Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB306 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 306
5	5	To establish and maintain a coordinated program within the National Oceanic
6	6	and Atmospheric Administration that improves wildfire, fire weather,
7	7	fire risk, and wildfire smoke related forecasting, detection, modeling,
8	8	observations, and service delivery, and for other purposes.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	JANUARY29, 2025
11	11	Ms. C
12	12	ANTWELL(for herself, Mr. SHEEHY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. SUL-
13	13	LIVAN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. PADILLA, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the
14	14	following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
15	15	Commerce, Science, and Transportation
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To establish and maintain a coordinated program within
18	18	the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
19	19	that improves wildfire, fire weather, fire risk, and wildfire
20	20	smoke related forecasting, detection, modeling, observa-
21	21	tions, and service delivery, and for other purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
25	25	(a) S
26	26	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
27	27	‘‘Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025’’. 5
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31	31	(b) TABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
32	32	this Act is as follows: 2
33	33	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
34	34	Sec. 2. Definitions.
35	35	Sec. 3. Establishment of fire weather services program.
36	36	Sec. 4. Fire weather testbed.
37	37	Sec. 5. Data management and technology modernization.
38	38	Sec. 6. Surveys and assessments.
39	39	Sec. 7. Incident Meteorologist Service.
40	40	Sec. 8. Emergency response activities.
41	41	Sec. 9. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program,
42	42	incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather
43	43	Service workforce support.
44	44	Sec. 10. Fire Science and Technology Working Group; strategic plan.
45	45	Sec. 11. Fire weather rating system.
46	46	Sec. 12. Government Accountability Office reports.
47	47	Sec. 13. Cooperation and coordination.
48	48	Sec. 14. General provisions.
49	49	Sec. 15. Authorization of appropriations.
50	50	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
51	51	3
52	52	In this Act: 4
53	53	(1) A
54	54	DMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra-5
55	55	tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 6
56	56	Administration. 7
57	57	(2) A
58	58	PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -8
59	59	GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-9
60	60	gress’’ means— 10
61	61	(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 11
62	62	and Transportation of the Senate; and 12
63	63	(B) the Committee on Science, Space, and 13
64	64	Technology of the House of Representatives. 14
65	65	(3) E
66	66	ARTH SYSTEM MODEL .—The term ‘‘Earth 15
67	67	system model’’ means a mathematical model con-16
68	68	taining all relevant components of the Earth, namely 17
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72	72	the atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and bio-1
73	73	sphere. 2
74	74	(4) F
75	75	IRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi-3
76	76	ronment’’ means— 4
77	77	(A) the environmental conditions, such as 5
78	78	soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 6
79	79	atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 7
80	80	that influence— 8
81	81	(i) fuel and fire behavior; and 9
82	82	(ii) the emission, chemical evolution, 10
83	83	and transport of wildfire smoke; and 11
84	84	(B) the associated environmental impacts 12
85	85	occurring during and after fire events. 13
86	86	(5) F
87	87	IRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 14
88	88	means the weather conditions that influence the 15
89	89	start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires and 16
90	90	relevant meteorological and chemical phenomena, in-17
91	91	cluding air quality, wildfire smoke, and meteorolog-18
92	92	ical parameters such as relative humidity, air tem-19
93	93	perature, wind speed and direction, and atmospheric 20
94	94	composition and chemistry, including emissions and 21
95	95	mixing heights. 22
96	96	(6) I
97	97	MPACT-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SERV -23
98	98	ICES.—The term ‘‘impact-based decision support 24
99	99	services’’ means scientific advice and interpretative 25
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103	103	services the Administration provides to help core 1
104	104	partners, such as emergency personnel and public 2
105	105	safety officials, make decisions when the information 3
106	106	impacts the lives and livelihoods of the people of the 4
107	107	United States. 5
108	108	(7) I
109	109	NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 6
110	110	has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 7
111	111	Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 8
112	112	Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 9
113	113	(8) N
114	114	ATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION .—The 10
115	115	term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ has the mean-11
116	116	ing given that term in section 6207 of the Elemen-12
117	117	tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 13
118	118	U.S.C. 7517), including the Department of Hawai-14
119	119	ian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 15
120	120	(9) S
121	121	EASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ has the 16
122	122	meaning given that term in section 2 of the Weather 17
123	123	Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 18
124	124	(15 U.S.C. 8501). 19
125	125	(10) S
126	126	TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 20
127	127	the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 21
128	128	Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Common-22
129	129	wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United 23
130	130	State Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micro-24
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134	134	nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the 1
135	135	Republic of Palau. 2
136	136	(11) T
137	137	RIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Trib-3
138	138	al organization’’ has the meaning given that term in 4
139	139	section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-5
140	140	cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 6
141	141	(12) U
142	142	NDER SECRETARY .—The term ‘‘Under 7
143	143	Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 8
144	144	for Oceans and Atmosphere. 9
145	145	SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER SERVICES 10
146	146	PROGRAM. 11
147	147	(a) I
148	148	NGENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab-12
149	149	lish and maintain a coordinated fire weather services pro-13
150	150	gram among the offices of the Administration in existence 14
151	151	as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 15
152	152	(b) P
153	153	ROGRAMFUNCTIONS.—The functions of the 16
154	154	program established under subsection (a), consistent with 17
155	155	the priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Re-18
156	156	search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 19
157	157	8511), shall be— 20
158	158	(1) to support readiness, responsiveness, under-21
159	159	standing, and resilience of the United States to 22
160	160	wildfires, fire weather, wildfire smoke, post-fire 23
161	161	flooding and debris flows, and associated hazards 24
162	162	and impacts in built and natural environments; 25
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166	166	(2) to collaboratively develop and disseminate 1
167	167	accurate, precise, effective, and timely risk commu-2
168	168	nications, forecasts, watches, and warnings relating 3
169	169	to wildfires, fire weather, wildfire smoke, post-fire 4
170	170	flooding and debris flows, and other associated con-5
171	171	ditions, hazards, and impacts, as applicable, with 6
172	172	Federal land management agencies; 7
173	173	(3) to partner with and support the public, 8
174	174	Federal and State government entities, Indian 9
175	175	tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and academic 10
176	176	and local partners through the development of capa-11
177	177	bilities, impact-based decision support services, and 12
178	178	overall service delivery and utility related to fire 13
179	179	weather; 14
180	180	(4) to conduct and support research and devel-15
181	181	opment of new and innovative models, technologies, 16
182	182	techniques, products, systems, processes, and proce-17
183	183	dures to predict and improve understanding of 18
184	184	wildfires, fire weather, related air quality, post-fire 19
185	185	flooding and debris flows, and the fire environment; 20
186	186	(5) to develop processes to transition research 21
187	187	into operational use and inform additional areas of 22
188	188	research to deliver fire weather products, services, 23
189	189	and decision support tools to operational users and 24
190	190	platforms; 25
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194	194	(6) to develop communications networks and 1
195	195	strategies to ensure parity of fire forecasts, warning 2
196	196	services, and information about current fire location, 3
197	197	for remote, isolated, and rural communities, includ-4
198	198	ing communities where the public acts as the first 5
199	199	responder to wildfire; and 6
200	200	(7) to develop, in coordination with Federal 7
201	201	land management agencies, impact-based decision 8
202	202	support services that operationalize and integrate 9
203	203	the functions described in paragraphs (1) through 10
204	204	(6) in order to provide comprehensive impact-based 11
205	205	decision support services that encompass the fire en-12
206	206	vironment. 13
207	207	(c) P
208	208	ROGRAMPRIORITIES.—In developing and imple-14
209	209	menting the program established under subsection (a), the 15
210	210	Under Secretary shall prioritize— 16
211	211	(1) development of a fire weather-enabled Earth 17
212	212	system model and data assimilation systems that— 18
213	213	(A) are capable of prediction and fore-19
214	214	casting across relevant spatial and temporal 20
215	215	scales; 21
216	216	(B) include variables associated with fire 22
217	217	weather and the fire environment; 23
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221	221	(C) improve understanding of the connec-1
222	222	tions between fire weather and modes of climate 2
223	223	variability; 3
224	224	(D) incorporate emerging techniques such 4
225	225	as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 5
226	226	cloud computing; and 6
227	227	(E) use a rapidly deployable network of 7
228	228	rain gauges for post-fire hazard monitoring; 8
229	229	(2) advancement of existing and new observa-9
230	230	tional capabilities, including satellite-, airborne-, air- 10
231	231	, and ground-based systems and technologies, and 11
232	232	social networking and other public information-gath-12
233	233	ering applications that— 13
234	234	(A) identify— 14
235	235	(i) high-risk pre-ignition conditions; 15
236	236	(ii) conditions that influence fire be-16
237	237	havior and spread including those condi-17
238	238	tions that suppress active fire events; and 18
239	239	(iii) fire weather threat levels; 19
240	240	(B) support real-time notification and 20
241	241	monitoring of ignitions; 21
242	242	(C) support observations and data collec-22
243	243	tion of fire weather and fire environment vari-23
244	244	ables, including vegetation state and profiles of 24
245	245	wildfire smoke, winds, temperature, and humid-25
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249	249	ity, for development of the model and systems 1
250	250	under paragraph (1); and 2
251	251	(D) support forecasts and research that 3
252	252	mitigate the impacts of wildfires on human life, 4
253	253	health, and the economy; 5
254	254	(3) development and implementation of ad-6
255	255	vanced and user-oriented impact-based decision 7
256	256	tools, science, and technologies that— 8
257	257	(A) ensure real-time and retrospective 9
258	258	data, products, and services are findable, acces-10
259	259	sible, interoperable, usable, inform further re-11
260	260	search, and are analysis- and decision-ready; 12
261	261	(B) provide targeted information through-13
262	262	out the fire lifecycle including pre-ignition, de-14
263	263	tection, forecasting, post-fire, and monitoring 15
264	264	phases; and 16
265	265	(C) support early assessment of post-fire 17
266	266	hazards, such as air quality, debris flows, 18
267	267	mudslides, and flooding; and 19
268	268	(4) ensuring the parity of access to and support 20
269	269	from the tools, science, and technologies developed 21
270	270	under this subsection for remote, isolated, and rural 22
271	271	communities. 23
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275	275	(d) PROGRAMACTIVITIES.—In developing and imple-1
276	276	menting the program established under subsection (a), the 2
277	277	Under Secretary may— 3
278	278	(1) conduct relevant physical and social science 4
279	279	research activities in support of the functions de-5
280	280	scribed in subsection (b) and the priorities described 6
281	281	in subsection (c); 7
282	282	(2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination 8
283	283	with Federal land management agencies and Federal 9
284	284	science agencies, to assess fuel characteristics, in-10
285	285	cluding moisture, loading, and other parameters 11
286	286	used to determine fire risk levels and outlooks; 12
287	287	(3) support and conduct research that assesses 13
288	288	impacts to marine, riverine, watershed, and other 14
289	289	relevant ecosystems, which may include forest and 15
290	290	rangeland ecosystems, resulting from activities asso-16
291	291	ciated with mitigation of and response to wildfires; 17
292	292	(4) support and conduct attribution science re-18
293	293	search relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, 19
294	294	wildfire smoke, and associated conditions, risks, and 20
295	295	impacts; 21
296	296	(5) develop wildfire smoke and air quality fore-22
297	297	casts, forecast guidance, and prescribed burn weath-23
298	298	er forecasts, and conduct research on the impact of 24
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302	302	such forecasts on response behavior that minimizes 1
303	303	health-related impacts from wildfire smoke exposure; 2
304	304	(6) use, in coordination with Federal land man-3
305	305	agement agencies, wildland fuels information and 4
306	306	fire resource intelligence to inform fire environment 5
307	307	impact-based decision support services and products 6
308	308	for safety; 7
309	309	(7) work with Federal agencies to provide data, 8
310	310	tools, and services to support the implementation of 9
311	311	mitigation measures by such agencies; 10
312	312	(8) provide training and support to ensure ef-11
313	313	fective media utilization of impact-based decision 12
314	314	support services and products to the public regard-13
315	315	ing actions needing to be taken; 14
316	316	(9) provide comprehensive training to ensure 15
317	317	staff of the program established under subsection 16
318	318	(a) is properly equipped to deliver the impact-based 17
319	319	decision support services and products described in 18
320	320	paragraphs (1) through (6); and 19
321	321	(10) acquire, through contracted purchase, pri-20
322	322	vate sector-produced observational data to fill identi-21
323	323	fied gaps, as needed. 22
324	324	(e) P
325	325	ARITY FORREMOTE, ISOLATED, ANDRURAL 23
326	326	C
327	327	OMMUNITIES.—In developing and implementing the pro-24
328	328	gram established under subsection (a), the Under Sec-25
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332	332	retary shall ensure parity of coverage and programmatic 1
333	333	activity for remote, isolated, and rural communities, in-2
334	334	cluding communities where the public acts as the first re-3
335	335	sponder to wildfire. 4
336	336	(f) C
337	337	OLLABORATION.—The Under Secretary shall, as 5
338	338	the Under Secretary considers appropriate, collaborate 6
339	339	with partners in the weather and climate enterprises, aca-7
340	340	demic institutions, States, Indian tribes, Tribal organiza-8
341	341	tions, Native Hawaiian organizations, local partners, and 9
342	342	Federal agencies in the development and implementation 10
343	343	of the program established under subsection (a). 11
344	344	(g) A
345	345	GREEMENTS.—In carrying out the activities 12
346	346	under this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 13
347	347	the Under Secretary may provide support to non-Federal 14
348	348	entities by making funds and resources available 15
349	349	through— 16
350	350	(1) competitive grants; 17
351	351	(2) contracts under the mobility program under 18
352	352	subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 19
353	353	Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Intergovern-20
354	354	mental Personnel Act Mobility Program’’); 21
355	355	(3) cooperative agreements; and 22
356	356	(4) co-location agreements as described in sec-23
357	357	tion 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 24
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361	361	Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amend-1
362	362	ments Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 851 note prec.). 2
363	363	(h) P
364	364	ROGRAMADMINISTRATIONPLAN.— 3
365	365	(1) I
366	366	N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 4
367	367	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 5
368	368	Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 6
369	369	committees of Congress a plan that details how the 7
370	370	program established under subsection (a) will be ad-8
371	371	ministered and governed within the Administration. 9
372	372	(2) E
373	373	LEMENTS.—The plan required by para-10
374	374	graph (1) should include a description of— 11
375	375	(A) how the functions described in sub-12
376	376	section (b), the priorities described in sub-13
377	377	section (c), and the activities described in sub-14
378	378	section (d) will be distributed among the line of-15
379	379	fices of the Administration; and 16
380	380	(B) the mechanisms in place to ensure 17
381	381	seamless coordination among those offices. 18
382	382	SEC. 4. FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 19
383	383	(a) E
384	384	STABLISHMENT OF FIREWEATHER 20
385	385	T
386	386	ESTBED.—The Under Secretary shall establish a fire 21
387	387	weather testbed that enables engagement across the Fed-22
388	388	eral Government, State and local governments, academia, 23
389	389	private and federally funded research laboratories, the pri-24
390	390	vate sector, and end-users in order to evaluate the accu-25
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394	394	racy and usability of technology, models, fire weather 1
395	395	products and services, and other research to accelerate the 2
396	396	implementation, transition to operations, and use of new 3
397	397	capabilities by the Administration, Federal and land man-4
398	398	agement agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 5
399	399	(b) U
400	400	NCREWEDSYSTEMS.— 6
401	401	(1) I
402	402	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall— 7
403	403	(A) establish and carry out a research and 8
404	404	development program to support the application 9
405	405	of uncrewed systems technologies to improve 10
406	406	data collection in support of modeling, observa-11
407	407	tions, predictions, forecasts, and impact-based 12
408	408	decision support services, and for other pur-13
409	409	poses of the Administration; 14
410	410	(B) transition uncrewed systems tech-15
411	411	nologies from research to operations as the 16
412	412	Under Secretary considers appropriate; and 17
413	413	(C) coordinate with other Federal agencies 18
414	414	that may be developing uncrewed systems and 19
415	415	related technologies to meet the challenges of 20
416	416	wildland fire management. 21
417	417	(2) P
418	418	ILOTS REQUIRED.—In carrying out para-22
419	419	graph (1), the Under Secretary shall conduct pilots 23
420	420	of uncrewed systems for fire weather and fire envi-24
421	421	ronment observations, including— 25
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425	425	(A) testing of uncrewed systems in ap-1
426	426	proximations of real-world scenarios; 2
427	427	(B) assessment of the utility of meteoro-3
428	428	logical data collected from fire response and as-4
429	429	sessment aircraft; 5
430	430	(C) input of the collected data into appro-6
431	431	priate models to predict fire behavior, including 7
432	432	coupled atmosphere and fire models; and 8
433	433	(D) collection of best management prac-9
434	434	tices for deployment of uncrewed systems and 10
435	435	other remote data technology, including for 11
436	436	communication and coordination between the 12
437	437	stakeholders described in subsection (a). 13
438	438	(3) S
439	439	AVINGS CLAUSE.— 14
440	440	(A) I
441	441	N GENERAL.—In carrying out activi-15
442	442	ties under this subsection, the Under Secretary 16
443	443	shall ensure that any testing or deployment of 17
444	444	uncrewed systems follow procedures, restric-18
445	445	tions, and protocols established by the heads of 19
446	446	the Federal agencies with statutory or regu-20
447	447	latory jurisdiction over any airspace in which 21
448	448	wildfire response activities are conducted during 22
449	449	an active wildfire event. 23
450	450	(B) C
451	451	ONSULTATION AND COORDINA -24
452	452	TION.—The Under Secretary shall consult and 25
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456	456	coordinate with relevant Federal land manage-1
457	457	ment agencies, Federal science agencies, and 2
458	458	the Federal Aviation Administration to develop 3
459	459	processes for the appropriate deployment of the 4
460	460	systems described in subparagraph (A). 5
461	461	(c) A
462	462	DDITIONALPILOTPROJECTS.—The Under Sec-6
463	463	retary shall establish additional pilot projects relating to 7
464	464	the fire weather testbed that may include the following ele-8
465	465	ments: 9
466	466	(1) Advanced products to detect fire from sat-10
467	467	ellites. 11
468	468	(2) Procurement and use of commercial data. 12
469	469	(3) Investigation and evaluation of information 13
470	470	needs of users and decision makers. 14
471	471	(d) R
472	472	EPORT.—Section 108(a)(5) of the National Oce-15
473	473	anic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act 16
474	474	of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 8520(a)(5)) is amended— 17
475	475	(1) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 18
476	476	the end; and 19
477	477	(2) in subparagraph (D)— 20
478	478	(A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 21
479	479	(B) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 22
480	480	end; and 23
481	481	(C) by adding at the end the following: 24
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485	485	‘‘(iv) a description of the research 1
486	486	that has been transitioned into operations, 2
487	487	including research at the fire weather 3
488	488	testbed established under section 4(a) of 4
489	489	the Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025;’’. 5
490	490	SEC. 5. DATA MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY MOD-6
491	491	ERNIZATION. 7
492	492	(a) D
493	493	ATAAVAILABILITY ANDMANAGEMENT.—Sec-8
494	494	tion 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno-9
495	495	vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is amended— 10
496	496	(1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 11
497	497	subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 12
498	498	(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-13
499	499	lowing: 14
500	500	‘‘(f) D
501	501	ATAAVAILABILITY ANDMANAGEMENT.— 15
502	502	‘‘(1) I
503	503	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 16
504	504	shall— 17
505	505	‘‘(A) make data and metadata generated 18
506	506	or collected by the National Oceanic and At-19
507	507	mospheric Administration that the Under Sec-20
508	508	retary has the legal right to redistribute fully 21
509	509	and openly available, in accordance with chap-22
510	510	ter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and the 23
511	511	Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking 24
512	512	Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 25
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516	516	5529) and the amendments made by that Act, 1
517	517	and preserve and curate such data and 2
518	518	metadata, in accordance with chapter 31 of title 3
519	519	44, United States Code (commonly known as 4
520	520	the ‘Federal Records Act of 1950’), in order to 5
521	521	maximize use of such data and metadata; and 6
522	522	‘‘(B) manage and steward the access, ar-7
523	523	chival, and retrieval activities for the data and 8
524	524	metadata described in subparagraph (A) by— 9
525	525	‘‘(i) using— 10
526	526	‘‘(I) enterprise-wide infrastruc-11
527	527	ture, emerging technologies, commer-12
528	528	cial partnerships, and the skilled 13
529	529	workforce needed to provide appro-14
530	530	priate data management from collec-15
531	531	tion to broad access; and 16
532	532	‘‘(II) associated information serv-17
533	533	ices; and 18
534	534	‘‘(ii) pursuing the maximum inter-19
535	535	operability of data and information by— 20
536	536	‘‘(I) leveraging data, information, 21
537	537	knowledge, and tools from across the 22
538	538	Federal Government to support equi-23
539	539	table access, cross-sectoral collabora-24
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542	542	•S 306 IS
543	543	tion and innovation, and local plan-1
544	544	ning and decision-making; and 2
545	545	‘‘(II) developing standards and 3
546	546	practices for the adoption and citation 4
547	547	of digital object identifiers for 5
548	548	datasets, models, and analytical tools. 6
549	549	‘‘(2) C
550	550	OLLABORATION.—In carrying out this 7
551	551	subsection, the Under Secretary shall collaborate 8
552	552	with such Federal partners and stakeholders as the 9
553	553	Under Secretary considers relevant— 10
554	554	‘‘(A) to develop standards to pursue max-11
555	555	imum interoperability of data, information, 12
556	556	knowledge, and tools across the Federal Gov-13
557	557	ernment, convert historical records into com-14
558	558	mon digital formats, and improve access and 15
559	559	usability of data by partners and stakeholders; 16
560	560	‘‘(B) to identify and solicit relevant data 17
561	561	from Federal and international partners and 18
562	562	other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Sec-19
563	563	retary considers appropriate; and 20
564	564	‘‘(C) to develop standards and practices for 21
565	565	the adoption and citation of digital object iden-22
566	566	tifiers for datasets, models, and analytical 23
567	567	tools.’’. 24
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571	571	(b) WILDFIRETECHNOLOGYMODERNIZATION.—Sec-1
572	572	tion 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Man-2
573	573	agement, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1) is 3
574	574	amended— 4
575	575	(1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Na-5
576	576	tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 6
577	577	after ‘‘Federal Aviation Administration,’’; 7
578	578	(2) in subsection (e)(2)— 8
579	579	(A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 9
580	580	subparagraph (C); and 10
581	581	(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 11
582	582	the following: 12
583	583	‘‘(B) C
584	584	ONSULTATION.— 13
585	585	‘‘(i) I
586	586	N GENERAL.—In carrying out 14
587	587	subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall 15
588	588	consult with the Under Secretary of Com-16
589	589	merce for Oceans and Atmosphere regard-17
590	590	ing any development of impact-based deci-18
591	591	sion support services that relate to wild-19
592	592	fire-related activities of the National Oce-20
593	593	anic and Atmospheric Administration. 21
594	594	‘‘(ii) D
595	595	EFINITION OF IMPACT -BASED 22
596	596	DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES .—In this 23
597	597	subparagraph, the term ‘impact-based deci-24
598	598	sion support services’ means scientific ad-25
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602	602	vice and interpretative services the Na-1
603	603	tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-2
604	604	tration provides to help core partners, such 3
605	605	as emergency personnel and public safety 4
606	606	officials, make decisions when the informa-5
607	607	tion impacts the lives and livelihoods of the 6
608	608	people of the United States.’’; and 7
609	609	(3) in subsection (f)— 8
610	610	(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 9
611	611	(2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 10
612	612	and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesig-11
613	613	nated, 2 ems to the right; 12
614	614	(B) by striking ‘‘The Secretaries’’ and in-13
615	615	serting the following: 14
616	616	‘‘(1) I
617	617	N GENERAL.—The Secretaries’’; and 15
618	618	(C) by adding at the end the following: 16
619	619	‘‘(2) C
620	620	OLLABORATION.—In carrying out para-17
621	621	graph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the 18
622	622	Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At-19
623	623	mosphere to improve coordination, utility of systems 20
624	624	and assets, and interoperability of data for wildfire 21
625	625	smoke prediction, forecasting, and modeling.’’. 22
626	626	(c) D
627	627	IGITALPRESENCE.— 23
628	628	(1) I
629	629	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 24
630	630	develop and maintain a comprehensive, centralized, 25
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634	634	and publicly accessible digital presence designed to 1
635	635	promote findability, accessibility, interoperability, 2
636	636	usability, and utility of the services, tools, data, and 3
637	637	information produced by the program established 4
638	638	under section 3(a). 5
639	639	(2) D
640	640	IGITAL PLATFORM AND TOOLS .—In car-6
641	641	rying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall 7
642	642	seek to ensure the digital platform and tools of the 8
643	643	Administration integrate geospatial data, decision 9
644	644	support tools, training, and best practices to provide 10
645	645	real-time fire weather forecasts and address fire-re-11
646	646	lated issues and needs. 12
647	647	(d) H
648	648	IGH-PERFORMANCECOMPUTING.— 13
649	649	(1) I
650	650	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 14
651	651	seek to acquire sufficient high-performance com-15
652	652	puting resources and capacity for research, oper-16
653	653	ations, and data storage in support of the program 17
654	654	established under section 3(a). 18
655	655	(2) C
656	656	ONSIDERATIONS.—In acquiring high-per-19
657	657	formance computing capacity under paragraph (1), 20
658	658	the Under Secretary shall consider requirements 21
659	659	needed for— 22
660	660	(A) conducting research, development, and 23
661	661	testbed experiments; 24
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665	665	(B) the transition of research and testbed 1
666	666	developments into operations; 2
667	667	(C) sustaining capabilities in operations; 3
668	668	(D) capabilities existing in other Federal 4
669	669	agencies and the commercial sector; and 5
670	670	(E) skilled workforce development. 6
671	671	SEC. 6. SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 7
672	672	(a) P
673	673	OST-FIREWEATHERSURVEYS AND ASSESS-8
674	674	MENTS.— 9
675	675	(1) A
676	676	NNUAL POST-FIRE-WEATHER-SEASON SUR-10
677	677	VEY AND ASSESSMENT .— 11
678	678	(A) I
679	679	N GENERAL.—During the second win-12
680	680	ter following the date of the enactment of this 13
681	681	Act, and each year thereafter, the Under Sec-14
682	682	retary shall conduct a post-fire-weather-season 15
683	683	survey and assessment. 16
684	684	(B) E
685	685	LEMENTS.—After conducting a post- 17
686	686	fire-weather-season survey and assessment 18
687	687	under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary 19
688	688	shall— 20
689	689	(i) investigate any gaps in weather 21
690	690	data collected during the assessment; 22
691	691	(ii) identify and implement strategies 23
692	692	and procedures to improve program serv-24
693	693	ices and information dissemination; 25
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697	697	(iii) update systems, processes, strate-1
698	698	gies, and procedures to enhance the effi-2
699	699	ciency and reliability of weather data ob-3
700	700	tained from the assessment; 4
701	701	(iv) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy 5
702	702	of physical fire weather forecasting infor-6
703	703	mation for each incident included in the 7
704	704	survey and assessment; and 8
705	705	(v) assess and refine performance 9
706	706	measures, as needed. 10
707	707	(2) S
708	708	URVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING 11
709	709	INDIVIDUAL WILDFIRE EVENTS .—The Under Sec-12
710	710	retary may conduct surveys and assessments fol-13
711	711	lowing individual wildfire events as the Under Sec-14
712	712	retary determines necessary. 15
713	713	(3) G
714	714	OAL.—In carrying out activities under this 16
715	715	subsection, the Under Secretary shall seek to in-17
716	716	crease the number of post-wildfire community im-18
717	717	pact studies, including by surveying individual and 19
718	718	collective responses and incorporating other applica-20
719	719	ble topics of social science research. 21
720	720	(4) A
721	721	NNUAL BRIEFING.—Not less frequently 22
722	722	than once each year, the Under Secretary shall join 23
723	723	other relevant agencies to provide a briefing to the 24
724	724	appropriate committees of Congress that provides— 25
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728	728	(A) an overview of the fire season; 1
729	729	(B) an outlook for the fire season; and 2
730	730	(C) fire weather forecasts. 3
731	731	(5) C
732	732	OORDINATION.—In conducting any survey 4
733	733	or assessment under this subsection, the Under Sec-5
734	734	retary shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local 6
735	735	partners, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organiza-7
736	736	tions, private entities, and such institutions of high-8
737	737	er education as the Under Secretary considers rel-9
738	738	evant in order to— 10
739	739	(A) improve operations and collaboration; 11
740	740	and 12
741	741	(B) optimize data collection, sharing, inte-13
742	742	gration, assimilation, and dissemination. 14
743	743	(6) D
744	744	ATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary 15
745	745	shall make the data and findings obtained from each 16
746	746	assessment conducted under this subsection available 17
747	747	to the public in an accessible digital format as soon 18
748	748	as practicable after conducting the assessment. 19
749	749	(7) S
750	750	ERVICE IMPROVEMENTS .—The Under Sec-20
751	751	retary shall make best efforts to incorporate the re-21
752	752	sults and recommendations of each assessment con-22
753	753	ducted under this subsection into the research and 23
754	754	development plan and operations of the Administra-24
755	755	tion. 25
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759	759	(b) JOINTASSESSMENT ANDPLAN FORAUTOMATED 1
760	760	S
761	761	URFACEOBSERVINGSYSTEM.— 2
762	762	(1) I
763	763	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in col-3
764	764	laboration with the Administrator of the Federal 4
765	765	Aviation Administration and the Secretary of De-5
766	766	fense, shall— 6
767	767	(A) conduct an assessment of resources, 7
768	768	personnel, procedures, and activities necessary 8
769	769	to maximize the functionality and utility of the 9
770	770	automated surface observing system of the 10
771	771	United States that identifies— 11
772	772	(i) key system upgrades needed to im-12
773	773	prove observation quality and utility for 13
774	774	weather forecasting, aviation safety, and 14
775	775	other users; 15
776	776	(ii) improvements needed in observa-16
777	777	tions within the planetary boundary layer, 17
778	778	including mixing height; 18
779	779	(iii) improvements needed in public 19
780	780	accessibility of observational data; 20
781	781	(iv) improvements needed to reduce 21
782	782	latency in reporting of observational data; 22
783	783	(v) relevant data to be collected for 23
784	784	the production of forecasts or forecast 24
785	785	guidance relating to atmospheric composi-25
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789	789	tion, including particulate and air quality 1
790	790	data related to wildfires, and aviation safe-2
791	791	ty; 3
792	792	(vi) areas of concern regarding oper-4
793	793	ational continuity and reliability of the sys-5
794	794	tem, which may include needs for on-night 6
795	795	staff, particularly in remote and rural 7
796	796	areas and areas where system failure 8
797	797	would have the greatest negative impact to 9
798	798	the community; 10
799	799	(vii) stewardship, data handling, data 11
800	800	distribution, and product generation needs 12
801	801	arising from upgrading and changing the 13
802	802	automated surface observation systems; 14
803	803	(viii) possible solutions for areas of 15
804	804	concern identified under clause (vi), includ-16
805	805	ing with respect to the potential use of 17
806	806	backup systems, power and communication 18
807	807	system reliability, staffing needs and per-19
808	808	sonnel location, and the acquisition of crit-20
809	809	ical component backups and proper storage 21
810	810	location to ensure rapid system repair nec-22
811	811	essary to ensure system operational con-23
812	812	tinuity; and 24
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816	816	(ix) research, development, and transi-1
817	817	tion to operations needed to develop ad-2
818	818	vanced data collection, quality control, and 3
819	819	distribution so that the data are provided 4
820	820	to models, users, and decision support sys-5
821	821	tems in a timely manner; and 6
822	822	(B) develop and implement a plan that ad-7
823	823	dresses the findings of the assessment con-8
824	824	ducted under subparagraph (A), including by 9
825	825	seeking and allocating resources necessary to 10
826	826	ensure that system upgrades are standardized 11
827	827	across the Administration, the Federal Aviation 12
828	828	Administration, and the Department of Defense 13
829	829	to the extent practicable. 14
830	830	(2) S
831	831	TANDARDIZATION.—Any system standard-15
832	832	ization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall 16
833	833	not impede activities to upgrade or improve indi-17
834	834	vidual units of the system. 18
835	835	(3) R
836	836	EMOTE AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION 19
837	837	COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary, in collabora-20
838	838	tion with relevant Federal agencies and the National 21
839	839	Interagency Coordination Center, shall assess and 22
840	840	develop cooperative agreements to improve coordina-23
841	841	tion, interoperability standards, operations, and 24
842	842	placement of remote automatic weather stations for 25
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846	846	the purpose of improving utility and coverage of re-1
847	847	mote automatic weather stations, automated surface 2
848	848	observation systems, wildfire smoke monitoring plat-3
849	849	forms, and other similar stations and systems for 4
850	850	weather and climate operations. 5
851	851	(4) R
852	852	EPORT TO CONGRESS.— 6
853	853	(A) I
854	854	N GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 7
855	855	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 8
856	856	Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Ad-9
857	857	ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administra-10
858	858	tion and the Secretary of Defense, shall submit 11
859	859	to the appropriate committees of Congress a re-12
860	860	port that— 13
861	861	(i) details the findings of the assess-14
862	862	ment required by subparagraph (A) of 15
863	863	paragraph (1); and 16
864	864	(ii) the plan required by subparagraph 17
865	865	(B) of such paragraph. 18
866	866	(B) E
867	867	LEMENTS.—The report required by 19
868	868	subparagraph (A) shall include a detailed as-20
869	869	sessment of appropriations required— 21
870	870	(i) to address the findings of the as-22
871	871	sessment required by subparagraph (A) of 23
872	872	paragraph (1); and 24
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876	876	(ii) to implement the plan required by 1
877	877	subparagraph (B) of such paragraph. 2
878	878	SEC. 7. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST SERVICE. 3
879	879	(a) E
880	880	STABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary shall es-4
881	881	tablish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service 5
882	882	within the National Weather Service (in this section re-6
883	883	ferred to as the ‘‘Service’’). 7
884	884	(b) I
885	885	NCLUSION OFEXISTINGINCIDENTMETEOROLO-8
886	886	GISTS.—The Service shall include— 9
887	887	(1) the incident meteorologists of the Adminis-10
888	888	tration as of the date of the enactment of this Act; 11
889	889	and 12
890	890	(2) such incident meteorologists of the Adminis-13
891	891	tration as may be appointed after such date. 14
892	892	(c) F
893	893	UNCTIONS.—The Service shall provide— 15
894	894	(1) on-site impact-based decision support serv-16
895	895	ices to Federal, State, and local government emer-17
896	896	gency response agencies, Indian tribes, and Native 18
897	897	Hawaiian organizations preceding, during, and fol-19
898	898	lowing significant weather-related events, such as 20
899	899	wildland fires, that threaten human life, property, or 21
900	900	the economy; and 22
901	901	(2) support to Federal, State, and local govern-23
902	902	ment decision makers, partners, and stakeholders, 24
903	903	Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Ha-25
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907	907	waiian organizations for seasonal planning and pre- 1
908	908	fire mitigation activities. 2
909	909	(d) D
910	910	EPLOYMENT.—The Service shall be deployed— 3
911	911	(1) as determined by the Under Secretary; or 4
912	912	(2) at the request of the head of another Fed-5
913	913	eral agency and with the approval of the Under Sec-6
914	914	retary. 7
915	915	(e) S
916	916	TAFFING ANDRESOURCES.—In establishing and 8
917	917	maintaining the Service, the Under Secretary shall iden-9
918	918	tify, acquire, and maintain adequate levels of staffing and 10
919	919	resources to meet user needs. 11
920	920	(f) S
921	921	UPPORT FOR INCIDENTMETEOROLOGISTS.— 12
922	922	The Under Secretary shall provide resources, access to 13
923	923	real-time fire weather forecasts, training, administrative 14
924	924	and logistical support, and access to professional coun-15
925	925	seling or other forms of support as the Under Secretary 16
926	926	considers appropriate for the betterment of the emotional 17
927	927	and mental health and well-being of incident meteorolo-18
928	928	gists and other employees of the Administration so long 19
929	929	as the need for such resources, training, access, or support 20
930	930	is due to the response of such employees to high-impact 21
931	931	and extreme fire weather events. 22
932	932	SEC. 8. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 23
933	933	(a) D
934	934	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 24
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938	938	(1) BASIC PAY.—The term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes 1
939	939	any applicable locality-based comparability payment 2
940	940	under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, 3
941	941	any applicable special rate supplement under section 4
942	942	5305 of such title, or any equivalent payment under 5
943	943	a similar provision of law. 6
944	944	(2) C
945	945	OVERED EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘covered 7
946	946	employee’’ means an employee of the Department of 8
947	947	Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, or the 9
948	948	Department of the Interior. 10
949	949	(3) C
950	950	OVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 11
951	951	services’’ means services that are performed by a 12
952	952	covered employee while serving— 13
953	953	(A) as a wildland firefighter or a fire man-14
954	954	agement response official, including a regional 15
955	955	fire director, a deputy regional fire director, 16
956	956	and a fire management officer; 17
957	957	(B) as an incident meteorologist accom-18
958	958	panying a wildland firefighter crew; or 19
959	959	(C) on an incident management team, at 20
960	960	the National Interagency Fire Center, at a Geo-21
961	961	graphic Area Coordinating Center, or at an op-22
962	962	erations center. 23
963	963	(4) P
964	964	REMIUM PAY.—The term ‘‘premium pay’’ 24
965	965	means premium pay paid under a provision of law 25
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969	969	described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 1
970	970	section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 2
971	971	(5) R
972	972	ELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -3
973	973	TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit-4
974	974	tees’’ means— 5
975	975	(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 6
976	976	and Transportation of the Senate; 7
977	977	(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 8
978	978	and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 9
979	979	(C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-10
980	980	tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 11
981	981	(D) the Committee on Appropriations of 12
982	982	the Senate; 13
983	983	(E) the Committee on Energy and Natural 14
984	984	Resources of the Senate; 15
985	985	(F) the Committee on Oversight and Gov-16
986	986	ernment Reform of the House of Representa-17
987	987	tives; 18
988	988	(G) the Committee on Natural Resources 19
989	989	of the House of Representatives; 20
990	990	(H) the Committee on Science, Space, and 21
991	991	Technology of the House of Representatives; 22
992	992	(I) the Committee on Agriculture of the 23
993	993	House of Representative; and 24
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996	996	•S 306 IS
997	997	(J) the Committee on Appropriations of 1
998	998	the House of Representatives. 2
999	999	(6) S
1000	1000	ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-3
1001	1001	retary concerned’’ means— 4
1002	1002	(A) the Secretary of Commerce, with re-5
1003	1003	spect to an employee of the Department of 6
1004	1004	Commerce; 7
1005	1005	(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-8
1006	1006	spect to an employee of the Department of Ag-9
1007	1007	riculture; and 10
1008	1008	(C) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-11
1009	1009	spect to an employee of the Department of the 12
1010	1010	Interior. 13
1011	1011	(b) W
1012	1012	AIVER.— 14
1013	1013	(1) I
1014	1014	N GENERAL.—Any premium pay received 15
1015	1015	by a covered employee for covered services shall be 16
1016	1016	disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic 17
1017	1017	pay and premium pay for the covered employee for 18
1018	1018	purposes of applying the limitation on premium pay 19
1019	1019	under section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 20
1020	1020	(2) C
1021	1021	ALCULATION OF AGGREGATE PAY .—Any 21
1022	1022	pay that is disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be 22
1023	1023	disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of the 23
1024	1024	applicable covered employee for purposes of applying 24
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1028	1028	the limitation under section 5307 of title 5, United 1
1029	1029	States Code, during calendar year 2025. 2
1030	1030	(3) L
1031	1031	IMITATION.—A covered employee may not 3
1032	1032	be paid premium pay under this subsection if, or to 4
1033	1033	the extent that, the aggregate of the basic pay and 5
1034	1034	premium pay (including premium pay for covered 6
1035	1035	services) of the covered employee for a calendar year 7
1036	1036	would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a po-8
1037	1037	sition at level II of the Executive Schedule under 9
1038	1038	section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in ef-10
1039	1039	fect at the end of that calendar year. 11
1040	1040	(4) T
1041	1041	REATMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM 12
1042	1042	PAY.—If the application of this subsection results in 13
1043	1043	the payment of additional premium pay to a covered 14
1044	1044	employee of a type that is normally creditable as 15
1045	1045	basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that 16
1046	1046	additional premium pay shall not be— 17
1047	1047	(A) considered to be basic pay of the cov-18
1048	1048	ered employee for any purpose; or 19
1049	1049	(B) used in computing a lump-sum pay-20
1050	1050	ment to the covered employee for accumulated 21
1051	1051	and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 22
1052	1052	5552 of title 5, United States Code. 23
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1056	1056	(5) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This subsection shall 1
1057	1057	be in effect during calendar year 2025 and apply to 2
1058	1058	premium pay payable during that year. 3
1059	1059	(c) A
1060	1060	MENDMENT.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, 4
1061	1061	United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, the De-5
1062	1062	partment of Commerce,’’ after ‘‘Interior’’. 6
1063	1063	(d) P
1064	1064	LANTOADDRESSNEEDS.— 7
1065	1065	(1) D
1066	1066	EVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION .— 8
1067	1067	Not later than March 30, 2026, the Secretaries re-9
1068	1068	ferred to in subsection (a)(6), in consultation with 10
1069	1069	the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-11
1070	1070	et and the Director of the Office of Personnel Man-12
1071	1071	agement, shall jointly develop and implement a plan 13
1072	1072	that addresses the needs of the Department of Com-14
1073	1073	merce, the Department of Agriculture, and the De-15
1074	1074	partment of the Interior, as applicable, to hire, ap-16
1075	1075	point, promote, or train additional covered employees 17
1076	1076	who carry out covered services such that sufficient 18
1077	1077	covered employees are available throughout each fis-19
1078	1078	cal year, beginning in fiscal year 2026, without the 20
1079	1079	need for waivers of premium pay limitations. 21
1080	1080	(2) S
1081	1081	UBMITTAL.—Not later than 30 days before 22
1082	1082	the date on which the Secretaries implement the 23
1083	1083	plan developed under paragraph (1), the Secretaries 24
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1087	1087	shall submit the plan to the relevant congressional 1
1088	1088	committees. 2
1089	1089	(3) L
1090	1090	IMITATION.—The plan developed under 3
1091	1091	paragraph (1) shall not be contingent on any Sec-4
1092	1092	retary receiving amounts appropriated for fiscal 5
1093	1093	years beginning in fiscal year 2026 in amounts 6
1094	1094	greater than amounts appropriated for fiscal year 7
1095	1095	2024. 8
1096	1096	(e) P
1097	1097	OLICIES ANDPROCEDURES FORHEALTH, SAFE-9
1098	1098	TY, ANDWELL-BEING.—The Secretary concerned shall 10
1099	1099	maintain policies and procedures to promote the health, 11
1100	1100	safety, and well-being of covered employees. 12
1101	1101	SEC. 9. SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE FIRE 13
1102	1102	WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM, INCIDENT 14
1103	1103	METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS, AND 15
1104	1104	NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORKFORCE 16
1105	1105	SUPPORT. 17
1106	1106	(a) R
1107	1107	EPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 18
1108	1108	months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 19
1109	1109	Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate commit-20
1110	1110	tees of Congress— 21
1111	1111	(1) the plan described in subsection (b); 22
1112	1112	(2) the assessment described in subsection (c); 23
1113	1113	and 24
1114	1114	(3) the assessment described in subsection (d). 25
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1118	1118	(b) FIREWEATHERSERVICESPROGRAMPLAN.— 1
1119	1119	(1) E
1120	1120	LEMENTS.—The plan submitted under 2
1121	1121	subsection (a)(1) shall detail— 3
1122	1122	(A) the observational data, modeling re-4
1123	1123	quirements, ongoing computational needs, re-5
1124	1124	search, development, and technology transfer 6
1125	1125	activities, data management, skilled-personnel 7
1126	1126	requirements, engagement with relevant Federal 8
1127	1127	emergency and land management agencies and 9
1128	1128	partners, and corresponding research, develop-10
1129	1129	ment, and operational resources and timelines 11
1130	1130	necessary to achieve the functions described in 12
1131	1131	subsection (b) of section 3 and the priorities de-13
1132	1132	scribed in subsection (c) of such section; and 14
1133	1133	(B) plans and needs for all other activities 15
1134	1134	and requirements under this Act and the 16
1135	1135	amendments made by this Act. 17
1136	1136	(2) S
1137	1137	UBMITTAL OF ANNUAL BUDGET FOR 18
1138	1138	PLAN.—Following completion of the plan submitted 19
1139	1139	under subsection (a)(1), the Under Secretary shall, 20
1140	1140	not less frequently than once each year concurrent 21
1141	1141	with the submission of the budget by the President 22
1142	1142	to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United 23
1143	1143	States Code, submit to Congress a proposed budget 24
1144	1144	corresponding with the elements detailed in the plan. 25
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1147	1147	•S 306 IS
1148	1148	(c) INCIDENTMETEOROLOGISTWORKFORCENEEDS 1
1149	1149	A
1150	1150	SSESSMENT.— 2
1151	1151	(1) I
1152	1152	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 3
1153	1153	conduct a workforce needs assessment on the cur-4
1154	1154	rent and future demand for additional incident me-5
1155	1155	teorologists for wildfires and other high-impact fire 6
1156	1156	weather events. 7
1157	1157	(2) E
1158	1158	LEMENTS.—The assessment required by 8
1159	1159	paragraph (1) shall include the following: 9
1160	1160	(A) A description of staffing levels as of 10
1161	1161	the date on which the assessment is submitted 11
1162	1162	under subsection (a)(2) and projected future 12
1163	1163	staffing levels. 13
1164	1164	(B) An assessment of the state of the re-14
1165	1165	search, development, and operational infrastruc-15
1166	1166	ture of the National Weather Service as of the 16
1167	1167	date on which the assessment is submitted and 17
1168	1168	future needs of such infrastructure in order to 18
1169	1169	meet current and future demands, including 19
1170	1170	with respect to information technology support 20
1171	1171	and logistical and administrative operations. 21
1172	1172	(3) C
1173	1173	ONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the as-22
1174	1174	sessment required by paragraph (1), the Under Sec-23
1175	1175	retary shall consider user needs and feedback from 24
1176	1176	relevant stakeholders. 25
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1180	1180	(d) SUPPORTSERVICESASSESSMENT.— 1
1181	1181	(1) I
1182	1182	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 2
1183	1183	conduct a workforce support services assessment 3
1184	1184	with respect to employees of the National Weather 4
1185	1185	Service engaged in emergency response. 5
1186	1186	(2) E
1187	1187	LEMENTS.—The assessment required by 6
1188	1188	paragraph (1) shall include the following: 7
1189	1189	(A) An assessment of need for further sup-8
1190	1190	port of employees of the National Weather 9
1191	1191	Service engaged in emergency response through 10
1192	1192	services provided by the Public Health Service. 11
1193	1193	(B) A detailed assessment of appropria-12
1194	1194	tions required to secure the level of support 13
1195	1195	services needed as identified in the assessment 14
1196	1196	described in subparagraph (A). 15
1197	1197	(3) A
1198	1198	DDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES .—Fol-16
1199	1199	lowing the completion of the assessment required by 17
1200	1200	paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to ac-18
1201	1201	quire additional support services to meet the needs 19
1202	1202	identified in the assessment. 20
1203	1203	SEC. 10. FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING 21
1204	1204	GROUP; STRATEGIC PLAN. 22
1205	1205	(a) F
1206	1206	IRESCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING 23
1207	1207	G
1208	1208	ROUP.— 24
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1211	1211	•S 306 IS
1212	1212	(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 1
1213	1213	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ex-2
1214	1214	ecutive Director of the Interagency Committee for 3
1215	1215	Advancing Weather Services established under sec-4
1216	1216	tion 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting 5
1217	1217	Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this 6
1218	1218	section referred to as the ‘‘Interagency Committee’’) 7
1219	1219	shall establish a working group, to be known as the 8
1220	1220	‘‘Fire Science and Technology Working Group’’ (in 9
1221	1221	this section referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 10
1222	1222	(2) C
1223	1223	HAIR.—The Working Group shall be 11
1224	1224	chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. 12
1225	1225	(3) G
1226	1226	ENERAL DUTIES.— 13
1227	1227	(A) I
1228	1228	N GENERAL.—The Working Group 14
1229	1229	shall seek to build efficiencies among the agen-15
1230	1230	cies listed under section 12(c)(1) and coordinate 16
1231	1231	the planning and management of science, re-17
1232	1232	search, technology, and operations related to 18
1233	1233	science and support services for wildland fire 19
1234	1234	prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, re-20
1235	1235	silience, response, management, and assess-21
1236	1236	ments. 22
1237	1237	(B) I
1238	1238	NPUT.—The Working Group shall so-23
1239	1239	licit input from non-Federal stakeholders. 24
1240	1240	(b) S
1241	1241	TRATEGICPLAN.— 25
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1245	1245	(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 1
1246	1246	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 2
1247	1247	Interagency Committee shall prepare and submit to 3
1248	1248	Congress a strategic plan for interagency coordina-4
1249	1249	tion, research, and development that will improve 5
1250	1250	the assessment of fire environments and the under-6
1251	1251	standing and prediction of wildland fires, associated 7
1252	1252	wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such fires and 8
1253	1253	smoke, including— 9
1254	1254	(A) on communities, buildings, and other 10
1255	1255	infrastructure; 11
1256	1256	(B) on ecosystem services and watersheds; 12
1257	1257	(C) social and economic impacts; 13
1258	1258	(D) by developing and encouraging the 14
1259	1259	adoption of science-based and cost-effective 15
1260	1260	measures— 16
1261	1261	(i) to enhance community resilience to 17
1262	1262	wildland fires; 18
1263	1263	(ii) to address and mitigate the im-19
1264	1264	pacts of wildland fires and associated wild-20
1265	1265	fire smoke; and 21
1266	1266	(iii) to restore natural fire regimes in 22
1267	1267	fire-dependent ecosystems; 23
1268	1268	(E) by improving the understanding and 24
1269	1269	mitigation of the effects of weather and long- 25
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1273	1273	term drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, 1
1274	1274	and severity; 2
1275	1275	(F) through integrations of social and be-3
1276	1276	havioral sciences in public safety fire commu-4
1277	1277	nication; 5
1278	1278	(G) by improving the forecasting and un-6
1279	1279	derstanding of prescribed fires and the impacts 7
1280	1280	of such fires, and how those impacts may differ 8
1281	1281	from impacts of wildland fires that originate 9
1282	1282	from an unplanned ignition; and 10
1283	1283	(H) consideration and adoption of any rec-11
1284	1284	ommendations included in the report required 12
1285	1285	by section 12(c). 13
1286	1286	(2) P
1287	1287	LAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan re-14
1288	1288	quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 15
1289	1289	(A) A description of the priorities and 16
1290	1290	needs of vulnerable populations. 17
1291	1291	(B) A description of high-performance 18
1292	1292	computing, visualization, and dissemination 19
1293	1293	needs. 20
1294	1294	(C) A timeline and guidance for implemen-21
1295	1295	tation of— 22
1296	1296	(i) an interagency data sharing sys-23
1297	1297	tem for data relevant to performing fire 24
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1301	1301	assessments and modeling fire risk and fire 1
1302	1302	behavior; 2
1303	1303	(ii) a system for ensuring that the fire 3
1304	1304	prediction models of relevant agencies can 4
1305	1305	be interconnected; and 5
1306	1306	(iii) to the maximum extent prac-6
1307	1307	ticable, any recommendations included in 7
1308	1308	the report required by section 12(c). 8
1309	1309	(D) A plan for incorporating and coordi-9
1310	1310	nating research and operational observations, 10
1311	1311	including from infrared technologies, micro-11
1312	1312	wave, radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, 12
1313	1313	and uncrewed aerial systems. 13
1314	1314	(E) A flexible framework to communicate 14
1315	1315	clear and simple fire event information to the 15
1316	1316	public. 16
1317	1317	(F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, 17
1318	1318	and communication research to improve the fire 18
1319	1319	operational environment and societal informa-19
1320	1320	tion reception and response. 20
1321	1321	(c) S
1322	1322	UNSET.—The Working Group shall terminate 21
1323	1323	not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 22
1324	1324	this Act. 23
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1328	1328	SEC. 11. FIRE WEATHER RATING SYSTEM. 1
1329	1329	(a) I
1330	1330	NGENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col-2
1331	1331	laboration with the Chief of the United States Forest 3
1332	1332	Service, the Director of the United States Geological Sur-4
1333	1333	vey, the Director of the National Park Service, the Admin-5
1334	1334	istrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 6
1335	1335	the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-7
1336	1336	ice, the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Di-8
1337	1337	rector of the Bureau of Land Management, and such 9
1338	1338	stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers appro-10
1339	1339	priate— 11
1340	1340	(1) evaluate the system used as of the date of 12
1341	1341	the enactment of this Act to rate the risk of wildfire; 13
1342	1342	and 14
1343	1343	(2) determine whether updates to that system 15
1344	1344	are required to ensure that the ratings accurately re-16
1345	1345	flect the severity of fire risk. 17
1346	1346	(b) U
1347	1347	PDATEREQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de-18
1348	1348	termines under subsection (a) that updates to the system 19
1349	1349	described in paragraph (1) of such subsection are nec-20
1350	1350	essary, the Under Secretary shall update that system. 21
1351	1351	SEC. 12. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE-22
1352	1352	PORTS. 23
1353	1353	(a) R
1354	1354	EPORT ONFIREWEATHERSERVICESPRO-24
1355	1355	GRAM.— 25
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1359	1359	(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 1
1360	1360	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-2
1361	1361	troller General of the United States shall submit to 3
1362	1362	Congress a report on the program established under 4
1363	1363	section 3(a). 5
1364	1364	(2) E
1365	1365	LEMENTS.—The report required by para-6
1366	1366	graph (1) shall— 7
1367	1367	(A) evaluate the performance of the pro-8
1368	1368	gram by establishing initial baseline capabilities 9
1369	1369	and tracking progress made toward fully 10
1370	1370	operationalizing the functions described in sec-11
1371	1371	tion 3(b); and 12
1372	1372	(B) include such other recommendations as 13
1373	1373	the Comptroller General determines are appro-14
1374	1374	priate to improve the program. 15
1375	1375	(b) R
1376	1376	EPORT ONINTERAGENCYBODIES FORWILD-16
1377	1377	FIREFORECASTING, PREVENTION, PLANNING, ANDMAN-17
1378	1378	AGEMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 18
1379	1379	enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 19
1380	1380	United States shall submit to Congress a report that— 20
1381	1381	(1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies es-21
1382	1382	tablished for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, pre-22
1383	1383	vention, planning, and management (such as wildfire 23
1384	1384	councils, commissions, and workgroups), including— 24
1385	1385	(A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council; 25
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1389	1389	(B) the White House Wildfire Resilience 1
1390	1390	Interagency Group; 2
1391	1391	(C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy 3
1392	1392	Committee; 4
1393	1393	(D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and 5
1394	1394	Management Commission; 6
1395	1395	(E) the Joint Science Fire Program; 7
1396	1396	(F) the National Interagency Coordination 8
1397	1397	Center; 9
1398	1398	(G) the National Predictive Services Over-10
1399	1399	sight Group; 11
1400	1400	(H) the Interagency Council for Advancing 12
1401	1401	Meteorological Services; 13
1402	1402	(I) the National Wildfire Coordinating 14
1403	1403	Group; 15
1404	1404	(J) the National Multi-Agency Coordi-16
1405	1405	nating Group; and 17
1406	1406	(K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership 18
1407	1407	Group; 19
1408	1408	(2) evaluates the roles, functionality, and utility 20
1409	1409	of such interagency bodies; 21
1410	1410	(3) evaluates the progress, performance, and 22
1411	1411	implementation of such interagency bodies; 23
1412	1412	(4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential 24
1413	1413	overlap and duplication of such interagency bodies in 25
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1417	1417	carrying out interagency collaboration with respect 1
1418	1418	to wildfire prevention, planning, and management; 2
1419	1419	and 3
1420	1420	(5) includes such other recommendations as the 4
1421	1421	Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 5
1422	1422	streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, preven-6
1423	1423	tion, planning, and management, including rec-7
1424	1424	ommendations regarding the interagency bodies for 8
1425	1425	which the addition of the Administration is nec-9
1426	1426	essary to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, 10
1427	1427	planning, and management. 11
1428	1428	(c) R
1429	1429	EPORT ONINTERAGENCYCOORDINATION.—Not 12
1430	1430	later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 13
1431	1431	Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 14
1432	1432	submit to Congress a report that identifies— 15
1433	1433	(1) the authorities, roles, and science and sup-16
1434	1434	port services relating to wildland fire prediction, de-17
1435	1435	tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, 18
1436	1436	management, and assessment provided by— 19
1437	1437	(A) the Department of Commerce, includ-20
1438	1438	ing the Administration and the National Insti-21
1439	1439	tute of Standards and Technology; 22
1440	1440	(B) the National Aeronautics and Space 23
1441	1441	Administration; 24
1442	1442	(C) the Department of the Interior; 25
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1446	1446	(D) the Department of Agriculture; 1
1447	1447	(E) the National Science Foundation; 2
1448	1448	(F) the Department of Energy; 3
1449	1449	(G) the Federal Emergency Management 4
1450	1450	Agency; 5
1451	1451	(H) the Department of Transportation; 6
1452	1452	(I) the Environmental Protection Agency; 7
1453	1453	and 8
1454	1454	(J) the Department of Defense; and 9
1455	1455	(2) recommended areas in and mechanisms by 10
1456	1456	which the agencies listed under paragraph (1) could 11
1457	1457	support and improve— 12
1458	1458	(A) coordination between Federal agencies, 13
1459	1459	State and local governments, Indian tribes, 14
1460	1460	Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organi-15
1461	1461	zations, and other relevant stakeholders, includ-16
1462	1462	ing through examination of possible public-pri-17
1463	1463	vate partnerships; 18
1464	1464	(B) research and development, including 19
1465	1465	interdisciplinary research, related to fire envi-20
1466	1466	ronments, wildland fires, associated wildfire 21
1467	1467	smoke, and the impacts of such environments, 22
1468	1468	fires, and smoke, in furtherance of a coordi-23
1469	1469	nated interagency effort to address wildland fire 24
1470	1470	risk reduction; 25
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1473	1473	•S 306 IS
1474	1474	(C) data management and stewardship, the 1
1475	1475	development and coordination of data systems 2
1476	1476	and computational tools, and the creation of a 3
1477	1477	centralized, integrated data collaboration envi-4
1478	1478	ronment for agency data, including historical 5
1479	1479	data, relating to weather, fire environments, 6
1480	1480	wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and 7
1481	1481	the impacts of such environments, fires, and 8
1482	1482	smoke, and the assessment of wildland fire risk 9
1483	1483	mitigation measures; 10
1484	1484	(D) interoperability, usability, and accessi-11
1485	1485	bility of the scientific data, data systems, and 12
1486	1486	computational and information tools of the 13
1487	1487	agencies listed under paragraph (1); 14
1488	1488	(E) coordinated public safety communica-15
1489	1489	tions relating to fire weather events, fire haz-16
1490	1490	ards, and wildland fire and smoke risk reduc-17
1491	1491	tion strategies; and 18
1492	1492	(F) secure and accurate real-time data, 19
1493	1493	alerts, and advisories to wildland firefighters 20
1494	1494	and other decision support tools for wildland 21
1495	1495	fire incident command posts. 22
1496	1496	(d) R
1497	1497	EPORT ONAUTOMATEDSURFACEOBSERVING 23
1498	1498	S
1499	1499	YSTEM.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the 24
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1502	1502	•S 306 IS
1503	1503	enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 1
1504	1504	United States shall submit to Congress a report that— 2
1505	1505	(1) evaluates the functionality, utility, reli-3
1506	1506	ability, and operational status of the automated sur-4
1507	1507	face observing system across the Administration, the 5
1508	1508	Federal Aviation Administration, and the Depart-6
1509	1509	ment of Defense; 7
1510	1510	(2) evaluates the progress, performance, and 8
1511	1511	implementation of the plan required by section 9
1512	1512	6(b)(1)(B); 10
1513	1513	(3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collabo-11
1514	1514	ration and stakeholder engagement in carrying out 12
1515	1515	the plan and provides recommendations to improve 13
1516	1516	such activities; 14
1517	1517	(4) evaluates the operational continuity and re-15
1518	1518	liability of the system, particularly in remote and 16
1519	1519	rural areas and areas where system failure would 17
1520	1520	have the greatest negative impact to the community, 18
1521	1521	and provides recommendations to improve such con-19
1522	1522	tinuity and reliability; 20
1523	1523	(5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the 21
1524	1524	remote automatic weather station network, air re-22
1525	1525	source advisors, and other Federal observing assets 23
1526	1526	used for weather and climate modeling and response 24
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1530	1530	activities, and provides recommendations for im-1
1531	1531	provements; and 2
1532	1532	(6) includes such other recommendations as the 3
1533	1533	Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 4
1534	1534	improve the system. 5
1535	1535	SEC. 13. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 6
1536	1536	(a) C
1537	1537	OOPERATION.—Each Federal agency shall co-7
1538	1538	operate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as ap-8
1539	1539	propriate, in carrying out this Act and the amendments 9
1540	1540	made by this Act. 10
1541	1541	(b) C
1542	1542	OORDINATION.— 11
1543	1543	(1) I
1544	1544	N GENERAL.—In meeting the requirements 12
1545	1545	under this Act and the amendments made by this 13
1546	1546	Act, the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as 14
1547	1547	appropriate, establish agreements with Federal and 15
1548	1548	external partners to fully use and leverage existing 16
1549	1549	assets, systems, networks, technologies, and sources 17
1550	1550	of data. 18
1551	1551	(2) I
1552	1552	NCLUSIONS.—Coordination carried out 19
1553	1553	under paragraph (1) shall include coordination 20
1554	1554	with— 21
1555	1555	(A) the agencies represented at the Na-22
1556	1556	tional Interagency Fire Center; 23
1557	1557	(B) the Predictive Services Program of the 24
1558	1558	National Interagency Coordination Center; 25
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1562	1562	(C) the National Wildfire Coordinating 1
1563	1563	Group; and 2
1564	1564	(D) relevant interagency bodies identified 3
1565	1565	in the report required by section 12(b). 4
1566	1566	(3) C
1567	1567	ONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub-5
1568	1568	section, the Under Secretary shall consult with Fed-6
1569	1569	eral partners including— 7
1570	1570	(A) the National Aeronautics and Space 8
1571	1571	Administration; 9
1572	1572	(B) the Department of the Interior; 10
1573	1573	(C) the Federal Emergency Management 11
1574	1574	Agency; 12
1575	1575	(D) the National Science Foundation; 13
1576	1576	(E) the United States Geological Survey; 14
1577	1577	(F) the Department of Agriculture; 15
1578	1578	(G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 16
1579	1579	(H) the Department of Energy; 17
1580	1580	(I) the Department of Defense; 18
1581	1581	(J) the National Institute of Standards 19
1582	1582	and Technology; and 20
1583	1583	(K) such other departments and agencies 21
1584	1584	as the Under Secretary considers relevant. 22
1585	1585	(c) P
1586	1586	ROCESS FOR ANNUALCOORDINATIONWITH 23
1587	1587	N
1588	1588	ON-FEDERALENTITIES.—Not later than 18 months 24
1589	1589	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 25
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1593	1593	Secretary shall develop and submit to the appropriate 1
1594	1594	committees of Congress a process for annual coordination 2
1595	1595	with State and local governments, Indian tribes, Tribal or-3
1596	1596	ganizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to assist 4
1597	1597	the development of improved fire weather products and 5
1598	1598	services. 6
1599	1599	(d) I
1600	1600	NTERNATIONALCOORDINATION.— 7
1601	1601	(1) I
1602	1602	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may 8
1603	1603	develop collaborative relationships and agreements 9
1604	1604	with foreign partners and counterparts to address 10
1605	1605	transboundary issues pertaining to wildfires, fire 11
1606	1606	weather, wildfire smoke, air quality, and associated 12
1607	1607	conditions and hazards or other relevant meteorolog-13
1608	1608	ical phenomena, as appropriate, to facilitate full and 14
1609	1609	open exchange of data and information. 15
1610	1610	(2) C
1611	1611	ONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 16
1612	1612	under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall 17
1613	1613	consult with the Department of State and such other 18
1614	1614	Federal partners as the Under Secretary considers 19
1615	1615	relevant. 20
1616	1616	SEC. 14. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 21
1617	1617	(a) A
1618	1618	VOIDANCE OFDUPLICATION.— 22
1619	1619	(1) I
1620	1620	N GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 23
1621	1621	ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that ac-24
1622	1622	tivities carried out under this Act and the amend-25
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1626	1626	ments made by this Act are not duplicative of activi-1
1627	1627	ties supported by other parts of the Administration 2
1628	1628	or other relevant Federal agencies. 3
1629	1629	(2) C
1630	1630	OORDINATION.—In carrying out activities 4
1631	1631	under this Act and the amendments made by this 5
1632	1632	Act, the Under Secretary shall coordinate with the 6
1633	1633	Administration and heads of other Federal research 7
1634	1634	agencies— 8
1635	1635	(A) to ensure those activities enhance and 9
1636	1636	complement, but do not constitute unnecessary 10
1637	1637	duplication of, efforts; and 11
1638	1638	(B) to ensure the responsible stewardship 12
1639	1639	of funds. 13
1640	1640	(b) R
1641	1641	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 14
1642	1642	may be construed— 15
1643	1643	(1) to satisfy any requirement for government- 16
1644	1644	to-government consultation with Indian tribes; or 17
1645	1645	(2) to affect or modify any treaty or other right 18
1646	1646	of any Indian tribe. 19
1647	1647	SEC. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 20
1648	1648	(a) I
1649	1649	NGENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-21
1650	1650	priated to the Administration to carry out this Act and 22
1651	1651	the amendments made by this Act— 23
1652	1652	(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 24
1653	1653	(2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; 25
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1657	1657	(3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2028; 1
1658	1658	(4) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and 2
1659	1659	(5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2030. 3
1660	1660	(b) P
1661	1661	ROHIBITION.—None of the amounts authorized 4
1662	1662	to be appropriated by subsection (a) may be used to un-5
1663	1663	necessarily duplicate activities funded under title VIII of 6
1664	1664	division D of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 7
1665	1665	(Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1094). 8
1666	1666	Æ
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