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The Forest Service published in the Federal Register a Notice of Interim Directive on June 6, 2013 (78 FR 34031), which proposed revisions to Forest Service Manual (FSM) 2523, Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER). These revisions clarify the objective of the BAER program; provide clear policy for regions or forests to conduct post-fire emergency stabilization while applying appropriate cost constraints in order to avoid fire transfer of funds; assign approval authority to the regional foresters (currently the Washington Office director of Watershed, Fish, Wildlife, Air, and Rare Plants); provide a definition of a BAER emergency; define several other key terms; enumerate the program constraints; clarify the distinction between the BAER and post-fire rehabilitation programs; establish a new process for the BAER program; and establish oversight for program accountability.