H.R. 4866 — what changed
Fire Weather Development Act of 2024
From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 3 sections amended and 1 added between Introduced in House and Reported in House.
Sec. 2 Fire weather forecasting and detection
Establishment— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a program (in this Act referred to as the “Program”) to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and delivery of products or services through collaboration with Federal and State agencies or departments, local emergency mangers, and relevant entities.
Goals— The goals of the Program shall be to develop and improve accurate fire weather and fire environment forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss of life, reduce injuries, protect property, and reduce damage to the economy from wildfires. The Program shall seek to improve the assessment of fire weather and fire environments, the understanding and prediction of wildfires, and the communications regarding such assessments with State and local emergency officials in a timely and streamlined fashion, with a focus on improving the following:
The prediction of ignition, intensification and spread of wildfires.
The observation and monitoring of fire weather and fire environments.
The forecast and communication of smoke dispersion from wildfires.
Information dissemination and risk communication to develop more effective watch and warning products relating to wildfires.
The early detection of wildfires, including pre-ignition analysis and ground condition characterizations.
The development, testing, and deployment of novel tools and techniques related to understanding, monitoring, and predicting fire weather and fire environments.
The understanding and association of climate change and its impacts on fire weather and fire environments.
The unique characteristics, including observation or modeling requirements, related to fires at the wildland-urban interface.
The forecasting and understanding of the impacts of prescribed burns (as such term is defined in section 2 of the Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 551c–1 note)).
Collaboration with stakeholders— In developing the Program required under this section, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall solicit and take into consideration input from the weather industry, such academic entities as the Administrator considers appropriate, and other relevant stakeholders.
Activities— To achieve the goals specified in subsection (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may conduct research, development, testing, demonstration, and operational transition activities related to fire weather and fire environments, including regarding the following:
Tools and services to inform, support, and complement active land management, local emergency personnel, the United States Forest Service, and State, local, and Tribal entities during their response and mitigation efforts.
Sensing technologies, such as infrared, microwave, and active sensors suitable for potential deployment on spacecraft, aircraft, and unmanned aircraft systems, to improve the monitoring and forecasting of fire fuel and active wildfires, wildfire behavior models and forecasts, mapping efforts, and the prediction of wildfires and the impacts of such.
Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel moisture and danger levels.
Social and behavior sciences related to fire weather and fire environment warning products.
Advanced satellite detection products coupled with atmosphere and fire weather modeling systems.
Education and training to expand the number of students and researchers in areas of study and research related to wildfires, fire weather, and fire environments.
Modeling systems to link long-term climate predictions to localized or general land management decisions.
Communication and outreach to communities, energy utilities, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders regarding fire weather and fire environment risk.
Stewardship and dissemination, to the extent practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientific data and related products and services in formats meeting shared standards to enhance the interoperability, usability, and accessibility of such data in order to better meet the needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other Federal agencies, and relevant stakeholders.
Improvement of spatial and temporal resolution observations.
Any other topic or activity the Administrator determines relevant.
Novel tools for monitoring and prediction— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the heads of the agencies specified in section 3, or other appropriate stakeholders, including commercial partners, shall develop novel tools and technologies to support the activities of the Program and which may be applied to broader wildland fire research, monitoring, and mitigation activities, as practicable and appropriate.
Extramural research— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall collaborate with and support the non-Federal wildland fire research community, which includes institutions of higher education, private sector entities, nongovernmental organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, by making funds available through competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
Commercial data—
In general— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the heads of other Federal agencies and relevant stakeholders, may enter into contracts with one or more private sector entities to obtain additional airborne and space-based data and observations that may enhance or supplement the understanding, monitoring, and prediction, of fire weather and fire environments, and the relevant Program activities under this section.
Consultation— In carrying out activities under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall consult with private sector entities through the National Advisory Committee on Wildfires under section 4 to identify needed tools and data that can be best provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites and are most beneficial to wildfire and smoke detection and monitoring.
Nonduplication— To the maximum extent practicable, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall consult with the National Interagency Fire Center, including the Joint Fire Science Program, to avoid duplication of activities under this section and ensure the Administration’s focus on unique research activities best suited for transition to operations.
Unmanned aircraft systems—
In general— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall—
assess the role and potential benefits of unmanned aircraft systems to improve data collection in support of fire weather and fire environment modeling, meteorological observations, predictions, and forecasts;
identify objectives for testing such systems’ use for obtaining fire weather and fire environment observations, and other relevant activities; and
transition unmanned aircraft systems technologies from research to operations as the Administrator considers appropriate.
Briefing— Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the activities under paragraph (1).
Pilot programs— Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may conduct pilot programs of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather and fire environment observations, including relating to the following:
Testing of unmanned aircraft systems in approximations of real-world scenarios.
Assessment of the utility of meteorological data collected from fire response and assessment aircraft.
Input into appropriate models of collected data to predict fire behavior, including coupled atmosphere and fire models.
Collection of best management practices for deployment of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather and fire environment observations.
Prohibition—
In general— Except as provided under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may not procure any unmanned aircraft system that is manufactured or assembled by an entity in a foreign country of concern.
Exemption— The prohibition under subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if the Administrator determines, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, that the procurement of an unmanned aircraft system is necessary for the sole purpose of marine or atmospheric science or management.
Waiver— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may waive the prohibition under subparagraph (A) on a case-by-case basis—
with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security; and
upon written or electronic notification to appropriate committees of Congress not later than 30 days after any such waiver.
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Airspace operations system— The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in cooperation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall utilize the capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems as appropriate for fire weather and fire environment observations, and may use a wildfire airspace operations system that accounts for piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, and other new and emerging capabilities after such airspace operations system is developed and determined ready for operational use by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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was (10)(6)
Authorization of appropriations— From amounts made available for Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section.
Definitions— In this section:
Appropriate committees of Congress— The term “appropriate committees of Congress” means the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
Critical infrastructure— The term “critical infrastructure” has the meaning given such term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
Foreign country of concern— The term “foreign country of concern” has the meaning given such term in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651).
Institution of higher education— The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
Unmanned aircraft system— The term “unmanned aircraft system” has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of title 49, United States Code.
Weather industry— The term “weather industry” has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501).
Sec. 6 Incident meteorologist workforce
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Workforce and training assessment— Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 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 the results of an assessment of National Weather Service workforce and training challenges for Incident Meteorologists, and a roadmap for overcoming such challenges. Such assessment shall take into consideration information technology support, logistical and administrative operations, anticipated weather and climate conditions, and feedback from relevant stakeholders, and shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, an identification by the National Weather Service of the following:
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Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 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 the results of an assessment of National Weather Service workforce and training challenges for Incident Meteorologists, and a roadmap for overcoming such challenges. Such assessment shall take into consideration information technology support, logistical and administrative operations, anticipated weather and climate conditions, and feedback from relevant stakeholders, and shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, an identification by the National Weather Service of the following:
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was (3)
The expected number of Incident Meteorologists needed over the next five years.
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was (4)
Potential hiring authorities necessary to overcome any identified workforce and training challenges.
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was (5)
Alternative services or assistance options the National Weather Service could provide to meet operational needs.
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Overtime pay—
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In general— Any premium pay for services performed by Incident Meteorologists of the National Weather Service that are determined by the Secretary of Commerce to be primarily related to emergency wildland fire suppression activities shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of such employee’s basic pay and premium pay for purposes of a limitation under section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, or under any other provision of law.
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Rates— Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, the National Weather Service,” after “Interior”.
Sec. 7 Research on wildland fire communications and information dissemination
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In general—
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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:
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Public safety communication coordination standards among Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildland firefighters, fire management response officials, and member agencies.
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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.
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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).
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Recommendations—
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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.
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In this Act:
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Fire environment— The term “fire environment” means—
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Transmittal— The Director shall transmit the environmental conditions, such as soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, atmospheric temperature, moisture, recommendations under paragraph (1) to the Office of Management and wind, that influence—Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy for member agencies to implement.
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Reporting requirements—
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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).
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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.
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fuel and fire behavior; and
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smoke dispersion and transport; and
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the associated environmental impacts occurring during and after fire events.
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Fire weather—Funding— The term “fire weather” means the weather conditions that influence From amounts made available to the start, spread, character, or behavior National Institute of wildfires or fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 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 Standards and mixing heights.Technology, the Director shall allocate $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.
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Definitions— In this section:
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Director— The term Director means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
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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.
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Wildland firefighter— The term wildland firefighter means any person who participates in wildland firefighting activities.
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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.
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Technology manufacturers— The term technology manufacturers means private sector entities that manufacture communications technologies used by Federal, State, Tribal, or local wildland fire authorities.
Sec. 8 Definitions
addedadded In this Act:
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Fire environment— The term “fire environment” means—
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the environmental conditions, such as soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, that influence—
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fuel and fire behavior; and
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smoke dispersion and transport; and
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the associated environmental impacts occurring during and after fire events.
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Fire weather— The term “fire weather” means the weather conditions that influence the start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 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.