II 

Calendar No. 514 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4343 

To establish and maintain a coordinated program within the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration that improves wildfire, fire weather, 

fire risk, and smoke related forecasting, detection, modeling, observations, 

and service delivery, and to address growing needs in the wildlandurban interface, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2024 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. 

ROSEN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish and maintain a coordinated program within 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

that improves wildfire, fire weather, fire risk, and smoke 

related forecasting, detection, modeling, observations, 

and service delivery, and to address growing needs in 

the wildland-urban interface, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Fire Ready Nation Act of 2024’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Establishment of fire weather services program. 

Sec. 4. Fire weather testbed. 

Sec. 5. Data management and technology modernization. 

Sec. 6. Surveys and assessments. 

Sec. 7. Incident Meteorologist Service. 

Sec. 8. Emergency response activities. 

Sec. 9. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program, 

incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather 

Service workforce support. 

Sec. 10. Fire Science and Technology Working Group; strategic plan. 

Sec. 11. Fire weather rating system. 

Sec. 12. Government Accountability Office reports. 

Sec. 13. Cooperation and coordination. 

Sec. 14. General provisions. 

Sec. 15. Authorization of appropriations. 

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra11 tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

12 Administration. 

13 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON14 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con15 gress’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

17 and Transportation of the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

2 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

3 (3) EARTH SYSTEM MODEL.—The term ‘‘Earth 

4 system model’’ means a mathematical model con5 taining all relevant components of the Earth, namely 

6 the atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and bio7 sphere. 

8 (4) FIRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi9 ronment’’ means— 

10 (A) the environmental conditions, such as 

11 soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 

12 atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 

13 that influence— 

14 (i) fuel and fire behavior; and 

15 (ii) the emission, chemical evolution, 

16 and transport of smoke from wildfires; and 

17 (B) the associated environmental impacts 

18 occurring during and after fire events. 

19 (5) FIRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 

20 means the weather conditions that influence the 

21 start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or 

22 fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 

23 meteorological and chemical phenomena, including 

24 air quality, smoke, and meteorological parameters 

25 such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind 


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1 speed and direction, and atmospheric composition 

2 and chemistry, including emissions and mixing 

3 heights. 

4 (6) IMPACT-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SERV5 ICES.—The term ‘‘impact-based decision support 

6 services’’ means scientific advice and interpretative 

7 services the Administration provides to help core 

8 partners, such as emergency personnel and public 

9 safety officials, make decisions when the information 

10 impacts the lives and livelihoods of the people of the 

11 United States. 

12 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

13 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

14 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

15 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 (8) NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY.—The term 

17 ‘‘Native Hawaiian Community’’ means the distinct 

18 Native Hawaiian indigenous political community 

19 that Congress, exercising its plenary power over Na20 tive American affairs, has recognized and with which 

21 Congress has implemented a special political and 

22 trust relationship pursuant to the Constitution of 

23 the United States. 

24 (9) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ has the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 ing given that term in section 6207 of the Elemen2 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 7517), including the Department of Hawai4 ian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 

5 (10) SEASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ has the 

6 meaning given that term in section 2 of the Weather 

7 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 

8 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 

9 (11) SMOKE.—The term ‘‘smoke’’ means emis10 sions, including the gases and particles released into 

11 the air as a result of wildfire. 

12 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

13 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

14 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Common15 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United 

16 State Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micro17 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the 

18 Republic of Palau. 

19 (13) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Trib20 al organization’’ has the meaning given that term in 

21 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu22 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

23 (14) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

24 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

25 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 


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1 (15) WILDFIRE.—The term ‘‘wildfire’’ means 

2 any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation or 

3 natural fuels, originating from an unplanned igni4 tion. 

5 (16) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

6 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ means the area, zone, or 

7 region of transition between unoccupied or undevel8 oped land and human development where structures 

9 and other human development meet or intermingle 

10 with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. 

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER SERVICES 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab14 lish and maintain a coordinated fire weather services pro15 gram among the offices of the Administration in existence 

16 as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) PROGRAM FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the 

18 program established under subsection (a), consistent with 

19 the priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Re20 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

21 8511), shall be— 

22 (1) to support readiness, responsiveness, under23 standing, and resilience of the United States to 

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1 ards and impacts in built and natural environments 

2 and at the wildland-urban interface; 

3 (2) to collaboratively develop and disseminate 

4 accurate, precise, effective, and timely risk commu5 nications, forecasts, watches, and warnings relating 

6 to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, post-fire flooding 

7 and debris flows, and other associated conditions, 

8 hazards, and impacts, as applicable, with Federal 

9 land management agencies; 

10 (3) to partner with and support the public, 

11 Federal and State government entities, Indian 

12 tribes, the Native Hawaiian Community, and aca13 demic and local partners through the development of 

14 capabilities, impact-based decision support services, 

15 and overall service delivery and utility related to fire 

16 weather; 

17 (4) to conduct and support research and devel18 opment of new and innovative models, technologies, 

19 techniques, products, systems, processes, and proce20 dures to predict and improve understanding of 

21 wildfires, fire weather, related air quality, post-fire 

22 flooding and debris flows, and the fire environment; 

23 (5) to develop strong research-to-operations and 

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1 ational users and platforms related to fire weather; 

2 and 

3 (6) to develop, in coordination with Federal 

4 land management agencies, impact-based decision 

5 support services that operationalize and integrate 

6 the functions described in paragraphs (1) through 

7 (5) in order to provide comprehensive impact-based 

8 decision support services that encompass the fire en9 vironment. 

10 (c) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—In developing and imple11 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

12 Under Secretary shall prioritize— 

13 (1) development of a fire weather-enabled Earth 

14 system model and data assimilation systems that— 

15 (A) are capable of prediction and fore16 casting across relevant spatial and temporal 

17 scales; 

18 (B) include variables associated with fire 

19 weather and the fire environment; 

20 (C) improve understanding of the connec21 tions between fire weather and modes of climate 

22 variability; 

23 (D) incorporate emerging techniques such 

24 as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 

25 cloud computing; and 


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1 (E) use a rapidly deployable network of 

2 rain gauges for post-fire hazard monitoring; 

3 (2) advancement of existing and new observa4 tional capabilities, including satellite-, airborne-, air5 , and ground-based systems and technologies, and 

6 social networking and other public information-gath7 ering applications that— 

8 (A) identify— 

9 (i) high-risk pre-ignition conditions; 

10 (ii) conditions that influence fire be11 havior and spread including those condi12 tions that suppress active fire events; and 

13 (iii) fire risk values; 

14 (B) support real-time notification and 

15 monitoring of ignitions; 

16 (C) support observations and data collec17 tion of fire weather and fire environment vari18 ables, including vegetation state and profiles of 

19 smoke, winds, temperature, and humidity, for 

20 development of the model and systems under 

21 paragraph (1); and 

22 (D) support forecasts and research that 

23 mitigate the impacts of wildfires on human life, 

24 health, and the economy; and 


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1 (3) development and implementation of ad2 vanced and user-oriented impact-based decision 

3 tools, science, and technologies that— 

4 (A) ensure real-time and retrospective 

5 data, products, and services are findable, acces6 sible, interoperable, usable, inform further re7 search, and are analysis- and decision-ready; 

8 (B) provide targeted information through9 out the fire lifecycle including pre-ignition, de10 tection, forecasting, post-fire, and monitoring 

11 phases; and 

12 (C) support early assessment of post-fire 

13 hazards, such as air quality, debris flows, 

14 mudslides, and flooding. 

15 (d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In developing and imple16 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

17 Under Secretary may— 

18 (1) conduct relevant physical and social science 

19 research activities in support of the functions de20 scribed in subsection (b) and the priorities described 

21 in subsection (c); 

22 (2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination 

23 with Federal land management agencies and Federal 

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1 cluding moisture, loading, and other parameters 

2 used to determine fire risk levels and outlooks; 

3 (3) support and conduct research that assesses 

4 impacts to marine, riverine, watershed, and other 

5 relevant ecosystems, which may include forest and 

6 rangeland ecosystems, resulting from activities asso7 ciated with mitigation of and response to wildfires; 

8 (4) support and conduct attribution science re9 search relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, 

10 smoke, and associated conditions, risks, and im11 pacts; 

12 (5) develop smoke and air quality forecasts, 

13 forecast guidance, and prescribed burn weather fore14 casts, and conduct research on the impact of such 

15 forecasts on response behavior that minimizes 

16 health-related impacts from smoke exposure; 

17 (6) use, in coordination with Federal land man18 agement agencies, wildland fuels information and 

19 fire resource intelligence to inform fire environment 

20 impact-based decision support services and products 

21 for safety; 

22 (7) work with Federal agencies to provide data, 

23 tools, and services to support determinations by such 

24 agencies for the implementation of mitigation meas25 ures; 


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1 (8) provide training and support to ensure ef2 fective media utilization of impact-based decision 

3 support services and products to the public regard4 ing actions needing to be taken; 

5 (9) provide comprehensive training to ensure 

6 staff of the program established under subsection 

7 (a) is properly equipped to deliver the impact-based 

8 decision support services and products described in 

9 paragraphs (1) through (6); and 

10 (10) acquire, through contracted purchase, pri11 vate sector-produced observational data to fill identi12 fied gaps, as needed. 

13 (e) COLLABORATION.—The Under Secretary shall, as 

14 the Under Secretary considers appropriate, collaborate 

15 with partners in the weather and climate enterprises, aca16 demic institutions, States, Indian tribes, Tribal organiza17 tions, the Native Hawaiian Community, Native Hawaiian 

18 organizations, local partners, and Federal agencies, in19 cluding land and fire management agencies, in the devel20 opment and implementation of the program established 

21 under subsection (a). 

22 (f) AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out the activities 

23 under this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 

24 the Under Secretary may provide support to non-Federal 


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1 entities by making funds and resources available 

2 through— 

3 (1) competitive grants; 

4 (2) contracts under the mobility program under 

5 subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 

6 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Intergovern7 mental Personnel Act Mobility Program’’); 

8 (3) cooperative agreements; and 

9 (4) co-location agreements as described in sec10 tion 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

11 Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amend12 ments Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 851 note prec.). 

13 (g) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION PLAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

16 Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 

17 committees of Congress a plan that details how the 

18 program established under subsection (a) will be ad19 ministered and governed within the Administration. 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para21 graph (1) should include a description of— 

22 (A) how the functions described in sub23 section (b), the priorities described in sub24 section (c), and the activities described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 section (d) will be distributed among the line of2 fices of the Administration; and 

3 (B) the mechanisms in place to ensure 

4 seamless coordination among those offices. 

5 SEC. 4. FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER

7 TESTBED.—The Under Secretary shall establish a fire 

8 weather testbed that enables engagement across the Fed9 eral Government, State and local governments, academia, 

10 private and federally funded research laboratories, the pri11 vate sector, and end-users in order to evaluate the accu12 racy and usability of technology, models, fire weather 

13 products and services, and other research to accelerate the 

14 implementation, transition to operations, and use of new 

15 capabilities by the Administration, Federal and land man16 agement agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 

17 (b) UNCREWED SYSTEMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall— 

19 (A) establish and carry out a research and 

20 development program to support the application 

21 of uncrewed systems technologies to improve 

22 data collection in support of modeling, observa23 tions, predictions, forecasts, and impact-based 

24 decision support services, and for other pur25 poses of the Administration; 


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1 (B) transition uncrewed systems tech2 nologies from research to operations as the 

3 Under Secretary considers appropriate; and 

4 (C) coordinate with other Federal agencies 

5 that may be developing uncrewed systems and 

6 related technologies to meet the challenges of 

7 wildland fire management. 

8 (2) PILOTS REQUIRED.—In carrying out para9 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall conduct pilots 

10 of uncrewed systems for fire weather and fire envi11 ronment observations, including— 

12 (A) testing of uncrewed systems in ap13 proximations of real-world scenarios; 

14 (B) assessment of the utility of meteoro15 logical data collected from fire response and as16 sessment aircraft; 

17 (C) input of the collected data into appro18 priate models to predict fire behavior, including 

19 coupled atmosphere and fire models; and 

20 (D) collection of best management prac21 tices for deployment of uncrewed systems and 

22 other remote data technology, including for 

23 communication and coordination between the 

24 stakeholders described in subsection (a). 

25 (3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activi2 ties under this subsection, the Under Secretary 

3 shall ensure that any testing or deployment of 

4 uncrewed systems follow procedures, restric5 tions, and protocols established by the heads of 

6 the Federal agencies with statutory or regu7 latory jurisdiction over any airspace in which 

8 wildfire response activities are conducted during 

9 an active wildfire event. 

10 (B) CONSULTATION AND COORDINA11 TION.—The Under Secretary shall consult and 

12 coordinate with relevant Federal land manage13 ment agencies, Federal science agencies, and 

14 the Federal Aviation Administration to develop 

15 processes for the appropriate deployment of the 

16 systems described in subparagraph (A). 

17 (c) ADDITIONAL PILOT PROJECTS.—The Under Sec18 retary shall establish additional pilot projects relating to 

19 the fire weather testbed that may include the following ele20 ments: 

21 (1) Advanced products to detect fire from sat22 ellites. 

23 (2) Procurement and use of commercial data. 

24 (3) Investigation and evaluation of information 

25 needs of users and decision makers. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—Section 108(a)(5) of the National Oce2 anic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act 

3 of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 8520(a)(5)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end; and 

6 (2) in subparagraph (D)— 

7 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

8 (B) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

9 end; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(iv) a description of the research 

12 that has been transitioned into operations, 

13 including research at the fire weather 

14 testbed established under section 4(a) of 

15 the Fire Ready Nation Act of 2024;’’. 

16 SEC. 5. DATA MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY MOD17 ERNIZATION. 

18 (a) DATA AVAILABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.—Sec19 tion 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno20 vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 

22 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(f) DATA AVAILABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) make data and metadata generated 

4 or collected by the National Oceanic and At5 mospheric Administration that the Under Sec6 retary has the legal right to redistribute fully 

7 and openly available, in accordance with chap8 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and the 

9 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking 

10 Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 

11 5529) and the amendments made by that Act, 

12 and preserve and curate such data and 

13 metadata, in accordance with chapter 31 of title 

14 44, United States Code (commonly known as 

15 the ‘Federal Records Act of 1950’), in order to 

16 maximize use of such data and metadata; and 

17 ‘‘(B) manage and steward the access, ar18 chival, and retrieval activities for the data and 

19 metadata described in subparagraph (A) by— 

20 ‘‘(i) using— 

21 ‘‘(I) enterprise-wide infrastruc22 ture, emerging technologies, commer23 cial partnerships, and the skilled 

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1 priate data management from collec2 tion to broad access; and 

3 ‘‘(II) associated information serv4 ices; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) pursuing the maximum inter6 operability of data and information by— 

7 ‘‘(I) leveraging data, information, 

8 knowledge, and tools from across the 

9 Federal Government to support equi10 table access, cross-sectoral collabora11 tion and innovation, and local plan12 ning and decision-making; and 

13 ‘‘(II) developing standards and 

14 practices for the adoption and citation 

15 of digital object identifiers for 

16 datasets, models, and analytical tools. 

17 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out this 

18 subsection, the Under Secretary shall collaborate 

19 with such Federal partners and stakeholders as the 

20 Under Secretary considers relevant— 

21 ‘‘(A) to develop standards to pursue max22 imum interoperability of data, information, 

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1 mon digital formats, and improve access and 

2 usability of data by partners and stakeholders; 

3 ‘‘(B) to identify and solicit relevant data 

4 from Federal and international partners and 

5 other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Sec6 retary considers appropriate; and 

7 ‘‘(C) to develop standards and practices for 

8 the adoption and citation of digital object iden9 tifiers for datasets, models, and analytical 

10 tools.’’. 

11 (b) WILDLAND FIRE COMMISSION.—The Infrastruc12 ture Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 

13 Stat. 429) is amended— 

14 (1) in section 70202— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘; 

17 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (K), by striking 

19 the period at the end and inserting a semi20 colon; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(L) the Committee on Commerce, 

24 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and 


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1 ‘‘(M) the Committee on Science, Space, 

2 and Technology of the House of Representa3 tives.’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (6)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

6 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

8 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

9 and’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of Commerce, acting 

13 through the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

14 Oceans and Atmosphere.’’; and 

15 (2) in section 70203(b)(1)(B)— 

16 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

17 striking ‘‘9’’ and inserting ‘‘not fewer than 10’’; 

18 (B) in clause (i)— 

19 (i) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘; 

20 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

21 (ii) in subclause (V), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

22 at the end; and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(VI) the National Oceanic and 

2 Atmospheric Administration;’’; 

3 (C) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

4 inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(vi) if the Secretaries determine it to 

7 be appropriate, 1 or more representatives 

8 from the relevant line offices of the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis10 tration; and’’. 

11 (c) WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION.—Sec12 tion 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Man13 agement, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Na16 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 

17 after ‘‘Federal Aviation Administration,’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (e)(2)— 

19 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

20 subparagraph (C); and 

21 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

25 subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall 


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1 consult with the Under Secretary of Com2 merce for Oceans and Atmosphere regard3 ing any development of impact-based deci4 sion support services that relate to wildlife5 related activities of the National Oceanic 

6 and Atmospheric Administration. 

7 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION OF IMPACT-BASED

8 DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—In this 

9 subparagraph, the term ‘impact-based deci10 sion support services’ means scientific ad11 vice and interpretative services the Na12 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis13 tration provides to help core partners, such 

14 as emergency personnel and public safety 

15 officials, make decisions when the informa16 tion impacts the lives and livelihoods of the 

17 people of the United States.’’; and 

18 (3) in subsection (f)— 

19 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

20 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

21 and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesig22 nated, 2 ems to the right; 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretaries’’ and in24 serting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out para3 graph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the 

4 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At5 mosphere to improve coordination, utility of systems 

6 and assets, and interoperability of data for smoke 

7 prediction, forecasting, and modeling.’’. 

8 (d) DIGITAL PRESENCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

10 develop and maintain a comprehensive, centralized, 

11 and publicly accessible digital presence designed to 

12 promote findability, accessibility, interoperability, 

13 usability, and utility of the services, tools, data, and 

14 information produced by the program established 

15 under section 3(a). 

16 (2) DIGITAL PLATFORM AND TOOLS.—In car17 rying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall 

18 seek to ensure the digital platform and tools of the 

19 Administration integrate geospatial data, decision 

20 support tools, training, and best practices to provide 

21 real-time fire weather forecasts and address fire-re22 lated issues and needs. 

23 (e) HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

25 seek to acquire sufficient high-performance comVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 puting resources and capacity for research, oper2 ations, and data storage in support of the program 

3 established under section 3(a). 

4 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In acquiring high-per5 formance computing capacity under paragraph (1), 

6 the Under Secretary shall consider requirements 

7 needed for— 

8 (A) conducting research, development, and 

9 testbed experiments; 

10 (B) the transition of research and testbed 

11 developments into operations; 

12 (C) sustaining capabilities in operations; 

13 (D) capabilities existing in other Federal 

14 agencies and the commercial sector; and 

15 (E) skilled workforce development. 

16 SEC. 6. SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

17 (a) POST-FIRE SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS .— 

18 (1) ANNUAL POST-FIRE-WEATHER-SEASON SUR19 VEY AND ASSESSMENT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—During the second win21 ter following the enactment of this Act, and 

22 each year thereafter, the Under Secretary shall 

23 conduct a post-fire-weather-season survey and 

24 assessment. 


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1 (B) ELEMENTS.—After conducting a post2 fire-weather-season survey and assessment 

3 under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary 

4 shall— 

5 (i) investigate any gaps in data col6 lected during the assessment; 

7 (ii) identify and implement strategies 

8 and procedures to improve program serv9 ices and information dissemination; 

10 (iii) update systems, processes, strate11 gies, and procedures to enhance the effi12 ciency and reliability of data obtained from 

13 the assessment; 

14 (iv) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy 

15 of physical fire weather forecasting infor16 mation for each incident included in the 

17 survey and assessment; and 

18 (v) assess and refine performance 

19 measures, as needed. 

20 (2) SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING

21 INDIVIDUAL WILDFIRE EVENTS.—The Under Sec22 retary may conduct surveys and assessments fol23 lowing individual wildfire events as the Under Sec24 retary determines necessary. 


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1 (3) GOAL.—In carrying out activities under this 

2 subsection, the Under Secretary shall seek to in3 crease the number of post-wildfire community im4 pact studies, including by surveying individual and 

5 collective responses and incorporating other applica6 ble topics of social science research. 

7 (4) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—Not less frequently 

8 than once each year, the Under Secretary shall pro9 vide a briefing to the appropriate committees of 

10 Congress that provides— 

11 (A) an overview of the fire season; and 

12 (B) an outlook for the fire season for the 

13 coming year. 

14 (5) COORDINATION.—In conducting any survey 

15 or assessment under this subsection, the Under Sec16 retary shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local 

17 partners, Indian tribes, the Native Hawaiian Com18 munity, private entities, and such institutions of 

19 higher education as the Under Secretary considers 

20 relevant in order to— 

21 (A) improve operations and collaboration; 

22 and 

23 (B) optimize data collection, sharing, inte24 gration, assimilation, and dissemination. 


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1 (6) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary 

2 shall make the data and findings obtained from each 

3 assessment conducted under this subsection available 

4 to the public in an accessible digital format as soon 

5 as practicable after conducting the assessment. 

6 (7) SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec7 retary shall make best efforts to incorporate the re8 sults and recommendations of each assessment con9 ducted under this subsection into the research and 

10 development plan and operations of the Administra11 tion. 

12 (b) JOINT ASSESSMENT AND PLAN FOR AUTOMATED

13 SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in col15 laboration with the Administrator of the Federal 

16 Aviation Administration and the Secretary of De17 fense, shall— 

18 (A) conduct an assessment of resources, 

19 personnel, procedures, and activities necessary 

20 to maximize the functionality and utility of the 

21 automated surface observing system of the 

22 United States that identifies— 

23 (i) key system upgrades needed to im24 prove observation quality and utility for 


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1 weather forecasting, aviation safety, and 

2 other users; 

3 (ii) improvements needed in observa4 tions within the planetary boundary layer, 

5 including mixing height; 

6 (iii) improvements needed in public 

7 accessibility of observational data; 

8 (iv) improvements needed to reduce 

9 latency in reporting of observational data; 

10 (v) relevant data to be collected for 

11 the production of forecasts or forecast 

12 guidance relating to atmospheric composi13 tion, including particulate and air quality 

14 data related to wildfires, and aviation safe15 ty; 

16 (vi) areas of concern regarding oper17 ational continuity and reliability of the sys18 tem, which may include needs for on-night 

19 staff, particularly in remote and rural 

20 areas and areas where system failure 

21 would have the greatest negative impact to 

22 the community; 

23 (vii) stewardship, data handling, data 

24 distribution, and product generation needs 


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1 arising from upgrading and changing the 

2 automated surface observation systems; 

3 (viii) possible solutions for areas of 

4 concern identified under clause (vi), includ5 ing with respect to the potential use of 

6 backup systems, power and communication 

7 system reliability, staffing needs and per8 sonnel location, and the acquisition of crit9 ical component backups and proper storage 

10 location to ensure rapid system repair nec11 essary to ensure system operational con12 tinuity; and 

13 (ix) research, development, and transi14 tion to operations needed to develop ad15 vanced data collection, quality control, and 

16 distribution so that the data are provided 

17 to models, users, and decision support sys18 tems in a timely manner; and 

19 (B) develop and implement a plan that ad20 dresses the findings of the assessment con21 ducted under subparagraph (A), including by 

22 seeking and allocating resources necessary to 

23 ensure that system upgrades are standardized 

24 across the Administration, the Federal Aviation 


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1 Administration, and the Department of Defense 

2 to the extent practicable. 

3 (2) STANDARDIZATION.—Any system standard4 ization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall 

5 not impede activities to upgrade or improve indi6 vidual units of the system. 

7 (3) REMOTE AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION

8 COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary, in collabora9 tion with relevant Federal agencies and the National 

10 Interagency Fire Center, shall assess and develop co11 operative agreements to improve coordination, inter12 operability standards, operations, and placement of 

13 remote automatic weather stations for the purpose 

14 of improving utility and coverage of remote auto15 matic weather stations, automated surface observa16 tion systems, smoke monitoring platforms, and other 

17 similar stations and systems for weather and climate 

18 operations. 

19 (4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

22 Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Ad23 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administra24 tion and the Secretary of Defense, shall submit 


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1 to the appropriate committees of Congress a re2 port that— 

3 (i) details the findings of the assess4 ment required by subparagraph (A) of 

5 paragraph (1); and 

6 (ii) the plan required by subparagraph 

7 (B) of such paragraph. 

8 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

9 subparagraph (A) shall include a detailed as10 sessment of appropriations required— 

11 (i) to address the findings of the as12 sessment required by subparagraph (A) of 

13 paragraph (1); and 

14 (ii) to implement the plan required by 

15 subparagraph (B) of such paragraph. 

16 SEC. 7. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST SERVICE. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary shall es18 tablish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service 

19 within the National Weather Service (in this section re20 ferred to as the ‘‘Service’’). 

21 (b) INCLUSION OF EXISTING INCIDENT METEOROLO22 GISTS.—The Service shall include— 

23 (1) the incident meteorologists of the Adminis24 tration as of the date of the enactment of this Act; 

25 and 


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1 (2) such incident meteorologists of the Adminis2 tration as may be appointed after such date. 

3 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Service shall provide— 

4 (1) on-site impact-based decision support serv5 ices to Federal, State, and local government emer6 gency response agencies, Indian tribes, and the Na7 tive Hawaiian Community preceding, during, and 

8 following significant weather-related events, such as 

9 wildland fires, that threaten human life, property, or 

10 the economy; and 

11 (2) support to Federal, State, and local govern12 ment decision makers, partners, and stakeholders, 

13 Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, the Native Ha14 waiian Community, and Native Hawaiian organiza15 tions for seasonal planning and pre-fire mitigation 

16 activities. 

17 (d) DEPLOYMENT.—The Service shall be deployed— 

18 (1) as determined by the Under Secretary; or 

19 (2) at the request of the head of another Fed20 eral agency and with the approval of the Under Sec21 retary. 

22 (e) STAFFING AND RESOURCES.—In establishing and 

23 maintaining the Service, the Under Secretary shall iden24 tify, acquire, and maintain adequate levels of staffing and 

25 resources to meet user needs. 


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1 (f) SUPPORT FOR INCIDENT METEOROLOGISTS.— 

2 The Under Secretary shall provide resources, access to 

3 real-time fire weather forecasts, training, administrative 

4 and logistical support, and access to professional coun5 seling or other forms of support as the Under Secretary 

6 considers appropriate for the betterment of the emotional 

7 and mental health and well-being of incident meteorolo8 gists and other employees of the Administration so long 

9 as the need for such resources, training, access, or support 

10 is due to the response of such employees to high-impact 

11 and extreme fire weather events. 

12 SEC. 8. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) BASIC PAY.—The term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes 

15 any applicable locality-based comparability payment 

16 under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, 

17 any applicable special rate supplement under section 

18 5305 of such title, or any equivalent payment under 

19 a similar provision of law. 

20 (2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 

21 employee’’ means an employee of the Department of 

22 Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, or the 

23 Department of the Interior. 


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1 (3) COVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 services’’ means services that are performed by a 

3 covered employee while serving— 

4 (A) as a wildland firefighter or a fire man5 agement response official, including a regional 

6 fire director, a deputy regional fire director, 

7 and a fire management officer; 

8 (B) as an incident meteorologist accom9 panying a wildland firefighter crew; or 

10 (C) on an incident management team, at 

11 the National Interagency Fire Center, at a Geo12 graphic Area Coordinating Center, or at an op13 erations center. 

14 (4) PREMIUM PAY.—The term ‘‘premium pay’’ 

15 means premium pay paid under a provision of law 

16 described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 

17 section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (5) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit20 tees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

22 and Transportation of the Senate; 

23 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

24 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 


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1 (C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri2 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 

3 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

4 the Senate; 

5 (E) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

6 Resources of the Senate; 

7 (F) the Committee on Oversight and Re8 form of the House of Representatives; 

9 (G) the Committee on Natural Resources 

10 of the House of Representatives; 

11 (H) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

12 Technology of the House of Representatives; 

13 (I) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

14 House of Representative; and 

15 (J) the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives. 

17 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec18 retary concerned’’ means— 

19 (A) the Secretary of Commerce, with re20 spect to an employee of the Department of 

21 Commerce; 

22 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re23 spect to an employee of the Department of Ag24 riculture; and 


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1 (C) the Secretary of the Interior, with re2 spect to an employee of the Department of the 

3 Interior. 

4 (b) WAIVER.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any premium pay received 

6 by a covered employee for covered services shall be 

7 disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic 

8 pay and premium pay for the covered employee for 

9 purposes of applying the limitation on premium pay 

10 under section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (2) CALCULATION OF AGGREGATE PAY.—Any 

12 pay that is disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be 

13 disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of the 

14 applicable covered employee for purposes of applying 

15 the limitation under section 5307 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, during calendar year 2025. 

17 (3) LIMITATION.—A covered employee may not 

18 be paid premium pay under this subsection if, or to 

19 the extent that, the aggregate of the basic pay and 

20 premium pay (including premium pay for covered 

21 services) of the covered employee for a calendar year 

22 would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a po23 sition at level II of the Executive Schedule under 

24 section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in ef25 fect at the end of that calendar year. 


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1 (4) TREATMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM

2 PAY.—If the application of this subsection results in 

3 the payment of additional premium pay to a covered 

4 employee of a type that is normally creditable as 

5 basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that 

6 additional premium pay shall not be— 

7 (A) considered to be basic pay of the cov8 ered employee for any purpose; or 

9 (B) used in computing a lump-sum pay10 ment to the covered employee for accumulated 

11 and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 

12 5552 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (5) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This subsection shall 

14 be in effect during calendar year 2024 and apply to 

15 premium pay payable during that year. 

16 (c) AMENDMENT.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, 

17 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, the De18 partment of Commerce,’’ after ‘‘Interior’’. 

19 (d) PLAN TO ADDRESS NEEDS.— 

20 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 

21 Not later than March 30, 2025, the Secretaries re22 ferred to in subsection (a)(6), in consultation with 

23 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg24 et and the Director of the Office of Personnel Man25 agement, shall jointly develop and implement a plan 


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1 that addresses the needs of the Department of Com2 merce, the Department of Agriculture, and the De3 partment of the Interior, as applicable, to hire, ap4 point, promote, or train additional covered employees 

5 who carry out covered services such that sufficient 

6 covered employees are available throughout each fis7 cal year, beginning in fiscal year 2025, without the 

8 need for waivers of premium pay limitations. 

9 (2) SUBMITTAL.—Not later than 30 days before 

10 the date on which the Secretaries implement the 

11 plan developed under paragraph (1), the Secretaries 

12 shall submit the plan to the relevant congressional 

13 committees. 

14 (3) LIMITATION.—The plan developed under 

15 paragraph (1) shall not be contingent on any Sec16 retary receiving amounts appropriated for fiscal 

17 years beginning in fiscal year 2025 in amounts 

18 greater than amounts appropriated for fiscal year 

19 2023. 

20 (e) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH, SAFE21 TY, AND WELL-BEING.—The Secretary concerned shall 

22 maintain policies and procedures to promote the health, 

23 safety, and well-being of covered employees. 


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1 SEC. 9. SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE FIRE 

2 WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM, INCIDENT 

3 METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS, AND 

4 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORKFORCE 

5 SUPPORT. 

6 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

7 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate commit9 tees of Congress— 

10 (1) the plan described in subsection (b); 

11 (2) the assessment described in subsection (c); 

12 and 

13 (3) the assessment described in subsection (d). 

14 (b) FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM PLAN.— 

15 (1) ELEMENTS.—The plan submitted under 

16 subsection (a)(1) shall detail— 

17 (A) the observational data, modeling re18 quirements, ongoing computational needs, re19 search, development, and technology transfer 

20 activities, data management, skilled-personnel 

21 requirements, engagement with relevant Federal 

22 emergency and land management agencies and 

23 partners, and corresponding research, develop24 ment, and operational resources and timelines 

25 necessary to achieve the functions described in 


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1 subsection (b) of section 3 and the priorities de2 scribed in subsection (c) of such section; and 

3 (B) plans and needs for all other activities 

4 and requirements under this Act and the 

5 amendments made by this Act. 

6 (2) SUBMITTAL OF ANNUAL BUDGET FOR

7 PLAN.—Following completion of the plan submitted 

8 under subsection (a)(1), the Under Secretary shall, 

9 not less frequently than once each year concurrent 

10 with the submission of the budget by the President 

11 to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United 

12 States Code, submit to Congress a proposed budget 

13 corresponding with the elements detailed in the plan. 

14 (c) INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS

15 ASSESSMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

17 conduct a workforce needs assessment on the cur18 rent and future demand for additional incident me19 teorologists for wildfires and other high-impact fire 

20 weather events. 

21 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

22 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

23 (A) A description of staffing levels as of 

24 the date on which the assessment is submitted 


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1 under subsection (a)(2) and projected future 

2 staffing levels. 

3 (B) An assessment of the state of the re4 search, development, and operational infrastruc5 ture of the National Weather Service as of the 

6 date on which the assessment is submitted and 

7 future needs of such infrastructure in order to 

8 meet current and future demands, including 

9 with respect to information technology support 

10 and logistical and administrative operations. 

11 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the as12 sessment required by paragraph (1), the Under Sec13 retary shall consider user needs and feedback from 

14 relevant stakeholders. 

15 (d) SUPPORT SERVICES ASSESSMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

17 conduct a workforce support services assessment 

18 with respect to employees of the National Weather 

19 Service engaged in emergency response. 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

21 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

22 (A) An assessment of need for further sup23 port of employees of the National Weather 

24 Service engaged in emergency response through 

25 services provided by the Public Health Service. 


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1 (B) A detailed assessment of appropria2 tions required to secure the level of support 

3 services needed as identified in the assessment 

4 described in subparagraph (A). 

5 (3) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES.—Fol6 lowing the completion of the assessment required by 

7 paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to ac8 quire additional support services to meet the needs 

9 identified in the assessment. 

10 SEC. 10. FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING 

11 GROUP; STRATEGIC PLAN. 

12 (a) FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING

13 GROUP.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ex16 ecutive Director of the Interagency Committee for 

17 Advancing Weather Services established under sec18 tion 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

19 Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this 

20 section referred to as the ‘‘Interagency Committee’’) 

21 shall establish a working group, to be known as the 

22 ‘‘Fire Science and Technology Working Group’’ (in 

23 this section referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

24 (2) CHAIR.—The Working Group shall be 

25 chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. 


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1 (3) GENERAL DUTIES.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

3 shall seek to build efficiencies among the agen4 cies listed under section 12(c)(1) and coordinate 

5 the planning and management of science, re6 search, technology, and operations related to 

7 science and support services for wildland fire 

8 prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, re9 silience, response, management, and assess10 ments. 

11 (B) INPUT.—The Working Group shall so12 licit input from non-Federal stakeholders. 

13 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

16 Interagency Committee shall prepare and submit to 

17 Congress a strategic plan for interagency coordina18 tion, research, and development that will improve 

19 the assessment of fire environments and the under20 standing and prediction of wildland fires, associated 

21 smoke, and the impacts of such fires and smoke, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) at the wildland-urban interface; 

24 (B) on communities, buildings, and other 

25 infrastructure; 


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1 (C) on ecosystem services and watersheds; 

2 (D) social and economic impacts; 

3 (E) by developing and encouraging the 

4 adoption of science-based and cost-effective 

5 measures— 

6 (i) to enhance community resilience to 

7 wildland fires; 

8 (ii) to address and mitigate the im9 pacts of wildland fires and associated 

10 smoke; and 

11 (iii) to restore natural fire regimes in 

12 fire-dependent ecosystems; 

13 (F) by improving the understanding and 

14 mitigation of the effects of weather and long15 term drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, 

16 and severity; 

17 (G) through integrations of social and be18 havioral sciences in public safety fire commu19 nication; 

20 (H) by improving the forecasting and un21 derstanding of prescribed fires and the impacts 

22 of such fires, and how those impacts may differ 

23 from impacts of wildland fires that originate 

24 from an unplanned ignition; and 


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1 (I) consideration and adoption of any rec2 ommendations included in the report required 

3 by section 12(c). 

4 (2) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan re5 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

6 (A) A description of the priorities and 

7 needs of vulnerable populations. 

8 (B) A description of high-performance 

9 computing, visualization, and dissemination 

10 needs. 

11 (C) A timeline and guidance for implemen12 tation of— 

13 (i) an interagency data sharing sys14 tem for data relevant to performing fire 

15 assessments and modeling fire risk and fire 

16 behavior; 

17 (ii) a system for ensuring that the fire 

18 prediction models of relevant agencies can 

19 be interconnected; and 

20 (iii) to the maximum extent prac21 ticable, any recommendations included in 

22 the report required by section 12(c). 

23 (D) A plan for incorporating and coordi24 nating research and operational observations, 

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1 wave, radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, 

2 and uncrewed aerial systems. 

3 (E) A flexible framework to communicate 

4 clear and simple fire event information to the 

5 public. 

6 (F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, 

7 and communication research to improve the fire 

8 operational environment and societal informa9 tion reception and response. 

10 SEC. 11. FIRE WEATHER RATING SYSTEM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col12 laboration with the Chief of the United States Forest 

13 Service, the Director of the United States Geological Sur14 vey, the Director of the National Park Service, the Admin15 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

16 and such stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers 

17 appropriate— 

18 (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act to rate the risk of wildfire; 

20 and 

21 (2) determine whether updates to that system 

22 are required to ensure that the ratings accurately re23 flect the severity of fire risk. 

24 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de25 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the system 


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1 described in paragraph (1) of such subsection are nec2 essary, the Under Secretary shall update that system. 

3 SEC. 12. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE4 PORTS. 

5 (a) REPORT ON FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp9 troller General of the United States shall submit to 

10 Congress a report on the program established under 

11 section 3(a). 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para13 graph (1) shall— 

14 (A) evaluate the performance of the pro15 gram by establishing initial baseline capabilities 

16 and tracking progress made toward fully 

17 operationalizing the functions described in sec18 tion 3(b); and 

19 (B) include such other recommendations as 

20 the Comptroller General determines are appro21 priate to improve the program. 

22 (b) REPORT ON INTERAGENCY BODIES FOR WILD23 FIRE FORECASTING, PREVENTION, PLANNING, AND MAN24 AGEMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 


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1 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

2 United States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

3 (1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies es4 tablished for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, pre5 vention, planning, and management (such as wildfire 

6 councils, commissions, and workgroups), including— 

7 (A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council; 

8 (B) the White House Wildfire Resilience 

9 Interagency Group; 

10 (C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy 

11 Committee; 

12 (D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and 

13 Management Commission; 

14 (E) the Joint Science Fire Program; 

15 (F) the National Interagency Coordination 

16 Center; 

17 (G) the National Predictive Services Over18 sight Group; 

19 (H) the Interagency Council for Advancing 

20 Meteorological Services; 

21 (I) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

22 Group; 

23 (J) the National Multi-Agency Coordi24 nating Group; and 


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1 (K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership 

2 Group; 

3 (2) evaluates the roles, functionality, and utility 

4 of such interagency bodies; 

5 (3) evaluates the progress, performance, and 

6 implementation of such interagency bodies; 

7 (4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential 

8 overlap and duplication of such interagency bodies in 

9 carrying out interagency collaboration with respect 

10 to wildfire prevention, planning, and management; 

11 and 

12 (5) includes such other recommendations as the 

13 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

14 streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, preven15 tion, planning, and management, including rec16 ommendations regarding the interagency bodies for 

17 which the addition of the Administration is nec18 essary to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, 

19 planning, and management. 

20 (c) REPORT ON INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Not 

21 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

23 submit to Congress a report that identifies— 

24 (1) the authorities, roles, and science and sup25 port services relating to wildland fire prediction, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, 

2 management, and assessment provided by— 

3 (A) the Department of Commerce, includ4 ing the Administration and the National Insti5 tute of Standards and Technology; 

6 (B) the National Aeronautics and Space 

7 Administration; 

8 (C) the Department of the Interior; 

9 (D) the Department of Agriculture; 

10 (E) the National Science Foundation; 

11 (F) the Department of Energy; 

12 (G) the Federal Emergency Management 

13 Agency; 

14 (H) the Department of Transportation; 

15 (I) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

16 and 

17 (J) the Department of Defense; and 

18 (2) recommended areas in and mechanisms by 

19 which the agencies listed under paragraph (1) could 

20 support and improve— 

21 (A) coordination between Federal agencies, 

22 State and local governments, Indian tribes, 

23 Tribal organizations, the Native Hawaiian Com24 munity, Native Hawaiian organizations, and 

25 other relevant stakeholders, including through 


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1 examination of possible public-private partner2 ships; 

3 (B) research and development, including 

4 interdisciplinary research, related to fire envi5 ronments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and 

6 the impacts of such environments, fires, and 

7 smoke, in furtherance of a coordinated inter8 agency effort to address wildland fire risk re9 duction; 

10 (C) data management and stewardship, the 

11 development and coordination of data systems 

12 and computational tools, and the creation of a 

13 centralized, integrated data collaboration envi14 ronment for agency data, including historical 

15 data, relating to weather, fire environments, 

16 wildland fires, associated smoke, and the im17 pacts of such environments, fires, and smoke, 

18 and the assessment of wildland fire risk mitiga19 tion measures; 

20 (D) interoperability, usability, and accessi21 bility of the scientific data, data systems, and 

22 computational and information tools of the 

23 agencies listed under paragraph (1); 

24 (E) coordinated public safety communica25 tions relating to fire weather events, fire hazVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 ards, and wildland fire and smoke risk reduc2 tion strategies; and 

3 (F) secure and accurate real-time data, 

4 alerts, and advisories to wildland firefighters 

5 and other decision support tools for wildland 

6 fire incident command posts. 

7 (d) REPORT ON AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING

8 SYSTEM.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

10 United States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

11 (1) evaluates the functionality, utility, reli12 ability, and operational status of the automated sur13 face observing system across the Administration, the 

14 Federal Aviation Administration, and the Depart15 ment of Defense; 

16 (2) evaluates the progress, performance, and 

17 implementation of the plan required by section 

18 6(b)(1)(B); 

19 (3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collabo20 ration and stakeholder engagement in carrying out 

21 the plan and provides recommendations to improve 

22 such activities; 

23 (4) evaluates the operational continuity and re24 liability of the system, particularly in remote and 

25 rural areas and areas where system failure would 


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1 have the greatest negative impact to the community, 

2 and provides recommendations to improve such con3 tinuity and reliability; 

4 (5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the 

5 remote automatic weather station network, air re6 source advisors, and other Federal observing assets 

7 used for weather and climate modeling and response 

8 activities, and provides recommendations for im9 provements; and 

10 (6) includes such other recommendations as the 

11 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

12 improve the system. 

13 SEC. 13. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 

14 (a) COOPERATION.—Each Federal agency shall co15 operate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as ap16 propriate, in carrying out this Act and the amendments 

17 made by this Act. 

18 (b) COORDINATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In meeting the requirements 

20 under this Act and the amendments made by this 

21 Act, the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as 

22 appropriate, establish agreements with Federal and 

23 external partners to fully use and leverage existing 

24 assets, systems, networks, technologies, and sources 

25 of data. 


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1 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Coordination carried out 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include coordination 

3 with— 

4 (A) the agencies represented at the Na5 tional Interagency Fire Center; 

6 (B) the Predictive Services Program of the 

7 National Interagency Coordination Center; 

8 (C) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

9 Group; and 

10 (D) relevant interagency bodies identified 

11 in the report required by section 12(b). 

12 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub13 section, the Under Secretary shall consult with Fed14 eral partners including— 

15 (A) the National Aeronautics and Space 

16 Administration; 

17 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

18 (C) the Federal Emergency Management 

19 Agency; 

20 (D) the National Science Foundation; 

21 (E) the United States Geological Survey; 

22 (F) the Department of Agriculture; 

23 (G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

24 (H) the Department of Energy; 

25 (I) the Department of Defense; 


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1 (J) the National Institute of Standards 

2 and Technology; and 

3 (K) such other departments and agencies 

4 as the Under Secretary considers relevant. 

5 (c) PROCESS FOR ANNUAL COORDINATION WITH

6 NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Not later than 18 months 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 

8 Secretary shall develop and submit to the appropriate 

9 committees of Congress a process for annual coordination 

10 with State and local governments, Indian tribes, Tribal or11 ganizations, and the Native Hawaiian Community to as12 sist the development of improved fire weather products 

13 and services. 

14 (d) INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may 

16 develop collaborative relationships and agreements 

17 with foreign partners and counterparts to address 

18 transboundary issues pertaining to wildfires, fire 

19 weather, smoke, air quality, and associated condi20 tions and hazards or other relevant meteorological 

21 phenomena, as appropriate, to facilitate full and 

22 open exchange of data and information. 

23 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 

24 under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall 

25 consult with the Department of State and such other 


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1 Federal partners as the Under Secretary considers 

2 relevant. 

3 SEC. 14. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

6 ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that ac7 tivities carried out under this Act and the amend8 ments made by this Act are not duplicative of activi9 ties supported by other parts of the Administration 

10 or other relevant Federal agencies. 

11 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out activities 

12 under this Act and the amendments made by this 

13 Act, the Under Secretary shall coordinate with the 

14 Administration and heads of other Federal research 

15 agencies— 

16 (A) to ensure those activities enhance and 

17 complement, but do not constitute unnecessary 

18 duplication of, efforts; and 

19 (B) to ensure the responsible stewardship 

20 of funds. 

21 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

22 may be construed— 

23 (1) to satisfy any requirement for government24 to-government consultation with Indian tribes; or 


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1 (2) to affect or modify any treaty or other right 

2 of any Indian tribe. 

3 SEC. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated to the Administration to carry out this Act and 

6 the amendments made by this Act— 

7 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

8 (2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

9 (3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; 

10 (4) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2028; and 

11 (5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2029. 

12 (b) PROHIBITION.—None of the amounts authorized 

13 to be appropriated by subsection (a) may be used to un14 necessarily duplicate activities funded under title VIII of 

15 division D of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 

16 (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1094). 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

18 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire 

19 Ready Nation Act of 2024’’. 

20 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

21 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Establishment of fire weather services program. 

Sec. 4. Fire weather testbed. 

Sec. 5. Data management and technology modernization. 

Sec. 6. Surveys and assessments. 

Sec. 7. Incident Meteorologist Service. 

Sec. 8. Emergency response activities. 


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Sec. 9. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program, incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather Service workforce support. 

Sec. 10. Fire Science and Technology Working Group; strategic plan. 

Sec. 11. Fire weather rating system. 

Sec. 12. Government Accountability Office reports. 

Sec. 13. Cooperation and coordination. 

Sec. 14. General provisions. 

Sec. 15. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FIRE WEATHER 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Establishment of fire weather services program. 

Sec. 103. Fire weather testbed. 

Sec. 104. Data management and technology modernization. 

Sec. 105. Surveys and assessments. 

Sec. 106. Incident Meteorologist Service. 

Sec. 107. Emergency response activities. 

Sec. 108. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program, 

incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather 

Service workforce support. 

Sec. 109. Fire Science and Technology Working Group; strategic plan. 

Sec. 110. Fire weather rating system. 

Sec. 111. Government Accountability Office reports. 

Sec. 112. Cooperation and coordination. 

Sec. 113. General provisions. 

Sec. 114. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BY NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION FOR WEATHER FORECASTING 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Purpose. 

Sec. 203. Earth system forecasting and information delivery. 

Sec. 204. Advanced artificial intelligence applications for weather and information delivery. 

Sec. 205. Technical assistance on use of artificial intelligence weather, water, and 

space weather models. 

Sec. 206. Fire environment modeling program. 

Sec. 207. Partnerships for transformational innovation. 

Sec. 208. Availability of dataset. 

Sec. 209. Retention of Federal Government expertise. 

Sec. 210. Protection of national security interests. 

Sec. 211. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE III—NATIONAL MESONET PROGRAM 

Sec. 301. National Mesonet Program. 


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1 TITLE I—FIRE WEATHER 

2 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this title: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra5 tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration. 

7 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

8 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

9 means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

11 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

13 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

14 (3) EARTH SYSTEM MODEL.—The term ‘‘Earth 

15 system model’’ means a mathematical model con16 taining all relevant components of the Earth, namely 

17 the atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and bio18 sphere. 

19 (4) FIRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi20 ronment’’ means— 

21 (A) the environmental conditions, such as 

22 soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 

23 atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 

24 that influence— 

25 (i) fuel and fire behavior; and 


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1 (ii) the emission, chemical evolution, 

2 and transport of smoke from wildfires; and 

3 (B) the associated environmental impacts 

4 occurring during and after fire events. 

5 (5) FIRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 

6 means the weather conditions that influence the start, 

7 spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or fires at 

8 the wildland-urban interface and relevant meteorolog9 ical and chemical phenomena, including air quality, 

10 smoke, and meteorological parameters such as relative 

11 humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction, 

12 and atmospheric composition and chemistry, includ13 ing emissions and mixing heights. 

14 (6) IMPACT-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SERV15 ICES.—The term ‘‘impact-based decision support serv16 ices’’ means scientific advice and interpretative serv17 ices the Administration provides to help core part18 ners, such as emergency personnel and public safety 

19 officials, make decisions when the information im20 pacts the lives and livelihoods of the people of the 

21 United States. 

22 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has 

23 the meaning given that term in section 4 of the In24 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

25 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 (8) NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘Native Hawaiian Community’’ means the distinct 

3 Native Hawaiian indigenous political community 

4 that Congress, exercising its plenary power over Na5 tive American affairs, has recognized and with which 

6 Congress has implemented a special political and 

7 trust relationship pursuant to the Constitution of the 

8 United States. 

9 (9) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The term 

10 ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ has the meaning 

11 given that term in section 6207 of the Elementary 

12 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 7517), including the Department of Hawaiian Home 

14 Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 

15 (10) SEASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ has the 

16 meaning given that term in section 2 of the Weather 

17 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

18 U.S.C. 8501). 

19 (11) SMOKE.—The term ‘‘smoke’’ means emis20 sions, including the gases and particles released into 

21 the air as a result of wildfire. 

22 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

23 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puer24 to Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 

25 of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United State 


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1 Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 

2 the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic 

3 of Palau. 

4 (13) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

5 organization’’ has the meaning given that term in 

6 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu7 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

8 (14) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

9 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

10 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

11 (15) WILDFIRE.—The term ‘‘wildfire’’ means 

12 any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation or 

13 natural fuels, originating from an unplanned igni14 tion. 

15 (16) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

16 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ means the area, zone, or 

17 region of transition between unoccupied or undevel18 oped land and human development where structures 

19 and other human development meet or intermingle 

20 with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. 

21 SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER SERVICES 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall establish 

24 and maintain a coordinated fire weather services program 


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1 among the offices of the Administration in existence as of 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) PROGRAM FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the pro4 gram established under subsection (a), consistent with the 

5 priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Research 

6 and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8511), 

7 shall be— 

8 (1) to support readiness, responsiveness, under9 standing, and resilience of the United States to 

10 wildfires, fire weather, smoke from wildfires, post-fire 

11 flooding and debris flows, and associated hazards and 

12 impacts in built and natural environments and at the 

13 wildland-urban interface; 

14 (2) to collaboratively develop and disseminate 

15 accurate, precise, effective, and timely risk commu16 nications, forecasts, watches, and warnings relating to 

17 wildfires, fire weather, smoke, post-fire flooding and 

18 debris flows, and other associated conditions, hazards, 

19 and impacts, as applicable, with Federal land man20 agement agencies; 

21 (3) to partner with and support the public, Fed22 eral and State government entities, Indian tribes, the 

23 Native Hawaiian Community, and academic and 

24 local partners through the development of capabilities, 


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1 impact-based decision support services, and overall 

2 service delivery and utility related to fire weather; 

3 (4) to conduct and support research and develop4 ment of new and innovative models, technologies, 

5 techniques, products, systems, processes, and proce6 dures to predict and improve understanding of 

7 wildfires, fire weather, related air quality, post-fire 

8 flooding and debris flows, and the fire environment; 

9 (5) to develop strong research-to-operations and 

10 operations-to-research transitions, in order to facili11 tate delivery of products, services, and tools to oper12 ational users and platforms related to fire weather; 

13 (6) to develop communications networks and 

14 strategies to ensure parity of fire forecasts, warning 

15 services, and information about current fire location, 

16 for remote, isolated, and rural communities, includ17 ing communities where the public acts as the first re18 sponder to wildfire; and 

19 (7) to develop, in coordination with Federal land 

20 management agencies, impact-based decision support 

21 services that operationalize and integrate the func22 tions described in paragraphs (1) through (6) in 

23 order to provide comprehensive impact-based decision 

24 support services that encompass the fire environment. 


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1 (c) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—In developing and imple2 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

3 Under Secretary shall prioritize— 

4 (1) development of a fire weather-enabled Earth 

5 system model and data assimilation systems that— 

6 (A) are capable of prediction and fore7 casting across relevant spatial and temporal 

8 scales; 

9 (B) include variables associated with fire 

10 weather and the fire environment; 

11 (C) improve understanding of the connec12 tions between fire weather and modes of climate 

13 variability; 

14 (D) incorporate emerging techniques such as 

15 artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 

16 cloud computing; and 

17 (E) use a rapidly deployable network of 

18 rain gauges for post-fire hazard monitoring; 

19 (2) advancement of existing and new observa20 tional capabilities, including satellite-, airborne-, air21 , and ground-based systems and technologies, and so22 cial networking and other public information-gath23 ering applications that— 

24 (A) identify— 

25 (i) high-risk pre-ignition conditions; 


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1 (ii) conditions that influence fire be2 havior and spread including those condi3 tions that suppress active fire events; and 

4 (iii) fire risk values; 

5 (B) support real-time notification and mon6 itoring of ignitions; 

7 (C) support observations and data collection 

8 of fire weather and fire environment variables, 

9 including vegetation state and profiles of smoke, 

10 winds, temperature, and humidity, for develop11 ment of the model and systems under paragraph 

12 (1); and 

13 (D) support forecasts and research that 

14 mitigate the impacts of wildfires on human life, 

15 health, and the economy; 

16 (3) development and implementation of advanced 

17 and user-oriented impact-based decision tools, science, 

18 and technologies that— 

19 (A) ensure real-time and retrospective data, 

20 products, and services are findable, accessible, 

21 interoperable, usable, inform further research, 

22 and are analysis- and decision-ready; 

23 (B) provide targeted information through24 out the fire lifecycle including pre-ignition, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 tection, forecasting, post-fire, and monitoring 

2 phases; and 

3 (C) support early assessment of post-fire 

4 hazards, such as air quality, debris flows, 

5 mudslides, and flooding; and 

6 (4) ensuring the parity of access to and support 

7 from the tools, science, and technologies developed 

8 under this subsection for remote, isolated, and rural 

9 communities. 

10 (d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In developing and imple11 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

12 Under Secretary may— 

13 (1) conduct relevant physical and social science 

14 research activities in support of the functions de15 scribed in subsection (b) and the priorities described 

16 in subsection (c); 

17 (2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination 

18 with Federal land management agencies and Federal 

19 science agencies, to assess fuel characteristics, includ20 ing moisture, loading, and other parameters used to 

21 determine fire risk levels and outlooks; 

22 (3) support and conduct research that assesses 

23 impacts to marine, riverine, watershed, and other rel24 evant ecosystems, which may include forest and 


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1 rangeland ecosystems, resulting from activities associ2 ated with mitigation of and response to wildfires; 

3 (4) support and conduct attribution science re4 search relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, 

5 smoke, and associated conditions, risks, and impacts; 

6 (5) develop smoke and air quality forecasts, fore7 cast guidance, and prescribed burn weather forecasts, 

8 and conduct research on the impact of such forecasts 

9 on response behavior that minimizes health-related 

10 impacts from smoke exposure; 

11 (6) use, in coordination with Federal land man12 agement agencies, wildland fuels information and fire 

13 resource intelligence to inform fire environment im14 pact-based decision support services and products for 

15 safety; 

16 (7) work with Federal agencies to provide data, 

17 tools, and services to support determinations by such 

18 agencies for the implementation of mitigation meas19 ures; 

20 (8) provide training and support to ensure effec21 tive media utilization of impact-based decision sup22 port services and products to the public regarding ac23 tions needing to be taken; 

24 (9) provide comprehensive training to ensure 

25 staff of the program established under subsection (a) 


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1 is properly equipped to deliver the impact-based deci2 sion support services and products described in para3 graphs (1) through (6); and 

4 (10) acquire, through contracted purchase, pri5 vate sector-produced observational data to fill identi6 fied gaps, as needed. 

7 (e) PARITY FOR REMOTE, ISOLATED, AND RURAL COM8 MUNITIES.—In developing and implementing the program 

9 established under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall 

10 ensure parity of coverage and programmatic activity for 

11 remote, isolated, and rural communities, including commu12 nities where the public acts as the first responder to wild13 fire. 

14 (f) COLLABORATION.—The Under Secretary shall, as 

15 the Under Secretary considers appropriate, collaborate with 

16 partners in the weather and climate enterprises, academic 

17 institutions, States, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, the 

18 Native Hawaiian Community, Native Hawaiian organiza19 tions, local partners, and Federal agencies, including land 

20 and fire management agencies, in the development and im21 plementation of the program established under subsection 

22 (a). 

23 (g) AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out the activities 

24 under this title and the amendments made by this title, the 


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1 Under Secretary may provide support to non-Federal enti2 ties by making funds and resources available through— 

3 (1) competitive grants; 

4 (2) contracts under the mobility program under 

5 subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 

6 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Intergovernmental 

7 Personnel Act Mobility Program’’); 

8 (3) cooperative agreements; and 

9 (4) co-location agreements as described in section 

10 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin11 istration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments 

12 Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 851 note prec.). 

13 (h) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION PLAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec16 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

17 Congress a plan that details how the program estab18 lished under subsection (a) will be administered and 

19 governed within the Administration. 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para21 graph (1) should include a description of— 

22 (A) how the functions described in sub23 section (b), the priorities described in subsection 

24 (c), and the activities described in subsection (d) 


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1 will be distributed among the line offices of the 

2 Administration; and 

3 (B) the mechanisms in place to ensure 

4 seamless coordination among those offices. 

5 SEC. 103. FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED.— 

7 The Under Secretary shall establish a fire weather testbed 

8 that enables engagement across the Federal Government, 

9 State and local governments, academia, private and feder10 ally funded research laboratories, the private sector, and 

11 end-users in order to evaluate the accuracy and usability 

12 of technology, models, fire weather products and services, 

13 and other research to accelerate the implementation, transi14 tion to operations, and use of new capabilities by the Ad15 ministration, Federal and land management agencies, and 

16 other relevant stakeholders. 

17 (b) UNCREWED SYSTEMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall— 

19 (A) establish and carry out a research and 

20 development program to support the application 

21 of uncrewed systems technologies to improve data 

22 collection in support of modeling, observations, 

23 predictions, forecasts, and impact-based decision 

24 support services, and for other purposes of the 

25 Administration; 


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1 (B) transition uncrewed systems tech2 nologies from research to operations as the Under 

3 Secretary considers appropriate; and 

4 (C) coordinate with other Federal agencies 

5 that may be developing uncrewed systems and 

6 related technologies to meet the challenges of 

7 wildland fire management. 

8 (2) PILOTS REQUIRED.—In carrying out para9 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall conduct pilots of 

10 uncrewed systems for fire weather and fire environ11 ment observations, including— 

12 (A) testing of uncrewed systems in approxi13 mations of real-world scenarios; 

14 (B) assessment of the utility of meteorolog15 ical data collected from fire response and assess16 ment aircraft; 

17 (C) input of the collected data into appro18 priate models to predict fire behavior, including 

19 coupled atmosphere and fire models; and 

20 (D) collection of best management practices 

21 for deployment of uncrewed systems and other 

22 remote data technology, including for commu23 nication and coordination between the stake24 holders described in subsection (a). 

25 (3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activi2 ties under this subsection, the Under Secretary 

3 shall ensure that any testing or deployment of 

4 uncrewed systems follow procedures, restrictions, 

5 and protocols established by the heads of the Fed6 eral agencies with statutory or regulatory juris7 diction over any airspace in which wildfire re8 sponse activities are conducted during an active 

9 wildfire event. 

10 (B) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.— 

11 The Under Secretary shall consult and coordi12 nate with relevant Federal land management 

13 agencies, Federal science agencies, and the Fed14 eral Aviation Administration to develop proc15 esses for the appropriate deployment of the sys16 tems described in subparagraph (A). 

17 (c) ADDITIONAL PILOT PROJECTS.—The Under Sec18 retary shall establish additional pilot projects relating to 

19 the fire weather testbed that may include the following ele20 ments: 

21 (1) Advanced products to detect fire from sat22 ellites. 

23 (2) Procurement and use of commercial data. 

24 (3) Investigation and evaluation of information 

25 needs of users and decision makers. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—Section 108(a)(5) of the National Oce2 anic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 

3 1992 (15 U.S.C. 8520(a)(5)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; and 

6 (2) in subparagraph (D)— 

7 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

8 (B) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

9 end; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(iv) a description of the research that 

12 has been transitioned into operations, in13 cluding research at the fire weather testbed 

14 established under section 103(a) of the Fire 

15 Ready Nation Act of 2024;’’. 

16 SEC. 104. DATA MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY MOD17 ERNIZATION. 

18 (a) DATA AVAILABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.—Section 

19 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation 

20 Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 

22 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

24 ‘‘(f) DATA AVAILABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) make data and metadata generated or 

2 collected by the National Oceanic and Atmos3 pheric Administration that the Under Secretary 

4 has the legal right to redistribute fully and open5 ly available, in accordance with chapter 35 of 

6 title 44, United States Code, and the Founda7 tions for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 

8 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 5529) and 

9 the amendments made by that Act, and preserve 

10 and curate such data and metadata, in accord11 ance with chapter 31 of title 44, United States 

12 Code (commonly known as the ‘Federal Records 

13 Act of 1950’), in order to maximize use of such 

14 data and metadata; and 

15 ‘‘(B) manage and steward the access, archi16 val, and retrieval activities for the data and 

17 metadata described in subparagraph (A) by— 

18 ‘‘(i) using— 

19 ‘‘(I) enterprise-wide infrastruc20 ture, emerging technologies, commercial 

21 partnerships, and the skilled workforce 

22 needed to provide appropriate data 

23 management from collection to broad 

24 access; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) associated information serv2 ices; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) pursuing the maximum inter4 operability of data and information by— 

5 ‘‘(I) leveraging data, information, 

6 knowledge, and tools from across the 

7 Federal Government to support equi8 table access, cross-sectoral collaboration 

9 and innovation, and local planning 

10 and decision-making; and 

11 ‘‘(II) developing standards and 

12 practices for the adoption and citation 

13 of digital object identifiers for datasets, 

14 models, and analytical tools. 

15 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out this sub16 section, the Under Secretary shall collaborate with 

17 such Federal partners and stakeholders as the Under 

18 Secretary considers relevant— 

19 ‘‘(A) to develop standards to pursue max20 imum interoperability of data, information, 

21 knowledge, and tools across the Federal Govern22 ment, convert historical records into common 

23 digital formats, and improve access and 

24 usability of data by partners and stakeholders; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to identify and solicit relevant data 

2 from Federal and international partners and 

3 other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Sec4 retary considers appropriate; and 

5 ‘‘(C) to develop standards and practices for 

6 the adoption and citation of digital object identi7 fiers for datasets, models, and analytical tools.’’. 

8 (b) WILDLAND FIRE COMMISSION.—The Infrastruc9 ture Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 

10 Stat. 429) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 70202— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘; 

14 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (K), by striking 

16 the period at the end and inserting a semi17 colon; and 

18 (iii) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(L) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

21 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

22 ‘‘(M) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

23 Technology of the House of Representatives.’’; 

24 and 

25 (B) in paragraph (6)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

2 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

5 and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of Commerce, acting 

9 through the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

10 Oceans and Atmosphere.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 70203(b)(1)(B)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

13 striking ‘‘9’’ and inserting ‘‘not fewer than 10’’; 

14 (B) in clause (i)— 

15 (i) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘; 

16 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (ii) in subclause (V), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

18 at the end; and 

19 (iii) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(VI) the National Oceanic and 

22 Atmospheric Administration;’’; 

23 (C) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

24 inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (D) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(vi) if the Secretaries determine it to 

2 be appropriate, 1 or more representatives 

3 from the relevant line offices of the National 

4 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 

5 and’’. 

6 (c) WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION.—Sec7 tion 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Man8 agement, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Na11 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 

12 after ‘‘Federal Aviation Administration,’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (e)(2)— 

14 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

15 subparagraph (C); and 

16 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

20 subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall con21 sult with the Under Secretary of Commerce 

22 for Oceans and Atmosphere regarding any 

23 development of impact-based decision sup24 port services that relate to wildlife-related 


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1 activities of the National Oceanic and At2 mospheric Administration. 

3 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION OF IMPACT-BASED

4 DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—In this sub5 paragraph, the term ‘impact-based decision 

6 support services’ means scientific advice 

7 and interpretative services the National 

8 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

9 provides to help core partners, such as 

10 emergency personnel and public safety offi11 cials, make decisions when the information 

12 impacts the lives and livelihoods of the peo13 ple of the United States.’’; and 

14 (3) in subsection (f)— 

15 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

16 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

17 and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesig18 nated, 2 ems to the right; 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretaries’’ and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out para24 graph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the 

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1 phere to improve coordination, utility of systems and 

2 assets, and interoperability of data for smoke pre3 diction, forecasting, and modeling.’’. 

4 (d) DIGITAL PRESENCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall de6 velop and maintain a comprehensive, centralized, and 

7 publicly accessible digital presence designed to pro8 mote findability, accessibility, interoperability, 

9 usability, and utility of the services, tools, data, and 

10 information produced by the program established 

11 under section 102(a). 

12 (2) DIGITAL PLATFORM AND TOOLS.—In car13 rying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall 

14 seek to ensure the digital platform and tools of the 

15 Administration integrate geospatial data, decision 

16 support tools, training, and best practices to provide 

17 real-time fire weather forecasts and address fire-re18 lated issues and needs. 

19 (e) HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

21 seek to acquire sufficient high-performance computing 

22 resources and capacity for research, operations, and 

23 data storage in support of the program established 

24 under section 102(a). 


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1 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In acquiring high-per2 formance computing capacity under paragraph (1), 

3 the Under Secretary shall consider requirements need4 ed for— 

5 (A) conducting research, development, and 

6 testbed experiments; 

7 (B) the transition of research and testbed 

8 developments into operations; 

9 (C) sustaining capabilities in operations; 

10 (D) capabilities existing in other Federal 

11 agencies and the commercial sector; and 

12 (E) skilled workforce development. 

13 SEC. 105. SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

14 (a) POST-FIRE SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS .— 

15 (1) ANNUAL POST-FIRE-WEATHER-SEASON SUR16 VEY AND ASSESSMENT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—During the second win18 ter following the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act, and each year thereafter, the Under Sec20 retary shall conduct a post-fire-weather-season 

21 survey and assessment. 

22 (B) ELEMENTS.—After conducting a post23 fire-weather-season survey and assessment under 

24 subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary shall— 


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1 (i) investigate any gaps in data col2 lected during the assessment; 

3 (ii) identify and implement strategies 

4 and procedures to improve program services 

5 and information dissemination; 

6 (iii) update systems, processes, strate7 gies, and procedures to enhance the effi8 ciency and reliability of data obtained from 

9 the assessment; 

10 (iv) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy 

11 of physical fire weather forecasting informa12 tion for each incident included in the sur13 vey and assessment; and 

14 (v) assess and refine performance 

15 measures, as needed. 

16 (2) SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING IN17 DIVIDUAL WILDFIRE EVENTS.—The Under Secretary 

18 may conduct surveys and assessments following indi19 vidual wildfire events as the Under Secretary deter20 mines necessary. 

21 (3) GOAL.—In carrying out activities under this 

22 subsection, the Under Secretary shall seek to increase 

23 the number of post-wildfire community impact stud24 ies, including by surveying individual and collective 


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1 responses and incorporating other applicable topics of 

2 social science research. 

3 (4) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—Not less frequently than 

4 once each year, the Under Secretary shall provide a 

5 briefing to the appropriate committees of Congress 

6 that provides— 

7 (A) an overview of the fire season; and 

8 (B) an outlook for the fire season for the 

9 coming year. 

10 (5) COORDINATION.—In conducting any survey 

11 or assessment under this subsection, the Under Sec12 retary shall coordinate with Federal, State, and local 

13 partners, Indian tribes, the Native Hawaiian Com14 munity, private entities, and such institutions of 

15 higher education as the Under Secretary considers rel16 evant in order to— 

17 (A) improve operations and collaboration; 

18 and 

19 (B) optimize data collection, sharing, inte20 gration, assimilation, and dissemination. 

21 (6) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary 

22 shall make the data and findings obtained from each 

23 assessment conducted under this subsection available 

24 to the public in an accessible digital format as soon 

25 as practicable after conducting the assessment. 


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1 (7) SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Sec2 retary shall make best efforts to incorporate the re3 sults and recommendations of each assessment con4 ducted under this subsection into the research and de5 velopment plan and operations of the Administration. 

6 (b) JOINT ASSESSMENT AND PLAN FOR AUTOMATED

7 SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in col9 laboration with the Administrator of the Federal 

10 Aviation Administration and the Secretary of De11 fense, shall— 

12 (A) conduct an assessment of resources, per13 sonnel, procedures, and activities necessary to 

14 maximize the functionality and utility of the 

15 automated surface observing system of the United 

16 States that identifies— 

17 (i) key system upgrades needed to im18 prove observation quality and utility for 

19 weather forecasting, aviation safety, and 

20 other users; 

21 (ii) improvements needed in observa22 tions within the planetary boundary layer, 

23 including mixing height; 

24 (iii) improvements needed in public 

25 accessibility of observational data; 


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1 (iv) improvements needed to reduce la2 tency in reporting of observational data; 

3 (v) relevant data to be collected for the 

4 production of forecasts or forecast guidance 

5 relating to atmospheric composition, includ6 ing particulate and air quality data related 

7 to wildfires, and aviation safety; 

8 (vi) areas of concern regarding oper9 ational continuity and reliability of the sys10 tem, which may include needs for on-night 

11 staff, particularly in remote and rural 

12 areas and areas where system failure would 

13 have the greatest negative impact to the 

14 community; 

15 (vii) stewardship, data handling, data 

16 distribution, and product generation needs 

17 arising from upgrading and changing the 

18 automated surface observation systems; 

19 (viii) possible solutions for areas of 

20 concern identified under clause (vi), includ21 ing with respect to the potential use of 

22 backup systems, power and communication 

23 system reliability, staffing needs and per24 sonnel location, and the acquisition of crit25 ical component backups and proper storage 


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1 location to ensure rapid system repair nec2 essary to ensure system operational con3 tinuity; and 

4 (ix) research, development, and transi5 tion to operations needed to develop ad6 vanced data collection, quality control, and 

7 distribution so that the data are provided to 

8 models, users, and decision support systems 

9 in a timely manner; and 

10 (B) develop and implement a plan that ad11 dresses the findings of the assessment conducted 

12 under subparagraph (A), including by seeking 

13 and allocating resources necessary to ensure that 

14 system upgrades are standardized across the Ad15 ministration, the Federal Aviation Administra16 tion, and the Department of Defense to the extent 

17 practicable. 

18 (2) STANDARDIZATION.—Any system standard19 ization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall 

20 not impede activities to upgrade or improve indi21 vidual units of the system. 

22 (3) REMOTE AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION CO23 ORDINATION.—The Under Secretary, in collaboration 

24 with relevant Federal agencies and the National 

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1 operative agreements to improve coordination, inter2 operability standards, operations, and placement of 

3 remote automatic weather stations for the purpose of 

4 improving utility and coverage of remote automatic 

5 weather stations, automated surface observation sys6 tems, smoke monitoring platforms, and other similar 

7 stations and systems for weather and climate oper8 ations. 

9 (4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

12 Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Ad13 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administra14 tion and the Secretary of Defense, shall submit 

15 to the appropriate committees of Congress a re16 port that— 

17 (i) details the findings of the assess18 ment required by subparagraph (A) of 

19 paragraph (1); and 

20 (ii) the plan required by subparagraph 

21 (B) of such paragraph. 

22 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

23 subparagraph (A) shall include a detailed assess24 ment of appropriations required— 


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1 (i) to address the findings of the assess2 ment required by subparagraph (A) of 

3 paragraph (1); and 

4 (ii) to implement the plan required by 

5 subparagraph (B) of such paragraph. 

6 SEC. 106. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST SERVICE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary shall es8 tablish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service 

9 within the National Weather Service (in this section re10 ferred to as the ‘‘Service’’). 

11 (b) INCLUSION OF EXISTING INCIDENT METEOROLO12 GISTS.—The Service shall include— 

13 (1) the incident meteorologists of the Administra14 tion as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

15 (2) such incident meteorologists of the Adminis16 tration as may be appointed after such date. 

17 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Service shall provide— 

18 (1) on-site impact-based decision support services 

19 to Federal, State, and local government emergency re20 sponse agencies, Indian tribes, and the Native Hawai21 ian Community preceding, during, and following sig22 nificant weather-related events, such as wildland 

23 fires, that threaten human life, property, or the econ24 omy; and 


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1 (2) support to Federal, State, and local govern2 ment decision makers, partners, and stakeholders, In3 dian tribes, Tribal organizations, the Native Hawai4 ian Community, and Native Hawaiian organizations 

5 for seasonal planning and pre-fire mitigation activi6 ties. 

7 (d) DEPLOYMENT.—The Service shall be deployed— 

8 (1) as determined by the Under Secretary; or 

9 (2) at the request of the head of another Federal 

10 agency and with the approval of the Under Secretary. 

11 (e) STAFFING AND RESOURCES.—In establishing and 

12 maintaining the Service, the Under Secretary shall iden13 tify, acquire, and maintain adequate levels of staffing and 

14 resources to meet user needs. 

15 (f) SUPPORT FOR INCIDENT METEOROLOGISTS.—The 

16 Under Secretary shall provide resources, access to real-time 

17 fire weather forecasts, training, administrative and 

18 logistical support, and access to professional counseling or 

19 other forms of support as the Under Secretary considers ap20 propriate for the betterment of the emotional and mental 

21 health and well-being of incident meteorologists and other 

22 employees of the Administration so long as the need for such 

23 resources, training, access, or support is due to the response 

24 of such employees to high-impact and extreme fire weather 

25 events. 


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1 SEC. 107. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) BASIC PAY.—The term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes 

4 any applicable locality-based comparability payment 

5 under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, any 

6 applicable special rate supplement under section 5305 

7 of such title, or any equivalent payment under a 

8 similar provision of law. 

9 (2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 

10 employee’’ means an employee of the Department of 

11 Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, or the De12 partment of the Interior. 

13 (3) COVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 services’’ means services that are performed by a cov15 ered employee while serving— 

16 (A) as a wildland firefighter or a fire man17 agement response official, including a regional 

18 fire director, a deputy regional fire director, and 

19 a fire management officer; 

20 (B) as an incident meteorologist accom21 panying a wildland firefighter crew; or 

22 (C) on an incident management team, at 

23 the National Interagency Fire Center, at a Geo24 graphic Area Coordinating Center, or at an op25 erations center. 


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1 (4) PREMIUM PAY.—The term ‘‘premium pay’’ 

2 means premium pay paid under a provision of law 

3 described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 

4 section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

5 (5) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

6 The term ‘‘relevant congressional committees’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate; 

10 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

12 (C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri13 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 

14 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 Senate; 

16 (E) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

17 Resources of the Senate; 

18 (F) the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

19 of the House of Representatives; 

20 (G) the Committee on Natural Resources of 

21 the House of Representatives; 

22 (H) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

23 Technology of the House of Representatives; 

24 (I) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

25 House of Representative; and 


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1 (J) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec4 retary concerned’’ means— 

5 (A) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect 

6 to an employee of the Department of Commerce; 

7 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re8 spect to an employee of the Department of Agri9 culture; and 

10 (C) the Secretary of the Interior, with re11 spect to an employee of the Department of the 

12 Interior. 

13 (b) WAIVER.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any premium pay received by 

15 a covered employee for covered services shall be dis16 regarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay 

17 and premium pay for the covered employee for pur18 poses of applying the limitation on premium pay 

19 under section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

20 (2) CALCULATION OF AGGREGATE PAY.—Any 

21 pay that is disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be 

22 disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of the 

23 applicable covered employee for purposes of applying 

24 the limitation under section 5307 of title 5, United 

25 States Code, during calendar year 2025. 


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1 (3) LIMITATION.—A covered employee may not 

2 be paid premium pay under this subsection if, or to 

3 the extent that, the aggregate of the basic pay and 

4 premium pay (including premium pay for covered 

5 services) of the covered employee for a calendar year 

6 would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a posi7 tion at level II of the Executive Schedule under sec8 tion 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect 

9 at the end of that calendar year. 

10 (4) TREATMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM

11 PAY.—If the application of this subsection results in 

12 the payment of additional premium pay to a covered 

13 employee of a type that is normally creditable as 

14 basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that 

15 additional premium pay shall not be— 

16 (A) considered to be basic pay of the covered 

17 employee for any purpose; or 

18 (B) used in computing a lump-sum pay19 ment to the covered employee for accumulated 

20 and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 

21 5552 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (5) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This subsection shall 

23 be in effect during calendar year 2024 and apply to 

24 premium pay payable during that year. 


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1 (c) AMENDMENT.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, the Depart3 ment of Commerce,’’ after ‘‘Interior’’. 

4 (d) PLAN TO ADDRESS NEEDS.— 

5 (1) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 

6 later than March 30, 2025, the Secretaries referred to 

7 in subsection (a)(6), in consultation with the Director 

8 of the Office of Management and Budget and the Di9 rector of the Office of Personnel Management, shall 

10 jointly develop and implement a plan that addresses 

11 the needs of the Department of Commerce, the Depart12 ment of Agriculture, and the Department of the Inte13 rior, as applicable, to hire, appoint, promote, or train 

14 additional covered employees who carry out covered 

15 services such that sufficient covered employees are 

16 available throughout each fiscal year, beginning in 

17 fiscal year 2025, without the need for waivers of pre18 mium pay limitations. 

19 (2) SUBMITTAL.—Not later than 30 days before 

20 the date on which the Secretaries implement the plan 

21 developed under paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall 

22 submit the plan to the relevant congressional commit23 tees. 

24 (3) LIMITATION.—The plan developed under 

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1 retary receiving amounts appropriated for fiscal 

2 years beginning in fiscal year 2025 in amounts great3 er than amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2023. 

4 (e) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH, SAFE5 TY, AND WELL-BEING.—The Secretary concerned shall 

6 maintain policies and procedures to promote the health, 

7 safety, and well-being of covered employees. 

8 SEC. 108. SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE 

9 FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM, INCI10 DENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS, 

11 AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORK12 FORCE SUPPORT. 

13 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec15 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con16 gress— 

17 (1) the plan described in subsection (b); 

18 (2) the assessment described in subsection (c); 

19 and 

20 (3) the assessment described in subsection (d). 

21 (b) FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM PLAN.— 

22 (1) ELEMENTS.—The plan submitted under sub23 section (a)(1) shall detail— 

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1 search, development, and technology transfer ac2 tivities, data management, skilled-personnel re3 quirements, engagement with relevant Federal 

4 emergency and land management agencies and 

5 partners, and corresponding research, develop6 ment, and operational resources and timelines 

7 necessary to achieve the functions described in 

8 subsection (b) of section 102 and the priorities 

9 described in subsection (c) of such section; and 

10 (B) plans and needs for all other activities 

11 and requirements under this title and the 

12 amendments made by this title. 

13 (2) SUBMITTAL OF ANNUAL BUDGET FOR

14 PLAN.—Following completion of the plan submitted 

15 under subsection (a)(1), the Under Secretary shall, 

16 not less frequently than once each year concurrent 

17 with the submission of the budget by the President to 

18 Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

19 Code, submit to Congress a proposed budget cor20 responding with the elements detailed in the plan. 

21 (c) INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS

22 ASSESSMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

24 conduct a workforce needs assessment on the current 

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1 gists for wildfires and other high-impact fire weather 

2 events. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

4 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

5 (A) A description of staffing levels as of the 

6 date on which the assessment is submitted under 

7 subsection (a)(2) and projected future staffing 

8 levels. 

9 (B) An assessment of the state of the re10 search, development, and operational infrastruc11 ture of the National Weather Service as of the 

12 date on which the assessment is submitted and 

13 future needs of such infrastructure in order to 

14 meet current and future demands, including 

15 with respect to information technology support 

16 and logistical and administrative operations. 

17 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the assess18 ment required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

19 shall consider user needs and feedback from relevant 

20 stakeholders. 

21 (d) SUPPORT SERVICES ASSESSMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

23 conduct a workforce support services assessment with 

24 respect to employees of the National Weather Service 

25 engaged in emergency response. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

3 (A) An assessment of need for further sup4 port of employees of the National Weather Serv5 ice engaged in emergency response through serv6 ices provided by the Public Health Service. 

7 (B) A detailed assessment of appropriations 

8 required to secure the level of support services 

9 needed as identified in the assessment described 

10 in subparagraph (A). 

11 (3) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES.—Following 

12 the completion of the assessment required by para13 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to acquire 

14 additional support services to meet the needs identi15 fied in the assessment. 

16 SEC. 109. FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING 

17 GROUP; STRATEGIC PLAN. 

18 (a) FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING

19 GROUP.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Execu22 tive Director of the Interagency Committee for Ad23 vancing Weather Services established under section 

24 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innova25 tion Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this section reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 ferred to as the ‘‘Interagency Committee’’) shall estab2 lish a working group, to be known as the ‘‘Fire 

3 Science and Technology Working Group’’ (in this sec4 tion referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

5 (2) CHAIR.—The Working Group shall be 

6 chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. 

7 (3) GENERAL DUTIES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

9 shall seek to build efficiencies among the agencies 

10 listed under section 111(c)(1) and coordinate the 

11 planning and management of science, research, 

12 technology, and operations related to science and 

13 support services for wildland fire prediction, de14 tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, re15 sponse, management, and assessments. 

16 (B) INPUT.—The Working Group shall so17 licit input from non-Federal stakeholders. 

18 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inter21 agency Committee shall prepare and submit to Con22 gress a strategic plan for interagency coordination, 

23 research, and development that will improve the as24 sessment of fire environments and the understanding 


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1 and prediction of wildland fires, associated smoke, 

2 and the impacts of such fires and smoke, including— 

3 (A) at the wildland-urban interface; 

4 (B) on communities, buildings, and other 

5 infrastructure; 

6 (C) on ecosystem services and watersheds; 

7 (D) social and economic impacts; 

8 (E) by developing and encouraging the 

9 adoption of science-based and cost-effective meas10 ures— 

11 (i) to enhance community resilience to 

12 wildland fires; 

13 (ii) to address and mitigate the im14 pacts of wildland fires and associated 

15 smoke; and 

16 (iii) to restore natural fire regimes in 

17 fire-dependent ecosystems; 

18 (F) by improving the understanding and 

19 mitigation of the effects of weather and long-term 

20 drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, and se21 verity; 

22 (G) through integrations of social and be23 havioral sciences in public safety fire commu24 nication; 


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1 (H) by improving the forecasting and un2 derstanding of prescribed fires and the impacts 

3 of such fires, and how those impacts may differ 

4 from impacts of wildland fires that originate 

5 from an unplanned ignition; and 

6 (I) consideration and adoption of any rec7 ommendations included in the report required by 

8 section 111(c). 

9 (2) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan re10 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

11 (A) A description of the priorities and needs 

12 of vulnerable populations. 

13 (B) A description of high-performance com14 puting, visualization, and dissemination needs. 

15 (C) A timeline and guidance for implemen16 tation of— 

17 (i) an interagency data sharing system 

18 for data relevant to performing fire assess19 ments and modeling fire risk and fire be20 havior; 

21 (ii) a system for ensuring that the fire 

22 prediction models of relevant agencies can 

23 be interconnected; and 


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1 (iii) to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, any recommendations included in 

3 the report required by section 111(c). 

4 (D) A plan for incorporating and coordi5 nating research and operational observations, in6 cluding from infrared technologies, microwave, 

7 radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, and 

8 uncrewed aerial systems. 

9 (E) A flexible framework to communicate 

10 clear and simple fire event information to the 

11 public. 

12 (F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, 

13 and communication research to improve the fire 

14 operational environment and societal informa15 tion reception and response. 

16 SEC. 110. FIRE WEATHER RATING SYSTEM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col18 laboration with the Chief of the United States Forest Serv19 ice, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the 

20 Director of the National Park Service, the Administrator 

21 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and such 

22 stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers appro23 priate— 

24 (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act to rate the risk of wildfire; and 


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1 (2) determine whether updates to that system are 

2 required to ensure that the ratings accurately reflect 

3 the severity of fire risk. 

4 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de5 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the system 

6 described in paragraph (1) of such subsection are necessary, 

7 the Under Secretary shall update that system. 

8 SEC. 111. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE9 PORTS. 

10 (a) REPORT ON FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PRO11 GRAM.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

14 General of the United States shall submit to Congress 

15 a report on the program established under section 

16 102(a). 

17 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para18 graph (1) shall— 

19 (A) evaluate the performance of the pro20 gram by establishing initial baseline capabilities 

21 and tracking progress made toward fully 

22 operationalizing the functions described in sec23 tion 102(b); and 


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1 (B) include such other recommendations as 

2 the Comptroller General determines are appro3 priate to improve the program. 

4 (b) REPORT ON INTERAGENCY BODIES FOR WILDFIRE

5 FORECASTING, PREVENTION, PLANNING, AND MANAGE6 MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

8 States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

9 (1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies es10 tablished for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, pre11 vention, planning, and management (such as wildfire 

12 councils, commissions, and workgroups), including— 

13 (A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council; 

14 (B) the White House Wildfire Resilience 

15 Interagency Group; 

16 (C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy 

17 Committee; 

18 (D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Man19 agement Commission; 

20 (E) the Joint Science Fire Program; 

21 (F) the National Interagency Coordination 

22 Center; 

23 (G) the National Predictive Services Over24 sight Group; 


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1 (H) the Interagency Council for Advancing 

2 Meteorological Services; 

3 (I) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

4 Group; 

5 (J) the National Multi-Agency Coordinating 

6 Group; and 

7 (K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership 

8 Group; 

9 (2) evaluates the roles, functionality, and utility 

10 of such interagency bodies; 

11 (3) evaluates the progress, performance, and im12 plementation of such interagency bodies; 

13 (4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential over14 lap and duplication of such interagency bodies in 

15 carrying out interagency collaboration with respect to 

16 wildfire prevention, planning, and management; and 

17 (5) includes such other recommendations as the 

18 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

19 streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, preven20 tion, planning, and management, including rec21 ommendations regarding the interagency bodies for 

22 which the addition of the Administration is necessary 

23 to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, 

24 and management. 


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1 (c) REPORT ON INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Not 

2 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall sub4 mit to Congress a report that identifies— 

5 (1) the authorities, roles, and science and sup6 port services relating to wildland fire prediction, de7 tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, 

8 management, and assessment provided by— 

9 (A) the Department of Commerce, including 

10 the Administration and the National Institute of 

11 Standards and Technology; 

12 (B) the National Aeronautics and Space 

13 Administration; 

14 (C) the Department of the Interior; 

15 (D) the Department of Agriculture; 

16 (E) the National Science Foundation; 

17 (F) the Department of Energy; 

18 (G) the Federal Emergency Management 

19 Agency; 

20 (H) the Department of Transportation; 

21 (I) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

22 and 

23 (J) the Department of Defense; and 


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1 (2) recommended areas in and mechanisms by 

2 which the agencies listed under paragraph (1) could 

3 support and improve— 

4 (A) coordination between Federal agencies, 

5 State and local governments, Indian tribes, Trib6 al organizations, the Native Hawaiian Commu7 nity, Native Hawaiian organizations, and other 

8 relevant stakeholders, including through exam9 ination of possible public-private partnerships; 

10 (B) research and development, including 

11 interdisciplinary research, related to fire envi12 ronments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and 

13 the impacts of such environments, fires, and 

14 smoke, in furtherance of a coordinated inter15 agency effort to address wildland fire risk reduc16 tion; 

17 (C) data management and stewardship, the 

18 development and coordination of data systems 

19 and computational tools, and the creation of a 

20 centralized, integrated data collaboration envi21 ronment for agency data, including historical 

22 data, relating to weather, fire environments, 

23 wildland fires, associated smoke, and the impacts 

24 of such environments, fires, and smoke, and the 


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1 assessment of wildland fire risk mitigation meas2 ures; 

3 (D) interoperability, usability, and accessi4 bility of the scientific data, data systems, and 

5 computational and information tools of the agen6 cies listed under paragraph (1); 

7 (E) coordinated public safety communica8 tions relating to fire weather events, fire hazards, 

9 and wildland fire and smoke risk reduction 

10 strategies; and 

11 (F) secure and accurate real-time data, 

12 alerts, and advisories to wildland firefighters 

13 and other decision support tools for wildland fire 

14 incident command posts. 

15 (d) REPORT ON AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING

16 SYSTEM.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

18 States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

19 (1) evaluates the functionality, utility, reli20 ability, and operational status of the automated sur21 face observing system across the Administration, the 

22 Federal Aviation Administration, and the Depart23 ment of Defense; 


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1 (2) evaluates the progress, performance, and im2 plementation of the plan required by section 

3 105(b)(1)(B); 

4 (3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collabora5 tion and stakeholder engagement in carrying out the 

6 plan and provides recommendations to improve such 

7 activities; 

8 (4) evaluates the operational continuity and reli9 ability of the system, particularly in remote and 

10 rural areas and areas where system failure would 

11 have the greatest negative impact to the community, 

12 and provides recommendations to improve such con13 tinuity and reliability; 

14 (5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the 

15 remote automatic weather station network, air re16 source advisors, and other Federal observing assets 

17 used for weather and climate modeling and response 

18 activities, and provides recommendations for im19 provements; and 

20 (6) includes such other recommendations as the 

21 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

22 improve the system. 

23 SEC. 112. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 

24 (a) COOPERATION.—Each Federal agency shall cooper25 ate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as approVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 priate, in carrying out this title and the amendments made 

2 by this title. 

3 (b) COORDINATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In meeting the requirements 

5 under this title and the amendments made by this 

6 title, the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as ap7 propriate, establish agreements with Federal and ex8 ternal partners to fully use and leverage existing as9 sets, systems, networks, technologies, and sources of 

10 data. 

11 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Coordination carried out 

12 under paragraph (1) shall include coordination 

13 with— 

14 (A) the agencies represented at the National 

15 Interagency Fire Center; 

16 (B) the Predictive Services Program of the 

17 National Interagency Coordination Center; 

18 (C) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

19 Group; and 

20 (D) relevant interagency bodies identified 

21 in the report required by section 111(b). 

22 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the Under Secretary shall consult with Fed24 eral partners including— 


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1 (A) the National Aeronautics and Space 

2 Administration; 

3 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

4 (C) the Federal Emergency Management 

5 Agency; 

6 (D) the National Science Foundation; 

7 (E) the United States Geological Survey; 

8 (F) the Department of Agriculture; 

9 (G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

10 (H) the Department of Energy; 

11 (I) the Department of Defense; 

12 (J) the National Institute of Standards and 

13 Technology; and 

14 (K) such other departments and agencies as 

15 the Under Secretary considers relevant. 

16 (c) PROCESS FOR ANNUAL COORDINATION WITH NON17 FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Not later than 18 months after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 

19 develop and submit to the appropriate committees of Con20 gress a process for annual coordination with State and local 

21 governments, Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, and the 

22 Native Hawaiian Community to assist the development of 

23 improved fire weather products and services. 

24 (d) INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may de2 velop collaborative relationships and agreements with 

3 foreign partners and counterparts to address trans4 boundary issues pertaining to wildfires, fire weather, 

5 smoke, air quality, and associated conditions and 

6 hazards or other relevant meteorological phenomena, 

7 as appropriate, to facilitate full and open exchange of 

8 data and information. 

9 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 

10 under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall con11 sult with the Department of State and such other 

12 Federal partners as the Under Secretary considers 

13 relevant. 

14 SEC. 113. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall en17 sure, to the greatest extent practicable, that activities 

18 carried out under this title and the amendments made 

19 by this title are not duplicative of activities supported 

20 by other parts of the Administration or other relevant 

21 Federal agencies. 

22 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out activities 

23 under this title and the amendments made by this 

24 title, the Under Secretary shall coordinate with the 


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1 Administration and heads of other Federal research 

2 agencies— 

3 (A) to ensure those activities enhance and 

4 complement, but do not constitute unnecessary 

5 duplication of, efforts; and 

6 (B) to ensure the responsible stewardship of 

7 funds. 

8 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

9 may be construed— 

10 (1) to satisfy any requirement for government-to11 government consultation with Indian tribes; or 

12 (2) to affect or modify any treaty or other right 

13 of any Indian tribe. 

14 SEC. 114. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro16 priated to the Administration to carry out this title and 

17 the amendments made by this title— 

18 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

19 (2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

20 (3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; 

21 (4) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2028; and 

22 (5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2029. 

23 (b) PROHIBITION.—None of the amounts authorized to 

24 be appropriated by subsection (a) may be used to unneces25 sarily duplicate activities funded under title VIII of diviVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 sion D of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub2 lic Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1094). 

3 TITLE II—USE OF ARTIFICIAL IN4 TELLIGENCE BY NATIONAL 

5 OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC 

6 ADMINISTRATION FOR 

7 WEATHER FORECASTING 

8 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this title: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National Oce12 anic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as 

13 the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At14 mosphere. 

15 (2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘arti16 ficial intelligence’’— 

17 (A) has the meaning given that term in sec18 tion 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence 

19 Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401); and 

20 (B) includes machine learning, neural net21 works, and natural language processing. 

22 (3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER

23 MODEL.—The term ‘‘artificial intelligence weather 

24 model’’ means a weather model based primarily on 

25 artificial intelligence technology to project future 


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1 Earth system conditions based on machine learning 

2 using weather forecasting training datasets. 

3 (4) CURATE.—The term ‘‘curate’’, with respect to 

4 a dataset, means— 

5 (A) to collect and maintain the dataset— 

6 (i) to ensure and document its quality; 

7 and 

8 (ii) to provide metadata on its prove9 nance; and 

10 (B) to update the dataset periodically, as 

11 appropriate and practicable. 

12 (5) NUMERICAL WEATHER MODEL.—The term 

13 ‘‘numerical weather model’’ means a weather model 

14 based primarily on coupled Earth System processes 

15 that uses numerical computation to forecast future 

16 Earth system conditions. 

17 (6) OBSERVATIONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘observa18 tional data’’ means data and metadata from actual 

19 observations of environmental conditions, including 

20 remote sensing and in situ platforms. 

21 (7) SYNTHETIC DATA.—The term ‘‘synthetic 

22 data’’ means data produced from a model or statis23 tical method in order to fill gaps in observational 

24 data. 


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1 (8) WEATHER FORECASTING TRAINING

2 DATASET.—The term ‘‘weather forecasting training 

3 dataset’’— 

4 (A) means a dataset that contains contin5 uous global observational data and synthetic 

6 data for Earth system variables relevant to 

7 weather forecasting, aviation weather, marine 

8 weather, and hydrology and water management; 

9 and 

10 (B) may include model reanalysis and fore11 casts initialized through a data assimilation sys12 tem. 

13 SEC. 202. PURPOSE. 

14 The purpose of this title is to— 

15 (1) improve accuracy and timeliness of weather, 

16 water, and space weather forecasts and effective dis17 semination of critical information; 

18 (2) strengthen analytic capacity to inform re19 source deployments in response to and to mitigate 

20 harm from weather, water, and space weather hazards 

21 through the mandated exploration and use of artifi22 cial intelligence by Federal agencies; 

23 (3) strengthen public-private partnerships to ac24 celerate adoption and outcomes of the use of artificial 


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1 intelligence in response to and to mitigate such harm; 

2 and 

3 (4) strengthen public-private partnerships in 

4 highly technical, high-risk, and high-reward fields re5 lated to weather, water, and space weather forecasts. 

6 SEC. 203. EARTH SYSTEM FORECASTING AND INFORMATION 

7 DELIVERY. 

8 (a) TRAINING DATASETS.—Not later than 4 years after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 

10 in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Adminis11 trator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra12 tion, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the 

13 Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 

14 the Interagency Council on Advancing Meteorological Serv15 ices, other appropriate Federal advisory committees as de16 termined by the Administrator, and such other technical ex17 perts as the Administrator considers appropriate, shall de18 velop and curate comprehensive weather forecasting train19 ing datasets with relevant Earth system data, quality infor20 mation, and metadata necessary for weather forecasting. 

21 (b) USE OF EXISTING DATASETS.—In order to speed 

22 the development of the weather forecasting training datasets 

23 required under subsection (a), the Administrator shall as24 sess, and to the greatest extent practicable build on, existing 


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1 Earth system reanalysis datasets of the Federal Govern2 ment. 

3 (c) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER MODEL.— 

4 (1) GLOBAL MODEL.—In carrying out this sec5 tion, the Administrator, in consultation with appro6 priate Federal advisory committees as determined by 

7 the Administrator, may develop and test a global 

8 weather model based on artificial intelligence tech9 nologies utilizing data of the National Oceanic and 

10 Atmospheric Administration to the extent possible. 

11 (2) REGIONAL AND LOCAL MODELS.—In addition 

12 to a global weather model under paragraph (1), the 

13 Administrator may experiment with regional and 

14 local weather models based on artificial intelligence 

15 technologies. 

16 (d) USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DISSEMI17 NATE INFORMATION.—In coordination with an artificial 

18 intelligence weather model or models developed under sub19 section (c), the Administrator may explore the use of artifi20 cial intelligence to enhance the dissemination of informa21 tion with respect to weather and evaluate the effectiveness 

22 of communication for improved public understanding and 

23 preparedness. 

24 (e) CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR OBSERVATIONS, BASIC

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1 withstanding the requirements of this section, the Adminis2 trator shall continue to support and advance the activities 

3 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration— 

4 (1) to collect and acquire traditional and novel 

5 observational data relevant for artificial intelligence 

6 and numerical weather, water, and space weather 

7 forecasting; 

8 (2) to advance research on the Earth system and 

9 numerical weather model forecasting; 

10 (3) to develop and advance numerical Earth sys11 tem modeling for predictions; 

12 (4) to develop weather model data post-proc13 essing techniques; and 

14 (5) to improve data assimilation techniques. 

15 (f) OBSERVING SYSTEM COVERAGE.—In carrying out 

16 this section, the Administrator may evaluate the use of cost 

17 functions in data-driven machine learning model training 

18 to balance inequities in observing system coverage and data 

19 poor areas. 

20 (g) UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION RESEARCH.—In 

21 carrying out this section, the Administrator shall develop 

22 uncertainty quantification research, as well as trustworthy 

23 artificial intelligence methods and processes for the purpose 

24 of accurate environmental risk and hazard communications 

25 of probabilistic predictions and forecasts. 


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1 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 

3 every 2 years thereafter through 2035, the Administrator 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

5 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representa7 tives a report on the activities conducted under this section. 

8 SEC. 204. ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLICA9 TIONS FOR WEATHER AND INFORMATION DE10 LIVERY. 

11 The Administrator shall explore advanced applications 

12 of artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasts and 

13 information delivery, such as by— 

14 (1) improving data assimilation; 

15 (2) accounting for coupled Earth system proc16 esses; 

17 (3) using artificial intelligence weather models to 

18 generate ensemble forecasts to more accurately assess 

19 flow-dependent forecast uncertainties; and 

20 (4) improving impact-based decision support to 

21 diverse users and communities for greater societal 

22 benefits based on those forecasts. 


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1 SEC. 205. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON USE OF ARTIFICIAL 

2 INTELLIGENCE WEATHER, WATER, AND 

3 SPACE WEATHER MODELS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall provide— 

5 (1) technical assistance, data access, and support 

6 for forecasters, scientists, social scientists, and engi7 neers to test and evaluate the use and effectiveness of 

8 the artificial intelligence models of the National Oce9 anic and Atmospheric Administration, including 

10 within the testbeds of the Administration; 

11 (2) best practices on providing forecasts based on 

12 outputs from artificial intelligence weather models 

13 and numerical weather models, or a combination 

14 thereof; and 

15 (3) support for emergency managers to make 

16 operational decisions based on outputs from artificial 

17 intelligence weather models and numerical weather 

18 models, or a combination thereof. 

19 (b) ASSESSMENT OF WEATHER MODELS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall sup21 port the development of a common framework for the 

22 assessment of numerical weather models and artificial 

23 intelligence weather models by comparing model out24 put and observational data over a period of time in 

25 the past through the use of such methodologies as the 

26 Administrator considers appropriate. 


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1 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—In carrying out this sub2 section, the Administrator may develop and dissemi3 nate best practices in collaboration with— 

4 (A) the National Institute of Standards and 

5 Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space 

6 Administration, the National Science Founda7 tion, and the Department of Energy; 

8 (B) academic and research institutions; and 

9 (C) the private sector. 

10 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out this 

11 section, the Administrator shall provide technical assist12 ance, best practices, and support required under subsection 

13 (a) through the National Weather Service of the National 

14 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

15 (d) INDEPENDENT STUDY ON THE IMPACTS OF ARTIFI16 CIAL INTELLIGENCE WEATHER, WATER, AND SPACE

17 WEATHER MODELS.—The Administrator may enter into 

18 an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences or an19 other entity as determined appropriate by the Adminis20 trator to assess the impacts of artificial intelligence weather 

21 models on the weather enterprise and make recommenda22 tions to improve the integration of such models in oper23 ational forecasting. 


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1 SEC. 206. FIRE ENVIRONMENT MODELING PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

3 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in coordi4 nation with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture, and the United States Fire Administrator, and 

6 in consultation with the Administrator of the National Aer7 onautics and Space Administration, the Secretary of En8 ergy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the 

9 Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 

10 appropriate Federal advisory committees as determined by 

11 the Administrator, and such other technical experts as the 

12 Administrator considers appropriate, shall develop a pro13 gram to use artificial intelligence to analyze available data 

14 on the built and natural environments— 

15 (1) to provide forecasts, data, and information 

16 on the impacts of such environments on the lives and 

17 livelihoods of the people of the United States, inte18 grating social science informed research and develop19 ment; 

20 (2) to detect wildfires as early as possible; and 

21 (3) to forecast wildland and built environment 

22 fire potential, fire propagation, and possible impacts 

23 based on an analysis of the elements influencing fire 

24 danger, fire behavior, weather conditions, terrain, and 

25 observations of the fire environment. 


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1 (b) TRAINING DATASET.—In carrying out this section, 

2 Federal, State, Tribal, and local land management agencies 

3 may gather observational data and synthetic data on the 

4 built and natural environments collected across the United 

5 States to develop and curate a related artificial intelligence6 ready training dataset for purposes of training the artifi7 cial intelligence technology used in furtherance of this sec8 tion. 

9 (c) DATA ACQUISITION.—In carrying out this section, 

10 the Administrator may contract to acquire relevant data. 

11 (d) WEATHER INTEGRATION.—In carrying out this 

12 section, the Administrator shall integrate outputs from 

13 weather and other environmental models and data. 

14 SEC. 207. PARTNERSHIPS FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL INNO15 VATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall explore 

17 novel structures for partnerships with private, academic, 

18 and international entities for research and development of 

19 transformative innovation in weather forecasting and other 

20 environmental forecasts— 

21 (1) to further the understanding of weather, 

22 water, and space weather, and their societal impact; 

23 (2) to advance the science of weather and water 

24 forecasting, including seasonal and subseasonal fore25 casting; and 


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1 (3) to develop, evaluate, and transition artificial 

2 intelligence weather, water, and hazard forecasting 

3 applications to operations. 

4 (b) CO-INVESTMENT.—Subject to applicable law, the 

5 Administrator shall consider and adopt novel co-investment 

6 strategies with the private academic and international sec7 tors to carry out subsection (a), including— 

8 (1) non-Federal Government contributions to re9 source and support high-risk, high-return research 

10 and development in environmental forecasting, data 

11 science, artificial intelligence, and related fields; 

12 (2) shared rights to intellectual property from re13 search and development activities under this section; 

14 and 

15 (3) other approaches to sharing resources and re16 sults under this section. 

17 SEC. 208. AVAILABILITY OF DATASET. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall develop 

19 and implement a plan to make available to the public, at 

20 no cost and subject to applicable law and policy, the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) Operational artificial intelligence weather 

23 models developed by the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration. 


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1 (2) Artificial intelligence weather models that 

2 are not operational models, including experimental 

3 and developmental models, as the Administrator de4 termines appropriate. 

5 (3) Applicable information and documentation 

6 for artificial intelligence weather models described in 

7 paragraphs (1) and (2), including a description of in8 tended model outputs. 

9 (4) Subject to section 210, all data owned by the 

10 Federal Government and data that the Administrator 

11 has the legal right to redistribute that are associated 

12 with artificial intelligence weather models made 

13 available to the public pursuant to the plan and used 

14 in operational forecasting by the Administration, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) relevant metadata; and 

17 (B) data used for operational artificial in18 telligence weather models used by the Adminis19 tration. 

20 (b) ACCOMMODATIONS.—In developing and imple21 menting the plan under subsection (a), the Administrator 

22 may make such accommodations as the Administrator con23 siders appropriate to ensure that the public release of any 

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1 mentation, or data pursuant to the plan does not jeop2 ardize— 

3 (1) national security; 

4 (2) intellectual property or redistribution rights, 

5 including under titles 17 and 35, United States Code; 

6 (3) any trade secret or commercial or financial 

7 information subject to section 552(b)(4) of title 5, 

8 United States Code; 

9 (4) any models or data that are otherwise re10 stricted by contract or other written agreement; or 

11 (5) the mission of the Administration to protect 

12 lives and property. 

13 (c) REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis16 trator shall submit to Congress a report, in both un17 classified and classified form, regarding the risks to 

18 the economic and intellectual security of the United 

19 States from foreign countries of concern through ac20 cess by those countries to weather data in the United 

21 States. 

22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

23 paragraph (1) shall include— 

24 (A) a full analysis of the national, intellec25 tual, and economic security implications for the 


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1 United States with respect to intellectual prop2 erty theft or cyber or human espionage through 

3 access to weather data; and 

4 (B) conclusions of the Administrator and 

5 recommendations for legislative and administra6 tive action, if any. 

7 (3) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN DEFINED.— 

8 In this subsection, the term ‘‘foreign country of con9 cern’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

10 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 

11 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 

12 U.S.C. 4651). 

13 SEC. 209. RETENTION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXPER14 TISE. 

15 Subject to applicable law, the Administrator shall con16 sider novel methods to recruit, retrain, and retain expert 

17 personnel to support activities under this title, including 

18 by— 

19 (1) using methods to be competitive with salaries 

20 outside the Federal Government; 

21 (2) developing staff exchange programs and 

22 training programs; and 

23 (3) leveraging diverse hiring strategies. 


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1 SEC. 210. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY INTER2 ESTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of this title, the Administrator, in consultation with 

5 the Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, may withhold 

6 models or data used under this title if the Administrator 

7 determines doing so to be necessary to protect the national 

8 security interests of the United States. 

9 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

10 shall be construed to supersede any other provision of law 

11 governing the protection of the national security interests 

12 of the United States. 

13 SEC. 211. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

15 are necessary to carry out this title. 

16 TITLE III—NATIONAL MESONET 

17 PROGRAM 

18 SEC. 301. NATIONAL MESONET PROGRAM. 

19 (a) PROGRAM.—The Under Secretary shall maintain 

20 the National Mesonet Program (referred to in this section 

21 as the ‘‘Program’’), which shall— 

22 (1) obtain observations to improve under23 standing of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric, 

24 drought, fire, and water events, with a prioritization 

25 on leveraging available commercial, academic, and 

26 other non-Federal Government environmental data to 


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1 enhance coordination across the private, public, and 

2 academic sectors of the weather enterprise in the 

3 United States; 

4 (2) establish means to integrate greater density 

5 and more types of environmental observations into the 

6 Program on an annual basis, including by encour7 aging local and regional networks of environmental 

8 monitoring stations, in situ sensor networks, includ9 ing soil moisture and ground-based profilers, and sat10 ellite constellations, to participate in the Program; 

11 and 

12 (3) establish memoranda of understanding with 

13 networks outside of the scope of the Program in fur14 therance of this section. 

15 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the Pro16 gram, the Under Secretary shall— 

17 (1) increase data density by— 

18 (A) improving and increasing the quantity 

19 and density of environmental observations used 

20 by the Administration and the National Weather 

21 Service to support baseline forecasts, including 

22 nowcasts, warnings, and forecasts with increased 

23 resolution that protect individuals, businesses, 

24 agricultural production, food security, military, 

25 and government agencies in the United States, 


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1 and enabling such individuals and entities to 

2 operate in a safe, efficient, and orderly manner; 

3 (B) yielding increased quantities of bound4 ary-layer data to improve numerical weather 

5 prediction performance, including in subseasonal 

6 to seasonal timescales; 

7 (C) identifying available terrestrial or ma8 rine environmental data, or quantifiable gaps in 

9 such data, to improve the understanding of air10 sea interactions; and 

11 (D) supporting the National Weather Serv12 ice in reaching its target of a 30-minute warn13 ing time for severe weather through better pre14 dictive model algorithms driven by increasingly 

15 effective observations; 

16 (2) monitor local meteorological conditions by— 

17 (A) acquiring soil and moisture data to 

18 monitor soil moisture, vegetation water content, 

19 and moisture loss from evaporation, in support 

20 of operational forecasting, the National Inte21 grated Drought Information System, and local 

22 commercial, agricultural, and emergency man23 agement needs; 

24 (B) supporting the National Coordinated 

25 Soil Moisture Monitoring Network in acquiring 


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1 soil moisture and related data to support the de2 velopment of decision-support products and other 

3 information services; and 

4 (C) expanding and enhancing environ5 mental observational networks in the roadway 

6 environment to provide real-time road weather 

7 and surface conditions for surface transportation 

8 and related economic sectors; and 

9 (3) administer the Program by— 

10 (A) obtaining data in furtherance of this 

11 section only when demonstrably cost effective and 

12 meeting or exceeding data quality standards 

13 available to the National Oceanic and Atmos14 pheric Administration (referred to in this section 

15 as the ‘‘Administration’’); 

16 (B) subject to the requirement in subpara17 graph (A), leveraging existing networks of envi18 ronmental monitoring stations, including supple19 mental radar systems, to increase the quantity 

20 and density of environmental observations and 

21 data available to the Administration; 

22 (C) providing the critical technical and ad23 ministrative infrastructure needed to facilitate 

24 rapid integration and sustained use of new and 

25 emerging networks of environmental monitoring 


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1 stations anticipated in coming years from non2 Federal Government sources; 

3 (D) coordinating with existing data devel4 oped by the Administration and used for fore5 casts, including data from the National Environ6 mental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, 

7 the Integrated Ocean Observing System, the 

8 Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Pro9 gram, the National Data Buoy Center, and the 

10 National Ocean Service; and 

11 (E) identifying and communicating to the 

12 Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and 

13 other partners priorities of research and develop14 ment needed to advance observations in the Pro15 gram. 

16 (c) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the Pro18 gram, in a fiscal year, the Under Secretary may 

19 award not less than 15 percent of the amount appro20 priated for the Program for that fiscal year for finan21 cial assistance to State, Tribal, private, and academic 

22 entities seeking to build, expand, or upgrade equip23 ment and capacity of mesonet systems. 

24 (2) OTHER FEDERAL AWARDS.—Financial as25 sistance under this subsection may be made in coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00135 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 nation with and in addition to awards from other 

2 Federal agencies. 

3 (3) AGREEMENTS.—Before receiving financial 

4 assistance under paragraph (1), the State, Tribal, 

5 private, or academic entity seeking financial assist6 ance under this subsection shall enter into an agree7 ment with the Under Secretary to provide data to the 

8 Program, subject to verification by the Program of the 

9 relative operational value and evaluation of the cost 

10 of such data, for use in weather prediction, severe 

11 weather warnings, and emergency response. 

12 (4) ASSISTANCE AND OTHER SUPPORT.—The 

13 Under Secretary may provide— 

14 (A) technical assistance, project implemen15 tation support, and guidance to State, Tribal, 

16 private, and academic entities seeking financial 

17 assistance under this subsection; and 

18 (B) technical and financial assistance for 

19 maintenance of monitoring stations in underrep20 resented or remote areas of the country where it 

21 is financially unfeasible for 1 entity to operate 

22 such stations without such assistance. 

23 (5) TERMS.—In providing financial assistance 

24 under this subsection, the Under Secretary shall es25 tablish terms to ensure that each State, Tribal, priVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00136 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4343.RS S4343

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1 vate, or academic entity that receives financial assist2 ance under this subsection receives a level of support 

3 commensurate with the quality and other characteris4 tics of the data to be provided. 

5 (6) DETERMINATION.—A State, Tribal, private, 

6 or academic entity may only receive financial assist7 ance under this subsection if the Under Secretary de8 termines such entity will provide sufficient financial 

9 support from non-Federal Government sources and 

10 fully maintain the quality of the mesonet system and 

11 associated data standards required by the Program 

12 for a period of not less than 5 years. 

13 (7) PRIORITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

14 prioritize providing assistance under paragraph (1) 

15 to not fewer than 1 entity in a remote area or an 

16 area that has a lack of environmental monitoring sta17 tions described in subsection (a)(2). 

18 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall en20 sure the Program has an active advisory committee of 

21 subject matter experts to make recommendations to 

22 the Administration on the identification, implementa23 tion, procurement, and tracking of data needed to 

24 supplement the Program, and recommend improve25 ments, expansions, and acquisitions of available data. 


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1 (2) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING COMMITTEE.— 

2 The Under Secretary may designate an existing advi3 sory committee, subcommittee, or working group of 

4 the Federal Government, including the Science Advi5 sory Board of the Administration, to carry out the re6 quirement under paragraph (1). 

7 (3) ACADEMIC EXPERTISE.—The advisory com8 mittee under paragraph (1), in consultation with the 

9 Program, shall include expertise from 1 or more insti10 tutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 

11 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1001)) to assist the advisory committee to identify, 

13 evaluate, and recommend potential partnerships, re14 gional or subregional consortia, and collaborative 

15 methods that would expand the number of partici16 pants and volume of data in the Program. 

17 (e) REGULAR BRIEFINGS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an19 nually through 2035, the Under Secretary shall pro20 vide regular briefings to the Committee on Commerce, 

21 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

22 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

23 House of Representatives on all activities under the 

24 Program. 


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1 (2) BRIEFING CONTENT.—Each briefing required 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include information relat3 ing to the following: 

4 (A) Efforts to implement the activities de5 scribed in subsection (b). 

6 (B) Any financial or technical assistance 

7 provided pursuant to subsection (c). 

8 (C) Efforts to address recommendations re9 ceived from the advisory committee under sub10 section (d), if any. 

11 (D) The potential need and associated bene12 fits of a coastal and ocean mesonet, or other 

13 emerging areas of weather data needs. 

14 (E) Progress toward eliminating gaps in 

15 weather observation data in States and regions 

16 of the United States. 

17 (F) Any other topic the Under Secretary de18 termines relevant. 

19 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘sea20 sonal’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘subseasonal’’, ‘‘Under Secretary’’, and 

21 ‘‘weather enterprise’’ have the meanings given those terms 

22 in section 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno23 vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary such 

3 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 


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Calendar No. 514 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4343 

A BILL 

To establish and maintain a coordinated program 

wildland-urban interface, and for other purposes. ery, and to address growing needs in the tection, modeling, observations, and service deliver, fire risk, and smoke related forecasting, deAdministration that improves wildfire, fire weathwithin the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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