[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6094 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6094
To direct the establishment of a public-private wildfire technology
deployment and demonstration partnership, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 18, 2025
Mrs. Kim (for herself and Mr. Crow) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in
addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, and
Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the establishment of a public-private wildfire technology
deployment and demonstration partnership, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Innovation Unit Act''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT AND DEMONSTRATION
PARTNERSHIP.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means--
(A) each Federal land management agency (as defined
in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801));
(B) the Department of Defense;
(C) the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
(D) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration;
(E) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(F) the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration;
(G) the United States Fire Administration;
(H) the General Services Administration;
(I) a State, Tribal, county, or municipal fire
department, fire district, land management agency,
natural resources agency, or equivalent agency
operating through the United States Fire Administration
or pursuant to an agreement with a Federal agency; and
(J) any other Federal agency involved in wildfire
response.
(2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means--
(A) a private entity;
(B) a nonprofit organization; and
(C) an institution of higher education (as defined
in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001)).
(3) Pilot program.--The term ``Pilot Program'' means the
deployment and demonstration pilot program established under
subsection (b).
(4) Relevant committees of congress.--The term ``relevant
committees of Congress'' means--
(A) in the Senate--
(i) the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry;
(ii) the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources;
(iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs;
(iv) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs; and
(v) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation; and
(B) in the House of Representatives--
(i) the Committee on Agriculture;
(ii) the Committee on Natural Resources;
and
(iii) the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology.
(5) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior,
acting jointly.
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall establish a deployment and
demonstration pilot program for new and innovative wildfire prevention,
detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies.
(c) Functions.--In carrying out the Pilot Program, the Secretaries
shall--
(1) consult with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group;
(2) in consultation with the heads of the covered agencies,
identify and advance the demonstration and deployment of key
technology priority areas, including for mature and
commercially available technologies, with respect to the
deployment of wildfire prevention, detection, communication,
and mitigation technologies, including--
(A) innovations in hazardous fuels reduction
activities or treatments, including the use of
prescribed or cultural fire;
(B) spatial planning for unplanned human-caused
ignitions;
(C) wildfire modeling and effectiveness algorithms;
(D) dispatch communications;
(E) remote sensing, detection, and tracking;
(F) safety equipment;
(G) common operating pictures or operational
dashboards;
(H) interoperable commercial data;
(I) autonomous suppression systems;
(J) grid resilience;
(K) community resilience and home hardening; and
(L) prioritization and decision support tools;
(3) connect each covered entity selected to participate in
the Pilot Program with the appropriate covered agency to
coordinate real-time and on-the-ground testing of technology
during wildfire mitigation activities and training;
(4) define clear criteria for evaluating the success of
technologies (including mature and commercially available
technologies) demonstrated under the Pilot Program, focusing on
effectiveness, scalability, and cost-efficiency; and
(5) coordinate with covered agencies to ensure the
efficient deployment of scaled technologies, including through
expanded public-private partnerships, multiagency contracting
for procurement, and authorization of covered agency staff with
technological procurement expertise to assist other covered
agencies in need of that expertise.
(d) Applications.--To be eligible to participate in the Pilot
Program, a covered entity shall submit to the Secretaries an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretaries may require, including a proposal to
demonstrate technologies specific to key technology priority areas
identified under subsection (c)(2).
(e) Existing Partnerships.--
(1) In general.--A covered agency may submit a statement to
the Secretaries describing the effectiveness, scalability, and
cost-efficiency of an existing partnership, pilot project, or
contract a covered entity providing a technology described in
subsection (c)(2).
(2) Successfulness.--The Secretaries may deem a technology
described in a statement submitted under paragraph (1) to be a
successful technology for purposes of this section.
(f) Outreach.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the heads of
the covered agencies, shall make publicly available the key technology
priority areas identified under subsection (c)(2) and invite covered
entities to apply under subsection (d) to deploy and demonstrate
technologies to address those priority areas.
(g) Reports and Recommendations.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of establishment of the Pilot Program, and annually thereafter for
the duration of the Pilot Program, the Secretaries shall submit to the
relevant committees of Congress a report that includes the following
with respect to the Pilot Program:
(1) A brief description of potential technologies deployed
and demonstrated.
(2) An estimate of the cost of acquiring each such
technology and applying the technology at scale.
(3) Outreach efforts by covered agencies to covered
entities developing wildfire technologies.
(4) Assessments of, and recommendations relating to, new
technologies with potential adoption and application at-scale
in the wildfire prevention, detection, communication, and
mitigation efforts of Federal land management agencies (as
defined in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801)).
(5) A description of the relationship and coordination
between the Pilot Program and the activities of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the Fire
Weather Testbed.
(6) Barriers and solutions for procurement of technologies
by covered agencies.
(h) Sunset.--The Pilot Program terminates on the date that is 7
years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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