I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2909 

To establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned 

aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 

GOSAR, Mr. SALMON, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency working group to study the use 

of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Firefighters 

5 and Promoting Innovation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON THE USE OF 

2 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FOR 

3 WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall es6 tablish an interagency working group to study the use of 

7 unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting. 

8 (b) MEMBERS.—The working group established 

9 under subsection (a) shall include— 

10 (1) the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

11 Administration and the Secretary of the Interior, 

12 who shall serve as co-chairs of the working group; 

13 (2) one representative, selected by the co-chairs, 

14 with wildland firefighting experience from each of— 

15 (A) a State firefighting agency; 

16 (B) a local firefighting agency; and 

17 (C) a volunteer firefighting agency; and 

18 (3) at least one senior-level representative from 

19 each of— 

20 (A) the Department of Agriculture; 

21 (B) the National Aeronautics and Space 

22 Administration; 

23 (C) the National Guard Bureau; 

24 (D) the Federal Emergency Management 

25 Agency; and 


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1 (E) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

2 Administration. 

3 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The working group established 

4 under subsection (a) shall carry out functions including 

5 the following: 

6 (1) In consultation with national fire service or7 ganizations, adjutants general from States affected 

8 by wildland fires, representatives from relevant in9 dustries, and other stakeholders developing stand10 ards and best practices for the use of unmanned air11 craft systems for wildland firefighting to— 

12 (A) assist in fire suppression; 

13 (B) provide real-time updates for fire14 fighters; and 

15 (C) reduce the risk of firefighter fatalities 

16 due to wildland firefighting and to aircraft acci17 dents related to wildland firefighting. 

18 (2) Assessing existing Federal unmanned air19 craft systems to identify opportunities to use such 

20 existing systems to lower the costs of the use of un21 manned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting. 

22 (3) Assessing opportunities to improve inter23 agency coordination with respect to the use of un24 manned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting. 


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1 (4) With respect to the use of unmanned air2 craft systems for wildland firefighting, assessing— 

3 (A) the efficacy of current technology; and 

4 (B) the potential efficacy of emerging tech5 nology. 

6 (5) In consultation with legal experts, assessing 

7 the implications for the Fourth Amendment of the 

8 Constitution of any standards, best practices, or rec9 ommendations under this section with respect to the 

10 use of unmanned aircraft systems. 

11 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

12 of the establishment of the working group under sub13 section (a), the co-chairs of the working group shall sub14 mit to the committees of the House of Representatives and 

15 the Senate with relevant jurisdiction and the National 

16 Wildfire Coordinating Group a report containing the re17 sults of the work of the working group. Such report shall 

18 include— 

19 (1) the standards and best practices developed 

20 under paragraph (1) of subsection (c); 

21 (2) a summary of the assessments under para22 graphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of such subsection; and 

23 (3) any recommendations with respect to the 

24 use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland fire25 fighting. 


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1 (e) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM DEFINED.—In 

2 this section, the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 331 of the FAA Mod4 ernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 40101 

5 note). 

Æ 


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