I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 753
To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration to maintain a program that improves wildfire forecasting and
detection, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY28, 2025
Ms. C
HU(for herself, Mrs. KIM, and Ms. BROWNLEY) 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 Administration to maintain a program that
improves wildfire forecasting and detection, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Information and 4
Reaction Enhancement Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘FIRE Act 5
of 2025’’. 6
SEC. 2. WILDFIRE FORECASTING AND DETECTION. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 8
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•HR 753 IH
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of 1
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-2
tion, in collaboration with the United States weather 3
industry and such academic entities as the Adminis-4
trator considers appropriate, shall establish a pro-5
gram within such Administration to improve wildfire 6
forecasting and detection. 7
(2) G
OALS.—The goals of the program under 8
paragraph (1) shall be to develop and extend accu-9
rate wildfire forecasts and warnings in order to re-10
duce loss of life, injury, property, and damage to the 11
economy, with a focus on improving the following: 12
(A) The prediction of intensification and 13
spread of wildfires. 14
(B) The forecast and communication of 15
smoke dispersion from wildfires. 16
(C) Information dissemination and risk 17
communication to create more effective watch 18
and warning products. 19
(D) The early detection of wildfires to con-20
tain their growth and mitigate damages. 21
(3) E
LEMENTS.—In order to meet the goals 22
specified in paragraph (2), the Administrator of the 23
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is 24
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•HR 753 IH
authorized to conduct development, testing, and de-1
ployment activities related to the following: 2
(A) Advanced satellite detection products. 3
(B) Grid-based assessments and outlooks 4
of fuel moisture and danger levels. 5
(C) Coupled atmosphere and fire modeling 6
systems. 7
(D) Systems to link climate predictions to 8
achievable land management decisions. 9
(E) Improved spatial and temporal resolu-10
tion observations in high latitudes. 11
(b) C
ONSTRUCTIONAUTHORIZATION.— 12
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 13
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the As-14
sistant Administrator for the Office of Oceanic and 15
Atmospheric Research, in partnership with industry 16
and academic partners, shall establish a program to 17
create one or more weather research testbeds to de-18
velop improved detection of and forecast capabilities 19
for wildfire events and their impacts. 20
(2) R
ESOURCES.—In carrying out the program 21
under paragraph (1), the Assistant Administrator 22
for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 23
may not utilize resources for such testbeds from the 24
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 25
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•HR 753 IH
cooperative institutes in existence as of the date of 1
enactment of this Act. 2
(3) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 3
There is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 4
for fiscal year 2026 to carry out the program under 5
paragraph (1). 6
Æ
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