[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4274
To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 19 (legislative day, May 17), 2022
Mr. Lujan (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Wyden, Mrs.
Feinstein, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Heinrich, and Ms. Smith)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Wildland Fire Risk
Reduction Program Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(2) Fire environment.--The term ``fire environment''
means--
(A) the environmental conditions, such as soil
moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, atmospheric
temperature, moisture, and wind, that influence--
(i) fuel and fire behavior; and
(ii) smoke dispersion and transport; and
(B) the associated environmental impacts occurring
during and after fire events.
(3) Fireground.--The term ``fireground'' means the
operational area at the scene of a fire controlled by an
incident command system.
(4) Fire weather.--The term ``fire weather'' means any type
of weather conditions that influence the start, spread,
character, or behavior of wildfire or fires at the wildland-
urban interface and all associated meteorological and chemical
phenomena, including air quality, smoke, and meteorological
parameters such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind
speed and direction, and atmospheric composition and chemistry,
including emissions and mixing heights.
(5) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory''
has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
(6) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the National
Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program established under section
3.
(7) Program agencies.--The term ``Program agencies'' means
any Federal agency with responsibilities under the Program.
(8) Stakeholders.--The term ``stakeholders'' means any
public or private organization engaged in addressing wildland
fires, associated smoke, and their impacts, including relevant
Federal agencies, States, territories, Tribes, local
governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations (including
national standards and building code organizations),
firefighting departments and organizations, institutions of
higher education, National Laboratories, scientific
disciplinary societies, professional associations, and other
users of wildland fire data products.
(9) Wildland fire.--The term ``wildland fire'' means any
nonstructure fire that occurs in vegetation or natural fuels
and includes wildfires originating from an unplanned ignition
and prescribed fires.
(10) Wildland-urban interface.--The term ``Wildland-Urban
Interface'' has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C.
2203).
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.
(a) Program Required.--The President shall establish a program to
achieve major measurable reductions in the losses of life, property,
and natural resources from wildland fires through a coordinated Federal
effort--
(1) to improve the assessment of fire environments and the
understanding and prediction of wildland fires, associated
smoke, and their impacts, including--
(A) at the wildland-urban interface;
(B) on communities, buildings, and other
infrastructure;
(C) on ecosystem services and watersheds; and
(D) social and economic impacts;
(2) to develop and encourage the adoption of science-based
and cost-effective measures to enhance community resilience to
wildland fires, to address and mitigate wildland fire and
associated smoke impacts, and to restore natural fire regimes
in fire-dependent ecosystems; and
(3) to improve the understanding and mitigation of the
effects of climate change, drought, and climate variability on
wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity, and to inform
paragraphs (1) and (2).
(b) Designation.--The program established under subsection (a)
shall be known as the ``National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction
Program''.
SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.
The Program shall consist of the activities described under section
8, which shall be designed--
(1) to support research and development, including
interdisciplinary research, related to fire environments,
wildland fires, associated smoke, and their impacts, in
furtherance of a coordinated interagency effort to address
wildland fire risk reduction;
(2) to support data management and stewardship, the
development and coordination of data systems and computational
tools, and the creation of a centralized, integrated data
collaboration environment for Program agency data to accelerate
the understanding of fire environments, wildland fires,
associated smoke, and their impacts, and the benefits of
wildland fire risk mitigation measures;
(3) to support the development of tools and technologies,
including decision support tools and risk and hazard maps, to
improve understanding, monitoring, and prediction of wildland
fires and associated smoke and mitigation of their negative
impacts;
(4) to support research and development activities to
improve data, tools, and technologies that directly inform,
support, and complement active land management, forest and
habitat restoration, and healthy ecosystem practices executed
by relevant Federal agencies and State, local, territorial, and
Tribal entities;
(5) to support education and training to expand the number
of students and researchers in areas of study and research
related to wildland fires;
(6) to accelerate the translation of research related to
wildland fires and associated smoke into operations to reduce
harm to communities, buildings, other infrastructure, and
ecosystem services;
(7) to conduct communication and outreach regarding
wildland fire science and wildland fire risk mitigation to
communities, energy utilities and operators of other critical
infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders;
(8) to support research and development projects funded
under joint solicitations or through memoranda of understanding
between not fewer than 2 agencies participating in the Program;
and
(9) to disseminate, to the extent practicable, scientific
data and related products and services in formats meeting
shared standards to enhance the interoperability, usability,
and accessibility of Program agency data, including data under
paragraph (2), in order to better meet the needs of Program
agencies, other Federal agencies, and relevant stakeholders.
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON WILDLAND FIRE RISK
REDUCTION.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish an
interagency coordinating committee for the Program.
(2) Designation.--The interagency coordinating committee
established under paragraph (1) shall known as the
``Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildland Fire Risk
Reduction'' (in this section the ``Committee'').
(b) Membership.--The Committee shall be composed of the following,
or their designees:
(1) The Director.
(2) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
(3) The Director of the National Science Foundation.
(4) The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
(5) The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
(6) The Administrator of the United States Fire
Administration.
(7) The Chief of the Forest Service.
(8) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(9) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(10) The Secretary of Energy.
(11) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(12) The Secretary of the Interior.
(13) The Director of United States Geological Survey.
(14) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(15) The Secretary of Defense.
(16) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(17) The Director of the National Institute of Food and
Agriculture.
(18) The head of any other Federal agency that the Director
considers appropriate.
(c) Meetings.--The members of the Committee shall meet not less
than twice each year for the first 2 years of the Committee and then
not less frequently than once each year thereafter at the call of the
Director.
(d) Chairpersons.--The Director and the Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy or their designees shall be co-
chairpersons of the Committee.
(e) General Purpose and Duties.--The Committee shall oversee the
planning, management, and coordination of the Program and solicit
stakeholder input on Program goals.
(f) Strategic Plan.--
(1) In general.--The Committee shall develop and submit to
Congress, not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, a strategic plan for the Program.
(2) Contents.--The strategic plan developed and submitted
under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) Prioritized goals for the Program, consistent
with the purposes of the Program as described in
section 3(a).
(B) Short-term, mid-term, and long-term research
and development objectives to achieve those goals.
(C) A description of the role of each Program
agency in achieving the prioritized goals.
(D) A description of how the Committee will foster
collaboration between and among the Program agencies
and other Federal agencies to help meet the goals of
the Program.
(E) The methods by which progress toward the goals
will be assessed.
(F) An explanation of how the Program will foster
the translation of research into measurable reductions
in the losses of life, property, and ecosystem services
from wildland fires, including recommended outcomes and
metrics for each program goal and how operational
Program agencies will transition demonstrated
technologies and research findings into decision
support tools and operations.
(G) A description of the research infrastructure,
including databases and computational tools, needed to
accomplish the research and development objectives
outlined in subparagraph (B), a description of how
research infrastructure in existence at the time of the
development of the plan will be used to meet the
objectives, an explanation of how new research
infrastructure will be developed to meet the
objectives, and a description of how the Program will
implement the integrated data collaboration environment
per section 4(2).
(H) A description of how Program agencies will
collaborate with stakeholders and take into account
stakeholder needs and recommendations in developing
research and development objectives.
(I) Recommendations on the most effective means to
integrate the research results into wildland fire
preparedness and response actions across Federal,
State, local, Tribal, and territorial levels.
(J) Guidance on how the Committee's recommendations
are best used in climate adaptation planning for
Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial
entities.
(K) A nationally recognized, consensus-based
definition of wildland-urban interface and other key
terms and definitions relating to wildland fire,
developed in consideration of the meaning given such
term in section 4 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2203).
(L) A description of opportunities to support new
areas of research and development and new types of
collaborations that seek to optimize building and
landscape design across multiple resilience goals,
including resilience to wildland fires and other
natural hazards, energy efficiency, and environmental
sustainability.
(3) Updates.--Not later than 6 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once every 4
years thereafter, the Committee shall update the strategic plan
developed under paragraph (1).
(g) Coordination With Other Federal Efforts.--To the extent
practicable, the Committee shall ensure that the activities of the
Program are coordinated with, and not duplicative of, other relevant
Federal initiatives and interagency bodies, as appropriate, including--
(1) the Joint Fire Science Program;
(2) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council;
(3) the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee;
(4) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission;
(5) the National Interagency Fire Center;
(6) the National Interagency Coordination Center;
(7) the National Predictive Services Oversight Group;
(8) the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological
Services;
(9) the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program;
(10) the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group; and
(11) the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group.
(h) Assessment of Need for National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine Study.--
(1) In general.--The Committee shall assess--
(A) the need for a study, or a series of studies,
to be conducted by the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine; and
(B) how such a study or studies could help identify
research areas for further study and inform research
objectives, including further research into the
interactions between climate change and wildland fires.
(2) Briefing.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Committee shall brief the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
Committee on Space, Science, and Technology of the House of
Representatives and on the findings of the Committee with
respect to the assessment conducted under paragraph (1).
(i) Progress Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 540 days after the date of
the submittal of the first strategic plan under subsection (f)
and not less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the
Committee shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of
the Program.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include, for the period covered by the report, the
following:
(A) A description of the activities funded under
the Program, a description of how those activities
align with the prioritized goals and research
objectives established in the strategic plan under
subsection (f), and the budgets, per agency, for these
activities.
(B) The outcomes achieved by the Program for each
of the goals identified in the Strategic Plan.
SEC. 6. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall establish an advisory
committee on wildland fire risk reduction.
(2) Designation.--The committee established under paragraph
(1) shall be known as the ``National Advisory Committee on
Wildland Fire Risk Reduction'' (in this section referred to as
the ``Advisory Committee'').
(b) Composition.--
(1) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall be composed
of not fewer than 7 and not more than 15 members selected by
the Director from among those who the Director considers are
qualified to provide advice on wildland fire risk reduction and
represent related scientific, architectural, and engineering
disciplines, including the following:
(A) Representatives of research and academic
institutions.
(B) Standards development organizations.
(C) Emergency management agencies.
(D) State, local, Tribal, and territorial
governments.
(E) Business communities.
(F) Such others as the Director considers
appropriate.
(2) Limitation.--None of the members of the Advisory
Committee may be employees of the Federal Government.
(c) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall carry out assessments and
develop recommendations on--
(1) trends and developments in the natural, engineering,
and social sciences and practices of wildfire risk mitigation;
(2) the priorities of the Program's strategic plan
described in section 5(f);
(3) the management, coordination, implementation, and
activities of the Program;
(4) the effectiveness of the Program in meeting its
purposes; and
(5) any need to revise the Program.
(d) Compensation.--The members of the Advisory Committee shall
serve without compensation.
(e) Biennial Reports.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years,
the Advisory Committee shall submit to the Director a report on the
assessments carried out under subsection (b) and the recommendations
developed under such subsection.
(f) Charter.--Notwithstanding section 14(b)(2) of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Advisory Committee shall
not be required to file a charter subsequent to its initial charter,
filed under section 9(c) of such Act, before the termination date
specified in subsection (g) of this section.
(g) Termination.--The Advisory Committee shall terminate on
September 30, 2026.
(h) Conflict of Interest.--An Advisory Committee member shall
recuse themselves from any Advisory Committee activity in which they
have an actual pecuniary interest.
SEC. 7. REVIEW BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.
Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) evaluate the progress and performance of the Program in
establishing and making progress toward the goals of the
Program as set forth in this Act;
(2) develop such recommendations as the Comptroller General
determines are appropriate to improve the Program; and
(3) submit to Congress a report on--
(A) the findings of the Comptroller General with
respect to the evaluation carried out under paragraph
(1); and
(B) such recommendations as the Comptroller General
may have developed under paragraph (2).
SEC. 8. RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION
PROGRAM AGENCIES.
(a) Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.--
(1) Research and development activities.--The Director
shall--
(A) carry out research on the effect of wildland
fires on communities, buildings, and other
infrastructure, including structure-to-structure
transmission of fire and spread within communities;
(B) carry out research on the generation of
firebrands and firebrand showers in wildland fires and
on methods and materials to prevent or reduce firebrand
ignition of communities, buildings, and other
infrastructure;
(C) carry out research on novel materials, systems,
structures, and construction designs to harden
structures, parcels, and communities to the impact of
wildland fires;
(D) carry out research on the impact of
environmental factors on wildland fire behavior,
including wind, terrain, and moisture;
(E) support the development of performance-based
tools to mitigate the effect of wildland fires, and
work with appropriate groups to promote and assist in
the use of such tools, including through model building
codes and fire codes, standard test methods, voluntary
consensus standards, and construction and retrofit best
practices;
(F) in collaboration with the United States Fire
Administration, carry out research and development of
decontamination methods and technologies for
firefighting gear on and off the field;
(G) develop and execute a research plan on public
safety communication coordination standards among
Federal, State, local, territorial, and Tribal wildland
firefighters, fire management response officials, and
the National Interagency Fire Center;
(H) carry out research to improve and integrate
existing communications systems to transmit secure,
real-time data, alerts, and accurate advisories to
wildland firefighters;
(I) carry out both live and virtual field testing
and measurement of equipment, software, and other
technologies to determine current effectiveness and
timeliness of information dissemination and develop
standards and best practices for the delivery of useful
and secure real-time data to wildland firefighters; and
(J) develop and publish recommendations to improve
public safety communication coordination standards
among wildland firefighters and member agencies of the
National Interagency Fire Center, including providing
such recommendations to the Office of Budget and
Management and the Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
(2) Wildland-urban interface fire post-investigations.--The
Director shall--
(A) coordinate Federal post-wildland fire
investigations of fires at the wildland-urban
interface; and
(B) develop methodologies, in coordination with the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency and in consultation with relevant stakeholders,
to characterize the effect of wildland fires on
communities and the impact of changes in building and
fire codes, including methodologies--
(i) for collecting, inventorying, and
analyzing information on the performance of
communities, buildings, and other
infrastructure in wildland fires; and
(ii) for improved collection of pertinent
information from different sources, including
first responders, the design and construction
industry, insurance companies, and building
officials.
(b) Director of the National Science Foundation.--
(1) Research and development activities.--The Director of
the National Science Foundation shall support research and
development activities, including large-scale convergent
research--
(A) to improve the understanding and prediction of
wildland fire risks, including the conditions that
increase the likelihood of a wildland fire, the
behavior of wildland fires, and the impacts of wildland
fires on buildings, communities, infrastructure,
watersheds, ecosystems, and living systems;
(B) to develop and improve research infrastructure,
tools, and technologies, including sensors and sensor
networks, databases, and computational models, to
enable and accelerate the understanding and prediction
of wildland fires and their impacts;
(C) to improve the understanding of the impacts of
climate change, drought, and climate variability on
wildland fires, including wildland fire risk,
frequency, size, and severity;
(D) to improve the understanding of long-term
wildland fire management strategies, including natural
fire regimes, and wildland fire prediction, mitigation,
and resilience strategies; and
(E) to improve the understanding of--
(i) the response to wildland fire risk
communications by individuals, communities, and
policymakers;
(ii) economic, social, and other factors
influencing the implementation and adoption of
wildland fire risk reduction measures by
individuals, communities, and policymakers; and
(iii) decision making regarding wildland
fires and emergency response to wildland fires.
(2) Wildland fire students and trainees.--The Director of
the National Science Foundation shall support undergraduate and
graduate research opportunities and graduate and postdoctoral
fellowships and traineeships in fields of study relevant to
wildland fires and their impacts.
(c) Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.--
(1) Research and development activities.--The Administrator
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall
support research and development activities, including
research, observations, modeling, forecasting, prediction, and
historical analysis of wildland fires and associated fire
weather and smoke--
(A) to improve understanding, prediction,
detection, forecasting, monitoring, and assessments of
wildland fires and associated fire weather and smoke
for--
(i) the protection of life, property, and
natural resources; and
(ii) the enhancement of the national
economy;
(B) to develop products and services to meet
stakeholder needs;
(C) to transition physical and social science
research into operations;
(D) to improve modeling and technology, including
coupled fire-atmosphere fire behavior modeling, in
consultation with relevant Federal agencies;
(E) to improve the understanding of the links
between fire weather events and subseasonal-to-climate
impacts; and
(F) to improve the forecasting and understanding of
the impacts of prescribed fires and how such impacts
differ from those of wildland fires which originate
from an unplanned ignition.
(2) Weather forecasting and decision support for wildland
fires.--The Administrator shall--
(A) develop and provide, in consultation with such
Federal agencies as the Administrator considers
appropriate, accurate, precise, timely, and effective
risk communications, forecasts, watches, and warnings
relating to wildland fires and fire weather events that
endanger life and property, including--
(i) red flag warnings;
(ii) operational fire weather alerts; and
(iii) any other warnings or alerts the
Administrator deems appropriate;
(B) provide relevant stakeholders and the public
with impact-based decision support services, seasonal
climate predictions, air quality products, and smoke
forecasts; and
(C) provide on-site weather forecasts, seasonal
climate predictions, and other decision support to
wildland fire incident command posts, including by
deploying incident meteorologists for the duration of
an extreme event.
(3) Wildland fire data.--The Administrator shall contribute
to and support the centralized, integrated data collaboration
environment pursuant to section 4(2) and any other relevant
Federal data systems by ensuring--
(A) interoperability, usability, and accessibility
of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration data and tools relating to wildland
fires, associated smoke, and their impacts;
(B) inclusion of historical wildland fire incident
and fire weather data, and identifying potential gaps
in such data; and
(C) the acquisition or collection of additional
data that is needed to advance wildland fire science.
(4) Wildland fire and fire weather surveillance and
observations.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and in consultation with relevant stakeholders,
shall--
(A) leverage available observations, technologies,
and assets and develop or acquire new technologies and
data to sustain and enhance environmental observations
used for wildland fire prediction and detection, fire
weather and smoke forecasting and monitoring, and post-
wildland fire recovery, with a focus on--
(i) collecting data for pre-ignition
analysis, such as drought, fuel conditions, and
soil moisture, that will help predict severe
wildland fire conditions on subseasonal to
decadal timescales;
(ii) supporting identification and
classification of fire environments to
determine vulnerability to wildland fires and
rapid wildland fire growth;
(iii) detecting, observing, and monitoring
wildland fires and smoke;
(iv) supporting research on the interaction
of weather and wildland fire behavior; and
(v) supporting post-fire assessments
conducted by Program agencies and relevant
stakeholders;
(B) prioritize the ability to detect, observe, and
monitor wildland fire and smoke in the requirements of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for
current and future operational space-based assessments
and commercial data purchases; and
(C) not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act--
(i) may offer to enter into contracts with
one or more entities to obtain additional
space-based and airborne remoting sensing data
and observations that may enhance or
supplement--
(I) the understanding, monitoring,
prediction, and mitigation of wildland
fire risks; and
(II) the relevant Program
activities under section 4; and
(ii) in carrying out clause (i), shall
consult with private sector entities through
the Advisory Committee established under
section 6 to identify needed tools and data
that can best be provided by satellites of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and are most beneficial to wildland fire smoke
detection and monitoring.
(5) Fire weather testbed.--In collaboration with Program
agencies and other relevant stakeholders, the Administrator of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall
establish a fire weather testbed to evaluate physical and
social science research, technology, and other available data
and research to develop fire weather products and services for
implementation by relevant stakeholders.
(6) Extramural research.--The Administrator shall--
(A) collaborate with and support the non-Federal
wildland fire research community, which includes
institutions of higher education, private entities,
nongovernmental organizations, and other relevant
stakeholders, by making funds available through
competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative
agreements; and
(B) in carrying out the program under subparagraph
(A), the Administrator, in collaboration with other
relevant Federal agencies, may establish one or more
national centers for prescribed fire and wildfire
sciences that leverage Federal research and development
with university and nongovernmental partnerships.
(7) High performance computing.--The Administrator, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall acquire high
performance computing technologies and supercomputing
technologies, leveraging existing resources, as practicable--
(A) to conduct research and development activities;
(B) to support the translation of Program-related
research to operations; and
(C) to host operational fire and smoke forecast
models.
(8) Incident meteorologist workforce assessment.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator
shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives the results of an assessment of
National Weather Service workforce and training
challenges for incident meteorologists and a roadmap
for overcoming the challenges identified.
(B) Considerations.--The assessment described in
subparagraph (A) shall take into consideration--
(i) information technology support;
(ii) logistical and administrative
operations;
(iii) anticipated weather and climate
conditions; and
(iv) feedback from relevant stakeholders.
(C) Contents.--The assessment described in
subparagraph (A) shall include, to the maximum extent
practicable, an identification by the National Weather
Service of--
(i) the expected number of incident
meteorologists needed over the next 5 years;
(ii) potential hiring authorities necessary
to overcome identified workforce and training
challenges; and
(iii) alternative services or assistance
operations the National Weather Service could
provide to meet operational needs.
(d) Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency shall support--
(A) the development of community risk assessment
tools and effective mitigation techniques for
responding to wildland fires, including at the
wildland-urban interface;
(B) the collection and analysis of data relating to
wildland and wildland-urban interface fire and
operational response;
(C) public outreach, education, and information
dissemination relating to wildland fires and wildland
fire risk; and
(D) the promotion of wildland and wildland-urban
interface fire preparedness and community risk
reduction measures, including--
(i) hardening the wildland-urban interface
through proper construction materials;
(ii) land use practices;
(iii) sprinklers;
(iv) assessment of State, local, Tribal,
and territorial emergency response capacity and
capabilities, including evacuation planning and
evacuation routes; and
(v) other tools and approaches as
appropriate.
(2) Fire-resistant practices.--In collaboration with the
Director and the heads of such other Program agencies as the
Administrator considers appropriate, the Administrator shall--
(A) promote and assist in the implementation of
research results; and
(B) promote fire-resistant building, retrofit, and
land use practices within the design and construction
industry, including architects, engineers, contractors,
builders, planners, code officials, and inspectors.
(3) Knowledge transfer and dissemination.--The
Administrator shall--
(A) establish and operate a wildland fire
preparedness and mitigation technical assistance
program to assist State, Tribal, local, and territorial
governments in using wildland fire mitigation
strategies, including through the adoption and
implementation of wildland and wildland-urban interface
fire resistance codes, standards, and land use;
(B) incorporate wildland and wildland-urban
interface fire risk mitigation and loss avoidance data
into the existing risk, mitigation, and loss avoidance
analyses of the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(C) incorporate data on the adoption and
implementation of wildland and wildland-urban interface
fire resistant codes and standards into the hazard
resistant code tracking resources of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency;
(D) translate new information and research findings
into best practices to improve training and education
for firefighter, fire service, and allied professions
in wildland fire response, crew deployment, and
wildland fire resilience, prevention, mitigation, and
firefighting;
(E) conduct outreach and disseminate information to
fire departments regarding best practices for wildland
and wildland-urban interface firefighting, education,
training, and fireground deployment; and
(F) develop resources regarding best practices for
establishing or enhancing peer-support programs within
wildland fire firefighting units.
(4) Wildland fire hazard severity map.--The Administrator
shall, in collaboration with such other heads of Program
agencies and stakeholders as the Administrator considers
appropriate, develop a national-level, interactive, and
publicly accessible wildland fire hazard severity map that
includes community and parcel level data and that can readily
integrate with risk gradations within wildland and wildland-
urban interface fire resistant codes and standards.
(5) PFAS study.--The Administrator shall, in coordination
with the Director and such other heads of Federal agencies as
the Administrator considers appropriate, carry out a study to--
(A) examine perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (``PFAS'') and other potentially harmful
contaminants in firefighter gear, fire retardants, and
wetting agents;
(B) determine the lifecycle of firefighting
garments; and
(C) evaluate exposure risks based on different
phases of the fire.
(e) Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration shall--
(A) support relevant basic and applied scientific
research and modeling;
(B) ensure the use in the Program of all relevant
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth
observations data for maximum utility;
(C) explore and apply novel tools and technologies
in the activities of the Program;
(D) support the translation of research to
operations, including to Program agencies and relevant
stakeholders;
(E) facilitate the communication of wildland fire
research, knowledge, and tools to relevant
stakeholders; and
(F) use commercial data where such data is
available and accessible through existing Federal
Government commercial contracts, agreements, or other
means, and purchase data that is deemed necessary based
on consultation with other Program agencies.
(2) Research and development activities.--The Administrator
shall support basic and applied wildland fire research and
modeling activities, including competitively selected
research--
(A) to improve understanding and prediction of fire
environments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and
their impacts;
(B) to improve the understanding of the impacts of
climate change, drought, and climate variability on
wildland fire risk, frequency, size, and severity;
(C) to characterize the pre-fire phase and fire-
inducing conditions, such as soil moisture and
vegetative fuel availability;
(D) to characterize the active fire phase, such as
fire and smoke plume mapping, fire behavior and spread
modeling, and domestic and global fire activity;
(E) to characterize the post-fire phase, such as
landscape changes, air quality, erosion, landslides,
watershed impacts, and impacts on carbon distributions
in ecosystem biomass;
(F) to contribute to advancing predictive wildland
fire models;
(G) to address other relevant investigations and
measurements prioritized by the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey on
Earth Science and Applications from Space;
(H) to improve the translation of research
knowledge into actionable information;
(I) to develop research and data products,
including maps, decision-support information, and
tools, and support related training as appropriate and
practicable;
(J) to collaborate with other Program agencies and
relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, on joint
research and development projects, including research
grant solicitations and field campaigns; and
(K) to transition research advances to operations,
including to Program agencies and relevant
stakeholders, as practicable.
(3) Wildland fire data systems and computational tools.--
The Administrator shall--
(A) identify, from the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration's Earth science data systems,
data, including combined data products, that can
contribute to improving the understanding, monitoring,
prediction, and mitigation of wildland fires and their
impacts, including data related to fire weather, plume
dynamics, smoke and fire behavior, impacts of climate
change, drought, and climate variability, land and
property burned, and wildlife and ecosystem
destruction, among other areas;
(B) prioritize the dissemination of data identified
under subparagraph (A) to the widest extent practicable
to support relevant research and operations
stakeholders;
(C) consider opportunities to support the Program
under section 3 and the Program activities under
section 4 when planning and developing Earth
observation satellites, instruments, and airborne
measurement platforms;
(D) identify opportunities, in collaboration with
Program agencies and relevant stakeholders, to acquire
additional airborne and space-based data and
observations that may enhance or supplement the
understanding, monitoring, prediction, and mitigation
of wildland fire risks and other relevant Program
activities under section 4, and consider such options
as commercial solutions, including commercial data
purchases, prize authority, academic partnerships, and
ground-based or space-based instruments, as practicable
and appropriate; and
(E) jointly develop with Program agencies, and
contribute data to, the centralized, integrated data
collaboration environment pursuant to section 4(2) and
any other relevant interagency systems, by--
(i) collecting, organizing, and integrating
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's scientific data, data systems,
and computational tools related to wildland
fires, associated smoke, and their impacts; and
(ii) enhancing the interoperability,
usability, and accessibility of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's
scientific data, data systems, and
computational tools, including--
(I) observation and available real-
time and near-real-time measurements;
(II) derived science and data
products, such as fuel conditions, risk
and spread maps, and data products to
represent the wildland-urban interface;
(III) relevant historical and
archival observations, measurements,
and derived science and data products;
and
(IV) other relevant decision
support and information tools.
(4) Unified concept of operations.--The Administrator
shall, in collaboration with such other heads of Program
agencies and relevant stakeholders as the Administrators
considers as practicable and appropriate, establish a program--
(A) to develop and demonstrate a unified concept of
operations for the safe and effective deployment of
diverse air capabilities in active wildland fire
monitoring, mitigation, and risk reduction;
(B) to develop--
(i) and demonstrate a wildland fire
airspace operations system accounting for
piloted aircraft, uncrewed aerial systems, and
other new and emerging capabilities such as
autonomous and high-altitude assets;
(ii) an interoperable communications
strategy to support such system; and
(iii) a roadmap for the on-ramping of new
technologies, capabilities, or entities into
such system; and
(C) to identify--
(i) additional development, testing, and
demonstration that would be required to expand
the scale of program operations;
(ii) actions that would be required to
transition the unified concept of operations in
subparagraph (A) into ongoing, operational use;
and
(iii) other objectives for the program, as
deemed appropriate by the Administrator.
(5) Sensing for active wildfire monitoring and risk
mitigation.--The Administrator shall, in collaboration with
such other heads of Program agencies and relevant stakeholders
as the Administrator considers practicable and appropriate--
(A) develop and demonstrate affordable and
deployable sensing technologies to improve--
(i) monitoring of fire fuel and active
wildland fires;
(ii) wildland fire behavior models and
forecasts;
(iii) mapping efforts; and
(iv) the prediction of wildland fires and
mitigation of their negative impacts; and
(B) in carrying out subparagraph (A)--
(i) conduct a pilot program to test and
demonstrate technologies such as infrared,
microwave, and radar sensors suitable for
deployment on spacecraft, aircraft, uncrewed
aerial systems, and ground-based in situ
platforms, as appropriate and practicable;
(ii) develop and demonstrate affordable and
deployable sensing technologies that can be
transitioned to operations for collection of
near-real-time localized measurements;
(iii) develop and demonstrate near-real-
time data processing, availability,
interoperability, and visualization, as
practicable;
(iv) identify opportunities and actions
required, in collaboration with Program
agencies and relevant stakeholders, to
transition relevant technologies, techniques,
and data to science operations upon successful
demonstration of the feasibility and scientific
utility of such technologies, techniques, and
data;
(v) transition demonstrated technologies,
techniques, and data into ongoing, operational
use, including to Program agencies and relevant
stakeholders;
(vi) prioritize and facilitate, to the
greatest extent practicable, the dissemination
of relevant scientific data to operations,
including to Program agencies and relevant
stakeholders; and
(vii) consider opportunities for potential
partnerships among industry, government,
National Laboratories, academic institutions,
non-profit organizations, and other relevant
stakeholders.
(f) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.--
(1) Research and development activities.--The Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency shall support research
and development activities--
(A) to improve the understanding of--
(i) wildland fire and smoke impacts on
communities, and outdoor and indoor air
quality, watersheds and water quality, and
freshwater ecosystems;
(ii) wildland fire smoke plume
characteristics, chemical composition, chemical
transformation, and transport;
(iii) wildland fire and smoke impacts on
contaminant containment and remediation;
(iv) the contribution of wildland fire
emissions to climate-forcing emissions;
(v) differences between the impacts of
prescribed fires, as compared to other wildland
fires, on communities and air and water
quality; and
(vi) climate change, drought, and climate
variability on wildland fires and smoke plumes,
including on smoke exposure;
(B) to develop and improve tools, sensors, and
technologies, including databases and computational
models, to accelerate the understanding, monitoring,
and prediction of wildland fires and smoke exposure;
and
(C) to better integrate observational data, such as
remote sensing data from academic, governmental, or
commercial sources, into wildland fire and smoke
characterization models to improve modeling at finer
temporal and spatial resolutions.
(2) Risk reduction communication strategies.--The
Administrator shall, in coordination with such other heads of
Federal agencies and stakeholders as the Administrator
considers appropriate, promote the translation of research
findings under this subsection and improve communication of
wildland fire and smoke risk reduction strategies to the
public.
(g) Secretary of Energy.--
(1) Research and development activities.--The Secretary of
Energy shall, in collaboration with the National Laboratories,
carry out research and development activities to advance tools,
techniques, and technologies, as the Secretary considers
applicable, for--
(A) withstanding and addressing the current and
projected impacts of wildland fires on energy sector
infrastructure;
(B) providing real-time or near-time awareness of
the risks posed by wildland fires to the operation of
energy infrastructure in affected and potentially
affected areas, including by leveraging the Department
of Energy's high-performance computing capabilities and
climate and ecosystem models;
(C) early detection of malfunctioning, damaged, or
otherwise hazardous electrical equipment on the
transmission and distribution grid, including detection
of spark ignition that may cause wildland fires, and
assessment of competing technologies and strategies for
addressing such hazards;
(D) assisting with the planning, safe execution of,
and safe and timely restoration of power after
emergency power shut offs relating to wildland fire
risk due to malfunctioning or damaged grid
infrastructure;
(E) improving electric grid and energy sector
safety and resilience in the event of multiple
simultaneous or co-located weather or climate events
leading to extreme conditions, such as extreme wind,
wildland fires, extreme cold, extreme or exceptional
drought, and extreme heat;
(F) improving coordination between utilities and
relevant Federal agencies to enable communication,
information-sharing, and situational awareness in the
event of wildland fires that impact the electric grid;
(G) wildland fire forecasting, spread, and
ecosystem impact;
(H) considering optimal building energy efficiency
practices and distributed renewable energy resource
strategies, as practicable, in wildland fire research;
and
(I) considering the use of real-time satellite
views, sensing wind patterns, and tracking operations
of energy infrastructure service coupled with
artificial intelligence to quickly predict fire
patterns once they have ignited and use these
predictions to devise plans to prevent damage to energy
sector infrastructure.
(2) Transmission infrastructure resilience and risk
reduction.--The Secretary shall coordinate data across relevant
entities, including academic, governmental, National
Laboratory, and other stakeholders, to improve the
understanding of wildland fire and to promote resilience and
wildland fire prevention in the planning, design, construction,
operation, and maintenance of transmission infrastructure.
(3) National laboratories.--The Secretary shall use the
capabilities of the National Laboratories, including user
facilities, earth and environmental systems modeling resources,
and high-performance computing and data analytics capabilities,
to improve the accuracy of efforts to understand and predict
wildfire behavior and occurrence and mitigate negative wildland
fire impacts.
(4) Economic and social implications of power
disruptions.--The Secretary shall foster engagement between the
National Laboratories and practitioners, researchers, policy
organizations, utilities, and other entities, as appropriate,
to understand the economic and social implications of power
disruptions caused by wildland fires, particularly within
disadvantaged communities and regions vulnerable to wildland
fires, including rural areas.
SEC. 9. BUDGET ACTIVITIES.
Beginning with the first submittal of the budget of the President
under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Director, the Director of the
National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, and the Secretary of Energy shall each ensure that whenever the
budget justification materials are submitted to Congress in support of
their respective Federal agencies under such section, such budget
justification materials include a description of the projected
activities of the respective agency under the Program for the fiscal
year covered by the budget and an estimate of the amount such agency
plans to spend on such activities for the relevant fiscal year.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE
RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.
(a) National Institute of Standards and Technology.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute of Standards
and Technology to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $35,800,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $36,100,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $36,400,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $36,700,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $37,100,000 for fiscal year 2026.
(b) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $215,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $220,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
(c) Federal Emergency Management Agency.--There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $6,400,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $6,700,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $7,100,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $7,600,000 for fiscal year 2026.
(d) National Aeronautics and Space Administration.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $95,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
(e) Environmental Protection Agency.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $11,700,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $12,400,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $13,100,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $13,900,000 for fiscal year 2026.
(f) Department of Energy.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Department of Energy to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) $5,300,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(3) $5,600,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(4) $5,900,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(5) $6,300,000 for fiscal year 2026.
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