[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4075 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4075
To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administrator to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting,
detection, and local collaboration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 23, 2025
Mr. Crank (for himself, Mr. Begich, Ms. Rivas, and Mr. Hurd of
Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administrator to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting,
detection, and local collaboration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Weather Development Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING AND DETECTION.
(a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a program (in this Act
referred to as the ``Program'') to improve fire weather and fire
environment forecasting, detection, and delivery of products or
services through collaboration with Federal and State agencies or
departments, local emergency mangers, and relevant entities.
(b) Goals.--The goals of the Program shall be to develop and
improve accurate fire weather and fire environment forecasts and
warnings in order to reduce loss of life, reduce injuries, protect
property, and reduce damage to the economy from wildfires. The Program
shall seek to improve the assessment of fire weather and fire
environments, the understanding and prediction of wildfires, and the
communications regarding such assessments with State and local
emergency officials in a timely and streamlined fashion, with a focus
on improving the following:
(1) The prediction of ignition, intensification and spread
of wildfires.
(2) The observation and monitoring of fire weather and fire
environments.
(3) The forecast and communication of smoke dispersion from
wildfires.
(4) Information dissemination and risk communication to
develop more effective watch and warning products relating to
wildfires.
(5) The early detection of wildfires, including pre-
ignition analysis and ground condition characterizations.
(6) The development, testing, and deployment of novel tools
and techniques related to understanding, monitoring, and
predicting fire weather and fire environments.
(7) The unique characteristics, including observation or
modeling requirements, related to fires at the wildland-urban
interface.
(8) The forecasting and understanding of the impacts of
prescribed burns (as such term is defined in section 2 of the
Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 551c-1 note)).
(c) Collaboration With Stakeholders.--In developing the Program
required under this section, the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall solicit and take into
consideration input from the weather industry, such academic entities
as the Administrator considers appropriate, and other relevant
stakeholders.
(d) Activities.--To achieve the goals specified in subsection (b),
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration may conduct research, development, testing,
demonstration, and operational transition activities related to fire
weather and fire environments, including regarding the following:
(1) Tools and services to inform, support, and complement
active land management, local emergency personnel, the United
States Forest Service, and State, local, and Tribal entities
during their response and mitigation efforts.
(2) Sensing technologies, such as infrared, microwave, and
active sensors suitable for potential deployment on spacecraft,
aircraft, and unmanned aircraft systems, to improve the
monitoring and forecasting of fire fuel and active wildfires,
wildfire behavior models and forecasts, mapping efforts, and
the prediction of wildfires and the impacts of such.
(3) Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel moisture
and danger levels.
(4) Social and behavior sciences related to fire weather
and fire environment warning products.
(5) Advanced satellite detection products coupled with
atmosphere and fire weather modeling systems.
(6) Education and training to expand the number of students
and researchers in areas of study and research related to
wildfires, fire weather, and fire environments.
(7) Modeling systems to link long-term climate predictions
to localized or general land management decisions.
(8) Communication and outreach to communities, energy
utilities, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, and
other relevant stakeholders regarding fire weather and fire
environment risk.
(9) Stewardship and dissemination, to the extent
practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
scientific data and related products and services in formats
meeting shared standards to enhance the interoperability,
usability, and accessibility of such data in order to better
meet the needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, other Federal agencies, and relevant
stakeholders.
(10) Improvement of spatial and temporal resolution
observations.
(11) Any other topic or activity the Administrator
determines relevant.
(e) Novel Tools for Monitoring and Prediction.--The Administrator
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation
with the heads of the agencies specified in section 3, or other
appropriate stakeholders, including commercial partners, shall develop
novel tools and technologies to support the activities of the Program
and which may be applied to broader wildland fire research, monitoring,
and mitigation activities, as practicable and appropriate.
(f) Extramural Research.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall collaborate with and support the
non-Federal wildland fire research community, which includes
institutions of higher education, private sector entities,
nongovernmental organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, by
making funds available through competitive grants, contracts, and
cooperative agreements.
(g) Commercial Data.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with
the heads of other Federal agencies and relevant stakeholders,
may enter into contracts with one or more private sector
entities to obtain additional airborne and space-based data and
observations that may enhance or supplement the understanding,
monitoring, and prediction, of fire weather and fire
environments, and the relevant Program activities under this
section.
(2) Consultation.--In carrying out activities under
paragraph (1), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration shall consult with private sector
entities through the National Advisory Committee on Wildfires
under section 4 to identify needed tools and data that can be
best provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration satellites and are most beneficial to wildfire
and smoke detection and monitoring.
(h) Nonduplication.--To the maximum extent practicable, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
shall consult with the National Interagency Fire Center, including the
Joint Fire Science Program, to avoid duplication of activities under
this section and ensure the Administration's focus on unique research
activities best suited for transition to operations.
(i) Unmanned Aircraft Systems.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall--
(A) assess the role and potential benefits of
unmanned aircraft systems to improve data collection in
support of fire weather and fire environment modeling,
meteorological observations, predictions, and
forecasts;
(B) identify objectives for testing such systems'
use for obtaining fire weather and fire environment
observations, and other relevant activities; and
(C) transition unmanned aircraft systems
technologies from research to operations as the
Administrator considers appropriate.
(2) Briefing.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of the Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall brief the appropriate
committees of Congress on the activities under paragraph (1).
(3) Pilot programs.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may conduct
pilot programs of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather
and fire environment observations, including relating to the
following:
(A) Testing of unmanned aircraft systems in
approximations of real-world scenarios.
(B) Assessment of the utility of meteorological
data collected from fire response and assessment
aircraft.
(C) Input into appropriate models of collected data
to predict fire behavior, including coupled atmosphere
and fire models.
(D) Collection of best management practices for
deployment of unmanned aircraft systems for fire
weather and fire environment observations.
(4) Prohibition.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided under
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may not
procure any unmanned aircraft system that is
manufactured or assembled by an entity in a foreign
country of concern.
(B) Exemption.--The prohibition under subparagraph
(A) shall not apply to the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if the
Administrator determines, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, that the procurement of
an unmanned aircraft system is necessary for the sole
purpose of marine or atmospheric science or management.
(C) Waiver.--The Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may waive the
prohibition under subparagraph (A) on a case-by-case
basis--
(i) with the approval of the Secretary of
Homeland Security; and
(ii) upon written or electronic
notification to appropriate committees of
Congress not later than 30 days after any such
waiver.
(5) Airspace operations system.--The Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in cooperation
with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, shall utilize the capabilities of unmanned
aircraft systems as appropriate for fire weather and fire
environment observations, and may use a wildfire airspace
operations system that accounts for piloted aircraft, unmanned
aircraft systems, and other new and emerging capabilities after
such airspace operations system is developed and determined
ready for operational use by the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(6) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 to carry out
this subsection.
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(2) Critical infrastructure.--The term ``critical
infrastructure'' has the meaning given such term in section
1016(e) of Public Law 107-56 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
(3) Foreign country of concern.--The term ``foreign country
of concern'' has the meaning given such term in section 9901 of
the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651).
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
(5) Unmanned aircraft system.--The term ``unmanned aircraft
system'' has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of
title 49, United States Code.
(6) Weather industry.--The term ``weather industry'' has
the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Weather
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C.
8501).
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall establish an interagency coordinating committee
to be known as the ``Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires''
(in this section referred to as the ``Committee''). The chair of the
Committee shall be the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
(b) Purpose.--The Committee shall coordinate the development of
accurate and timely wildfire forecasting, detection, monitoring, and
delivery of related products or services that best assist State and
local emergency officials while avoiding duplication of activities.
(c) Membership.--In addition to the chair, the Committee shall be
composed of the heads or appropriate designees of the following program
agencies:
(1) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) The United States Fire Administration.
(3) The United States Forest Service.
(4) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(5) The Department of the Interior.
(6) The Department of Agriculture.
(7) The United States Geological Survey.
(8) The Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(9) Any other Federal department or agency the Director of
the Office of Science and Technology Policy considers
appropriate.
(d) Strategic Plan.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Committee shall submit to Congress a
strategic plan for the Program that includes the following:
(1) A description of short-term, mid-term, and long-term
objectives to achieve the purpose specified in subsection (b).
(2) A description of how agencies specified in subsection
(c) will collaborate with stakeholders and take into account
stakeholder needs and recommendations in developing such
objectives.
(3) A description of existing and new observational and
data infrastructure needed to accomplish such objectives.
(4) A description of the role of each such agency in
achieving such objectives.
(5) Guidance regarding how the Committee's recommendations
are best used in planning for Federal, State, local, Tribal,
and territorial entities.
(e) Interagency Agreements.--The heads of agencies specified in
subsection (c) may enter into one or more interagency agreements
providing for cooperation and collaboration in the development of
wildfire forecasting, detection, and monitoring tools, instruments,
technologies, and research to accomplish the purpose described in
subsection (b).
(f) Collaboration.--The head of each agency specified in subsection
(c) shall, to the extent practicable, increase engagement and
cooperation with international, academic, State, and local communities
regarding the infrastructure, data, and scientific research necessary
to best advance the forecasting, detection, and monitoring of and
preparation for wildfires.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
submission of the strategic plan required by section 3(d), the
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall
establish a national advisory committee to be known as the
``National Advisory Committee on Wildfires'' (in this section
referred to as the ``Advisory Committee''). The Advisory
Committee shall consist of not fewer than seven and not more
than 15 members who are qualified to provide advice regarding
wildfire forecasting, detection, monitoring, and delivery of
related products or services, including from the following
entities:
(A) Research and academic institutions.
(B) Public communication or broadcast entities.
(C) Emergency management agencies.
(D) State, local, or Tribal governments.
(E) The National Association of State Foresters.
(F) Business communities.
(G) Other entities as designated by the Director of
the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(2) Prohibition.--Members of the Advisory Committee may not
be employees of the Federal Government.
(b) Assessment.--The Advisory Committee shall offer assessments and
recommendations relating to the following:
(1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and monitoring
products and tools.
(2) Communication and delivery methods of wildfire
forecasting, detection, and monitoring information.
(3) Opportunities to streaml