[House Report 118-178]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 118-178
======================================================================
NIST WILDLAND FIRE COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ACT
_______
September 1, 2023.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lucas, from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 369]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 369) to require the National
Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct research on
public safety communication coordination standards among
wildland firefighters and fire management response officials,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 3
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 3
Legislative History.............................................. 3
Related Committee Hearings....................................... 3
Section-by-Section............................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Roll Call Votes.................................................. 4
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 6
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 6
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 6
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 6
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 6
Unfunded Mandate Statement....................................... 6
Earmark Identification........................................... 6
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 6
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 7
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 7
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``NIST Wildland Fire Communications and
Information Dissemination Act''.
SEC. 2. 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 subsection (a).
(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) Funding.--From amounts made available to the National Institute
of Standards and Technology, the Director shall allocate $3,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section.
(d) 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.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 369 directs the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research
(PSCR) Division to carry out research on public safety
communication coordination standards to improve communications
and information sharing efforts between first responders, fire
management response officials and community members during
wildland fires. It also authorizes, from amounts appropriated
to NIST, $3 million annually for fiscal years 2024 through 2028
to carry out this additional authority.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is
the primary federal laboratory performing research,
development, testing, and evaluation for public safety
communications technologies. PSCR engages directly with first
responder communities to address the urgent need for new and
improved technology to enhance the ability to respond to
emergencies. Ensuring first responders can quickly and securely
share information during a wildland fire is critical and can
make a difference in life or death. NIST's PSCR has significant
expertise that could greatly improve efforts to address
coordination and response challenges facing first responders in
preventing, detecting, and containing wildland fires.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 369 was introduced on January 17, 2023, by
Representatives Kim (R-CA), Stansbury (D-NM), and Neguse (D-
CO). Additional cosponsors to the bill include Representatives
Leger Fernandez (NM), Garcia (CA), and Jackson (NC).
SECTION-BY-SECTION
Section 1. Short title
The short title of this legislation is ``NIST Wildland Fire
Communications and Information Dissemination Act''.
Section 2. Research on wildland fire communications and information
dissemination
This section directs NIST's PSCR, in consultation with the
Fire Research Division, to execute a research plan on public
safety communication coordination standards among federal,
state, local, and tribal wildland firefighters, fire management
response officials and the National Interagency Fire Center. It
also directs NIST to perform field testing and measurement of
equipment, software, and other technologies to help develop
standards for information dissemination and provide
recommendations for member agencies of the National Interagency
Fire Center on how to improve communications during wildland
fires. This section also authorizes NIST to use $3 million of
appropriated funds annually for fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
It also defines the terms ``Director''; ``member agency'';
``wildland firefighter''; and ``technology manufacturer''.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
On June 21, 2023, the Committee met in open session and
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 369, as amended, by a
recorded vote of 30 yeas to 0 nays, a quorum being present.
ROLL CALL VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII requires the Committee to list the
record votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments
thereto. The following reflects the record votes taken during
the Committee consideration:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that H.R. 369 does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services
or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of
the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 104-1).
STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause (3)(c)(4) of rule XIII, the goal of H.R.
369 is to direct the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research
(PSCR) Division to carry out research on public safety
communication coordination standards to improve communications
and information sharing efforts between first responders, fire
management response officials and community members during
wildland fires. It also authorizes, from amounts appropriated
to NIST, $3 million annually for fiscal years 2024 through 2028
to carry out this additional authority.
DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII, the Committee
finds that no provision of H.R. 369 establishes or reauthorizes
a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, including any program that was
included in a report to Congress pursuant to section 21 of
Public Law 111-139 or identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the definition of section 5(b) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act.
UNFUNDED MANDATE STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act.
EARMARK IDENTIFICATION
Pursuant to clauses 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI, the
Committee finds that H.R. 369 does not include any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits.
COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII, the Committee
adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND
TAX EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII, the Committee
finds that H.R. 369 would result in no new or increased budget
authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or
revenues.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XII and section 402 of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for H.R. 2988 from the
Director of the Congressional budget Office:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 369 would require the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) to research standards for coordinating
public safety efforts among wildland firefighters, fire
response officials, and member agencies of the National
Interagency Fire Center. NIST also would need to research how
to improve existing systems that facilitate communication
between such officials and firefighters and report to the
Congress on how to improve coordination standards among such
groups. Finally, the bill would require the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) to report to the Congress on the
extent to which member agencies have implemented the published
recommendations.
The bill would allocate $3 million from amounts made
available to NIST for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to
implement the bill's requirements. Assuming the availability of
appropriated funds and based on historical spending patterns
for similar activities, CBO estimates that it would cost the
agency $14 million over the 2024-2028 period to implement H.R.
369. In addition, CBO estimates it would cost GAO less than
$500,000 to complete the required report; such spending would
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Hughes.
The estimate was reviewed by Emily Stern, Senior Adviser for
Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director, Congressional Budget Office.
[all]