[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2909 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2909

To establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned 
  aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2015

   Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Peters, Mr. Stewart, Mr. 
  Gosar, Mr. Salmon, and Ms. McSally) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
 Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and 
 Natural Resources, 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 establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned 
  aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, 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 ``Protecting Firefighters and 
Promoting Innovation Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 
              SYSTEMS FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING.

    (a) 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.
    (b) Members.--The working group established under subsection (a) 
shall include--
            (1) the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration and the Secretary of the Interior, who shall 
        serve as co-chairs of the working group;
            (2) one representative, selected by the co-chairs, with 
        wildland firefighting experience from each of--
                    (A) a State firefighting agency;
                    (B) a local firefighting agency; and
                    (C) a volunteer firefighting agency; and
            (3) at least one senior-level representative from each of--
                    (A) the Department of Agriculture;
                    (B) the National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration;
                    (C) the National Guard Bureau;
                    (D) the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
                    (E) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration.
    (c) Functions.--The working group established under subsection (a) 
shall carry out functions including the following:
            (1) 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--
                    (A) assist in fire suppression;
                    (B) provide real-time updates for firefighters; and
                    (C) reduce the risk of firefighter fatalities due 
                to wildland firefighting and to aircraft accidents 
                related to wildland firefighting.
            (2) 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.
            (3) Assessing opportunities to improve interagency 
        coordination with respect to the use of unmanned aircraft 
        systems for wildland firefighting.
            (4) With respect to the use of unmanned aircraft systems 
        for wildland firefighting, assessing--
                    (A) the efficacy of current technology; and
                    (B) the potential efficacy of emerging technology.
            (5) 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.
    (d) 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--
            (1) the standards and best practices developed under 
        paragraph (1) of subsection (c);
            (2) a summary of the assessments under paragraphs (2), (3), 
        (4), and (5) of such subsection; and
            (3) any recommendations with respect to the use of unmanned 
        aircraft systems for wildland firefighting.
    (e) 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).
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