Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Firefighters and Promoting Innovation Act”.
Protecting Firefighters and Promoting Innovation Act
A BILL
To establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Interagency working group on the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting
Establishment— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting.
Members— The working group established under subsection (a) shall include—
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of the Interior, who shall serve as co-chairs of the working group;
one representative, selected by the co-chairs, with wildland firefighting experience from each of—
a State firefighting agency;
a local firefighting agency; and
a volunteer firefighting agency; and
at least one senior-level representative from each of—
the Department of Agriculture;
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
the National Guard Bureau;
the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Functions— The working group established under subsection (a) shall carry out functions including the following:
In consultation with national fire service organizations, adjutants general from States affected by wildland fires, representatives from relevant industries, and other stakeholders developing standards and best practices for the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting to—
assist in fire suppression;
provide real-time updates for firefighters; and
reduce the risk of firefighter fatalities due to wildland firefighting and to aircraft accidents related to wildland firefighting.
Assessing existing Federal unmanned aircraft systems to identify opportunities to use such existing systems to lower the costs of the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting.
Assessing opportunities to improve interagency coordination with respect to the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting.
With respect to the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, assessing—
the efficacy of current technology; and
the potential efficacy of emerging technology.
In consultation with legal experts, assessing the implications for the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of any standards, best practices, or recommendations under this section with respect to the use of unmanned aircraft systems.
Report— Not later than 1 year after the date of the establishment of the working group under subsection (a), the co-chairs of the working group shall submit to the committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate with relevant jurisdiction and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group a report containing the results of the work of the working group. Such report shall include—
the standards and best practices developed under paragraph (1) of subsection (c);
a summary of the assessments under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of such subsection; and
any recommendations with respect to the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting.
Unmanned aircraft system defined— In this section, the term unmanned aircraft system has the meaning given such term in section 331 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note).