[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 453 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 453
To establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025
Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Sheehy, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Hickenlooper)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center, 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 ``Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration
and Coordination Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) wildfire management is a complex, multijurisdictional
issue that requires an integration of efforts at all levels of
society, including the Federal Government, State, Tribal, and
local governments, and the private sector; and
(2) the report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and
Management Commission entitled ``On FIRE: The Report of the
Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission'' and dated
September 2023 represents a consensus set of recommendations
from 50 diverse experts to improve the outcomes from wildfire
in the United States, finding that--
(A) rapidly changing ecosystems represent
fundamental shifts in conditions that existing fire
behavior models and existing fire management system are
not designed to meet;
(B) research, applied science programs, data
management, and technology procurement and application
relating to wildfire are housed within a wide array of
Federal entities and academia, leading to a limited
ability to set priorities and general inefficiencies;
(C) various predictive services and decision-
support functions exist to aid Federal managers and
decisionmakers in the wildland fire community that, due
to the different missions and jurisdictions of the
Federal agencies involved and the fact that the
services reside in several different Federal agencies,
would benefit from improved interoperability and more
coordinated priority setting and purchasing power; and
(D) an interagency joint office should be
established--
(i) with membership from entities
conducting research and addressing wildland
fire management;
(ii) with dedicated and separate funding to
fulfill the mission of comprehensive assessment
and prediction of fire in the wildland and
built environment interface through data
aggregation and science-based decision-support
services; and
(iii) in close collaboration with the
existing wildland fire management system in the
United States.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the Board for the
Center appointed under section 4(e)(1).
(2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Wildfire
Intelligence Center established by section 4(a).
SEC. 4. WILDFIRE INTELLIGENCE CENTER.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the
Interior a joint office, to be known as the ``Wildfire Intelligence
Center'', the duties of which are to study, plan, coordinate, and
implement issues of joint concern among the Department of Agriculture,
the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Interior,
including--
(1) serving as the development and operational center for
the comprehensive assessment and prediction of fires that occur
in the wildland and fires that move into the built environment
to provide decision support services to inform land and fuels
management, community outreach and risk reduction, post-
wildfire recovery and rehabilitation, and fire management and
response activities carried out by entities, including--
(A) the Federal Government;
(B) State, Tribal, and local governments;
(C) land managers;
(D) incident management teams;
(E) the National Interagency Coordination Center;
(F) geographic coordination centers;
(G) land, air, and water managers;
(H) burned area rehabilitation teams;
(I) public health entities; and
(J) other entities identified by the Board;
(2) facilitating collaboration and information sharing
across Federal and State departments and agencies, Tribal
entities, academia, and the private sector on matters relating
to wildland fires; and
(3) addressing any other issues the Secretary of
Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of
the Interior identify as issues of joint interest in support of
the functions of the Center described in subsection (c).
(b) Headquarters.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Board shall select a permanent location for
a physical headquarters of the Center within the United States.
(c) Functions.--The functions of the Center shall include the
following:
(1) Providing real-time, science-based, and data-rich
scientific and technical analytical services, decision support,
and predictive services across all phases of fire to inform
pre-fire land and fuels management, pre-fire community and
built environment risk reduction, active fire management and
emergency response, and post-fire recovery in the built and
natural environment.
(2) Assessing and monitoring wildland fires and wildland
fire conditions across all phases of fire, including ignition,
behavior, and spread, climate, weather, drought, soil moisture,
fuel conditions, smoke, aerosols, fire severity, debris flows,
and erosion.
(3) Comprehensive modeling of wildland fire behavior and
risks, including ignitions, wildland fire intensity and spread,
air quality, and dependence on burn history, vegetation
conditions, climate, and weather.
(4) Providing and combining existing data, mapping,
technological, and consultation services to support pre-,
active, and post-fire activities, including--
(A) creating and maintaining a real-time nationwide
wildland fire risk catalog by leveraging existing risk
mapping at land management agencies;
(B) assisting with the creation of evacuation plans
for at-risk communities;
(C) assisting with the creation of public safety
power shutoff plans;
(D) assisting with the creation of wildland fire
response strategies, plans, and treatment and
mitigation measures;
(E) providing gridded and point data forecast and
assessment products in support of operational and
planning activities; and
(F) providing a testbed framework for testing and
evaluation of new tools and products intended for
decision support.
(5) Consolidating air quality monitoring and forecasting
data to support health risk information to help inform risks to
public health and protect the public from smoke impacts
associated with wildland fires, including providing planning
guidance for safe and effective beneficial fire opportunities
to prevent the risk of wildland fires.
(6) Providing accessible tools and products that support
emergency and land management decisions relating to wildland
fire prevention, preparedness, and response, including risk
assessment and contingency planning, which shall include the
development of a data interface to assist and inform, in real-
time, firefighters, first responders, and approved contractors
in responding to wildland fires, including the use of any
observations by the civil, military, and intelligence
communities of the Federal Government and commercial Earth
observations.
(7) Establishing an interoperable information technology
infrastructure accessible by Federal agencies, State government
offices, units of local government, and Tribal governments.
(8) To the extent feasible, establishing data
interoperability through--
(A) the development of common data standards;
(B) the provision of comprehensive searchable data
inventories;
(C) working with Tribal governments in nation-to-
nation partnership;
(D) the integration and sharing of information and
resources of the Federal Government and State and local
governments to support the essential functions of the
Center;
(E) the development of data standards to protect
confidential information that may be essential to the
core functions of the Center;
(F) regular updates and maintenance of research and
technology essential to achieving the core functions of
the Center; and
(G) the development and maintenance of a big-data
architecture to compile, maintain, standardize, and
evaluate data associated with the core functions of the
Center.
(9) In coordination with relevant Federal agencies and
coordinating bodies as determined by the Board, and in
consultation with State government offices, units of local
government, territories of the United States, and federally
recognized Indian Tribes, developing and disseminating tools to
support wildland fire planning, risk reduction and response
guidance, guidelines, maps, and training materials to help
inform State, territorial, local, and Tribal governments and
decisionmakers with respect to--
(A) the use and implementations of wildland fire
risk assessments;
(B) the applied use of the database and information
developed under paragraphs (7) and (8);
(C) reducing losses from wildland fires;
(D) increasing benefits from wildland fires;
(E) resources available for communities and
responders working to improve wildland fire
preparedness; and
(F) enhancing communication management in emergency
wildfire situations, land and resource management, and
scientific studies.
(10) Working with Federal, State, and Tribal agencies to
develop and improve National Wildland Coordinating Group
wildland fire preparedness curricula and training modules for--
(A) State, territorial, local, and Tribal
officials; and
(B) Federal, State, territorial, local, and Tribal
emergency managers and responders.
(d) Administration.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of the Interior shall
cooperatively administer the Center.
(2) Transfer of funds.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce,
and the Secretary of the Interior may transfer funds
between the Forest Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and the United States
Geological Survey from funds provided to establish the
Center and to carry out the duties of the Center.
(B) Notice required.--Not less than 15 days prior
to transferring funds under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, or
the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, shall
notify the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives of the proposed transfer.
(e) Board.--
(1) Number and appointment.--The Center shall be governed
by a Board, composed of 14 members, as follows:
(A) 1 member who is a career employee of the
Department of the Interior, to be appointed by the
Secretary of the Interior.
(B) 1 member who is a career employee of the Bureau
of Land Management, to be appointed by the Director of
the Bureau of Land Management.
(C) 1 member who is a career employee of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, to be appointed by the Director of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(D) 1 member who is a career employee of the
National Park Service, to be appointed by the Director
of the National Park Service.
(E) 1 member who is a career employee of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service, to be appointed by
the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
(F) 1 member who is a career employee of the United
States Geological Survey, to be appointed by the
Director of the United States Geological Survey.
(G) 1 member who is a career employee of the
Department of Agriculture, to be appointed by the
Secretary of Agriculture.
(H) 1 member who is a career employee of the
research and development areas of the Forest Service,
to be appointed by the Chief of the Forest Service.
(I) 1 member who is a career employee in fire and
aviation management of the Forest Service, to be
appointed by the Chief of the Forest Service.
(J) 1 member who is a career employee of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to be
appointed by the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
(K) 1 member who is a career employee of the
National Weather Service, to be appointed by the
Director of the National Weather Service.
(L) 1 member who is a career employee of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, to be appointed by
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
(M) 1 member who is a career employee of the United
States Fire Administration, to be appointed by the
Administrator of the United States Fire Administration.
(N) 1 member who is a career employee of the
Department of Defense, to be appointed by the Secretary
of Defense.
(2) Terms.--A member of the Board--
(A) shall be appointed for a term of 3 years; and
(B) may be reappointed for not more than 3
additional terms.
(3) Chairperson; vice chairperson.--The Chairperson and
Vice Chairperson of the Board shall--
(A) be selected by the members of the Board from
among the members appointed under subparagraphs (F),
(H), and (J) of paragraph (1); and
(B) serve for a term of 1 year.
(4) Majority vote.--Voting consensus by the Board shall be
not less than \2/3\ majority vote of the members present.
(5) Nonvoting status.--At the discretion of the Board, the
Board may include nonvoting observers to the Board.
(f) Executive Director.--
(1) In general.--The Center shall have an Executive
Director, who shall be appointed by, and serve at the direction
of, the Board.
(2) Private sector drought monitoring.--The Executive
Director of the Center shall engage with entities in the
private sector to improve drought monitoring, forecasting,
communication, and response that may be essential to the core
functions of the Center if the Executive Director of the Center
determines that the engagement is appropriate, beneficial, and
cost effective.
(3) Contracting authority.--
(A) In general.--The Executive Director of the
Center may enter into and perform contracts, leases,
cooperative agreements, or other similar transactions
that the Executive Director of the Center determines to
be appropriate to carry out the functions of the
Center.
(B) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Board and the Executive
Director of the Center shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report that provides--
(i) an assessment of existing contracting
authorities of the Executive Director of the
Center; and
(ii) recommendations on whether new
contracting authorities or modifications of
existing contracting authorities are needed.
(g) Detailees.--The Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of
Commerce, and the Secretary of the Interior may detail or assign to the
Center such employees of the Department of Agriculture, the Department
of Commerce, and the Department of the Interior, respectively, as are
determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce,
and the Secretary of the Interior, respectively, to be necessary to
carry out the duties of the Center.
(h) Interagency Financing.--Notwithstanding section 708 of the
Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2023
(Public Law 117-328; 136 Stat. 4706), or any other similar provision of
law, interagency financing may be used to fund the Center.
(i) Coordination With Other Agencies and Entities.--The Board shall
coordinate with agencies represented on the Board and other relevant
entities to achieve the core functions of the Center, including with--
(1) the National Wildfire Coordinating Group;
(2) State and Tribal governments;
(3) any other agency--
(A) that is responsible for the management of
Federal or State land; or
(B) that has data, science, and technology
expertise relevant to the Center; and
(4) any other relevant Federal, State, Tribal, or
nongovernmental entity that is representative of an element of
the wildland fire community.
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