This cooperative development plan is designed to facilitate assistance in preventing, preventing, fighting fires, training, pre-suppression, enforcement and forest firefighting among organizations that are members of the Northwest Agreement on Forest Fire Protection (NW Compact). This plan does not exceed or replace existing forest fire cooperation agreements, such as the federal-federal agreements, mutual aid resource sharing (MARS) or the reciprocal forest firefighting agreement between Canada and the United States. The acquisition areas also provide services and oversight in the areas of real estate management, leasing and federal grants and agreements. The Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program provides loans from the Forestry Office to state-owned enterprises for wildlife and forestry firefighters. This agreement applies to each member until that member takes steps to withdraw from that member. This measure does not take effect until 60 days after the notification has been sent to all other members. The governor of each state of the party appoints an official of that state as the person responsible for the management of this pact. One of the officials named is the Subcommittee of the Northwest Compact Waste and Waste Committee. The committee meets to discuss the issues that arise under this pact. The parties inform the Committee of existing regulations on low-level waste management in their Member States and give all parties the opportunity to review and comment on possible proposals to amend these regulations. Notwithstanding the contrary provision of Article IV, the Committee may enter into agreements with states, provinces, individual generators or compact regional units located outside the region from States Parties in order to gain access to the facilities on the terms that the Committee deems appropriate. However, it requires a two-thirds majority of all members, including the agreement of the member of a Member State in which an entity concerned by such an agreement is located, for the committee to conclude such an agreement.

On the recommendation of the National Governors` Association, Congress passed the Lower Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act in 1980, which passed the responsibility for waste management on individual states. The aim was to stimulate the development of smaller and regional facilities, which is exactly what the Northwest Compact for the Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste and eight other regional waste management problems have achieved. [2] The objective of this agreement is to promote effective forest fire prevention, prevention and control in the northwestern region of the United States and neighbouring regions of Canada, by providing mutual assistance in forest fire prevention, pre-closure and control, and by establishing procedures in the development plans that facilitate this assistance. If a provision of this covenant or its application to a person or circumstance is annulled, all other provisions of this Covenant and the application of all the provisions of this Covenant remain valid to all other persons and circumstances; and to that end, the provisions of this pact are deductible. States parties recognize that low-level radioactive waste is generated by essential activities and services that benefit state citizens.