US
Us Congress House Bill HB4866

Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB4866 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
1+IB
2+Union Calendar No. 174
13 118THCONGRESS
2-2
3-DSESSION H. R. 4866
4-AN ACT
4+1
5+STSESSION H. R. 4866
6+[Report No. 118–214]
7+To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
8+istration to establish a program to improve fire weather and fire environ-
9+ment forecasting, detection, and local collaboration, and for other pur-
10+poses.
11+IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
12+JULY25, 2023
13+Mr. M
14+IKEGARCIAof California (for himself, Ms. CARAVEO, and Mrs. KIMof
15+California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
16+mittee on Science, Space, and Technology
17+S
18+EPTEMBER22, 2023
19+Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
20+House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
21+[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
22+[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 25, 2023]
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26+A BILL
527 To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
6-Atmospheric Administrator to improve fire weather and
7-fire environment forecasting, detection, and local collabo-
8-ration, and for other purposes.
28+Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to
29+improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting,
30+detection, and local collaboration, and for other purposes.
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934 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
10-tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2
11-•HR 4866 EH
12-SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
13-This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Weather Develop-2
14-ment Act of 2024’’. 3
15-SEC. 2. FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING AND DETECTION. 4
35+tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
36+SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
37+This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Weather Develop-4
38+ment Act of 2023’’. 5
39+SEC. 2. FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING AND DETECTION. 6
1640 (a) E
17-STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Na-5
18-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall es-6
19-tablish a program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro-7
20-gram’’) to improve fire weather and fire environment fore-8
21-casting, detection, and delivery of products or services 9
22-through collaboration with Federal and State agencies or 10
23-departments, local emergency mangers, and relevant enti-11
24-ties. 12
41+STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Na-7
42+tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall es-8
43+tablish a program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro-9
44+gram’’) to improve fire weather and fire environment fore-10
45+casting, detection, and delivery of products or services 11
46+through collaboration with Federal and State agencies or 12
47+departments, local emergency mangers, and relevant enti-13
48+ties. 14
2549 (b) G
26-OALS.—The goals of the Program shall be to 13
27-develop and improve accurate fire weather and fire envi-14
28-ronment forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss 15
29-of life, reduce injuries, protect property, and reduce dam-16
30-age to the economy from wildfires. The Program shall seek 17
31-to improve the assessment of fire weather and fire environ-18
32-ments, the understanding and prediction of wildfires, and 19
33-the communications regarding such assessments with 20
34-State and local emergency officials in a timely and stream-21
35-lined fashion, with a focus on improving the following: 22
36-(1) The prediction of ignition, intensification 23
37-and spread of wildfires. 24
38-(2) The observation and monitoring of fire 25
39-weather and fire environments. 26 3
40-•HR 4866 EH
41-(3) The forecast and communication of smoke 1
42-dispersion from wildfires. 2
43-(4) Information dissemination and risk commu-3
44-nication to develop more effective watch and warning 4
45-products relating to wildfires. 5
46-(5) The early detection of wildfires, including 6
47-pre-ignition analysis and ground condition character-7
48-izations. 8
49-(6) The development, testing, and deployment 9
50-of novel tools and techniques related to under-10
51-standing, monitoring, and predicting fire weather 11
52-and fire environments. 12
53-(7) The understanding and association of cli-13
54-mate change and its impacts on fire weather and 14
55-fire environments. 15
56-(8) The unique characteristics, including obser-16
57-vation or modeling requirements, related to fires at 17
58-the wildland-urban interface. 18
59-(9) The forecasting and understanding of the 19
60-impacts of prescribed burns (as such term is defined 20
61-in section 2 of the Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 21
62-2016 (16 U.S.C. 551c–1 note)). 22
50+OALS.—The goals of the Program shall be to de-15
51+velop and improve accurate fire weather and fire environ-16
52+ment forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss of life, 17
53+reduce injuries, protect property, and reduce damage to the 18
54+economy from wildfires. The Program shall seek to improve 19
55+the assessment of fire weather and fire environments, the 20
56+understanding and prediction of wildfires, and the commu-21
57+nications regarding such assessments with State and local 22
58+emergency officials in a timely and streamlined fashion, 23
59+with a focus on improving the following: 24
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63+(1) The prediction of ignition, intensification 1
64+and spread of wildfires. 2
65+(2) The observation and monitoring of fire 3
66+weather and fire environments. 4
67+(3) The forecast and communication of smoke 5
68+dispersion from wildfires. 6
69+(4) Information dissemination and risk commu-7
70+nication to develop more effective watch and warning 8
71+products relating to wildfires. 9
72+(5) The early detection of wildfires, including 10
73+pre-ignition analysis and ground condition character-11
74+izations. 12
75+(6) The development, testing, and deployment of 13
76+novel tools and techniques related to understanding, 14
77+monitoring, and predicting fire weather and fire en-15
78+vironments. 16
79+(7) The understanding and association of cli-17
80+mate change and its impacts on fire weather and fire 18
81+environments. 19
82+(8) The unique characteristics, including obser-20
83+vation or modeling requirements, related to fires at 21
84+the wildland-urban interface. 22
85+(9) The forecasting and understanding of the im-23
86+pacts of prescribed burns (as such term is defined in 24
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90+section 2 of the Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2016 1
91+(16 U.S.C. 551c–1 note)). 2
6392 (c) C
64-OLLABORATIONWITHSTAKEHOLDERS.—In de-23
65-veloping the Program required under this section, the Ad-24
66-ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-25 4
67-•HR 4866 EH
68-ministration shall solicit and take into consideration input 1
69-from the weather industry, such academic entities as the 2
70-Administrator considers appropriate, and other relevant 3
71-stakeholders. 4
93+OLLABORATIONWITHSTAKEHOLDERS.—In de-3
94+veloping the Program required under this section, the Ad-4
95+ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-5
96+ministration shall solicit and take into consideration input 6
97+from the weather industry, such academic entities as the 7
98+Administrator considers appropriate, and other relevant 8
99+stakeholders. 9
72100 (d) A
73-CTIVITIES.—To achieve the goals specified in 5
74-subsection (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic 6
75-and Atmospheric Administration may conduct research, 7
76-development, testing, demonstration, and operational 8
77-transition activities related to fire weather and fire envi-9
78-ronments, including regarding the following: 10
79-(1) Tools and services to inform, support, and 11
80-complement active land management, local emer-12
81-gency personnel, the United States Forest Service, 13
82-and State, local, and Tribal entities during their re-14
83-sponse and mitigation efforts. 15
84-(2) Sensing technologies, such as infrared, 16
85-microwave, and active sensors suitable for potential 17
86-deployment on spacecraft, aircraft, and unmanned 18
87-aircraft systems, to improve the monitoring and 19
88-forecasting of fire fuel and active wildfires, wildfire 20
89-behavior models and forecasts, mapping efforts, and 21
90-the prediction of wildfires and the impacts of such. 22
91-(3) Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel 23
92-moisture and danger levels. 24 5
93-•HR 4866 EH
94-(4) Social and behavior sciences related to fire 1
95-weather and fire environment warning products. 2
96-(5) Advanced satellite detection products cou-3
97-pled with atmosphere and fire weather modeling sys-4
98-tems. 5
99-(6) Education and training to expand the num-6
100-ber of students and researchers in areas of study 7
101-and research related to wildfires, fire weather, and 8
102-fire environments. 9
103-(7) Modeling systems to link long-term climate 10
104-predictions to localized or general land management 11
105-decisions. 12
106-(8) Communication and outreach to commu-13
107-nities, energy utilities, owners and operators of crit-14
108-ical infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders 15
109-regarding fire weather and fire environment risk. 16
110-(9) Stewardship and dissemination, to the ex-17
111-tent practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmos-18
112-pheric Administration scientific data and related 19
113-products and services in formats meeting shared 20
114-standards to enhance the interoperability, usability, 21
115-and accessibility of such data in order to better meet 22
116-the needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 23
117-Administration, other Federal agencies, and relevant 24
118-stakeholders. 25 6
119-•HR 4866 EH
120-(10) Improvement of spatial and temporal reso-1
121-lution observations. 2
122-(11) Any other topic or activity the Adminis-3
123-trator determines relevant. 4
101+CTIVITIES.—To achieve the goals specified in sub-10
102+section (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 11
103+Atmospheric Administration may conduct research, devel-12
104+opment, testing, demonstration, and operational transition 13
105+activities related to fire weather and fire environments, in-14
106+cluding regarding the following: 15
107+(1) Tools and services to inform, support, and 16
108+complement active land management, local emergency 17
109+personnel, the United States Forest Service, and 18
110+State, local, and Tribal entities during their response 19
111+and mitigation efforts. 20
112+(2) Sensing technologies, such as infrared, micro-21
113+wave, and active sensors suitable for potential deploy-22
114+ment on spacecraft, aircraft, and unmanned aircraft 23
115+systems, to improve the monitoring and forecasting of 24
116+fire fuel and active wildfires, wildfire behavior models 25
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120+and forecasts, mapping efforts, and the prediction of 1
121+wildfires and the impacts of such. 2
122+(3) Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel 3
123+moisture and danger levels. 4
124+(4) Social and behavior sciences related to fire 5
125+weather and fire environment warning products. 6
126+(5) Advanced satellite detection products coupled 7
127+with atmosphere and fire weather modeling systems. 8
128+(6) Education and training to expand the num-9
129+ber of students and researchers in areas of study and 10
130+research related to wildfires, fire weather, and fire en-11
131+vironments. 12
132+(7) Modeling systems to link long-term climate 13
133+predictions to localized or general land management 14
134+decisions. 15
135+(8) Communication and outreach to commu-16
136+nities, energy utilities, owners and operators of crit-17
137+ical infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders re-18
138+garding fire weather and fire environment risk. 19
139+(9) Stewardship and dissemination, to the extent 20
140+practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-21
141+ministration scientific data and related products and 22
142+services in formats meeting shared standards to en-23
143+hance the interoperability, usability, and accessibility 24
144+of such data in order to better meet the needs of the 25
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148+National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1
149+other Federal agencies, and relevant stakeholders. 2
150+(10) Improvement of spatial and temporal reso-3
151+lution observations. 4
152+(11) Any other topic or activity the Adminis-5
153+trator determines relevant. 6
124154 (e) N
125-OVELTOOLS FOR MONITORING AND PRE-5
126-DICTION.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 6
127-and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the 7
128-heads of the agencies specified in section 3, or other ap-8
129-propriate stakeholders, including commercial partners, 9
130-shall develop novel tools and technologies to support the 10
131-activities of the Program and which may be applied to 11
132-broader wildland fire research, monitoring, and mitigation 12
133-activities, as practicable and appropriate. 13
155+OVELTOOLS FOR MONITORING AND PRE-7
156+DICTION.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 8
157+Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the 9
158+heads of the agencies specified in section 3, or other appro-10
159+priate stakeholders, including commercial partners, shall 11
160+develop novel tools and technologies to support the activities 12
161+of the Program and which may be applied to broader 13
162+wildland fire research, monitoring, and mitigation activi-14
163+ties, as practicable and appropriate. 15
134164 (f) E
135-XTRAMURALRESEARCH.—The Administrator of 14
136-the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 15
137-shall collaborate with and support the non-Federal 16
138-wildland fire research community, which includes institu-17
139-tions of higher education, private sector entities, non-18
140-governmental organizations, and other relevant stake-19
141-holders, by making funds available through competitive 20
142-grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. 21
165+XTRAMURALRESEARCH.—The Administrator of 16
166+the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 17
167+shall collaborate with and support the non-Federal wildland 18
168+fire research community, which includes institutions of 19
169+higher education, private sector entities, nongovernmental 20
170+organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, by making 21
171+funds available through competitive grants, contracts, and 22
172+cooperative agreements. 23
143173 (g) C
144-OMMERCIALDATA.— 22
145-(1) I
146-N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 23
147-after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad-24
148-ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-25 7
149-•HR 4866 EH
150-pheric Administration, in consultation with the 1
151-heads of other Federal agencies and relevant stake-2
152-holders, may enter into contracts with one or more 3
153-private sector entities to obtain additional airborne 4
154-and space-based data and observations that may en-5
155-hance or supplement the understanding, monitoring, 6
156-and prediction, of fire weather and fire environ-7
157-ments, and the relevant Program activities under 8
158-this section. 9
174+OMMERCIALDATA.— 24
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178+(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after 1
179+the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-2
180+trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-3
181+ministration, in consultation with the heads of other 4
182+Federal agencies and relevant stakeholders, may enter 5
183+into contracts with one or more private sector entities 6
184+to obtain additional airborne and space-based data 7
185+and observations that may enhance or supplement the 8
186+understanding, monitoring, and prediction, of fire 9
187+weather and fire environments, and the relevant Pro-10
188+gram activities under this section. 11
159189 (2) C
160-ONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 10
161-under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Na-11
162-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 12
163-consult with private sector entities through the Na-13
164-tional Advisory Committee on Wildfires under sec-14
165-tion 4 to identify needed tools and data that can be 15
166-best provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric 16
167-Administration satellites and are most beneficial to 17
168-wildfire and smoke detection and monitoring. 18
190+ONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 12
191+under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Na-13
192+tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 14
193+consult with private sector entities through the Na-15
194+tional Advisory Committee on Wildfires under section 16
195+4 to identify needed tools and data that can be best 17
196+provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-18
197+ministration satellites and are most beneficial to 19
198+wildfire and smoke detection and monitoring. 20
169199 (h) N
170-ONDUPLICATION.—To the maximum extent 19
171-practicable, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 20
172-and Atmospheric Administration shall consult with the 21
173-National Interagency Fire Center, including the Joint Fire 22
174-Science Program, to avoid duplication of activities under 23
175-this section and ensure the Administration’s focus on 24 8
176-•HR 4866 EH
177-unique research activities best suited for transition to op-1
178-erations. 2
200+ONDUPLICATION.—To the maximum extent prac-21
201+ticable, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At-22
202+mospheric Administration shall consult with the National 23
203+Interagency Fire Center, including the Joint Fire Science 24
204+Program, to avoid duplication of activities under this sec-25
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208+tion and ensure the Administration’s focus on unique re-1
209+search activities best suited for transition to operations. 2
179210 (i) U
180211 NMANNEDAIRCRAFTSYSTEMS.— 3
181212 (1) I
182-N GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 4
183-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 5
213+N GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-4
214+tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 5
184215 shall— 6
185-(A) assess the role and potential benefits 7
186-of unmanned aircraft systems to improve data 8
187-collection in support of fire weather and fire en-9
188-vironment modeling, meteorological observa-10
189-tions, predictions, and forecasts; 11
216+(A) assess the role and potential benefits of 7
217+unmanned aircraft systems to improve data col-8
218+lection in support of fire weather and fire envi-9
219+ronment modeling, meteorological observations, 10
220+predictions, and forecasts; 11
190221 (B) identify objectives for testing such sys-12
191222 tems’ use for obtaining fire weather and fire en-13
192223 vironment observations, and other relevant ac-14
193224 tivities; and 15
194225 (C) transition unmanned aircraft systems 16
195226 technologies from research to operations as the 17
196227 Administrator considers appropriate. 18
197228 (2) B
198229 RIEFING.—Not later than 270 days after 19
199-the date of enactment of the Act, the Administrator 20
200-of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-21
201-tration shall brief the appropriate committees of 22
202-Congress on the activities under paragraph (1). 23
230+the date of enactment of the Act, the Administrator of 20
231+the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-21
232+tion shall brief the appropriate committees of Con-22
233+gress on the activities under paragraph (1). 23
203234 (3) P
204235 ILOT PROGRAMS.—Not later than 18 24
205-months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 25 9
206-•HR 4866 EH
207-the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At-1
208-mospheric Administration may conduct pilot pro-2
209-grams of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather 3
210-and fire environment observations, including relating 4
211-to the following: 5
236+months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 25
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240+Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-1
241+pheric Administration may conduct pilot programs of 2
242+unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather and fire 3
243+environment observations, including relating to the 4
244+following: 5
212245 (A) Testing of unmanned aircraft systems 6
213246 in approximations of real-world scenarios. 7
214-(B) Assessment of the utility of meteoro-8
215-logical data collected from fire response and as-9
216-sessment aircraft. 10
247+(B) Assessment of the utility of meteorolog-8
248+ical data collected from fire response and assess-9
249+ment aircraft. 10
217250 (C) Input into appropriate models of col-11
218251 lected data to predict fire behavior, including 12
219252 coupled atmosphere and fire models. 13
220-(D) Collection of best management prac-14
221-tices for deployment of unmanned aircraft sys-15
222-tems for fire weather and fire environment ob-16
223-servations. 17
253+(D) Collection of best management practices 14
254+for deployment of unmanned aircraft systems for 15
255+fire weather and fire environment observations. 16
224256 (4) P
225-ROHIBITION.— 18
257+ROHIBITION.— 17
226258 (A) I
227-N GENERAL.—Except as provided 19
228-under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Adminis-20
229-trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 21
230-Administration may not procure any unmanned 22
231-aircraft system that is manufactured or assem-23
232-bled by an entity in a foreign country of con-24
233-cern. 25 10
234-•HR 4866 EH
259+N GENERAL.—Except as provided 18
260+under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Adminis-19
261+trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 20
262+Administration may not procure any unmanned 21
263+aircraft system that is manufactured or assem-22
264+bled by an entity in a foreign country of con-23
265+cern. 24
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235269 (B) EXEMPTION.—The prohibition under 1
236270 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the Admin-2
237271 istrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-3
238272 pheric Administration if the Administrator de-4
239273 termines, in consultation with the Secretary of 5
240274 Homeland Security, that the procurement of an 6
241275 unmanned aircraft system is necessary for the 7
242-sole purpose of marine or atmospheric science 8
243-or management. 9
276+sole purpose of marine or atmospheric science or 8
277+management. 9
244278 (C) W
245-AIVER.—The Administrator of the 10
246-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-11
247-tion may waive the prohibition under subpara-12
248-graph (A) on a case-by-case basis— 13
279+AIVER.—The Administrator of the Na-10
280+tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 11
281+may waive the prohibition under subparagraph 12
282+(A) on a case-by-case basis— 13
249283 (i) with the approval of the Secretary 14
250284 of Homeland Security; and 15
251285 (ii) upon written or electronic notifica-16
252286 tion to appropriate committees of Congress 17
253287 not later than 30 days after any such waiv-18
254288 er. 19
255289 (5) A
256290 IRSPACE OPERATIONS SYSTEM .—The Ad-20
257-ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-21
258-pheric Administration, in cooperation with the Ad-22
259-ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 23
260-Administration, shall utilize the capabilities of un-24
261-manned aircraft systems as appropriate for fire 25 11
262-•HR 4866 EH
263-weather and fire environment observations, and may 1
264-use a wildfire airspace operations system that ac-2
265-counts for piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft sys-3
266-tems, and other new and emerging capabilities after 4
267-such airspace operations system is developed and de-5
268-termined ready for operational use by the Adminis-6
269-trator of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-7
270-ministration. 8
291+ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 21
292+Administration, in cooperation with the Adminis-22
293+trator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-23
294+istration, shall utilize the capabilities of unmanned 24
295+aircraft systems as appropriate for fire weather and 25
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299+fire environment observations, and may use a wildfire 1
300+airspace operations system that accounts for piloted 2
301+aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, and other new 3
302+and emerging capabilities after such airspace oper-4
303+ations system is developed and determined ready for 5
304+operational use by the Administrator of the National 6
305+Aeronautics and Space Administration. 7
271306 (6) A
272-UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 9
273-There is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 10
274-for fiscal year 2025 to carry out this subsection. 11
307+UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 8
308+From amounts made available for Procurement, Ac-9
309+quisition, and Construction of the National Oceanic 10
310+and Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized 11
311+to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to 12
312+carry out this section. 13
275313 (j) D
276-EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12
314+EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14
277315 (1) A
278-PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -13
279-GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-14
280-gress’’ means the Committee on Science, Space, and 15
281-Technology and the Committee on Homeland Secu-16
282-rity of the House of Representatives and the Com-17
283-mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 18
284-and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-19
285-ernmental Affairs of the Senate. 20
316+PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS .— 15
317+The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 16
318+means the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-17
319+nology and the Committee on Homeland Security of 18
320+the House of Representatives and the Committee on 19
321+Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Com-20
322+mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-21
323+fairs of the Senate. 22
286324 (2) C
287-RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The term 21
288-‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 22
289-term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 23
290-U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 24 12
291-•HR 4866 EH
292-(3) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN .—The 1
293-term ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ has the meaning 2
294-given such term in section 9901 of the William M. 3
295-(Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 4
296-Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651). 5
325+RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The term 23
326+‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 24
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329+•HR 4866 RH
330+term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 1
331+U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 2
332+(3) F
333+OREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN .—The term 3
334+‘‘foreign country of concern’’ has the meaning given 4
335+such term in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) 5
336+Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 6
337+Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651). 7
297338 (4) I
298-NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 6
299-term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 7
300-meaning given such term in section 101 of the High-8
301-er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 9
339+NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 8
340+term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean-9
341+ing given such term in section 101 of the Higher Edu-10
342+cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 11
302343 (5) U
303-NMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM .—The term 10
304-‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the meaning given 11
305-such term in section 44801 of title 49, United 12
306-States Code. 13
344+NMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM .—The term 12
345+‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the meaning given 13
346+such term in section 44801 of title 49, United States 14
347+Code. 15
307348 (6) W
308-EATHER INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘weather 14
309-industry’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-15
310-tion 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting In-16
311-novation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 17
312-SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 18
313-WILDFIRES. 19
349+EATHER INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘weather 16
350+industry’’ has the meaning given such term in section 17
351+2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innova-18
352+tion Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 19
353+SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 20
354+WILDFIRES. 21
314355 (a) E
315-STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 20
316-the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 21
317-Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 22
318-interagency coordinating committee to be known as the 23
319-‘‘Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires’’ (in 24
320-this section referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). The chair 25 13
321-•HR 4866 EH
322-of the Committee shall be the Administrator of the Na-1
323-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2
356+STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 22
357+the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 23
358+Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 24
359+interagency coordinating committee to be known as the 25
360+VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4866.RH H4866
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362+•HR 4866 RH
363+‘‘Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires’’ (in 1
364+this section referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). The chair of 2
365+the Committee shall be the Administrator of the National 3
366+Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 4
324367 (b) P
325-URPOSE.—The Committee shall coordinate the 3
326-development of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting, 4
327-detection, monitoring, and delivery of related products or 5
328-services that best assist State and local emergency officials 6
329-while avoiding duplication of activities. 7
368+URPOSE.—The Committee shall coordinate the de-5
369+velopment of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting, detec-6
370+tion, monitoring, and delivery of related products or serv-7
371+ices that best assist State and local emergency officials while 8
372+avoiding duplication of activities. 9
330373 (c) M
331-EMBERSHIP.—In addition to the chair, the 8
332-Committee shall be composed of the heads or appropriate 9
333-designees of the following program agencies: 10
334-(1) The Federal Emergency Management Agen-11
335-cy. 12
336-(2) The United States Fire Administration. 13
337-(3) The United States Forest Service. 14
338-(4) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad-15
339-ministration. 16
340-(5) The Department of the Interior. 17
341-(6) The Department of Agriculture. 18
342-(7) The United States Geological Survey. 19
343-(8) The Office of Science and Technology Pol-20
344-icy. 21
345-(9) Any other Federal department or agency 22
346-the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 23
347-Policy considers appropriate. 24 14
348-•HR 4866 EH
374+EMBERSHIP.—In addition to the chair, the Com-10
375+mittee shall be composed of the heads or appropriate des-11
376+ignees of the following program agencies: 12
377+(1) The Federal Emergency Management Agency. 13
378+(2) The United States Fire Administration. 14
379+(3) The United States Forest Service. 15
380+(4) The National Aeronautics and Space Admin-16
381+istration. 17
382+(5) The Department of the Interior. 18
383+(6) The Department of Agriculture. 19
384+(7) The United States Geological Survey. 20
385+(8) The Office of Science and Technology Policy. 21
386+(9) Any other Federal department or agency the 22
387+Director of the Office of Science and Technology Pol-23
388+icy considers appropriate. 24
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349392 (d) STRATEGICPLAN.—Not later than one year after 1
350393 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall 2
351394 submit to Congress a strategic plan for the Program that 3
352395 includes the following: 4
353396 (1) A description of short-term, mid-term, and 5
354-long-term objectives to achieve the purpose specified 6
355-in subsection (b). 7
397+long-term objectives to achieve the purpose specified in 6
398+subsection (b). 7
356399 (2) A description of how agencies specified in 8
357400 subsection (c) will collaborate with stakeholders and 9
358-take into account stakeholder needs and rec-10
359-ommendations in developing such objectives. 11
401+take into account stakeholder needs and recommenda-10
402+tions in developing such objectives. 11
360403 (3) A description of existing and new observa-12
361404 tional and data infrastructure needed to accomplish 13
362405 such objectives. 14
363-(4) A description of the role of each such agen-15
364-cy in achieving such objectives. 16
365-(5) Guidance regarding how the Committee’s 17
366-recommendations are best used in climate adapta-18
367-tion planning for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 19
368-territorial entities. 20
406+(4) A description of the role of each such agency 15
407+in achieving such objectives. 16
408+(5) Guidance regarding how the Committee’s rec-17
409+ommendations are best used in climate adaptation 18
410+planning for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and terri-19
411+torial entities. 20
369412 (e) I
370-NTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—The heads of 21
371-agencies specified in subsection (c) may enter into one or 22
372-more interagency agreements providing for cooperation 23
373-and collaboration in the development of wildfire fore-24
374-casting, detection, and monitoring tools, instruments, 25 15
375-•HR 4866 EH
376-technologies, and research to accomplish the purpose de-1
377-scribed in subsection (b). 2
413+NTERAGENCYAGREEMENTS.—The heads of agen-21
414+cies specified in subsection (c) may enter into one or more 22
415+interagency agreements providing for cooperation and col-23
416+laboration in the development of wildfire forecasting, detec-24
417+tion, and monitoring tools, instruments, technologies, and 25
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420+•HR 4866 RH
421+research to accomplish the purpose described in subsection 1
422+(b). 2
378423 (f) C
379-OLLABORATION.—The head of each agency spec-3
380-ified in subsection (c) shall, to the extent practicable, in-4
381-crease engagement and cooperation with international, 5
382-academic, State, and local communities regarding the in-6
383-frastructure, data, and scientific research necessary to 7
384-best advance the forecasting, detection, and monitoring of 8
385-and preparation for wildfires. 9
424+OLLABORATION.—The head of each agency speci-3
425+fied in subsection (c) shall, to the extent practicable, in-4
426+crease engagement and cooperation with international, aca-5
427+demic, State, and local communities regarding the infra-6
428+structure, data, and scientific research necessary to best ad-7
429+vance the forecasting, detection, and monitoring of and 8
430+preparation for wildfires. 9
386431 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES. 10
387432 (a) E
388433 STABLISHMENT.— 11
389434 (1) I
390435 N GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 12
391436 the submission of the strategic plan required by sec-13
392437 tion 3(d), the Director of the Office of Science and 14
393438 Technology Policy shall establish a national advisory 15
394439 committee to be known as the ‘‘National Advisory 16
395440 Committee on Wildfires’’ (in this section referred to 17
396441 as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). The Advisory Com-18
397442 mittee shall consist of not fewer than seven and not 19
398443 more than 15 members who are qualified to provide 20
399-advice regarding wildfire forecasting, detection, mon-21
400-itoring, and delivery of related products or services, 22
444+advice regarding wildfire forecasting, detection, moni-21
445+toring, and delivery of related products or services, 22
401446 including from the following entities: 23
402-(A) Research and academic institutions. 24 16
403-•HR 4866 EH
447+(A) Research and academic institutions. 24
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450+•HR 4866 RH
404451 (B) Public communication or broadcast en-1
405452 tities. 2
406453 (C) Emergency management agencies. 3
407454 (D) State, local, or Tribal governments. 4
408455 (E) The National Association of State For-5
409456 esters. 6
410457 (F) Business communities. 7
411458 (G) Other entities as designated by the Di-8
412459 rector of the Office of Science and Technology 9
413460 Policy. 10
414461 (2) P
415462 ROHIBITION.—Members of the Advisory 11
416-Committee may not be employees of the Federal 12
417-Government. 13
463+Committee may not be employees of the Federal Gov-12
464+ernment. 13
418465 (b) A
419-SSESSMENT.—The Advisory Committee shall 14
420-offer assessments and recommendations relating to the 15
421-following: 16
422-(1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and moni-17
423-toring products and tools. 18
424-(2) Communication and delivery methods of 19
425-wildfire forecasting, detection, and monitoring infor-20
426-mation. 21
427-(3) Opportunities to streamline Federal fore-22
428-casting, monitoring, and detection information to 23
429-local emergency personnel and communities. 24 17
430-•HR 4866 EH
431-(4) The management, coordination, implemen-1
432-tation, and activities of the Interagency Coordi-2
433-nating Committee on Wildfires under section 3. 3
466+SSESSMENT.—The Advisory Committee shall offer 14
467+assessments and recommendations relating to the following: 15
468+(1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and moni-16
469+toring products and tools. 17
470+(2) Communication and delivery methods of 18
471+wildfire forecasting, detection, and monitoring infor-19
472+mation. 20
473+(3) Opportunities to streamline Federal fore-21
474+casting, monitoring, and detection information to 22
475+local emergency personnel and communities. 23
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478+•HR 4866 RH
479+(4) The management, coordination, implementa-1
480+tion, and activities of the Interagency Coordinating 2
481+Committee on Wildfires under section 3. 3
434482 (5) The effectiveness of the Interagency Coordi-4
435483 nating Committee on Wildfires in meeting its pur-5
436484 poses. 6
437485 (c) C
438486 OMPENSATION.—Members of the Advisory Com-7
439487 mittee shall serve without compensation. 8
440488 (d) R
441-EPORTS.—Not less frequently than biennially, 9
442-the Advisory Committee shall report to the Director of the 10
443-Office of Science and Technology Policy on the assess-11
444-ments carried out under subsection (b) and its rec-12
445-ommendations for ways to improve the coordination and 13
446-dissemination of wildfire forecasts, warnings, and detec-14
447-tion and monitoring information. 15
489+EPORTS.—Not less frequently than biennially, the 9
490+Advisory Committee shall report to the Director of the Office 10
491+of Science and Technology Policy on the assessments carried 11
492+out under subsection (b) and its recommendations for ways 12
493+to improve the coordination and dissemination of wildfire 13
494+forecasts, warnings, and detection and monitoring informa-14
495+tion. 15
448496 (e) C
449-HARTER.—Notwithstanding section 1013(b)(2) 16
450-of title 5, United States Code, the Advisory Committee 17
451-shall not be required to file a charter subsequent to its 18
452-initial charter, filed under section 1008(c) of such title, 19
453-before the termination date specified in subsection (f) of 20
454-this section. 21
497+HARTER.—Notwithstanding section 1013(b)(2) of 16
498+title 5, United States Code, the Advisory Committee shall 17
499+not be required to file a charter subsequent to its initial 18
500+charter, filed under section 1008(c) of such title, before the 19
501+termination date specified in subsection (f) of this section. 20
455502 (f) T
456-ERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee shall 22
457-terminate on September 30, 2028. 23
503+ERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee shall ter-21
504+minate on September 30, 2028. 22
458505 (g) C
459-ONFLICT OFINTEREST.—An Advisory Com-24
460-mittee member shall recuse himself or herself from any 25 18
461-•HR 4866 EH
462-Advisory Committee activity in which he or she has an 1
463-actual pecuniary interest. 2
506+ONFLICT OFINTEREST.—An Advisory Committee 23
507+member shall recuse himself or herself from any Advisory 24
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510+•HR 4866 RH
511+Committee activity in which he or she has an actual pecu-1
512+niary interest. 2
464513 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 3
465514 (a) I
466-NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-4
467-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es-5
468-tablish a fire weather testbed to enable engagement across 6
469-the Federal Government, State and local governments, 7
470-academia, private and federally funded research labora-8
471-tories, the private sector, and end-users in order to evalu-9
472-ate the accuracy and usability of technology, models, fire 10
473-weather products and services, and other research to accel-11
474-erate the implementation, transition to operations, and use 12
475-of new capabilities by the National Oceanic and Atmos-13
476-pheric Administration, Federal and land management 14
477-agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 15
515+NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the National 4
516+Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall establish a 5
517+fire weather testbed to enable engagement across the Federal 6
518+Government, State and local governments, academia, pri-7
519+vate and federally funded research laboratories, the private 8
520+sector, and end-users in order to evaluate the accuracy and 9
521+usability of technology, models, fire weather products and 10
522+services, and other research to accelerate the implementa-11
523+tion, transition to operations, and use of new capabilities 12
524+by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 13
525+Federal and land management agencies, and other relevant 14
526+stakeholders. 15
478527 (b) R
479-ESOURCES.—In carrying out this section, the 16
480-Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 17
481-Administration may not transfer or reprogram any funds, 18
482-detail any personnel, or make use of any infrastructure 19
483-from cooperative institutes of the National Oceanic and 20
484-Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of 21
485-the enactment of this Act for the fire weather testbed es-22
486-tablished under subsection (a). 23 19
487-•HR 4866 EH
488-(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1
489-authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of fis-2
490-cal years 2025 through 2028 to carry out this section. 3
528+ESOURCES.—In carrying out this section, the Ad-16
529+ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-17
530+ministration may not transfer or reprogram any funds, de-18
531+tail any personnel, or make use of any infrastructure from 19
532+cooperative institutes of the National Oceanic and Atmos-20
533+pheric Administration in existence as of the date of the en-21
534+actment of this Act for the fire weather testbed established 22
535+under subsection (a). 23
536+(c) A
537+UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 24
538+amounts made available for Procurement, Acquisition, and 25
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542+Construction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-1
543+ministration, there is authorized to be appropriated 2
544+$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section. 3
491545 SEC. 6. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE. 4
492546 (a) W
493547 ORKFORCE AND TRAININGASSESSMENT.—Not 5
494-later than six months after the date of the enactment of 6
495-this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 7
496-Atmospheric Administration shall submit to the Com-8
497-mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 9
498-of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 10
499-Science, and Transportation of the Senate the results of 11
500-an assessment of National Weather Service workforce and 12
501-training challenges for Incident Meteorologists, and a 13
502-roadmap for overcoming such challenges. Such assessment 14
503-shall take into consideration information technology sup-15
504-port, logistical and administrative operations, anticipated 16
505-weather and climate conditions, and feedback from rel-17
506-evant stakeholders, and shall include, to the maximum ex-18
507-tent practicable, an identification by the National Weather 19
508-Service of the following: 20
509-(1) The expected number of Incident Meteorolo-21
510-gists needed over the next five years. 22
511-(2) Potential hiring authorities necessary to 23
512-overcome any identified workforce and training chal-24
513-lenges. 25 20
514-•HR 4866 EH
515-(3) Alternative services or assistance options 1
516-the National Weather Service could provide to meet 2
517-operational needs. 3
548+later than six months after the date of the enactment of this 6
549+Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-7
550+pheric Administration shall submit to the Committee on 8
551+Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representa-9
552+tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-10
553+portation of the Senate the results of an assessment of Na-11
554+tional Weather Service workforce and training challenges 12
555+for Incident Meteorologists, and a roadmap for overcoming 13
556+such challenges. Such assessment shall take into consider-14
557+ation information technology support, logistical and ad-15
558+ministrative operations, anticipated weather and climate 16
559+conditions, and feedback from relevant stakeholders, and 17
560+shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, an identi-18
561+fication by the National Weather Service of the following: 19
562+(1) The expected number of Incident Meteorolo-20
563+gists needed over the next five years. 21
564+(2) Potential hiring authorities necessary to 22
565+overcome any identified workforce and training chal-23
566+lenges. 24
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570+(3) Alternative services or assistance options the 1
571+National Weather Service could provide to meet oper-2
572+ational needs. 3
518573 (b) O
519574 VERTIMEPAY.— 4
520575 (1) I
521-N GENERAL.—Any premium pay for serv-5
522-ices performed by Incident Meteorologists of the Na-6
523-tional Weather Service that are determined by the 7
524-Secretary of Commerce to be primarily related to 8
525-emergency wildland fire suppression activities shall 9
526-be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of such 10
527-employee’s basic pay and premium pay for purposes 11
528-of a limitation under section 5547 of title 5, United 12
529-States Code, or under any other provision of law. 13
576+N GENERAL.—Any premium pay for services 5
577+performed by Incident Meteorologists of the National 6
578+Weather Service that are determined by the Secretary 7
579+of Commerce to be primarily related to emergency 8
580+wildland fire suppression activities shall be dis-9
581+regarded in calculating the aggregate of such employ-10
582+ee’s basic pay and premium pay for purposes of a 11
583+limitation under section 5547 of title 5, United States 12
584+Code, or under any other provision of law. 13
530585 (2) R
531586 ATES.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, 14
532587 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, the 15
533588 National Weather Service,’’ after ‘‘Interior’’. 16
534589 SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON WILDLAND FIRE COMMUNICATIONS 17
535590 AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. 18
536591 (a) I
537592 NGENERAL.— 19
538593 (1) P
539-UBLIC SAFETY RESEARCH .—Not later 20
540-than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 21
541-Act, the Director, acting through the head of the 22
542-Public Safety and Communications Research Divi-23
543-sion and in consultation with the Fire Research Di-24 21
544-•HR 4866 EH
545-vision and technology manufacturers, shall carry out 1
546-research on the following: 2
594+UBLIC SAFETY RESEARCH .—Not later than 20
595+60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 21
596+the Director, acting through the head of the Public 22
597+Safety and Communications Research Division and 23
598+in consultation with the Fire Research Division and 24
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601+•HR 4866 RH
602+technology manufacturers, shall carry out research on 1
603+the following: 2
547604 (A) Public safety communication coordina-3
548605 tion standards among Federal, State, Tribal, 4
549606 and local wildland firefighters, fire management 5
550607 response officials, and member agencies. 6
551608 (B) Improving and integrating existing 7
552-communications systems to transmit secure 8
553-real-time data, alerts, and advisories to and 9
554-from fire management response officials and 10
555-wildland firefighters. 11
609+communications systems to transmit secure real- 8
610+time data, alerts, and advisories to and from fire 9
611+management response officials and wildland fire-10
612+fighters. 11
556613 (2) F
557614 IELD TESTING AND MEASUREMENT OF IN -12
558-FORMATION DISSEMINATION AND TECHNOLOGY .— 13
559-The Public Safety and Communications Research 14
560-Division, in consultation with the Fire Research Di-15
561-vision and member agencies, shall conduct both live 16
562-and virtual field testing of equipment, software, and 17
563-other technologies to determine current times of in-18
564-formation dissemination and develop standards for 19
565-the delivery of useful and secure real-time data 20
566-among member agencies, fire management response 21
567-officials, and wildland firefighters, based on findings 22
568-from research under paragraph (1). 23
615+FORMATION DISSEMINATION AND TECHNOLOGY .—The 13
616+Public Safety and Communications Research Divi-14
617+sion, in consultation with the Fire Research Division 15
618+and member agencies, shall conduct both live and vir-16
619+tual field testing of equipment, software, and other 17
620+technologies to determine current times of information 18
621+dissemination and develop standards for the delivery 19
622+of useful and secure real-time data among member 20
623+agencies, fire management response officials, and 21
624+wildland firefighters, based on findings from research 22
625+under subsection (a). 23
569626 (b) R
570-ECOMMENDATIONS .— 24 22
571-•HR 4866 EH
627+ECOMMENDATIONS.— 24
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630+•HR 4866 RH
572631 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall develop 1
573632 and publish recommendations to improve public safe-2
574633 ty communication coordination standards among 3
575634 wildland first responders and fire management re-4
576635 sponse officials. 5
577636 (2) T
578-RANSMITTAL.—The Director shall trans-6
579-mit the recommendations under paragraph (1) to 7
580-the Office of Management and Budget and the Of-8
581-fice of Science and Technology Policy for member 9
582-agencies to implement. 10
637+RANSMITTAL.—The Director shall transmit 6
638+the recommendations under paragraph (1) to the Of-7
639+fice of Management and Budget and the Office of 8
640+Science and Technology Policy for member agencies to 9
641+implement. 10
583642 (3) R
584643 EPORTING REQUIREMENTS .— 11
585644 (A) I
586645 N GENERAL.—The Director shall sub-12
587646 mit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 13
588-Technology of the House of Representatives 14
589-and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 15
590-Transportation of the Senate a report con-16
591-taining the recommendations published under 17
592-paragraph (1). 18
647+Technology of the House of Representatives and 14
648+the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 15
649+Transportation of the Senate a report containing 16
650+the recommendations published under paragraph 17
651+(1). 18
593652 (B) I
594653 MPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 1 19
595654 year after the date of the publication of the Di-20
596655 rector’s recommendations under paragraph (1), 21
597656 the Comptroller General of the United States 22
598-shall submit to the Committee on Science, 23
599-Space, and Technology of the House of Rep-24
600-resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 25 23
601-•HR 4866 EH
602-Science, and Transportation of the Senate a re-1
603-port on the extent to which member agencies 2
604-have implemented such recommendations. 3
605-(c) D
606-EFINITIONS.—In this section: 4
657+shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, 23
658+and Technology of the House of Representatives 24
659+and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 25
660+VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4866.RH H4866
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662+•HR 4866 RH
663+Transportation of the Senate a report on the ex-1
664+tent to which member agencies have implemented 2
665+such recommendations. 3
666+(c) F
667+UNDING.—From amounts made available to the 4
668+National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Direc-5
669+tor shall allocate $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 6
670+through 2028 to carry out this section. 7
671+(d) D
672+EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
607673 (1) D
608-IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 5
609-the Director of the National Institute of Standards 6
610-and Technology. 7
674+IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 9
675+Director of the National Institute of Standards and 10
676+Technology. 11
611677 (2) M
612-EMBER AGENCY .—The term ‘‘member 8
613-agency’’ means a member agency of the National 9
614-Interagency Fire Center, including the Bureau of In-10
615-dian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National 11
616-Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 12
617-Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, For-13
618-est Service, United States Fire Administration, and 14
619-the Department of Defense. 15
678+EMBER AGENCY.—The term ‘‘member agen-12
679+cy’’ means a member agency of the National Inter-13
680+agency Fire Center, including the Bureau of Indian 14
681+Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park 15
682+Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-16
683+tration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Serv-17
684+ice, United States Fire Administration, and the De-18
685+partment of Defense. 19
620686 (3) W
621-ILDLAND FIREFIGHTER .—The term 16
622-‘‘wildland firefighter’’ means any person who partici-17
623-pates in wildland firefighting activities. 18
687+ILDLAND FIREFIGHTER .—The term 20
688+‘‘wildland firefighter’’ means any person who partici-21
689+pates in wildland firefighting activities. 22
624690 (4) F
625-IRE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE OFFI -19
626-CIALS.—The term ‘‘fire management response offi-20
627-cials’’ means regional fire directors, deputy regional 21
628-fire directors, agency officials who directly oversee 22
629-fire operations, fire management officers, and indi-23
630-viduals serving on incident management teams. 24 24
631-•HR 4866 EH
632-(5) TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURERS .—The term 1
633-‘‘technology manufacturers’’ means private sector 2
634-entities that manufacture communications tech-3
635-nologies used by Federal, State, Tribal, or local 4
636-wildland fire authorities. 5
637-SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 6
638-In this Act: 7
691+IRE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE OFFICIALS .— 23
692+The term ‘‘fire management response officials’’ means 24
693+regional fire directors, deputy regional fire directors, 25
694+VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4866.RH H4866
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696+•HR 4866 RH
697+agency officials who directly oversee fire operations, 1
698+fire management officers, and individuals serving on 2
699+incident management teams. 3
700+(5) T
701+ECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURERS .—The term 4
702+‘‘technology manufacturers’’ means private sector en-5
703+tities that manufacture communications technologies 6
704+used by Federal, State, Tribal, or local wildland fire 7
705+authorities. 8
706+SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 9
707+In this Act: 10
639708 (1) F
640-IRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi-8
641-ronment’’ means— 9
642-(A) the environmental conditions, such as 10
643-soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 11
644-atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 12
645-that influence— 13
646-(i) fuel and fire behavior; and 14
647-(ii) smoke dispersion and transport; 15
648-and 16
649-(B) the associated environmental impacts 17
650-occurring during and after fire events. 18
709+IRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi-11
710+ronment’’ means— 12
711+(A) the environmental conditions, such as 13
712+soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 14
713+atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 15
714+that influence— 16
715+(i) fuel and fire behavior; and 17
716+(ii) smoke dispersion and transport; 18
717+and 19
718+(B) the associated environmental impacts 20
719+occurring during and after fire events. 21
651720 (2) F
652-IRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 19
653-means the weather conditions that influence the 20
654-start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or 21
655-fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 22
656-meteorological and chemical phenomena, including 23
657-air quality, smoke, and meteorological parameters 24
658-such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind 25 25
659-•HR 4866 EH
660-speed and direction, and atmospheric composition 1
661-and chemistry, including emissions and mixing 2
662-heights. 3
663-Passed the House of Representatives April 29, 2024.
664-Attest:
665-Clerk. 118
721+IRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 22
722+means the weather conditions that influence the start, 23
723+spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or fires at 24
724+the wildland-urban interface and relevant meteorolog-25
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727+•HR 4866 RH
728+ical and chemical phenomena, including air quality, 1
729+smoke, and meteorological parameters such as relative 2
730+humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction, 3
731+and atmospheric composition and chemistry, includ-4
732+ing emissions and mixing heights. 5
733+VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4866.RH H4866
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735+kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No.
736+174
737+118
666738 TH
667739 CONGRESS
668-2
669-D
740+1
741+ST
670742 S
671743 ESSION
672744
673745 H. R. 4866
674-AN ACT
746+[Report No. 118–214]
747+A BILL
675748 To direct the Administrator of the National Oce-
676-anic and Atmospheric Administrator to improve
677-fire weather and fire environment forecasting, de-
678-tection, and local collaboration, and for other
679-purposes.
749+anic and Atmospheric Administration to establish
750+a program to improve fire weather and fire envi-
751+ronment forecasting, detection, and local collabo-
752+ration, and for other purposes.
753+S
754+EPTEMBER
755+22, 2023
756+Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
757+mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
758+and ordered to be printed
759+VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4866.RH H4866
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