage Fire. It lists eligible activities—removal of slash and hazard trees, erosion control, slope stabilization, tree regeneration, wildlife rehabilitation, reseeding with native seeds, rebuilding and design of structures, grounds improvements, and other recovery efforts tied to those fires.
That definitional framing both limits the scope of expedited contracting and ties the authority to a fixed set of on‑the‑ground tasks.
Section 4 is the operational heart of the bill: it authorizes the Secretaries to use the emergency acquisition flexibilities described in FAR part 18 (subpart 18.2), such as higher micro‑purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds and other streamlined procurement tools, but only for the enumerated services in the covered area. The statute expressly prevents agencies from applying these flexibilities to services outside that list unless another law or regulation already permits it.To curb misuse, the bill imposes a recurring reporting regime: agencies must deliver a report every 180 days once they begin using the authority and continue until 180 days after the authority ends.
Reports must enumerate expenditures, expected costs, overruns, contractors performing work, any affiliations or conflicts of interest between contractors and contracting offices, instances of waste/fraud/abuse, contracts that undercut expected cost, estimated completion dates, and whether extensions will be needed. The authority itself expires on the earlier of five years after enactment or agency determination that recovery is complete; the agencies can request a one‑year extension if a new wildfire reignites within the covered area, but that extension requires congressional approval.The law also builds in stakeholder processes: agencies must invite applicable Indian Tribes to participate in planning, design, and reconstruction and engage local governments, nonprofits, Tribal businesses, and community groups.
It directs agencies to prioritize Tribal and local businesses 'to the maximum extent practicable.' Separately, from enactment until authority expiration, the Secretaries may enter non‑competitive contracts with existing NPS or USFS authorized concessioners operating within the covered area to align recovery operations between agencies and concessioners.Finally, Interior and Agriculture must jointly study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on the actual costs of carrying out the recovery efforts authorized by the Act. That study is intended to quantify fiscal impacts and provide a record to Congress of total program costs, though the statute does not appropriate funding or dictate specific budget offsets.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The statute confines expedited procurement authority to services tied to the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires and specifically lists eligible activities (e.g.
hazard‑tree removal, erosion control, rebuilding structures).
Agencies must submit detailed reports to four named congressional committees every 180 days while the authority is in use, and the reports must identify contractors and any affiliations or conflicts of interest with agency contracting offices.
The emergency contracting authority automatically expires on the earlier of five years from enactment or agency certification that recovery is complete; a single 1‑year extension is possible only with congressional approval if a new wildfire impacts the covered area.
The bill authorizes non‑competitive procurement with existing NPS or Forest Service concessioners in the covered area for coordinated recovery work during the statute's effective period.
Agencies are directed to prioritize Tribal and local businesses 'to the maximum extent practicable' when awarding reconstruction contracts, creating an explicit local‑preference objective without specific set‑asides or quotas.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
Names the statute the 'North Rim and Kaibab National Forest Restoration Act of 2026.' This is purely formal but ties the statute to the 2025 Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires in legislative and programmatic references.
Findings
Lists Congress's factual determinations about the Grand Canyon's cultural and economic importance, the Tribal connections to the landscape, and the scope of damage from the two fires (more than 200,000 acres burned and over 100 structures destroyed). Findings guide statutory purpose and can be used to justify expedited authorities and Tribal engagement, but they do not create independently enforceable rights.
Key definitions (covered area, fires, activities, Secretary concerned)
Defines the 'covered area' (areas of Grand Canyon NP and Kaibab NF impacted by the two fires), fixes start/containment dates for the named fires, enumerates 'forest management or restoration activity,' and allocates agency responsibility between Interior/NPS and Agriculture/USFS. These definitions narrow applicability and resolve which Secretary exercises authorities on which land units.
Emergency contracting authority and reporting
Authorizes use of FAR part 18 emergency acquisition flexibilities (including higher micro‑purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds) for the listed services within the covered area, explicitly limits the authority to those services, and requires a comprehensive report every 180 days describing costs, contractors, conflicts, waste, timelines, and whether extensions are needed. It also sets a sunset (earlier of five years or completion) and a mechanism for a one‑year extension that needs congressional approval. Practically, contracting officers get speed but must produce recurring, detailed transparency documents for oversight committees.
Tribal and local participation and contracting priority
Requires invitation of applicable Indian Tribes into planning and reconstruction and engagement with local stakeholders (governments, nonprofits, Tribal/local businesses, community groups). Directs agencies to prioritize Tribal and local businesses 'to the maximum extent practicable,' which creates a directional procurement goal but no firm set‑aside or procurement formula; implementing guidance or manual changes will be needed to operationalize this priority in source selection and contract award.
Non‑competitive contracts with concessioners
Permits non‑competitive procurement contracts with existing authorized concessioners in the covered area for coordinated recovery efforts during the statute's effective period. That provision expedites work at facilities run by concessioners but removes normal competitive safeguards; agencies must manage contract terms and oversight to avoid conflicts of interest or sole‑source overreach.
Joint study and cost report
Directs Interior and Agriculture to jointly study and report to congressional committees on the costs of carrying out authorized recovery efforts. The study aims to provide a post‑hoc accounting of financial impacts but does not itself allocate funds or change appropriation law; it will inform later budgetary or legislative decisions.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Environment across all five countries.
Explore Environment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Tribal governments and Tribal businesses — the Act mandates Tribal invitation into planning and prioritizes Tribal businesses for reconstruction contracts, which can channel jobs, revenue, and greater say over landscape restoration for affected Tribes.
- Existing concessioners operating in the covered area — the law allows non‑competitive, coordinated contracts with concessioners to speed repairs to lodging and visitor facilities they operate, reducing business interruption risk.
- Local small businesses and contractors — the statutory priority for local businesses and relaxed micro‑purchase/simplified acquisition thresholds create faster, smaller contract opportunities suited to local firms.
- NPS and Forest Service managers — agencies gain flexible procurement tools to accelerate debris removal, stabilization, and rebuilding, helping reopen lands and reduce safety risks faster.
- Park visitors and regional tourism economy — faster stabilization and rebuilding of facilities and trails should shorten closures and restore visitor services, benefiting the broader local economy.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal taxpayers and appropriations committees — expedited recovery work increases near‑term outlays; though the bill does not appropriate funds, agencies will require budget authority or reprogramming, shifting costs to federal budgets.
- Non‑local competitors and firms outside the priority set — streamlined awards, local prioritization, and concessioner sole‑source contracts reduce competitive opportunities for out‑of‑area contractors.
- Agency contracting and oversight offices — accelerated procurement plus detailed 180‑day reporting increases administrative workload for contracting officers, legal staff, and agency auditors.
- Environmental and cultural resource oversight stakeholders — expedited procurement risks compressing consultation and review timelines (e.g., NEPA, cultural resource review), potentially creating remediation obligations later.
- Congressional oversight committees and inspectors general — the bill places monitoring responsibilities on committees and creates expectations for follow‑up investigations if reports flag conflicts, waste, or poor outcomes.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is speed versus safeguard: the bill seeks rapid on‑the‑ground recovery after catastrophic wildfire by relaxing procurement rules, while simultaneously demanding oversight and local preferences; those objectives pull in opposite directions because accelerating awards raises risks to competition, transparency, environmental and cultural review, and fiscal control, yet delaying work to restore those safeguards prolongs ecological harm and economic disruption.
The Act trades typical procurement safeguards for speed in a geographically and temporally limited way, but it leaves several implementation questions open. 'Prioritize Tribal and local businesses to the maximum extent practicable' is a policy direction rather than a concrete procurement standard; agencies will need internal guidance and sourcing rules to make that operational without running afoul of procurement law. Allowing non‑competitive contracts with concessioners speeds repairs to visitor facilities, yet raises conflict‑of‑interest and fairness concerns because concessioners may have pre‑existing relationships with agency personnel and competing firms receive no meaningful opportunity to bid.
The reporting regime is detailed and frequent, which helps transparency, but effectiveness depends on report completeness, auditability, and whether Congress or inspectors general act on red flags. Environmental and cultural resource reviews are not suspended by the bill, but compressed procurement timelines can create pressure to shortcut assessments; the statute does not specify how NEPA, NHPA, or Tribal consultation timelines interact with the emergency acquisition authorities.
Funding is another real constraint: the Act does not appropriate money, so agencies must use existing budgets or seek new appropriations to perform the work and meet reporting and study obligations. Finally, the sunset and extension mechanics—five years or agency certification of completion with a possible one‑year congressional extension if a new wildfire occurs—leave open practical disputes over what 'complete' means and how to resolve contested extension requests.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.