US Codex
Bill
Notes

H.R. 369 — what changed

NIST Wildland Fire Communications and Information Dissemination Act

From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 1 section amended and 4 removed between Introduced in House and Reported in House.

Sec. 2 Research on wildland fire communications and information dissemination

(a)
added In general—
(1)
added Public safety research— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, acting through the head of the Public Safety and Communications Research Division and in consultation with the Fire Research Division and technology manufacturers, shall carry out research on the following:
(A)
added Public safety communication coordination standards among Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildland firefighters, fire management response officials, and member agencies.
(B)
added Improving and integrating existing communications systems to transmit secure real-time data, alerts, and advisories to and from fire management response officials and wildland firefighters.
(2)
added Field testing and measurement of information dissemination and technology— The Public Safety and Communications Research Division, in consultation with the Fire Research Division and member agencies, shall conduct both live and virtual field testing of equipment, software, and other technologies to determine current times of information dissemination and develop standards for the delivery of useful and secure real-time data among member agencies, fire management response officials, and wildland firefighters, based on findings from research under subsection (a).
(b)
added Recommendations—
(1)
added In general— The Director shall develop and publish recommendations to improve public safety communication coordination standards among wildland first responders and fire management response officials.
(2)
added Transmittal— The Director shall transmit the recommendations under paragraph (1) to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy for member agencies to implement.
(3)
added Reporting requirements—
(A)
added In general— The Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report containing the recommendations published under paragraph (1).
(B)
added Implementation— Not later than 1 year after the date of the publication of the Director’s recommendations under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the extent to which member agencies have implemented such recommendations.
(c)
added Funding— From amounts made available to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Director shall allocate $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.
(d)
added Definitions— In this section:

removed In this Act:

(1)
renumbered was (3) Director— The term Director means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(2)
renumbered was (4) Member agency— The term member agency means a member agency of the National Interagency Fire Center, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, United States Fire Administration, and the Department of Defense.
(3)
renumbered was (5) Wildland firefighter— The term wildland firefighter means any person who participates in wildland firefighting activities.
(4)
renumbered was (6) Fire management response officials— The term fire management response officials means regional fire directors, deputy regional fire directors, agency officials who directly oversee fire operations, fire management officers, and individuals serving on incident management teams.
(5)
added Technology manufacturers— The term technology manufacturers means private sector entities that manufacture communications technologies used by Federal, State, Tribal, or local wildland fire authorities.
(5)
removed Technology manufacturers— The term technology manufacturers means companies that manufacture communications technologies used by Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildland fire authorities.

Sec. 3 Research

removed
(a)
removed Requirement To conduct research on public safety— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, acting through the head of the Public Safety and Communications Research Division and in consultation with the Fire Research Division and technology manufacturers, shall carry out research on—
(1)
removed public safety communication coordination standards among Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildland firefighters, fire management response officials, and member agencies; and
(2)
removed improving and integrating existing communications systems to transmit secure real-time data, alerts, and advisories to fire management response officials and wildland firefighters.
(b)
removed Requirement To conduct field testing of information dissemination and technology— The Public Safety and Communications Research Division, in consultation with the Fire Research Division and member agencies, will conduct both live and virtual field testing of equipment, software, and other technologies to determine current times of information dissemination and develop standards for the delivery of real-time data among member agencies, fire management response officials, and wildland firefighters based on findings from research under subsection (a).

Sec. 4 Recommendations

removed
(a)
removed Requirement To develop and provide recommendations— The Director shall develop and publish recommendations for member agencies to improve public safety communication coordination standards among wildland first responders and fire management response officials.
(b)
removed Requirement To provide recommendations to the office of management and budget, the office of science and technology policy, and member agencies— The Director shall provide recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Police to assist member agencies with the implementation of the recommendations in subsection (a).

Sec. 5 Reporting requirements

removed
(a)
removed Requirement To report research findings and recommendations— The Director shall provide the recommendations published under section 4(a) to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
(b)
removed Requirement To report on the implementation of recommendations— Not later than 1 year after the date of the publication of the Director’s recommendations, the Government Accountability Office shall produce a report on the extent to which member agencies have implemented the Director’s recommendations.

Sec. 6 Authorization of appropriations

removed

removed There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute of Standards and Technology $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.