II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5532 

To establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Mr. PADILLA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Intelligence 

5 Collaboration and Coordination Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) wildfire management is a complex, multi9 jurisdictional issue that requires an integration of ef10 forts at all levels of society, including the Federal 


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1 Government, State, Tribal, and local governments, 

2 and the private sector; and 

3 (2) the report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation 

4 and Management Commission entitled ‘‘On FIRE: 

5 The Report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and 

6 Management Commission’’ and dated September 

7 2023 represents a consensus set of recommendations 

8 from 50 diverse experts to improve the outcomes 

9 from wildfire in the United States, finding that— 

10 (A) climate change and rapidly changing 

11 ecosystems represent fundamental shifts in con12 ditions that existing fire behavior models and 

13 existing fire management system are not de14 signed to meet; 

15 (B) research, applied science programs, 

16 data management, and technology procurement 

17 and application relating to wildfire are housed 

18 within a wide array of Federal entities and aca19 demia, leading to a limited ability to set prior20 ities and general inefficiencies; 

21 (C) various predictive services and deci22 sion-support functions exist to aid Federal man23 agers and decisionmakers in the wildland fire 

24 community that, due to the different missions 

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1 volved and the fact that the services reside in 

2 several different Federal agencies, would benefit 

3 from improved interoperability and more coordi4 nated priority setting and purchasing power; 

5 and 

6 (D) an interagency joint office should be 

7 established— 

8 (i) with membership from entities con9 ducting research and addressing wildland 

10 fire management; 

11 (ii) with dedicated and separate fund12 ing to fulfill the mission of comprehensive 

13 assessment and prediction of fire in the 

14 wildland and built environment interface 

15 through data aggregation and science16 based decision-support services; and 

17 (iii) in close collaboration with the ex18 isting wildland fire management system in 

19 the United States. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

23 Board for the Center appointed under section 

24 4(e)(1). 


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1 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 

2 Wildfire Intelligence Center established by section 

3 4(a). 

4 SEC. 4. WILDFIRE INTELLIGENCE CENTER. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

6 Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, 

7 and the Department of the Interior a joint office, to be 

8 known as the ‘‘Wildfire Intelligence Center’’, the duties 

9 of which are to study, plan, coordinate, and implement 

10 issues of joint concern among the Department of Agri11 culture, the Department of Commerce, and the Depart12 ment of the Interior, including— 

13 (1) serving as the development and operational 

14 center for the comprehensive assessment and pre15 diction of fires that occur in the wildland and fires 

16 that move into the built environment to provide deci17 sion support services to inform land and fuels man18 agement, community outreach and risk reduction, 

19 post-wildfire recovery and rehabilitation, and fire 

20 management and response activities carried out by 

21 entities, including— 

22 (A) the Federal Government; 

23 (B) State, Tribal, and local governments; 

24 (C) land managers; 

25 (D) incident management teams; 


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1 (E) the National Interagency Coordination 

2 Center; 

3 (F) geographic coordination centers; 

4 (G) land, air, and water managers; 

5 (H) burned area rehabilitation teams; 

6 (I) public health entities; and 

7 (J) other entities identified by the Board; 

8 (2) facilitating collaboration and information 

9 sharing across Federal and State departments and 

10 agencies, Tribal entities, academia, and the private 

11 sector on matters relating to wildland fires; and 

12 (3) addressing any other issues the Secretary of 

13 Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the 

14 Secretary of the Interior identify as issues of joint 

15 interest in support of the Center. 

16 (b) HEADQUARTERS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall select a 

18 permanent location for a physical headquarters of the 

19 Center within the United States. 

20 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Center shall 

21 include the following: 

22 (1) Providing real-time, science-based, and 

23 data-rich scientific and technical analytical services, 

24 decision support, and predictive services across all 

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1 agement, pre-fire community and built environment 

2 risk reduction, active fire management and emer3 gency response, and post-fire recovery in the built 

4 and natural environment. 

5 (2) Assessing and monitoring wildland fires and 

6 wildland fire conditions across all phases of fire, in7 cluding ignition, behavior, and spread, climate, 

8 weather, drought, soil moisture, fuel conditions, 

9 smoke, aerosols, fire severity, debris flows, and ero10 sion. 

11 (3) Comprehensive modeling of wildland fire be12 havior and risks, including ignitions, wildland fire 

13 intensity and spread, structure-to-structure ignition, 

14 community and structure vulnerability, air quality, 

15 and dependence on burn history, vegetation condi16 tions, climate, and weather. 

17 (4) Providing and combining existing data, 

18 mapping, technological, and consultation services to 

19 support pre-, active, and post-fire activities, includ20 ing— 

21 (A) creating and maintaining a real-time 

22 nationwide wildland fire risk catalog by 

23 leveraging existing risk mapping at land man24 agement agencies; 


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1 (B) assisting with the creation of evacu2 ation plans for at-risk communities; 

3 (C) assisting with the creation of public 

4 safety power shutoff plans; 

5 (D) assisting with the creation of wildland 

6 fire response strategies, plans, and treatment 

7 and mitigation measures; 

8 (E) providing gridded and point data fore9 cast and assessment products in support of 

10 operational and planning activities; and 

11 (F) providing a testbed framework for test12 ing and evaluation of new tools and products 

13 intended for decision support. 

14 (5) Consolidating air quality monitoring and 

15 forecasting data to support health risk information 

16 to help inform risks to public health and protect the 

17 public from smoke impacts associated with wildland 

18 fires, including providing planning guidance for safe 

19 and effective beneficial fire opportunities to prevent 

20 the risk of wildland fires. 

21 (6) Providing accessible tools and products that 

22 support emergency and land management decisions 

23 relating to wildland fire prevention, preparedness, 

24 and response, including risk assessment and contin25 gency planning, which shall include the development 


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1 of a data interface to assist and inform, in real-time, 

2 firefighters, first responders, and approved contrac3 tors in responding to wildland fires, including the 

4 use of any observations by the civil, military, and in5 telligence communities of the Federal Government 

6 and commercial Earth observations. 

7 (7) Establishing an interoperable information 

8 technology infrastructure accessible by Federal agen9 cies, State government offices, units of local govern10 ment, and Tribal governments. 

11 (8) To the extent feasible, establishing data 

12 interoperability through— 

13 (A) the development of common data 

14 standards; 

15 (B) the provision of comprehensive search16 able data inventories; 

17 (C) working with Tribal governments in 

18 nation-to-nation partnership; 

19 (D) the integration and sharing of infor20 mation and resources of the Federal Govern21 ment and State and local governments to sup22 port the essential functions of the Center; 

23 (E) the development of data standards to 

24 protect confidential information that may be es25 sential to the core functions of the Center; 


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1 (F) regular updates and maintenance of 

2 research and technology essential to achieving 

3 the core functions of the Center; and 

4 (G) the development and maintenance of a 

5 big-data architecture to compile, maintain, 

6 standardize, and evaluate data associated with 

7 the core functions of the Center. 

8 (9) In coordination with relevant Federal agen9 cies and coordinating bodies as determined by the 

10 Board, and in consultation with State government 

11 offices, units of local government, territories of the 

12 United States, and federally recognized Indian 

13 Tribes, developing and disseminating tools to sup14 port wildland fire planning, risk reduction and re15 sponse guidance, guidelines, maps, and training ma16 terials to help inform State, territorial, local, and 

17 Tribal governments and decisionmakers with respect 

18 to— 

19 (A) the use and implementations of 

20 wildland fire risk assessments; 

21 (B) the applied use of the database and in22 formation developed under paragraphs (7) and 

23 (8); 

24 (C) reducing losses from wildland fires; 

25 (D) increasing benefits from wildland fires; 


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1 (E) resources available for communities 

2 and responders working to improve wildland 

3 fire preparedness; and 

4 (F) enhancing communication management 

5 in emergency wildfire situations, land and re6 source management, and scientific studies. 

7 (10) Working with Federal, State, and Tribal 

8 agencies to develop and improve National Wildland 

9 Coordinating Group wildland fire preparedness cur10 ricula and training modules for— 

11 (A) State, territorial, local, and Tribal offi12 cials; and 

13 (B) Federal, State, territorial, local, and 

14 Tribal emergency managers and responders. 

15 (d) ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri17 culture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Sec18 retary of the Interior shall cooperatively administer 

19 the Center. 

20 (2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), the Secretary of Agriculture, the 

23 Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of 

24 the Interior may transfer funds between the 

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1 pheric Administration, and the United States 

2 Geological Survey from funds provided to estab3 lish the Center and to carry out the duties of 

4 the Center. 

5 (B) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Not less than 15 

6 days prior to transferring funds under subpara7 graph (A), the Secretary of Agriculture, the 

8 Secretary of Commerce, or the Secretary of the 

9 Interior, as applicable, shall notify the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

12 Representatives of the proposed transfer. 

13 (e) BOARD.— 

14 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Center 

15 shall be governed by a Board, composed of 14 mem16 bers, as follows: 

17 (A) 1 member who is a career employee of 

18 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin19 istration, to be appointed by the Administrator 

20 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad21 ministration. 

22 (B) 1 member who is a career employee of 

23 the United States Fire Administration, to be 

24 appointed by the Administrator of the United 

25 States Fire Administration. 


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1 (C) 1 member who is a career employee of 

2 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to 

3 be appointed by the Administrator of the Fed4 eral Emergency Management Agency. 

5 (D) 1 member who is a career employee of 

6 the National Weather Service, to be appointed 

7 by the Director of the National Weather Serv8 ice. 

9 (E) 1 member who is a career employee in 

10 fire and aviation management of the Forest 

11 Service, to be appointed by the Chief of the 

12 Forest Service. 

13 (F) 1 member who is a career employee of 

14 the Department of the Interior, to be appointed 

15 by the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 (G) 1 member who is a career employee of 

17 the Bureau of Land Management, to be ap18 pointed by the Director of the Bureau of Land 

19 Management. 

20 (H) 1 member who is a career employee of 

21 the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to be appointed 

22 by the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

23 (I) 1 member who is a career employee of 

24 the National Park Service, to be appointed by 

25 the Director of the National Park Service. 


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1 (J) 1 member who is a career employee of 

2 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to 

3 be appointed by the Director of the United 

4 States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

5 (K) 1 member who is a career employee of 

6 the United States Geological Survey, to be ap7 pointed by the Director of the United States 

8 Geological Survey. 

9 (L) 1 member who is a career employee of 

10 the Department of Agriculture, to be appointed 

11 by the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 (M) 1 member who is a career employee of 

13 the Department of Defense, to be appointed by 

14 the Secretary of Defense. 

15 (N) 1 member who is a career employee of 

16 the research and development areas of the For17 est Service, to be appointed by the Chief of the 

18 Forest Service. 

19 (2) TERMS.—A member of the Board— 

20 (A) shall be appointed for a term of 3 

21 years; and 

22 (B) may be reappointed for not more than 

23 3 additional terms. 


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1 (3) CHAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

2 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board 

3 shall— 

4 (A) be selected by the members of the 

5 Board, on a rotating basis, from among the 

6 members appointed under subparagraphs (A), 

7 (K), and (N) of paragraph (1); and 

8 (B) serve for a term of 1 year. 

9 (4) MAJORITY VOTE.—Voting consensus by the 

Board shall be not less than 2 10 ⁄3 majority vote. 

11 (5) NONVOTING STATUS.—At the discretion of 

12 the Board, the Board may include nonvoting observ13 ers to the Board. 

14 (f) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall have an 

16 Executive Director, who shall be appointed by, and 

17 serve at the direction of, the Board. 

18 (2) PRIVATE SECTOR DROUGHT MONITORING.— 

19 The Executive Director of the Center shall engage 

20 with entities in the private sector to improve drought 

21 monitoring, forecasting, communication, and re22 sponse that may be essential to the core functions of 

23 the Center if the Executive Director of the Center 

24 determines that the engagement is appropriate, ben25 eficial, and cost effective. 


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1 (3) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Executive Director 

3 of the Center may enter into and perform con4 tracts, leases, cooperative agreements, or other 

5 similar transactions that the Executive Director 

6 of the Center determines to be appropriate to 

7 carry out the functions of the Center. 

8 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Board 

10 and the Executive Director of the Center shall 

11 submit to the appropriate committees of Con12 gress a report that provides— 

13 (i) an assessment of existing con14 tracting authorities of the Executive Direc15 tor of the Center; and 

16 (ii) recommendations on whether new 

17 contracting authorities or modifications of 

18 existing contracting authorities are needed. 

19 (g) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.—The Chairperson of 

20 the Board and the Executive Director of the Center may 

21 hire qualified candidates to any positions determined to 

22 be necessary to carry out the duties of the Center, as di23 rected by a consensus vote of the Board in accordance 

24 with subsection (e)(4). 


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1 (h) INTERAGENCY FINANCING.—Notwithstanding 

2 section 708 of the Financial Services and General Govern3 ment Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328; 

4 136 Stat. 4706) or any other similar provision of law, 

5 interagency financing may be used to fund the Center. 

6 (i) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES AND EN7 TITIES.—The Board shall coordinate with agencies rep8 resented on the Board and other relevant entities to 

9 achieve the core functions of the Center, including with— 

10 (1) the National Wildfire Coordinating Group; 

11 (2) State and Tribal governments; 

12 (3) any other agency— 

13 (A) that is responsible for the management 

14 of Federal or State land; or 

15 (B) that has data, science, and technology 

16 expertise relevant to the Center; and 

17 (4) any other relevant Federal, State, Tribal, or 

18 nongovernmental entity that is representative of an 

19 element of the wildland fire community. 

Æ 


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