[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4274

 To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 19 (legislative day, May 17), 2022

   Mr. Lujan (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. 
 Feinstein, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Heinrich, and Ms. Smith) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, 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 ``National Wildland Fire Risk 
Reduction Program Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
            (2) Fire environment.--The term ``fire environment'' 
        means--
                    (A) the environmental conditions, such as soil 
                moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, atmospheric 
                temperature, moisture, and wind, that influence--
                            (i) fuel and fire behavior; and
                            (ii) smoke dispersion and transport; and
                    (B) the associated environmental impacts occurring 
                during and after fire events.
            (3) Fireground.--The term ``fireground'' means the 
        operational area at the scene of a fire controlled by an 
        incident command system.
            (4) Fire weather.--The term ``fire weather'' means any type 
        of weather conditions that influence the start, spread, 
        character, or behavior of wildfire or fires at the wildland-
        urban interface and all associated 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.
            (5) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (6) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the National 
        Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program established under section 
        3.
            (7) Program agencies.--The term ``Program agencies'' means 
        any Federal agency with responsibilities under the Program.
            (8) Stakeholders.--The term ``stakeholders'' means any 
        public or private organization engaged in addressing wildland 
        fires, associated smoke, and their impacts, including relevant 
        Federal agencies, States, territories, Tribes, local 
        governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations (including 
        national standards and building code organizations), 
        firefighting departments and organizations, institutions of 
        higher education, National Laboratories, scientific 
        disciplinary societies, professional associations, and other 
        users of wildland fire data products.
            (9) Wildland fire.--The term ``wildland fire'' means any 
        nonstructure fire that occurs in vegetation or natural fuels 
        and includes wildfires originating from an unplanned ignition 
        and prescribed fires.
            (10) Wildland-urban interface.--The term ``Wildland-Urban 
        Interface'' has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 
        Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 
        2203).

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Required.--The President shall establish a program to 
achieve major measurable reductions in the losses of life, property, 
and natural resources from wildland fires through a coordinated Federal 
effort--
            (1) to improve the assessment of fire environments and the 
        understanding and prediction of wildland fires, associated 
        smoke, and their impacts, including--
                    (A) at the wildland-urban interface;
                    (B) on communities, buildings, and other 
                infrastructure;
                    (C) on ecosystem services and watersheds; and
                    (D) social and economic impacts;
            (2) to develop and encourage the adoption of science-based 
        and cost-effective measures to enhance community resilience to 
        wildland fires, to address and mitigate wildland fire and 
        associated smoke impacts, and to restore natural fire regimes 
        in fire-dependent ecosystems; and
            (3) to improve the understanding and mitigation of the 
        effects of climate change, drought, and climate variability on 
        wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity, and to inform 
        paragraphs (1) and (2).
    (b) Designation.--The program established under subsection (a) 
shall be known as the ``National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction 
Program''.

SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    The Program shall consist of the activities described under section 
8, which shall be designed--
            (1) to support research and development, including 
        interdisciplinary research, related to fire environments, 
        wildland fires, associated smoke, and their impacts, in 
        furtherance of a coordinated interagency effort to address 
        wildland fire risk reduction;
            (2) to support data management and stewardship, the 
        development and coordination of data systems and computational 
        tools, and the creation of a centralized, integrated data 
        collaboration environment for Program agency data to accelerate 
        the understanding of fire environments, wildland fires, 
        associated smoke, and their impacts, and the benefits of 
        wildland fire risk mitigation measures;
            (3) to support the development of tools and technologies, 
        including decision support tools and risk and hazard maps, to 
        improve understanding, monitoring, and prediction of wildland 
        fires and associated smoke and mitigation of their negative 
        impacts;
            (4) to support research and development activities to 
        improve data, tools, and technologies that directly inform, 
        support, and complement active land management, forest and 
        habitat restoration, and healthy ecosystem practices executed 
        by relevant Federal agencies and State, local, territorial, and 
        Tribal entities;
            (5) to support education and training to expand the number 
        of students and researchers in areas of study and research 
        related to wildland fires;
            (6) to accelerate the translation of research related to 
        wildland fires and associated smoke into operations to reduce 
        harm to communities, buildings, other infrastructure, and 
        ecosystem services;
            (7) to conduct communication and outreach regarding 
        wildland fire science and wildland fire risk mitigation to 
        communities, energy utilities and operators of other critical 
        infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders;
            (8) to support research and development projects funded 
        under joint solicitations or through memoranda of understanding 
        between not fewer than 2 agencies participating in the Program; 
        and
            (9) to disseminate, to the extent practicable, scientific 
        data and related products and services in formats meeting 
        shared standards to enhance the interoperability, usability, 
        and accessibility of Program agency data, including data under 
        paragraph (2), in order to better meet the needs of Program 
        agencies, other Federal agencies, and relevant stakeholders.

SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON WILDLAND FIRE RISK 
              REDUCTION.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish an 
        interagency coordinating committee for the Program.
            (2) Designation.--The interagency coordinating committee 
        established under paragraph (1) shall known as the 
        ``Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildland Fire Risk 
        Reduction'' (in this section the ``Committee'').
    (b) Membership.--The Committee shall be composed of the following, 
or their designees:
            (1) The Director.
            (2) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
        Policy.
            (3) The Director of the National Science Foundation.
            (4) The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration.
            (5) The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
        Agency.
            (6) The Administrator of the United States Fire 
        Administration.
            (7) The Chief of the Forest Service.
            (8) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration.
            (9) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency.
            (10) The Secretary of Energy.
            (11) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
            (12) The Secretary of the Interior.
            (13) The Director of United States Geological Survey.
            (14) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
            (15) The Secretary of Defense.
            (16) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
            (17) The Director of the National Institute of Food and 
        Agriculture.
            (18) The head of any other Federal agency that the Director 
        considers appropriate.
    (c) Meetings.--The members of the Committee shall meet not less 
than twice each year for the first 2 years of the Committee and then 
not less frequently than once each year thereafter at the call of the 
Director.
    (d) Chairpersons.--The Director and the Director of the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy or their designees shall be co-
chairpersons of the Committee.
    (e) General Purpose and Duties.--The Committee shall oversee the 
planning, management, and coordination of the Program and solicit 
stakeholder input on Program goals.
    (f) Strategic Plan.--
            (1) In general.--The Committee shall develop and submit to 
        Congress, not later than 2 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, a strategic plan for the Program.
            (2) Contents.--The strategic plan developed and submitted 
        under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) Prioritized goals for the Program, consistent 
                with the purposes of the Program as described in 
                section 3(a).
                    (B) Short-term, mid-term, and long-term research 
                and development objectives to achieve those goals.
                    (C) A description of the role of each Program 
                agency in achieving the prioritized goals.
                    (D) A description of how the Committee will foster 
                collaboration between and among the Program agencies 
                and other Federal agencies to help meet the goals of 
                the Program.
                    (E) The methods by which progress toward the goals 
                will be assessed.
                    (F) An explanation of how the Program will foster 
                the translation of research into measurable reductions 
                in the losses of life, property, and ecosystem services 
                from wildland fires, including recommended outcomes and 
                metrics for each program goal and how operational 
                Program agencies will transition demonstrated 
                technologies and research findings into decision 
                support tools and operations.
                    (G) A description of the research infrastructure, 
                including databases and computational tools, needed to 
                accomplish the research and development objectives 
                outlined in subparagraph (B), a description of how 
                research infrastructure in existence at the time of the 
                development of the plan will be used to meet the 
                objectives, an explanation of how new research 
                infrastructure will be developed to meet the 
                objectives, and a description of how the Program will 
                implement the integrated data collaboration environment 
                per section 4(2).
                    (H) A description of how Program agencies will 
                collaborate with stakeholders and take into account 
                stakeholder needs and recommendations in developing 
                research and development objectives.
                    (I) Recommendations on the most effective means to 
                integrate the research results into wildland fire 
                preparedness and response actions across Federal, 
                State, local, Tribal, and territorial levels.
                    (J) Guidance on how the Committee's recommendations 
                are best used in climate adaptation planning for 
                Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
                entities.
                    (K) A nationally recognized, consensus-based 
                definition of wildland-urban interface and other key 
                terms and definitions relating to wildland fire, 
                developed in consideration of the meaning given such 
                term in section 4 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
                Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2203).
                    (L) A description of opportunities to support new 
                areas of research and development and new types of 
                collaborations that seek to optimize building and 
                landscape design across multiple resilience goals, 
                including resilience to wildland fires and other 
                natural hazards, energy efficiency, and environmental 
                sustainability.
            (3) Updates.--Not later than 6 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once every 4 
        years thereafter, the Committee shall update the strategic plan 
        developed under paragraph (1).
    (g) Coordination With Other Federal Efforts.--To the extent 
practicable, the Committee shall ensure that the activities of the 
Program are coordinated with, and not duplicative of, other relevant 
Federal initiatives and interagency bodies, as appropriate, including--
            (1) the Joint Fire Science Program;
            (2) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council;
            (3) the Wildland Fire Management Policy Committee;
            (4) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission;
            (5) the National Interagency Fire Center;
            (6) the National Interagency Coordination Center;
            (7) the National Predictive Services Oversight Group;
            (8) the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological 
        Services;
            (9) the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program;
            (10) the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group; and
            (11) the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group.
    (h) Assessment of Need for National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Committee shall assess--
                    (A) the need for a study, or a series of studies, 
                to be conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, 
                Engineering, and Medicine; and
                    (B) how such a study or studies could help identify 
                research areas for further study and inform research 
                objectives, including further research into the 
                interactions between climate change and wildland fires.
            (2) Briefing.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Committee shall brief the Committee 
        on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Space, Science, and Technology of the House of 
        Representatives and on the findings of the Committee with 
        respect to the assessment conducted under paragraph (1).
    (i) Progress Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 540 days after the date of 
        the submittal of the first strategic plan under subsection (f) 
        and not less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the 
        Committee shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of 
        the Program.
            (2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1) 
        shall include, for the period covered by the report, the 
        following:
                    (A) A description of the activities funded under 
                the Program, a description of how those activities 
                align with the prioritized goals and research 
                objectives established in the strategic plan under 
                subsection (f), and the budgets, per agency, for these 
                activities.
                    (B) The outcomes achieved by the Program for each 
                of the goals identified in the Strategic Plan.

SEC. 6. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Director shall establish an advisory 
        committee on wildland fire risk reduction.
            (2) Designation.--The committee established under paragraph 
        (1) shall be known as the ``National Advisory Committee on 
        Wildland Fire Risk Reduction'' (in this section referred to as 
        the ``Advisory Committee'').
    (b) Composition.--
            (1) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall be composed 
        of not fewer than 7 and not more than 15 members selected by 
        the Director from among those who the Director considers are 
        qualified to provide advice on wildland fire risk reduction and 
        represent related scientific, architectural, and engineering 
        disciplines, including the following:
                    (A) Representatives of research and academic 
                institutions.
                    (B) Standards development organizations.
                    (C) Emergency management agencies.
                    (D) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
                governments.
                    (E) Business communities.
                    (F) Such others as the Director considers 
                appropriate.
            (2) Limitation.--None of the members of the Advisory 
        Committee may be employees of the Federal Government.
    (c) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall carry out assessments and 
develop recommendations on--
            (1) trends and developments in the natural, engineering, 
        and social sciences and practices of wildfire risk mitigation;
            (2) the priorities of the Program's strategic plan 
        described in section 5(f);
            (3) the management, coordination, implementation, and 
        activities of the Program;
            (4) the effectiveness of the Program in meeting its 
        purposes; and
            (5) any need to revise the Program.
    (d) Compensation.--The members of the Advisory Committee shall 
serve without compensation.
    (e) Biennial Reports.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years, 
the Advisory Committee shall submit to the Director a report on the 
assessments carried out under subsection (b) and the recommendations 
developed under such subsection.
    (f) Charter.--Notwithstanding section 14(b)(2) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Advisory Committee shall 
not be required to file a charter subsequent to its initial charter, 
filed under section 9(c) of such Act, before the termination date 
specified in subsection (g) of this section.
    (g) Termination.--The Advisory Committee shall terminate on 
September 30, 2026.
    (h) Conflict of Interest.--An Advisory Committee member shall 
recuse themselves from any Advisory Committee activity in which they 
have an actual pecuniary interest.

SEC. 7. REVIEW BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

    Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) evaluate the progress and performance of the Program in 
        establishing and making progress toward the goals of the 
        Program as set forth in this Act;
            (2) develop such recommendations as the Comptroller General 
        determines are appropriate to improve the Program; and
            (3) submit to Congress a report on--
                    (A) the findings of the Comptroller General with 
                respect to the evaluation carried out under paragraph 
                (1); and
                    (B) such recommendations as the Comptroller General 
                may have developed under paragraph (2).

SEC. 8. RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION 
              PROGRAM AGENCIES.

    (a) Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology.--
            (1) Research and development activities.--The Director 
        shall--
                    (A) carry out research on the effect of wildland 
                fires on communities, buildings, and other 
                infrastructure, including structure-to-structure 
                transmission of fire and spread within communities;
                    (B) carry out research on the generation of 
                firebrands and firebrand showers in wildland fires and 
                on methods and materials to prevent or reduce firebrand 
                ignition of communities, buildings, and other 
                infrastructure;
                    (C) carry out research on novel materials, systems, 
                structures, and construction designs to harden 
                structures, parcels, and communities to the impact of 
                wildland fires;
                    (D) carry out research on the impact of 
                environmental factors on wildland fire behavior, 
                including wind, terrain, and moisture;
                    (E) support the development of performance-based 
                tools to mitigate the effect of wildland fires, and 
                work with appropriate groups to promote and assist in 
                the use of such tools, including through model building 
                codes and fire codes, standard test methods, voluntary 
                consensus standards, and construction and retrofit best 
                practices;
                    (F) in collaboration with the United States Fire 
                Administration, carry out research and development of 
                decontamination methods and technologies for 
                firefighting gear on and off the field;
                    (G) develop and execute a research plan on public 
                safety communication coordination standards among 
                Federal, State, local, territorial, and Tribal wildland 
                firefighters, fire management response officials, and 
                the National Interagency Fire Center;
                    (H) carry out research to improve and integrate 
                existing communications systems to transmit secure, 
                real-time data, alerts, and accurate advisories to 
                wildland firefighters;
                    (I) carry out both live and virtual field testing 
                and measurement of equipment, software, and other 
                technologies to determine current effectiveness and 
                timeliness of information dissemination and develop 
                standards and best practices for the delivery of useful 
                and secure real-time data to wildland firefighters; and
                    (J) develop and publish recommendations to improve 
                public safety communication coordination standards 
                among wildland firefighters and member agencies of the 
                National Interagency Fire Center, including providing 
                such recommendations to the Office of Budget and 
                Management and the Office of Science and Technology 
                Policy.
            (2) Wildland-urban interface fire post-investigations.--The 
        Director shall--
                    (A) coordinate Federal post-wildland fire 
                investigations of fires at the wildland-urban 
                interface; and
                    (B) develop methodologies, in coordination with the 
                Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
                Agency and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, 
                to characterize the effect of wildland fires on 
                communities and the impact of changes in building and 
                fire codes, including methodologies--
                            (i) for collecting, inventorying, and 
                        analyzing information on the performance of 
                        communities, buildings, and other 
                        infrastructure in wildland fires; and
                            (ii) for improved collection of pertinent 
                        information from different sources, including 
                        first responders, the design and construction 
                        industry, insurance companies, and building 
                        officials.
    (b) Director of the National Science Foundation.--
            (1) Research and development activities.--The Director of 
        the National Science Foundation shall support research and 
        development activities, including large-scale convergent 
        research--
                    (A) to improve the understanding and prediction of 
                wildland fire risks, including the conditions that 
                increase the likelihood of a wildland fire, the 
                behavior of wildland fires, and the impacts of wildland 
                fires on buildings, communities, infrastructure, 
                watersheds, ecosystems, and living systems;
                    (B) to develop and improve research infrastructure, 
                tools, and technologies, including sensors and sensor 
                networks, databases, and computational models, to 
                enable and accelerate the understanding and prediction 
                of wildland fires and their impacts;
                    (C) to improve the understanding of the impacts of 
                climate change, drought, and climate variability on 
                wildland fires, including wildland fire risk, 
                frequency, size, and severity;
                    (D) to improve the understanding of long-term 
                wildland fire management strategies, including natural 
                fire regimes, and wildland fire prediction, mitigation, 
                and resilience strategies; and
                    (E) to improve the understanding of--
                            (i) the response to wildland fire risk 
                        communications by individuals, communities, and 
                        policymakers;
                            (ii) economic, social, and other factors 
                        influencing the implementation and adoption of 
                        wildland fire risk reduction measures by 
                        individuals, communities, and policymakers; and
                            (iii) decision making regarding wildland 
                        fires and emergency response to wildland fires.
            (2) Wildland fire students and trainees.--The Director of 
        the National Science Foundation shall support undergraduate and 
        graduate research opportunities and graduate and postdoctoral 
        fellowships and traineeships in fields of study relevant to 
        wildland fires and their impacts.
    (c) Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.--
            (1) Research and development activities.--The Administrator 
        of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 
        support research and development activities, including 
        research, observations, modeling, forecasting, prediction, and 
        historical analysis of wildland fires and associated fire 
        weather and smoke--
                    (A) to improve understanding, prediction, 
                detection, forecasting, monitoring, and assessments of 
                wildland fires and associated fire weather and smoke 
                for--
                            (i) the protection of life, property, and 
                        natural resources; and
                            (ii) the enhancement of the national 
                        economy;
                    (B) to develop products and services to meet 
                stakeholder needs;
                    (C) to transition physical and social science 
                research into operations;
                    (D) to improve modeling and technology, including 
                coupled fire-atmosphere fire behavior modeling, in 
                consultation with relevant Federal agencies;
                    (E) to improve the understanding of the links 
                between fire weather events and subseasonal-to-climate 
                impacts; and
                    (F) to improve the forecasting and understanding of 
                the impacts of prescribed fires and how such impacts 
                differ from those of wildland fires which originate 
                from an unplanned ignition.
            (2) Weather forecasting and decision support for wildland 
        fires.--The Administrator shall--
                    (A) develop and provide, in consultation with such 
                Federal agencies as the Administrator considers 
                appropriate, accurate, precise, timely, and effective 
                risk communications, forecasts, watches, and warnings 
                relating to wildland fires and fire weather events that 
                endanger life and property, including--
                            (i) red flag warnings;
                            (ii) operational fire weather alerts; and
                            (iii) any other warnings or alerts the 
                        Administrator deems appropriate;
                    (B) provide relevant stakeholders and the public 
                with impact-based decision support services, seasonal 
                climate predictions, air quality products, and smoke 
                forecasts; and
                    (C) provide on-site weather forecasts, seasonal 
                climate predictions, and other decision support to 
                wildland fire incident command posts, including by 
                deploying incident meteorologists for the duration of 
                an extreme event.
            (3) Wildland fire data.--The Administrator shall contribute 
        to and support the centralized, integrated data collaboration 
        environment pursuant to section 4(2) and any other relevant 
        Federal data systems by ensuring--
                    (A) interoperability, usability, and accessibility 
                of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 
                Administration data and tools relating to wildland 
                fires, associated smoke, and their impacts;
                    (B) inclusion of historical wildland fire incident 
                and fire weather data, and identifying potential gaps 
                in such data; and
                    (C) the acquisition or collection of additional 
                data that is needed to advance wildland fire science.
            (4) Wildland fire and fire weather surveillance and 
        observations.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the 
        Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, 
        shall--
                    (A) leverage available observations, technologies, 
                and assets and develop or acquire new technologies and 
                data to sustain and enhance environmental observations 
                used for wildland fire prediction and detection, fire 
                weather and smoke forecasting and monitoring, and post-
                wildland fire recovery, with a focus on--
                            (i) collecting data for pre-ignition 
                        analysis, such as drought, fuel conditions, and 
                        soil moisture, that will help predict severe 
                        wildland fire conditions on subseasonal to 
                        decadal timescales;
                            (ii) supporting identification and 
                        classification of fire environments to 
                        determine vulnerability to wildland fires and 
                        rapid wildland fire growth;
                            (iii) detecting, observing, and monitoring 
                        wildland fires and smoke;
                            (iv) supporting research on the interaction 
                        of weather and wildland fire behavior; and
                            (v) supporting post-fire assessments 
                        conducted by Program agencies and relevant 
                        stakeholders;
                    (B) prioritize the ability to detect, observe, and 
                monitor wildland fire and smoke in the requirements of 
                the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 
                current and future operational space-based assessments 
                and commercial data purchases; and
                    (C) not later than 1 year after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act--
                            (i) may offer to enter into contracts with 
                        one or more entities to obtain additional 
                        space-based and airborne remoting sensing data 
                        and observations that may enhance or 
                        supplement--
                                    (I) the understanding, monitoring, 
                                prediction, and mitigation of wildland 
                                fire risks; and
                                    (II) the relevant Program 
                                activities under section 4; and
                            (ii) in carrying out clause (i), shall 
                        consult with private sector entities through 
                        the Advisory Committee established under 
                        section 6 to identify needed tools and data 
                        that can best be provided by satellites of the 
                        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                        and are most beneficial to wildland fire smoke 
                        detection and monitoring.
            (5) Fire weather testbed.--In collaboration with Program 
        agencies and other relevant stakeholders, the Administrator of 
        the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 
        establish a fire weather testbed to evaluate physical and 
        social science research, technology, and other available data 
        and research to develop fire weather products and services for 
        implementation by relevant stakeholders.
            (6) Extramural research.--The Administrator shall--
                    (A) collaborate with and support the non-Federal 
                wildland fire research community, which includes 
                institutions of higher education, private entities, 
                nongovernmental organizations, and other relevant 
                stakeholders, by making funds available through 
                competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative 
                agreements; and
                    (B) in carrying out the program under subparagraph 
                (A), the Administrator, in collaboration with other 
                relevant Federal agencies, may establish one or more 
                national centers for prescribed fire and wildfire 
                sciences that leverage Federal research and development 
                with university and nongovernmental partnerships.
            (7) High performance computing.--The Administrator, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall acquire high 
        performance computing technologies and supercomputing 
        technologies, leveraging existing resources, as practicable--
                    (A) to conduct research and development activities;
                    (B) to support the translation of Program-related 
                research to operations; and
                    (C) to host operational fire and smoke forecast 
                models.
            (8) Incident meteorologist workforce assessment.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
                shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
                Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
                Representatives the results of an assessment of 
                National Weather Service workforce and training 
                challenges for incident meteorologists and a roadmap 
                for overcoming the challenges identified.
                    (B) Considerations.--The assessment described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall take into consideration--
                            (i) information technology support;
                            (ii) logistical and administrative 
                        operations;
                            (iii) anticipated weather and climate 
                        conditions; and
                            (iv) feedback from relevant stakeholders.
                    (C) Contents.--The assessment described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall include, to the maximum extent 
                practicable, an identification by the National Weather 
                Service of--
                            (i) the expected number of incident 
                        meteorologists needed over the next 5 years;
                            (ii) potential hiring authorities necessary 
                        to overcome identified workforce and training 
                        challenges; and
                            (iii) alternative services or assistance 
                        operations the National Weather Service could 
                        provide to meet operational needs.
    (d) Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency shall support--
                    (A) the development of community risk assessment 
                tools and effective mitigation techniques for 
                responding to wildland fires, including at the 
                wildland-urban interface;
                    (B) the collection and analysis of data relating to 
                wildland and wildland-urban interface fire and 
                operational response;
                    (C) public outreach, education, and information 
                dissemination relating to wildland fires and wildland 
                fire risk; and
                    (D) the promotion of wildland and wildland-urban 
                interface fire preparedness and community risk 
                reduction measures, including--
                            (i) hardening the wildland-urban interface 
                        through proper construction materials;
                            (ii) land use practices;
                            (iii) sprinklers;
                            (iv) assessment of State, local, Tribal, 
                        and territorial emergency response capacity and 
                        capabilities, including evacuation planning and 
                        evacuation routes; and
                            (v) other tools and approaches as 
                        appropriate.
            (2) Fire-resistant practices.--In collaboration with the 
        Director and the heads of such other Program agencies as the 
        Administrator considers appropriate, the Administrator shall--
                    (A) promote and assist in the implementation of 
                research results; and
                    (B) promote fire-resistant building, retrofit, and 
                land use practices within the design and construction 
                industry, including architects, engineers, contractors, 
                builders, planners, code officials, and inspectors.
            (3) Knowledge transfer and dissemination.--The 
        Administrator shall--
                    (A) establish and operate a wildland fire 
                preparedness and mitigation technical assistance 
                program to assist State, Tribal, local, and territorial 
                governments in using wildland fire mitigation 
                strategies, including through the adoption and 
                implementation of wildland and wildland-urban interface 
                fire resistance codes, standards, and land use;
                    (B) incorporate wildland and wildland-urban 
                interface fire risk mitigation and loss avoidance data 
                into the existing risk, mitigation, and loss avoidance 
                analyses of the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
                    (C) incorporate data on the adoption and 
                implementation of wildland and wildland-urban interface 
                fire resistant codes and standards into the hazard 
                resistant code tracking resources of the Federal 
                Emergency Management Agency;
                    (D) translate new information and research findings 
                into best practices to improve training and education 
                for firefighter, fire service, and allied professions 
                in wildland fire response, crew deployment, and 
                wildland fire resilience, prevention, mitigation, and 
                firefighting;
                    (E) conduct outreach and disseminate information to 
                fire departments regarding best practices for wildland 
                and wildland-urban interface firefighting, education, 
                training, and fireground deployment; and
                    (F) develop resources regarding best practices for 
                establishing or enhancing peer-support programs within 
                wildland fire firefighting units.
            (4) Wildland fire hazard severity map.--The Administrator 
        shall, in collaboration with such other heads of Program 
        agencies and stakeholders as the Administrator considers 
        appropriate, develop a national-level, interactive, and 
        publicly accessible wildland fire hazard severity map that 
        includes community and parcel level data and that can readily 
        integrate with risk gradations within wildland and wildland-
        urban interface fire resistant codes and standards.
            (5) PFAS study.--The Administrator shall, in coordination 
        with the Director and such other heads of Federal agencies as 
        the Administrator considers appropriate, carry out a study to--
                    (A) examine perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl 
                substances (``PFAS'') and other potentially harmful 
                contaminants in firefighter gear, fire retardants, and 
                wetting agents;
                    (B) determine the lifecycle of firefighting 
                garments; and
                    (C) evaluate exposure risks based on different 
                phases of the fire.
    (e) Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration shall--
                    (A) support relevant basic and applied scientific 
                research and modeling;
                    (B) ensure the use in the Program of all relevant 
                National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth 
                observations data for maximum utility;
                    (C) explore and apply novel tools and technologies 
                in the activities of the Program;
                    (D) support the translation of research to 
                operations, including to Program agencies and relevant 
                stakeholders;
                    (E) facilitate the communication of wildland fire 
                research, knowledge, and tools to relevant 
                stakeholders; and
                    (F) use commercial data where such data is 
                available and accessible through existing Federal 
                Government commercial contracts, agreements, or other 
                means, and purchase data that is deemed necessary based 
                on consultation with other Program agencies.
            (2) Research and development activities.--The Administrator 
        shall support basic and applied wildland fire research and 
        modeling activities, including competitively selected 
        research--
                    (A) to improve understanding and prediction of fire 
                environments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and 
                their impacts;
                    (B) to improve the understanding of the impacts of 
                climate change, drought, and climate variability on 
                wildland fire risk, frequency, size, and severity;
                    (C) to characterize the pre-fire phase and fire-
                inducing conditions, such as soil moisture and 
                vegetative fuel availability;
                    (D) to characterize the active fire phase, such as 
                fire and smoke plume mapping, fire behavior and spread 
                modeling, and domestic and global fire activity;
                    (E) to characterize the post-fire phase, such as 
                landscape changes, air quality, erosion, landslides, 
                watershed impacts, and impacts on carbon distributions 
                in ecosystem biomass;
                    (F) to contribute to advancing predictive wildland 
                fire models;
                    (G) to address other relevant investigations and 
                measurements prioritized by the National Academies of 
                Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey on 
                Earth Science and Applications from Space;
                    (H) to improve the translation of research 
                knowledge into actionable information;
                    (I) to develop research and data products, 
                including maps, decision-support information, and 
                tools, and support related training as appropriate and 
                practicable;
                    (J) to collaborate with other Program agencies and 
                relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, on joint 
                research and development projects, including research 
                grant solicitations and field campaigns; and
                    (K) to transition research advances to operations, 
                including to Program agencies and relevant 
                stakeholders, as practicable.
            (3) Wildland fire data systems and computational tools.--
        The Administrator shall--
                    (A) identify, from the National Aeronautics and 
                Space Administration's Earth science data systems, 
                data, including combined data products, that can 
                contribute to improving the understanding, monitoring, 
                prediction, and mitigation of wildland fires and their 
                impacts, including data related to fire weather, plume 
                dynamics, smoke and fire behavior, impacts of climate 
                change, drought, and climate variability, land and 
                property burned, and wildlife and ecosystem 
                destruction, among other areas;
                    (B) prioritize the dissemination of data identified 
                under subparagraph (A) to the widest extent practicable 
                to support relevant research and operations 
                stakeholders;
                    (C) consider opportunities to support the Program 
                under section 3 and the Program activities under 
                section 4 when planning and developing Earth 
                observation satellites, instruments, and airborne 
                measurement platforms;
                    (D) identify opportunities, in collaboration with 
                Program agencies and relevant stakeholders, to acquire 
                additional airborne and space-based data and 
                observations that may enhance or supplement the 
                understanding, monitoring, prediction, and mitigation 
                of wildland fire risks and other relevant Program 
                activities under section 4, and consider such options 
                as commercial solutions, including commercial data 
                purchases, prize authority, academic partnerships, and 
                ground-based or space-based instruments, as practicable 
                and appropriate; and
                    (E) jointly develop with Program agencies, and 
                contribute data to, the centralized, integrated data 
                collaboration environment pursuant to section 4(2) and 
                any other relevant interagency systems, by--
                            (i) collecting, organizing, and integrating 
                        the National Aeronautics and Space 
                        Administration's scientific data, data systems, 
                        and computational tools related to wildland 
                        fires, associated smoke, and their impacts; and
                            (ii) enhancing the interoperability, 
                        usability, and accessibility of the National 
                        Aeronautics and Space Administration's 
                        scientific data, data systems, and 
                        computational tools, including--
                                    (I) observation and available real-
                                time and near-real-time measurements;
                                    (II) derived science and data 
                                products, such as fuel conditions, risk 
                                and spread maps, and data products to 
                                represent the wildland-urban interface;
                                    (III) relevant historical and 
                                archival observations, measurements, 
                                and derived science and data products; 
                                and
                                    (IV) other relevant decision 
                                support and information tools.
            (4) Unified concept of operations.--The Administrator 
        shall, in collaboration with such other heads of Program 
        agencies and relevant stakeholders as the Administrators 
        considers as practicable and appropriate, establish a program--
                    (A) to develop and demonstrate a unified concept of 
                operations for the safe and effective deployment of 
                diverse air capabilities in active wildland fire 
                monitoring, mitigation, and risk reduction;
                    (B) to develop--
                            (i) and demonstrate a wildland fire 
                        airspace operations system accounting for 
                        piloted aircraft, uncrewed aerial systems, and 
                        other new and emerging capabilities such as 
                        autonomous and high-altitude assets;
                            (ii) an interoperable communications 
                        strategy to support such system; and
                            (iii) a roadmap for the on-ramping of new 
                        technologies, capabilities, or entities into 
                        such system; and
                    (C) to identify--
                            (i) additional development, testing, and 
                        demonstration that would be required to expand 
                        the scale of program operations;
                            (ii) actions that would be required to 
                        transition the unified concept of operations in 
                        subparagraph (A) into ongoing, operational use; 
                        and
                            (iii) other objectives for the program, as 
                        deemed appropriate by the Administrator.
            (5) Sensing for active wildfire monitoring and risk 
        mitigation.--The Administrator shall, in collaboration with 
        such other heads of Program agencies and relevant stakeholders 
        as the Administrator considers practicable and appropriate--
                    (A) develop and demonstrate affordable and 
                deployable sensing technologies to improve--
                            (i) monitoring of fire fuel and active 
                        wildland fires;
                            (ii) wildland fire behavior models and 
                        forecasts;
                            (iii) mapping efforts; and
                            (iv) the prediction of wildland fires and 
                        mitigation of their negative impacts; and
                    (B) in carrying out subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) conduct a pilot program to test and 
                        demonstrate technologies such as infrared, 
                        microwave, and radar sensors suitable for 
                        deployment on spacecraft, aircraft, uncrewed 
                        aerial systems, and ground-based in situ 
                        platforms, as appropriate and practicable;
                            (ii) develop and demonstrate affordable and 
                        deployable sensing technologies that can be 
                        transitioned to operations for collection of 
                        near-real-time localized measurements;
                            (iii) develop and demonstrate near-real-
                        time data processing, availability, 
                        interoperability, and visualization, as 
                        practicable;
                            (iv) identify opportunities and actions 
                        required, in collaboration with Program 
                        agencies and relevant stakeholders, to 
                        transition relevant technologies, techniques, 
                        and data to science operations upon successful 
                        demonstration of the feasibility and scientific 
                        utility of such technologies, techniques, and 
                        data;
                            (v) transition demonstrated technologies, 
                        techniques, and data into ongoing, operational 
                        use, including to Program agencies and relevant 
                        stakeholders;
                            (vi) prioritize and facilitate, to the 
                        greatest extent practicable, the dissemination 
                        of relevant scientific data to operations, 
                        including to Program agencies and relevant 
                        stakeholders; and
                            (vii) consider opportunities for potential 
                        partnerships among industry, government, 
                        National Laboratories, academic institutions, 
                        non-profit organizations, and other relevant 
                        stakeholders.
    (f) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.--
            (1) Research and development activities.--The Administrator 
        of the Environmental Protection Agency shall support research 
        and development activities--
                    (A) to improve the understanding of--
                            (i) wildland fire and smoke impacts on 
                        communities, and outdoor and indoor air 
                        quality, watersheds and water quality, and 
                        freshwater ecosystems;
                            (ii) wildland fire smoke plume 
                        characteristics, chemical composition, chemical 
                        transformation, and transport;
                            (iii) wildland fire and smoke impacts on 
                        contaminant containment and remediation;
                            (iv) the contribution of wildland fire 
                        emissions to climate-forcing emissions;
                            (v) differences between the impacts of 
                        prescribed fires, as compared to other wildland 
                        fires, on communities and air and water 
                        quality; and
                            (vi) climate change, drought, and climate 
                        variability on wildland fires and smoke plumes, 
                        including on smoke exposure;
                    (B) to develop and improve tools, sensors, and 
                technologies, including databases and computational 
                models, to accelerate the understanding, monitoring, 
                and prediction of wildland fires and smoke exposure; 
                and
                    (C) to better integrate observational data, such as 
                remote sensing data from academic, governmental, or 
                commercial sources, into wildland fire and smoke 
                characterization models to improve modeling at finer 
                temporal and spatial resolutions.
            (2) Risk reduction communication strategies.--The 
        Administrator shall, in coordination with such other heads of 
        Federal agencies and stakeholders as the Administrator 
        considers appropriate, promote the translation of research 
        findings under this subsection and improve communication of 
        wildland fire and smoke risk reduction strategies to the 
        public.
    (g) Secretary of Energy.--
            (1) Research and development activities.--The Secretary of 
        Energy shall, in collaboration with the National Laboratories, 
        carry out research and development activities to advance tools, 
        techniques, and technologies, as the Secretary considers 
        applicable, for--
                    (A) withstanding and addressing the current and 
                projected impacts of wildland fires on energy sector 
                infrastructure;
                    (B) providing real-time or near-time awareness of 
                the risks posed by wildland fires to the operation of 
                energy infrastructure in affected and potentially 
                affected areas, including by leveraging the Department 
                of Energy's high-performance computing capabilities and 
                climate and ecosystem models;
                    (C) early detection of malfunctioning, damaged, or 
                otherwise hazardous electrical equipment on the 
                transmission and distribution grid, including detection 
                of spark ignition that may cause wildland fires, and 
                assessment of competing technologies and strategies for 
                addressing such hazards;
                    (D) assisting with the planning, safe execution of, 
                and safe and timely restoration of power after 
                emergency power shut offs relating to wildland fire 
                risk due to malfunctioning or damaged grid 
                infrastructure;
                    (E) improving electric grid and energy sector 
                safety and resilience in the event of multiple 
                simultaneous or co-located weather or climate events 
                leading to extreme conditions, such as extreme wind, 
                wildland fires, extreme cold, extreme or exceptional 
                drought, and extreme heat;
                    (F) improving coordination between utilities and 
                relevant Federal agencies to enable communication, 
                information-sharing, and situational awareness in the 
                event of wildland fires that impact the electric grid;
                    (G) wildland fire forecasting, spread, and 
                ecosystem impact;
                    (H) considering optimal building energy efficiency 
                practices and distributed renewable energy resource 
                strategies, as practicable, in wildland fire research; 
                and
                    (I) considering the use of real-time satellite 
                views, sensing wind patterns, and tracking operations 
                of energy infrastructure service coupled with 
                artificial intelligence to quickly predict fire 
                patterns once they have ignited and use these 
                predictions to devise plans to prevent damage to energy 
                sector infrastructure.
            (2) Transmission infrastructure resilience and risk 
        reduction.--The Secretary shall coordinate data across relevant 
        entities, including academic, governmental, National 
        Laboratory, and other stakeholders, to improve the 
        understanding of wildland fire and to promote resilience and 
        wildland fire prevention in the planning, design, construction, 
        operation, and maintenance of transmission infrastructure.
            (3) National laboratories.--The Secretary shall use the 
        capabilities of the National Laboratories, including user 
        facilities, earth and environmental systems modeling resources, 
        and high-performance computing and data analytics capabilities, 
        to improve the accuracy of efforts to understand and predict 
        wildfire behavior and occurrence and mitigate negative wildland 
        fire impacts.
            (4) Economic and social implications of power 
        disruptions.--The Secretary shall foster engagement between the 
        National Laboratories and practitioners, researchers, policy 
        organizations, utilities, and other entities, as appropriate, 
        to understand the economic and social implications of power 
        disruptions caused by wildland fires, particularly within 
        disadvantaged communities and regions vulnerable to wildland 
        fires, including rural areas.

SEC. 9. BUDGET ACTIVITIES.

    Beginning with the first submittal of the budget of the President 
under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Director, the Director of the 
National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, and the Secretary of Energy shall each ensure that whenever the 
budget justification materials are submitted to Congress in support of 
their respective Federal agencies under such section, such budget 
justification materials include a description of the projected 
activities of the respective agency under the Program for the fiscal 
year covered by the budget and an estimate of the amount such agency 
plans to spend on such activities for the relevant fiscal year.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATIONAL WILDLAND FIRE 
              RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    (a) National Institute of Standards and Technology.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $35,800,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $36,100,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $36,400,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $36,700,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $37,100,000 for fiscal year 2026.
    (b) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $215,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $220,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
    (c) Federal Emergency Management Agency.--There are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $6,400,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $6,700,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $7,100,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $7,600,000 for fiscal year 2026.
    (d) National Aeronautics and Space Administration.--There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $95,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
    (e) Environmental Protection Agency.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $11,700,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $12,400,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $13,100,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $13,900,000 for fiscal year 2026.
    (f) Department of Energy.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
to the Department of Energy to carry out this Act amounts as follows:
            (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) $5,300,000 for fiscal year 2023.
            (3) $5,600,000 for fiscal year 2024.
            (4) $5,900,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (5) $6,300,000 for fiscal year 2026.
                                 <all>