[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 73 (Monday, April 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2646-H2651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FIRE WEATHER DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2024
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 4866) to direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to improve fire
weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and local
collaboration, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4866
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 ``Fire Weather Development Act
of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING AND DETECTION.
(a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a
program (in this Act referred to as the ``Program'') to
improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting,
detection, and delivery of products or services through
collaboration with Federal and State agencies or departments,
local emergency mangers, and relevant entities.
(b) Goals.--The goals of the Program shall be to develop
and improve accurate fire weather and fire environment
forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss of life,
reduce injuries, protect property, and reduce damage to the
economy from wildfires. The Program shall seek to improve the
assessment of fire weather and fire environments, the
understanding and prediction of wildfires, and the
communications regarding such assessments with State and
local emergency officials in a timely and streamlined
fashion, with a focus on improving the following:
(1) The prediction of ignition, intensification and spread
of wildfires.
(2) The observation and monitoring of fire weather and fire
environments.
(3) The forecast and communication of smoke dispersion from
wildfires.
(4) Information dissemination and risk communication to
develop more effective watch and warning products relating to
wildfires.
(5) The early detection of wildfires, including pre-
ignition analysis and ground condition characterizations.
(6) The development, testing, and deployment of novel tools
and techniques related to understanding, monitoring, and
predicting fire weather and fire environments.
(7) The understanding and association of climate change and
its impacts on fire weather and fire environments.
(8) The unique characteristics, including observation or
modeling requirements, related to fires at the wildland-urban
interface.
(9) The forecasting and understanding of the impacts of
prescribed burns (as such term is defined in section 2 of the
Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 551c-1
note)).
(c) Collaboration With Stakeholders.--In developing the
Program required under this section, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall solicit
and take into consideration input from the weather industry,
such academic entities as the Administrator considers
appropriate, and other relevant stakeholders.
(d) Activities.--To achieve the goals specified in
subsection (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration may conduct research, development,
testing, demonstration, and operational transition activities
related to fire weather and fire environments, including
regarding the following:
(1) Tools and services to inform, support, and complement
active land management, local emergency personnel, the United
States Forest Service, and State, local, and Tribal entities
during their response and mitigation efforts.
(2) Sensing technologies, such as infrared, microwave, and
active sensors suitable for potential deployment on
spacecraft, aircraft, and unmanned aircraft systems, to
improve the monitoring and forecasting of fire fuel and
active wildfires, wildfire behavior models and forecasts,
mapping efforts, and the prediction of wildfires and the
impacts of such.
(3) Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel moisture
and danger levels.
(4) Social and behavior sciences related to fire weather
and fire environment warning products.
(5) Advanced satellite detection products coupled with
atmosphere and fire weather modeling systems.
(6) Education and training to expand the number of students
and researchers in areas of study and research related to
wildfires, fire weather, and fire environments.
(7) Modeling systems to link long-term climate predictions
to localized or general land management decisions.
(8) Communication and outreach to communities, energy
utilities, owners and operators of critical infrastructure,
and other relevant stakeholders regarding fire weather and
fire environment risk.
(9) Stewardship and dissemination, to the extent
practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration scientific data and related products and
services in formats meeting shared standards to enhance the
interoperability, usability, and accessibility of such data
in order to better meet the needs of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, other Federal agencies, and
relevant stakeholders.
(10) Improvement of spatial and temporal resolution
observations.
(11) Any other topic or activity the Administrator
determines relevant.
(e) Novel Tools for Monitoring and Prediction.--The
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in consultation with the heads of the
agencies specified in section 3, or other appropriate
[[Page H2647]]
stakeholders, including commercial partners, shall develop
novel tools and technologies to support the activities of the
Program and which may be applied to broader wildland fire
research, monitoring, and mitigation activities, as
practicable and appropriate.
(f) Extramural Research.--The Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall collaborate with
and support the non-Federal wildland fire research community,
which includes institutions of higher education, private
sector entities, nongovernmental organizations, and other
relevant stakeholders, by making funds available through
competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
(g) Commercial Data.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with
the heads of other Federal agencies and relevant
stakeholders, may enter into contracts with one or more
private sector entities to obtain additional airborne and
space-based data and observations that may enhance or
supplement the understanding, monitoring, and prediction, of
fire weather and fire environments, and the relevant Program
activities under this section.
(2) Consultation.--In carrying out activities under
paragraph (1), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration shall consult with private sector
entities through the National Advisory Committee on Wildfires
under section 4 to identify needed tools and data that can be
best provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration satellites and are most beneficial to wildfire
and smoke detection and monitoring.
(h) Nonduplication.--To the maximum extent practicable, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration shall consult with the National Interagency
Fire Center, including the Joint Fire Science Program, to
avoid duplication of activities under this section and ensure
the Administration's focus on unique research activities best
suited for transition to operations.
(i) Unmanned Aircraft Systems.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall--
(A) assess the role and potential benefits of unmanned
aircraft systems to improve data collection in support of
fire weather and fire environment modeling, meteorological
observations, predictions, and forecasts;
(B) identify objectives for testing such systems' use for
obtaining fire weather and fire environment observations, and
other relevant activities; and
(C) transition unmanned aircraft systems technologies from
research to operations as the Administrator considers
appropriate.
(2) Briefing.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of the Act, the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall brief the
appropriate committees of Congress on the activities under
paragraph (1).
(3) Pilot programs.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may conduct
pilot programs of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather
and fire environment observations, including relating to the
following:
(A) Testing of unmanned aircraft systems in approximations
of real-world scenarios.
(B) Assessment of the utility of meteorological data
collected from fire response and assessment aircraft.
(C) Input into appropriate models of collected data to
predict fire behavior, including coupled atmosphere and fire
models.
(D) Collection of best management practices for deployment
of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather and fire
environment observations.
(4) Prohibition.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided under subparagraphs (B)
and (C), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration may not procure any unmanned
aircraft system that is manufactured or assembled by an
entity in a foreign country of concern.
(B) Exemption.--The prohibition under subparagraph (A)
shall not apply to the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration if the Administrator
determines, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland
Security, that the procurement of an unmanned aircraft system
is necessary for the sole purpose of marine or atmospheric
science or management.
(C) Waiver.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration may waive the prohibition under
subparagraph (A) on a case-by-case basis--
(i) with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland
Security; and
(ii) upon written or electronic notification to appropriate
committees of Congress not later than 30 days after any such
waiver.
(5) Airspace operations system.--The Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in
cooperation with the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall utilize the
capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems as appropriate for
fire weather and fire environment observations, and may use a
wildfire airspace operations system that accounts for piloted
aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, and other new and
emerging capabilities after such airspace operations system
is developed and determined ready for operational use by the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(6) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 to carry
out this subsection.
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(2) Critical infrastructure.--The term ``critical
infrastructure'' has the meaning given such term in section
1016(e) of Public Law 107-56 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
(3) Foreign country of concern.--The term ``foreign country
of concern'' has the meaning given such term in section 9901
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651).
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given
such term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1001).
(5) Unmanned aircraft system.--The term ``unmanned aircraft
system'' has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of
title 49, United States Code.
(6) Weather industry.--The term ``weather industry'' has
the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Weather
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C.
8501).
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy shall establish an interagency
coordinating committee to be known as the ``Interagency
Coordinating Committee on Wildfires'' (in this section
referred to as the ``Committee''). The chair of the Committee
shall be the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
(b) Purpose.--The Committee shall coordinate the
development of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting,
detection, monitoring, and delivery of related products or
services that best assist State and local emergency officials
while avoiding duplication of activities.
(c) Membership.--In addition to the chair, the Committee
shall be composed of the heads or appropriate designees of
the following program agencies:
(1) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) The United States Fire Administration.
(3) The United States Forest Service.
(4) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(5) The Department of the Interior.
(6) The Department of Agriculture.
(7) The United States Geological Survey.
(8) The Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(9) Any other Federal department or agency the Director of
the Office of Science and Technology Policy considers
appropriate.
(d) Strategic Plan.--Not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall submit to
Congress a strategic plan for the Program that includes the
following:
(1) A description of short-term, mid-term, and long-term
objectives to achieve the purpose specified in subsection
(b).
(2) A description of how agencies specified in subsection
(c) will collaborate with stakeholders and take into account
stakeholder needs and recommendations in developing such
objectives.
(3) A description of existing and new observational and
data infrastructure needed to accomplish such objectives.
(4) A description of the role of each such agency in
achieving such objectives.
(5) Guidance regarding how the Committee's recommendations
are best used in climate adaptation planning for Federal,
State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities.
(e) Interagency Agreements.--The heads of agencies
specified in subsection (c) may enter into one or more
interagency agreements providing for cooperation and
collaboration in the development of wildfire forecasting,
detection, and monitoring tools, instruments, technologies,
and research to accomplish the purpose described in
subsection (b).
(f) Collaboration.--The head of each agency specified in
subsection (c) shall, to the extent practicable, increase
engagement and cooperation with international, academic,
State, and local communities regarding the infrastructure,
data, and scientific research necessary to best advance the
forecasting, detection, and monitoring of and preparation for
wildfires.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
submission of the strategic plan required by section 3(d),
the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
shall establish a national advisory committee to be known as
the ``National Advisory Committee on Wildfires'' (in this
section referred
[[Page H2648]]
to as the ``Advisory Committee''). The Advisory Committee
shall consist of not fewer than seven and not more than 15
members who are qualified to provide advice regarding
wildfire forecasting, detection, monitoring, and delivery of
related products or services, including from the following
entities:
(A) Research and academic institutions.
(B) Public communication or broadcast entities.
(C) Emergency management agencies.
(D) State, local, or Tribal governments.
(E) The National Association of State Foresters.
(F) Business communities.
(G) Other entities as designated by the Director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(2) Prohibition.--Members of the Advisory Committee may not
be employees of the Federal Government.
(b) Assessment.--The Advisory Committee shall offer
assessments and recommendations relating to the following:
(1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and monitoring
products and tools.
(2) Communication and delivery methods of wildfire
forecasting, detection, and monitoring information.
(3) Opportunities to streamline Federal forecasting,
monitoring, and detection information to local emergency
personnel and communities.
(4) The management, coordination, implementation, and
activities of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on
Wildfires under section 3.
(5) The effectiveness of the Interagency Coordinating
Committee on Wildfires in meeting its purposes.
(c) Compensation.--Members of the Advisory Committee shall
serve without compensation.
(d) Reports.--Not less frequently than biennially, the
Advisory Committee shall report to the Director of the Office
of Science and Technology Policy on the assessments carried
out under subsection (b) and its recommendations for ways to
improve the coordination and dissemination of wildfire
forecasts, warnings, and detection and monitoring
information.
(e) Charter.--Notwithstanding section 1013(b)(2) of title
5, United States Code, the Advisory Committee shall not be
required to file a charter subsequent to its initial charter,
filed under section 1008(c) of such title, before the
termination date specified in subsection (f) of this section.
(f) Termination.--The Advisory Committee shall terminate on
September 30, 2028.
(g) Conflict of Interest.--An Advisory Committee member
shall recuse himself or herself from any Advisory Committee
activity in which he or she has an actual pecuniary interest.
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration shall establish a fire weather
testbed to enable engagement across the Federal Government,
State and local governments, academia, private and federally
funded research laboratories, the private sector, and end-
users in order to evaluate the accuracy and usability of
technology, models, fire weather products and services, and
other research to accelerate the implementation, transition
to operations, and use of new capabilities by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal and land
management agencies, and other relevant stakeholders.
(b) Resources.--In carrying out this section, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration may not transfer or reprogram any funds,
detail any personnel, or make use of any infrastructure from
cooperative institutes of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of the
enactment of this Act for the fire weather testbed
established under subsection (a).
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025
through 2028 to carry out this section.
SEC. 6. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE.
(a) Workforce and Training Assessment.--Not later than six
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration shall submit to the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate the results of an assessment of National Weather
Service workforce and training challenges for Incident
Meteorologists, and a roadmap for overcoming such challenges.
Such assessment shall take into consideration information
technology support, logistical and administrative operations,
anticipated weather and climate conditions, and feedback from
relevant stakeholders, and shall include, to the maximum
extent practicable, an identification by the National Weather
Service of the following:
(1) The expected number of Incident Meteorologists needed
over the next five years.
(2) Potential hiring authorities necessary to overcome any
identified workforce and training challenges.
(3) Alternative services or assistance options the National
Weather Service could provide to meet operational needs.
(b) Overtime Pay.--
(1) In general.--Any premium pay for services performed by
Incident Meteorologists of the National Weather Service that
are determined by the Secretary of Commerce to be primarily
related to emergency wildland fire suppression activities
shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of such
employee's basic pay and premium pay for purposes of a
limitation under section 5547 of title 5, United States Code,
or under any other provision of law.
(2) Rates.--Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by inserting ``, the National Weather
Service,'' after ``Interior''.
SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON WILDLAND FIRE COMMUNICATIONS AND
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Public safety research.--Not later than 60 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, acting
through the head of the Public Safety and Communications
Research Division and in consultation with the Fire Research
Division and technology manufacturers, shall carry out
research on the following:
(A) Public safety communication coordination standards
among Federal, State, Tribal, and local wildland
firefighters, fire management response officials, and member
agencies.
(B) Improving and integrating existing communications
systems to transmit secure real-time data, alerts, and
advisories to and from fire management response officials and
wildland firefighters.
(2) Field testing and measurement of information
dissemination and technology.--The Public Safety and
Communications Research Division, in consultation with the
Fire Research Division and member agencies, shall conduct
both live and virtual field testing of equipment, software,
and other technologies to determine current times of
information dissemination and develop standards for the
delivery of useful and secure real-time data among member
agencies, fire management response officials, and wildland
firefighters, based on findings from research under paragraph
(1).
(b) Recommendations.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall develop and publish
recommendations to improve public safety communication
coordination standards among wildland first responders and
fire management response officials.
(2) Transmittal.--The Director shall transmit the
recommendations under paragraph (1) to the Office of
Management and Budget and the Office of Science and
Technology Policy for member agencies to implement.
(3) Reporting requirements.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall submit to the Committee
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate a report containing the
recommendations published under paragraph (1).
(B) Implementation.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of the publication of the Director's recommendations under
paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a
report on the extent to which member agencies have
implemented such recommendations.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(2) Member agency.--The term ``member agency'' means a
member agency of the National Interagency Fire Center,
including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land
Management, National Park Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Forest Service, United States Fire Administration, and the
Department of Defense.
(3) Wildland firefighter.--The term ``wildland
firefighter'' means any person who participates in wildland
firefighting activities.
(4) Fire management response officials.--The term ``fire
management response officials'' means regional fire
directors, deputy regional fire directors, agency officials
who directly oversee fire operations, fire management
officers, and individuals serving on incident management
teams.
(5) Technology manufacturers.--The term ``technology
manufacturers'' means private sector entities that
manufacture communications technologies used by Federal,
State, Tribal, or local wildland fire authorities.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 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.
(2) Fire weather.--The term ``fire weather'' means the
weather conditions that influence the start, spread,
character, or behavior of wildfires or fires at the wildland-
urban interface and relevant meteorological and chemical
phenomena, including air quality, smoke, and meteorological
parameters such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind
[[Page H2649]]
speed and direction, and atmospheric composition and
chemistry, including emissions and mixing heights.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gimenez). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) and the gentlewoman from Michigan
(Ms. Stevens) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma.
General Leave
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 4866, the bill now under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4866, the Fire Weather
Development Act of 2024, offered by the gentleman from California (Mr.
Mike Garcia), my friend and colleague on the House Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology.
This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
to improve the forecasting and detection of fire weather as well as
increase collaboration with State and local partners to predict and
fight fires.
Just over a month ago, the largest wildfire in U.S. history burned
over a million acres in the Texas Panhandle and parts of my district in
western Oklahoma.
The Smokehouse Creek fire, as it is now known, was the result of
extremely dry and windy conditions that saw a half million acres burn
within 24 hours of the fire's start.
With two fatalities, along with hundreds of homes and thousands of
cattle lost, the effects of this fire will be felt in this region of
our country for many years.
If it wasn't for a shift in wind direction at just the right time, my
property would have been a part of that destruction.
At home, I had to take the precaution of moving cattle into fields
that were less likely to burn, if the fire kept coming our way.
Looking back on this event today, there is one good thing we can take
from it: We know with certainty that the National Weather Service has
the tools and capability for fire weather forecasting and prediction
that can protect lives and property.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center began mentioning
the potential for fire weather conditions in their extended forecast 6
days before the Smokehouse Creek fire started.
In my case, I closely monitored this weather outlook and made
critical decisions based on the weather data, models, and forecasts
that were available.
While two lives were lost, and that is two too many, it is likely
there would have been more, if not for the work of the National Weather
Service.
With an increased innovative focus provided by direction from
Congress and the necessary resources, NOAA and the NWS can expand these
capabilities and ensure every region of our country is prepared for the
extreme weather events of the future.
Every citizen can and should have the most accurate tools readily
available, just like I did. The bill we are considering today, the Fire
Weather Development Act, is a critical step in that direction.
H.R. 4866 directs NOAA to develop and improve accurate fire weather
and fire environment forecasts and warnings.
It places an emphasis on developing and using novel technologies such
as advanced weather, advanced satellite detection paired with AI
modeling systems, or active sensors for potential deployment on
unmanned aircraft systems.
These technologies will improve wildfire behavior models, mapping
efforts, and the monitoring of fire fuel and active fires, while also
eliminating the risk of sending firefighters and operators into
potential danger.
The Fire Weather Development Act also recognizes the critical need
for Federal collaboration by establishing an Interagency Coordinating
Committee on Wildfires.
With all the relevant bodies working together, this committee will
coordinate the development of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting,
detection, monitoring, and delivery of products or services that best
assist State and local emergency officials.
Lastly, this bill establishes an independent National Advisory
Council on Wildfires to ensure that local officials, communities, and
people who are directly affected by wildfires have a seat at the table
and can provide input on what tools or services are most needed.
I thank Representative Mike Garcia for introducing this bill along
with his cosponsors, Representatives Caraveo and Kim.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join us in supporting this
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in Hawaii, California, Colorado, and Michigan, wildfires
are posing an increasing threat to the lives and livelihoods of so many
Americans.
Over the last 30 years, the wildfire season in the West alone has
lengthened by several months, and the total number of acres burned per
year has nearly doubled.
Climate change has contributed to warmer temperatures and drier
conditions, causing more frequent and intense wildland fires.
Understanding the fundamental science behind wildfires, including the
impacts of climate change, is absolutely essential to our ability to
improve the prediction and forecasting of increasingly severe
wildfires.
Another essential element to our response to wildfires is the
effective communication of information and risks to land managers and
to those living in wildfire-vulnerable areas.
To accomplish that, we have H.R. 4866, a phenomenal bipartisan piece
of legislation to direct NOAA to establish a program that will increase
the accuracy of, and effectively communicate, fire forecasts and
warnings.
The brave and tireless work of incident management teams is
absolutely the cornerstone of successful wildfire responses. This
includes incident meteorologists, or IMETs, who work around the clock
at active fire sites for days or weeks at a time, providing lifesaving
information about wildfire and environmental conditions to firefighters
and managers.
This bill also allows NOAA's National Weather Service to fully
compensate IMETs for overtime work during active fire events, which
will expand the capacity of IMETs to conduct their essential work.
The bill also requires NOAA to leverage collaborations with State,
local, and Tribal governments, Federal agencies, academia, and the
private sector to decrease the loss of lives and property from
wildfires and support fire response personnel.
I truly commend Congressman Mike Garcia and my colleague from
Colorado (Ms. Caraveo) for working on this important legislation that
will truly put the United States in a better position to respond to
increasing threats of wildfires.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia) to speak on this bill.
Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for
his leadership on this bill.
In my district, it is all about security. It is about economic
security. It is about national security. It is about school security,
neighborhood security, and yes, border security, as well as protecting
Social Security.
If you live in my district, you will recognize that this bill, H.R.
4866, is truly about security. My district in north L.A. County has the
most dense and largest interface of wildlands with human beings and
housing developments.
They are all too familiar, my constituents, with the dangers that
wildfires pose to our homes and to our livelihoods.
For my constituents, wildfire mitigation isn't a red or blue issue.
It is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It is a life-or-death
issue. That is why I have made it a top priority since coming to
Washington to improve our ability to predict and to fight these
disasters in order to keep our firefighters,
[[Page H2650]]
our homes, and our families safe from harm.
My bill, H.R. 4866, the Fire Weather Development Act, is a strong
bipartisan step forward in a constant fight against these catastrophic
wildfires.
This bill will dramatically improve NOAA's ability to predict,
prevent, and respond to wildfires and to get information down to the
local emergency responders.
It would be easy, the last 2 years have been relatively calm fire
seasons, to get lulled into a false sense of security in southern
California, but the next big fire season is right around the corner.
We have had 2 years of record rain that has spurred an explosion of
grass and dense shrubbery across the hills in my district.
As the weather starts to dry out again, so will the forest,
transforming greenery into an abundance of fuel and Btus that a stray
spark or lightning strike can set ablaze in a moment's notice.
Southern California will be a tinderbox this fall, and the time to
prevent wildfires is now. We can't allow ourselves to wait for another
wildfire season like we had in 2020 where California lost over 4
million acres and 10,000 buildings due to mismanagement in years prior,
like the fires that we saw in Texas just recently and in Hawaii just
last year, so horrifically taking the lives of so many Americans.
Half the wildland in my district falls in Federal forests, so this is
very important that we, at the Federal level, take care of this issue.
We need to be investing now, not just for our prediction efforts, but
to ensure that our firefighters have every possible tool at their
disposal to respond.
Firefighters are like frontline combat operators against wildfires,
and there is no reason they shouldn't be as well-equipped as they fight
fires as our soldiers are when they fight our enemies overseas.
They need the tools this bill provides; advanced imaging to see the
fires before they grow out of control, drones to reach the small and
remote fires, and improved communications to adjust the forward line of
combat operations quickly and safely.
Just like our soldiers, we also need to send the firefighters into
dangerous situations only when it is absolutely necessary.
My bill invests in fuel mapping, unmanned vehicles, unmanned aerial
vehicles, wildfire behavior models and more, and all the steps to make
1 firefighter fight like 10 and to minimize the need to put them in
danger. More importantly, to make sure that when they fight, they come
home each night.
The side benefit of all of this is there is an ongoing fight against
insurance companies in California, and this is going to improve lives
outside of just the wildfire events as well.
{time} 1645
This is a constant threat, and we haven't done a good job in
California managing our wildlands.
As a result of that, we have seen a disastrous effect on livelihoods
and the economy, especially in southern California. The threat has
gotten so bad that insurance companies are jacking up rates on current
customers and have stopped offering policies to any new homeowners in
my district.
I have heard countless stories from constituents about their house
fire policies going up anywhere from 5 to 10 times what they were just
in one year. I had a church pastor reach out this last weekend, Mr.
Speaker, who said his premiums went from $3,000 a year for his fire
insurance to $30,000 a year for a very small church.
To be clear, this bill is not a silver bullet that is going to solve
the insurance problem. That is a problem made in Sacramento that this
will hopefully mitigate, but there is still a whole lot of bad policies
coming out of Sacramento that need to be addressed.
If we can drastically improve our ability to protect people's homes,
it will hopefully be a massive step in the right direction and allow
the insurance companies to come back to California.
I thank Chairman Lucas for his leadership on this bill and allowing
this to come to the floor. I thank Ms. Caraveo for her cosponsorship of
this bill. I urge my colleagues to support the Fire Weather Development
Act to ensure the security of our constituents in all districts, not
just mine, but throughout the Nation that face the daily threat of
catastrophic wildfires.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Colorado (Ms. Caraveo).
Ms. CARAVEO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R.
4866, the Fire Weather Development Act. I thank my colleagues,
Congressman Mike Garcia and Congresswoman Kim, for working with me to
run this bipartisan piece of legislation. Thank you also to Ranking
Member Lofgren and Chairman Lucas for their steadfast leadership.
Sadly, Coloradans are no strangers to wildfires, and we know that
wildfires are no longer seasonal but can happen year-round. The impacts
of these fires are felt long after the flames are extinguished and have
lasting effects on our environment, economy, infrastructure, and more.
With that, we are also seeing wildfires begin to encroach on
communities that are not used to experiencing fires.
The Marshall fire in Colorado was the most expensive wildfire in our
State's history and was primarily driven by an extreme windstorm that
blew the fire into suburban parts of Colorado right next door to my
district. With the total monetary cost of the Marshall fire estimated
at $2 billion, it is critical that we continue to invest in new ways to
understand fire weather.
This is where our bill, the Fire Weather Development Act, comes in.
This bill will give NOAA the tools it needs to stay ahead of the curve
when it comes to fire weather technology by allowing the agency to do
things like access airborne and space-based data to enhance fire
weather and fire environment monitoring. The bill also gives NOAA the
ability to determine drone usage to improve data collection and even
conduct drone pilot programs. Finally, the bill helps our local and
State responders even more through several provisions focused on
improving communications, especially around forecasting.
The Front Range and northern Colorado know how important it is that
we do what we can to better predict fire weather, especially when it
means protecting our homes and economic well-being.
In Colorado's Eighth District, we have a burgeoning energy sector and
the largest agriculture economy in the State, but as we saw in Texas
earlier this year, one wildfire can pose serious damage to that. By
passing the Fire Weather Development Act, we are ensuring that we keep
bolstering the tools we have to respond to fire weather. I look forward
to continuing to work with Representatives Mike Garcia and Kim to get
this commonsense solution in this bill across the finish line as soon
as possible.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for
closing.
Mr. Speaker, we find ourselves at a prominent moment here on the
House floor, hopefully seeing the passage of H.R. 4866 to address some
of these extraordinary fire considerations that have taken place. I
continue to encourage my colleagues to join those of us who do this
hard and great work on the Science Committee to pass this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Over the last 5 years, the average annual cost of Federal
firefighting suppression has been $2.8 billion. While forest and land
management can help prevent wildfires, long- and short-term weather
observations, or modeling, play a critical role in limiting their
spread and damage.
The Fire Weather Development Act takes immediate action to address
this by increasing NOAA and the National Weather Service's activities
to best protect lives and property at risk of wildfires.
I again thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia) for
working tirelessly to get this bill across the finish line and
increasing the lifesaving services available to his constituents.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr.
[[Page H2651]]
Lucas) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4866,
as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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