[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2290 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 712
115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2290

      To improve wildfire management operations and the safety of 
    firefighters and communities with the best available technology.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 10, 2018

  Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Mr. Gardner) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

                            December 4, 2018

              Reported by Ms. Murkowski, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To improve wildfire management operations and the safety of 
    firefighters and communities with the best available technology.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire 
Management Technology Advancement Act of 2018''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act 
is as follows:</DELETED>

<DELETED>Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
<DELETED>Sec. 2. Purpose.
<DELETED>Sec. 3. Definitions.
<DELETED>Sec. 4. Unmanned aircraft systems.
<DELETED>Sec. 5. Location systems for wildland firefighters.
<DELETED>Sec. 6. Fire risk maps.
<DELETED>Sec. 7. Real-time warnings.
<DELETED>Sec. 8. Smoke projections from active wildland fires.
<DELETED>Sec. 9. Reverse-911 telecommunications systems.
<DELETED>Sec. 10. Firefighter injuries database.
<DELETED>Sec. 11. Rapid response erosion database.
<DELETED>Sec. 12. Research for effectiveness and standards.
<DELETED>Sec. 13. Predicting where wildfires will start.
<DELETED>Sec. 14. Study on aircraft operating at night.
<DELETED>Sec. 15. Termination of authority.

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PURPOSE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The purpose of this Act is to build on the successes of 
the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and National Cohesive Fire 
Strategy established pursuant to section 503 of the FLAME Act of 2009 
(43 U.S.C. 1748b) (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment 
of this Act), as necessary to protect the safety of firefighters and 
communities from wildfires on public land and National Forest System 
land created from the public domain, by--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) reducing the damages, particularly to houses, 
        from wildfires;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) preparing forests and communities for 
        wildfires;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) increasing the safety of firefighters; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) containing costs and increasing the 
        accountability of decisions relating to wildland 
        fires.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    In this Act:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Burn severity map.--The term ``burn severity 
        map'' means a map created by the Secretary concerned that 
        depicts the changes in land-cover and soil properties caused by 
        a wildland fire.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the Secretary of the Interior; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the Secretary of 
                Agriculture.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary 
        concerned'' means--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with 
                respect to activities under the Department of the 
                Interior; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with 
                respect to activities under the Department of 
                Agriculture.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Wildfire.--The term ``wildfire'' means any 
        nonstructure fire, other than a prescribed fire, occurring in 
        vegetation or natural fuels on--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) public land; or</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) National Forest System land created 
                from the public domain.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Wildland-urban interface.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--The term ``wildland-urban 
                interface'' has the meaning given the term in section 
                101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
                U.S.C. 6511).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``wildland-urban 
                interface'' does not include--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) any forest reserve not created 
                        from the public domain; or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) any national grassland or 
                        land utilization project administered under 
                        title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act 
                        (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.).</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Restricted airspace.--The term ``restricted 
        airspace'' means an area for which the Administrator of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration has established a temporary 
        flight restriction for a wildland fire.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Unmanned aircraft; unmanned aircraft system.--
        The terms ``unmanned aircraft'' and ``unmanned aircraft 
        system'' have the meaning given those terms in section 331 of 
        the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-
        95; 49 U.S.C. 40101 note).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Official Use.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Authorization.--Subject to paragraph (4), 
        Federal and State wildland firefighting agencies (including 
        designees of the agencies) may operate unmanned aircraft 
        systems in managing wildland fires.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Development of protocols and plans.--Subject 
        to the availability of appropriations, not later than March 1, 
        2019, Federal wildland firefighting agencies, in coordination 
        with State wildland firefighting agencies, shall develop 
        protocols and plans for the use of unmanned aircraft systems 
        for surveillance, initial and extended attack, and incident 
        management team use, as appropriate, including for the 
        development of real-time maps of the location of wildland 
        fires.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Deadline.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, not later than May 1, 2020, and in accordance 
        with the protocols and plans developed under paragraph (2), the 
        Secretaries shall begin to equip firefighting personnel with 
        unmanned aircraft systems to develop real-time maps, detect 
        spot fires, assess fire behavior, develop tactical and 
        strategic firefighting plans, position fire resources, and 
        enhance firefighter safety.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Limitation on operation.--Unmanned aircraft 
        may only be operated under this section in accordance with 
        regulations and other authorities of the Administrator of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Unofficial Use.--Not later than May 1, 2018, the 
Secretaries, in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, 
shall seek to reduce the number of conflicts between personal-use 
unmanned aircraft and wildland fire operations by--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) enhancing public awareness of the potential 
        for those conflicts;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) establishing a protocol to notify a user of an 
        unmanned aircraft system operating within or adjacent to 
        restricted airspace;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) employing a system to ground an unmanned 
        aircraft that is operating within restricted airspace; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) encouraging the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration to enforce penalties available under 
        section 46320 of title 49, United States Code, when a user 
        operates an unmanned aircraft system in a restricted 
        airspace.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. LOCATION SYSTEMS FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, not later than March 1, 2019, the Secretaries shall 
jointly develop and operate a tracking system (referred to in this 
section as the ``system'') to remotely locate the positions of fire 
resources assigned to Federal Type 1 Wildland Fire Incident Management 
Teams.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Requirements.--The system shall--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) use technology available to the Secretaries to 
        remotely track the location of an active resource, such as a 
        Global Positioning System;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) depict the location of each fire resource on 
        the maps developed under section 4(b)(2); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) operate continuously during the period any 
        firefighting personnel are assigned to the applicable Federal 
        wildland fire.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Operation.--The Secretary concerned shall--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) operate the system during a wildland fire to 
        increase--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the safety of employees, officers, and 
                contractors; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the effectiveness of the management of 
                the wildland fire; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) conduct training and maintain a culture such 
        that an employee, officer, or contractor shall not rely on the 
        system for safety.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 6. FIRE RISK MAPS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretaries, in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, 
may assist a State, unit of local government, or nongovernmental 
organization that is seeking technical or financial support to develop 
or refine maps, at a scale and resolution to be useful for local 
governments, that depict the relative risk of wildfires for land in the 
wildland-urban interface.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 7. REAL-TIME WARNINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Wildland Fire Protocol.--The Secretaries shall ensure 
that the activities conducted by the Secretaries relating to wildland 
fire safely achieve reasonable objectives while minimizing firefighter 
exposure to the lowest level necessary to accomplish those 
objectives.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Wildfire Decision Support System.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--The Secretaries shall establish a 
        system to track and monitor decisions made when managing a 
        wildfire.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Components of the system.--The system 
        established under paragraph (1) shall be able to alert the 
        Secretaries if--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) unusual costs are incurred;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) an action is undertaken that would 
                likely endanger the safety of a firefighter; 
                or</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) a decision regarding the management of 
                a wildfire deviates from--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) a protocol established by the 
                        Secretaries, including the requirement under 
                        subsection (a); or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) a spatial fire management 
                        plan or fire management plan of the Secretary 
                        concerned.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 8. SMOKE PROJECTIONS FROM ACTIVE WILDLAND 
              FIRES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--The Secretaries shall establish a 
program, to be known as the ``Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality 
Response Program'', under which the Secretary concerned--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) to the maximum extent practicable, shall 
        assign a team of air resource advisors to a type 1 incident 
        management team managing a wildland fire; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) may assign a team of air resource advisors to 
        a type 2 incident management team managing a wildland 
        fire.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Duty.--An air resource advisor assigned under 
subsection (a) shall use a model to project--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) how much smoke will be generated from the 
        wildland fire; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) where the impacts of the smoke will 
        occur.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Public Dissemination.--At least once each day, the 
Secretaries shall make available to the public the projections 
generated under subsection (b).</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 9. REVERSE-911 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (referred to in this section as the 
``Administrator'') may use funds appropriated for the emergency 
management performance grant program under section 662 of the Post-
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 762) to make 
grants to States to provide funding to communities on the list of at-
risk communities developed pursuant to title IV of the Department of 
the Interior and Related Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-291; 
114 Stat. 1006) (referred to in this section as ``at-risk 
communities'') for the cost-shared installation of a reverse-911 
system.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Non-Federal Share.--The non-Federal share of the cost 
of installing a reverse-911 system using a grant under this section 
shall be 50 percent.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Outcome-Based Performance Measure.--Beginning in 
fiscal year 2019, as part of the budget submission of the President, 
the Administrator shall report the percentage of at-risk communities 
that possess a reverse-911 system.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 10. FIREFIGHTER INJURIES DATABASE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Section 9(a) of the Federal Fire 
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208(a)) is amended--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, categorized 
        by the type of fire'' after ``such injuries and 
        deaths'';</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``activities;'' 
        and inserting ``activities, including--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) all injuries sustained by a 
                firefighter and treated by a doctor, categorized by the 
                type of firefighter;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) all deaths sustained while 
                undergoing a pack test or while preparing for a work 
                capacity;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) all injuries or deaths resulting 
                from vehicle accidents; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) all injuries or deaths resulting 
                from aircraft crashes;'';</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' after 
        the semicolon at the end;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph 
        (10); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 
        following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(8) the total costs incurred in the management 
        of each wildland fire managed by a Type 1 or 2 Incident 
        Management Team;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(9) the total number of structures lost during 
        wildfires; and''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Use of Existing Data Gathering and Analysis 
Organizations.--Section 9(b)(3) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208(b)(3)) is amended by inserting ``, 
including the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety 
Trends'' after ``public and private''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--Section 9 of the 
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(e) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--The collection, 
storage, and transfer of any medical data collected under this section 
shall be conducted in accordance with--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) the privacy regulations promulgated under 
        section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and 
        Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note; Public Law 
        104-191); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) other applicable regulations, including 
        parts 160, 162, and 164 of title 45, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 
        subsection).''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 11. RAPID RESPONSE EROSION DATABASE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
shall establish and maintain a database, to be known as the ``Rapid 
Response Erosion Database'' (referred to in this section as the 
``Database'').</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Open-Source Database.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Availability.--The Secretaries shall make the 
        Database (including the original source code)--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) web-based; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) available without charge.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Components.--The Database shall provide for--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the automatic incorporation into a 
                burn severity map of spatial data relating to 
                vegetation, soils, and elevation; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the generation of a composite map that 
                can be used by the Secretary concerned to model the 
                effectiveness of treatments in the burned area to 
                prevent flooding, erosion, and landslides under a range 
                of weather scenarios.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Use.--The Secretary concerned shall use, to the 
maximum extent practicable, the Database in developing recommendations 
for emergency stabilization treatments or modifications to drainage 
structures to protect values-at-risk following a large wildland 
fire.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 12. RESEARCH FOR EFFECTIVENESS AND STANDARDS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--To assess the effectiveness of fire 
protection strategies, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), shall--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) establish a national team to collect data 
        following wildfires in the wildland-urban interface; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) implement a research plan to link economic 
        outcomes with wildfire mitigation actions by--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) understanding the relative 
                contribution of fuels configuration, weather, and 
                terrain;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) quantifying the cost of providing the 
                current level of fire protection;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) understanding the losses resulting 
                from wildfires in the wildland-urban interface; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) using performance metrics to assess 
                the effectiveness of current designs, materials, and 
                technologies.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Response-Time Threshold.--The Secretary shall develop 
optimal time-to-response standards for a firefighting agency to reach a 
wildfire in the wildland-urban interface.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Coordination; Partnerships.--In carrying out this 
section, the Secretary shall--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) coordinate with the Secretaries; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) partner with administrators of firefighting 
        agencies that protect communities from wildfires.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 13. PREDICTING WHERE WILDFIRES WILL START.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
acting through the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the 
Secretary of Energy, through the capabilities and assets located at the 
National Laboratories, shall establish and maintain a system to predict 
the locations of future wildfires for fire-prone areas of the United 
States, to be known as the ``Fire Danger Assessment System'' (referred 
to in this section as the ``System'').</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Components.--The System shall use a combination of 
soil moisture levels, precipitation patterns, topography, fuels growth 
and availability, ignition risks, and temperatures to calculate 
probabilities of wildfires igniting or burning in fire-prone areas of 
the United States.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Use.--Not later than May 1, 2019, the Secretaries 
shall use the System for purposes of developing any wildland fire 
potential forecasts.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 14. STUDY ON AIRCRAFT OPERATING AT NIGHT.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Study.--Not later than September 30, 2019, the 
Secretaries shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of 
operating aircraft at night when managing wildland fires.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Partnerships.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Center of 
Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 15. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The authority provided by this Act terminates on the date 
that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire Management Technology 
Advancement Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to promote the use of the best available 
technology to enhance the effective and cost-efficient response to 
wildfires--
            (1) to meet applicable protection objectives; and
            (2) to increase the safety of--
                    (A) firefighters; and
                    (B) the public.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and
                    (B) the Secretary of the Interior.
            (2) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                activities under the Department of Agriculture; and
                    (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                activities under the Department of the Interior.

SEC. 4. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``unmanned aircraft'' 
and ``unmanned aircraft system'' have the meanings given those terms in 
section 331 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 
40101 note; Public Law 112-95).
    (b) Establishment of Program.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish a 
research, development, and testing program, or expand an applicable 
existing program, to assess unmanned aircraft system technologies, 
including optionally piloted aircraft, across the full range of 
wildland fire management operations in order to accelerate the 
deployment and integration of those technologies into the operations of 
the Secretaries.
    (c) Expanding Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems on Wildfires.--Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretaries, in coordination with State wildland firefighting agencies 
and other relevant Federal agencies, shall enter into an agreement 
under which the Secretaries shall develop consistent protocols and 
plans for the use on wildland fires of unmanned aircraft system 
technologies, including for the development of real-time maps of the 
location of wildland fires.

SEC. 5. LOCATION SYSTEMS FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretaries, in coordination with State wildland firefighting agencies, 
shall jointly develop and operate a tracking system (referred to in 
this section as the ``system'') to remotely locate the positions of 
fire resources, including, at a minimum, any fire resources assigned to 
Federal type 1 wildland fire incident management teams.
    (b) Requirements.--The system shall--
            (1) use technology available to the Secretaries to remotely 
        track the location of an active resource, such as a Global 
        Positioning System;
            (2) depict the location of each fire resource on the 
        applicable maps developed under section 4(c); and
            (3) operate continuously during the period for which any 
        firefighting personnel are assigned to the applicable Federal 
        wildland fire.
    (c) Operation.--The Secretary concerned shall--
            (1) before commencing operation of the system--
                    (A) conduct not fewer than 2 pilot projects 
                relating to the system; and
                    (B) review the results of those pilot projects; and
            (2) conduct training, and maintain a culture, such that an 
        employee, officer, or contractor shall not rely on the system 
        for safety.

SEC. 6. WILDLAND FIRE DECISION SUPPORT.

    (a) Protocol.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretaries 
shall ensure that wildland fire management activities conducted by the 
Secretaries, or conducted jointly by the Secretaries and State wildland 
firefighting agencies, achieve compliance with applicable incident 
management objectives in a manner that--
            (1) minimizes firefighter exposure to the lowest level 
        necessary; and
            (2) reduces overall costs of wildfire incidents.
    (b) Wildfire Decision Support System.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretaries, in coordination with 
        State wildland firefighting agencies, shall establish a system 
        to track and monitor decisions made by the Secretaries or State 
        wildland firefighting agencies in managing wildfires.
            (2) Components.--The system established under paragraph (1) 
        shall be able to alert the Secretaries if--
                    (A) unusual costs are incurred;
                    (B) an action to be carried out would likely--
                            (i) endanger the safety of a firefighter; 
                        or
                            (ii) be ineffective in meeting an 
                        applicable suppression or protection goal; or
                    (C) a decision regarding the management of a 
                wildfire deviates from--
                            (i) an applicable protocol established by 
                        the Secretaries, including the requirement 
                        under subsection (a); or
                            (ii) an applicable spatial fire management 
                        plan or fire management plan of the Secretary 
                        concerned.

SEC. 7. SMOKE PROJECTIONS FROM ACTIVE WILDLAND FIRES.

    The Secretaries shall establish a program, to be known as the 
``Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program'', under which 
the Secretary concerned--
            (1) to the maximum extent practicable, shall assign a team 
        of air resource advisors to a type 1 incident management team 
        managing a wildland fire; and
            (2) may assign a team of air resource advisors to a type 2 
        incident management team managing a wildland fire.

SEC. 8. FIREFIGHTER INJURIES DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--Section 9(a) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, categorized by the 
        type of fire'' after ``such injuries and deaths''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``activities;'' and 
        inserting the following: ``activities, including--
                    ``(A) all injuries sustained by a firefighter and 
                treated by a doctor, categorized by the type of 
                firefighter;
                    ``(B) all deaths sustained while undergoing a pack 
                test or preparing for a work capacity;
                    ``(C) all injuries or deaths resulting from vehicle 
                accidents; and
                    ``(D) all injuries or deaths resulting from 
                aircraft crashes;''.
    (b) Use of Existing Data Gathering and Analysis Organizations.--
Section 9(b)(3) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2208(b)(3)) is amended, by inserting ``, including the 
Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends'' after 
``public and private''.
    (c) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--Section 9 of the Federal Fire 
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--The collection, storage, 
and transfer of any medical data collected under this section shall be 
conducted in accordance with--
            ``(1) the privacy regulations promulgated under section 
        264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
        Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note; Public Law 104-191); and
            ``(2) other applicable regulations, including parts 160, 
        162, and 164 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 
        effect on the date of enactment of this subsection).''.

SEC. 9. RAPID RESPONSE EROSION DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in consultation with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
shall establish and maintain a database, to be known as the ``Rapid 
Response Erosion Database'' (referred to in this section as the 
``Database'').
    (b) Open-source Database.--
            (1) Availability.--The Secretaries shall make the Database 
        (including the original source code)--
                    (A) web-based; and
                    (B) available without charge.
            (2) Components.--The Database shall provide for--
                    (A) the automatic incorporation of spatial data 
                relating to vegetation, soils, and elevation into an 
                applicable map created by the Secretary concerned that 
                depicts the changes in land-cover and soil properties 
                caused by a wildland fire; and
                    (B) the generation of a composite map that can be 
                used by the Secretary concerned to model the 
                effectiveness of treatments in the burned area to 
                prevent flooding, erosion, and landslides under a range 
                of weather scenarios.
    (c) Use.--The Secretary concerned shall use the Database, as 
applicable, in developing recommendations for emergency stabilization 
treatments or modifications to drainage structures to protect values-
at-risk following a wildland fire.
    (d) Coordination.--The Secretaries may share the Database, and any 
results generated in using the Database, with any State or unit of 
local government.

SEC. 10. PREDICTING WHERE WILDFIRES WILL START.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in consultation with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and 
the Secretary of Energy, through the capabilities and assets located at 
the National Laboratories, shall establish and maintain a system to 
predict the locations of future wildfires for fire-prone areas of the 
United States.
    (b) Cooperation; Components.--The system established under 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) be based on, and enhance, similar systems in existence 
        on the date of enactment of this Act, including the Fire Danger 
        Assessment System; and
            (2) use a combination of soil moisture levels, 
        precipitation patterns, topography, fuels growth and 
        availability, ignition risks, and temperatures to calculate 
        probabilities of wildfires igniting or burning in fire-prone 
        areas of the United States.
    (c) Use in Forecasts.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall use the system established 
under subsection (a), to the maximum extent practicable, for purposes 
of developing any wildland fire potential forecasts.
    (d) Coordination.--The Secretaries may share the system established 
under subsection (a), and any results generated in using the system, 
with any State or unit of local government.

SEC. 11. STUDY ON AIRCRAFT OPERATING AT NIGHT.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretaries shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of 
operating aircraft at night when managing wildland fires.
    (b) Partnerships.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), 
the Secretaries may enter into a partnership with any State center of 
excellence with experience relating to aerial firefighting.

SEC. 12. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

    The authority provided by this Act terminates on the date that is 
10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                                       Calendar No. 712

115th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2290

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

      To improve wildfire management operations and the safety of 
    firefighters and communities with the best available technology.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            December 4, 2018

                       Reported with an amendment