II 

Calendar No. 662 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4237 

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 17, 2022 

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

MURKOWSKI, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

DECEMBER 15, 2022 

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 2022’’. 

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. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data management. 

Sec. 5. Digital fire weather services and data management. 

Sec. 6. High-performance computing. 

Sec. 7. Government Accountability Office report on fire weather services program. 

Sec. 8. Fire weather testbed. 

Sec. 9. Fire weather surveys and assessments. 

Sec. 10. Incident Meteorologist Service. 

Sec. 11. Automated surface observing system. 

Sec. 12. Emergency response activities. 

Sec. 13. Government Accountability Office report on interagency wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, and management bodies. 

Sec. 14. Amendments to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act relating to 

wildfire mitigation. 

Sec. 15. Wildfire technology modernization amendments. 

Sec. 16. Cooperation; coordination; support to non-Federal entities. 

Sec. 17. International coordination. 

Sec. 18. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program, 

incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather 

Service workforce support. 

Sec. 19. 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. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

5 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

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

7 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

8 (3) DECADAL.—The term ‘‘decadal’’ means a 

9 time range from multiple years to multiple decades. 

10 (4) EARTH SYSTEM MODEL.—The term ‘‘Earth 

11 system model’’ means a mathematical model con12 taining all components of the Earth, namely the at13 mosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and biosphere. 

14 The Earth system model represents the critical 

15 physical, chemical, and biological processes and the 

16 interactions among those processes in hydrological 

17 and biogeochemical cycles that affect weather and 

18 climate. 

19 (5) 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) smoke dispersion and transport; 

2 and 

3 (B) the associated environmental impacts 

4 occurring during and after fire events. 

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

6 means any type of weather conditions that influence 

7 the start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfire 

8 or fires at the wildland-urban interface and all asso9 ciated meteorological and chemical phenomena, in10 cluding air quality, smoke, and meteorological pa11 rameters such as relative humidity, air temperature, 

12 wind speed and direction, and atmospheric composi13 tion and chemistry, including emissions and mixing 

14 heights. 

15 (7) IMPACT-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SERV16 ICES.—The term ‘‘impact-based decision support 

17 services’’ means forecast advice and interpretative 

18 services the Administration provides to help core 

19 partners, such as emergency personnel and public 

20 safety officials, make decisions when weather, water, 

21 and climate impact the lives and livelihoods of the 

22 people of the United States. 

23 (8) SEASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ means a 

24 time range between 3 months and 2 years. 


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1 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Commerce. 

3 (10) SMOKE.—The term ‘‘smoke’’ means emis4 sions, including the gases and particles released into 

5 the air as a result of combustion. 

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

7 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

8 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Common9 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United 

10 State Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micro11 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the 

12 Republic of Palau. 

13 (12) SUBSEASONAL.—The term ‘‘subseasonal’’ 

14 means a time range between 2 weeks and 3 months. 

15 (13) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

16 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

17 of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 

18 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com19 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

20 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 

21 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec22 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 

23 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 


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

2 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

3 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

4 (15) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term 

5 ‘‘weather enterprise’’ means— 

6 (A) individuals, organizations, offices, pro7 grams, or any other form of entity from public, 

8 private, and academic sectors that contribute to 

9 the research, development, and production of 

10 weather forecast products; and 

11 (B) primary consumers of those weather 

12 forecast products. 

13 (16) WILDFIRE.—The term ‘‘wildfire’’ means 

14 any nonstructure fire that occurs in vegetation or 

15 natural fuels, originating from an unplanned igni16 tion. 

17 (17) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term 

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

19 region of transition between unoccupied or undevel20 oped land and human development where structures 

21 and other human development meet or intermingle 

22 with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER SERVICES 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall estab4 lish and maintain a coordinated fire weather services pro5 gram within the Administration. 

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

7 program established under subsection (a), consistent with 

8 the priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Re9 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

10 8511), shall be— 

11 (1) to support readiness, responsiveness, under12 standing, and overall resilience of the United States 

13 to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, and other associ14 ated conditions, hazards, and impacts in built and 

15 natural environments and at the wildland-urban 

16 interface; 

17 (2) to collaboratively disseminate accurate, pre18 cise, effective, and timely risk communications, fore19 casts, watches, and warnings relating to wildfires, 

20 fire weather, air quality, smoke, and other associated 

21 conditions, hazards, and impacts, as applicable, in 

22 collaboration with Federal land management agen23 cies; 

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

25 Federal, State, and Tribal governments, and aca26 demic and local partners through the development of 


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1 capabilities, impact-based decision support services, 

2 and overall service delivery and utility; 

3 (4) to conduct and support research and devel4 opment of new and innovative models, technologies, 

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

7 weather, air quality, the fire environment, including 

8 impacts of climate variability and changing climate 

9 conditions, smoke, and associated conditions, haz10 ards, and impacts, and to transition such research 

11 into effective operations; 

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

13 operations-to-research transitions, in order to facili14 tate delivery of products, services, and tools to oper15 ational users and platforms; and 

16 (6) to develop, in coordination with Federal 

17 land management agencies, impact-based decision 

18 support services that operationalize and integrate 

19 the functions described in paragraphs (1) through 

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

21 decision support services that encompass the fire en22 vironment. 

23 (c) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—In developing and imple24 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

25 Under Secretary shall prioritize— 


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

2 system model and data assimilation systems that— 

3 (A) are capable of prediction and fore4 casting across all timescales; 

5 (B) include variables associated with fire 

6 weather, air quality from smoke, and the fire 

7 environment, and other variables, as determined 

8 by the Under Secretary; 

9 (C) improve understanding of the connec10 tions between fire weather and modes of climate 

11 variability; and 

12 (D) incorporate emerging techniques such 

13 as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 

14 cloud computing; 

15 (2) advancement of observational capabilities, 

16 including satellite-, airborne-, air-, and ground-based 

17 systems and technologies that— 

18 (A) identify— 

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

20 (ii) conditions that influence fire be21 havior and spread including those condi22 tions that suppress active fire events; and 

23 (iii) fire risk values; 

24 (B) support real-time notification of igni25 tions; 


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1 (C) support observations and data collec2 tion of fire weather and fire environment vari3 ables for development of the model and systems 

4 under paragraph (1); and 

5 (D) support forecasts and advancing un6 derstanding and research of the impacts of 

7 wildfires on human health, ecosystems, climate, 

8 transportation, and economies; and 

9 (3) development and implementation of ad10 vanced and user-oriented impact-based decision 

11 tools, science, and technologies that— 

12 (A) ensure real-time and retrospective 

13 data, products, and services are findable, acces14 sible, interoperable, usable, inform further re15 search, and are analysis- and decision-ready; 

16 (B) provide targeted information through17 out the fire lifecycle including pre-ignition, de18 tection, forecasting, post-fire, and monitoring 

19 phases; and 

20 (C) support early assessment of post-fire 

21 hazards, such as air quality, debris flows, 

22 mudslides, and flooding. 

23 (d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In developing and imple24 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

25 Under Secretary may— 


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1 (1) conduct relevant physical and social science 

2 research activities in support of the functions de3 scribed in subsection (b) and the priorities described 

4 in subsection (c); 

5 (2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination 

6 with Federal land management agencies, to assess 

7 fuel characteristics, including moisture, loading, and 

8 other parameters used to determine fire risk levels 

9 and outlooks; 

10 (3) support and conduct research that assesses 

11 impacts to marine, riverine, and other relevant eco12 systems, which may include forest and rangeland 

13 ecosystems, resulting from activities associated with 

14 mitigation of and response to wildfires; 

15 (4) support and conduct attribution science re16 search relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, 

17 smoke, and associated conditions, risks, and im18 pacts; 

19 (5) develop smoke and air quality forecasts, 

20 forecast guidance, and prescribed burn weather fore21 casts, and conduct research on the impact of such 

22 forecasts on response behavior that minimizes 

23 health-related impacts from smoke exposure; 

24 (6) use, in coordination with Federal land man25 agement agencies, wildland fire resource intelligence 


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1 to inform fire environment impact-based decision 

2 support products and services for safety; 

3 (7) evaluate and provide data, tools, and serv4 ices to support determinations for the implementa5 tion of mitigation measures such as prescribed burns 

6 and selective thinning; 

7 (8) provide comprehensive training to ensure 

8 staff of the program established under subsection 

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

10 decision support products and services described in 

11 paragraphs (1) through (6); and 

12 (9) acquire through contracted purchase private 

13 sector-produced observational data to fill identified 

14 gaps, as needed. 

15 (e) COLLABORATION; AGREEMENTS.— 

16 (1) COLLABORATION.—The Under Secretary 

17 shall, as the Under Secretary considers appropriate, 

18 collaborate and consult with partners in the weather 

19 and climate enterprises, academic institutions, 

20 States, Tribal governments, local partners, and Fed21 eral agencies, including land and fire management 

22 agencies, in the development and implementation of 

23 the program established under subsection (a). 

24 (2) AGREEMENTS.—The Under Secretary may 

25 enter into agreements in support of the functions deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4237.RS S4237

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1 scribed in subsection (b), the priorities described in 

2 subsection (c), the activities described in subsection 

3 (d), and activities carried out under section 8. 

4 SEC. 4. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS5 TRATION DATA MANAGEMENT. 

6 Section 301 of the Weather Research and Fore7 casting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8531) is 

8 amended— 

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

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

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol12 lowing: 

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

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

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) make data and metadata generated 

17 or collected by the National Oceanic and Ad18 ministration that the Under Secretary has the 

19 legal right to redistribute fully and openly avail20 able, in accordance with chapter 35 of title 44, 

21 United States Code and the Foundations for 

22 Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 

23 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 5529) and the 

24 amendments made by that Act, and preserve 

25 and curate such data and metadata, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4237.RS S4237

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1 ance with chapter 31 of title 44, United States 

2 Code (commonly known as the ‘Federal Records 

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

4 data and metadata; and 

5 ‘‘(B) manage and steward the access, ar6 chival, and retrieval activities for the data and 

7 metadata described in subparagraph (A) by— 

8 ‘‘(i) using— 

9 ‘‘(I) enterprise-wide infrastruc10 ture, emerging technologies, commer11 cial partnerships, and the skilled 

12 workforce needed to provide appro13 priate data management from collec14 tion to broad access; and 

15 ‘‘(II) associated information serv16 ices; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) pursuing the maximum inter18 operability of data and information by— 

19 ‘‘(I) leveraging data, information, 

20 knowledge, and tools from across the 

21 Federal Government to support equi22 table access, cross-sectoral collabora23 tion and innovation, and local plan24 ning and decision-making; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) developing standards and 

2 practices for the adoption and citation 

3 of digital object identifiers for 

4 datasets, models, and analytical tools. 

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

6 subsection, the Under Secretary shall collaborate 

7 with such Federal partners and stakeholders as the 

8 Under Secretary considers relevant— 

9 ‘‘(A) to develop standards to pursue max10 imum interoperability of data, information, 

11 knowledge, and tools across the Federal Gov12 ernment, convert historical records into com13 mon digital formats, and improve access and 

14 usability of data by partners and stakeholders; 

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

16 from Federal and international partners and 

17 other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Sec18 retary considers appropriate; and 

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

20 the adoption and citation of digital object iden21 tifiers for datasets, models, and analytical 

22 tools.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. DIGITAL FIRE WEATHER SERVICES AND DATA MAN24 AGEMENT. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) DIGITAL PRESENCE.—The Under Secretary 

2 shall develop and maintain a comprehensive, central3 ized, and publicly accessible digital presence de4 signed to promote findability, accessibility, interoper5 ability, usability, and utility of the services, tools, 

6 data, and information produced by the program es7 tablished under section 3(a). 

8 (2) DIGITAL PLATFORM AND TOOLS.—In car9 rying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 (A) seek to ensure the digital platform and 

12 tools of the Administration integrate geospatial 

13 data, decision support tools, training, and best 

14 practices to provide real-time fire weather fore15 casts and address fire-related issues and needs; 

16 and 

17 (B) strive to enhance community resilience, 

18 ecosystem values, and economic growth and de19 velopment by helping communities and other 

20 users of the digital platform and tools address 

21 their issues, needs, and challenges through 

22 maximum usability and utility. 

23 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary 

24 shall make all data, research, reports, findings, surveys, 

25 and assessments relevant to the program established 


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1 under section 3(a), as determined by the Under Secretary, 

2 available in a publicly accessible digital format. 

3 (c) INTERNET-BASED TOOLS.—In carrying out sub4 sections (a) and (b), the Under Secretary shall develop 

5 and implement internet-based tools, such as webpages and 

6 smartphone and other mobile applications, to increase util7 ity and access to services and products for the benefit of 

8 users. 

9 (d) DATA MANAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary 

10 shall develop and maintain services that provide public ac11 cess to digital fire weather data and information— 

12 (1) to improve understanding and historical 

13 analysis of wildfire and fire weather science, includ14 ing inventories of fire emissions required for multi15 decadal model runs; 

16 (2) to support— 

17 (A) the archiving, stewardship, utility, and 

18 preservation of wildfire and fire weather data 

19 including satellite-, ground-, airborne-, and air20 based observations; and 

21 (B) real-time and retrospective model fore22 casts; 

23 (3) to promote findability, interoperability, 

24 analysis- and decision-readiness, and reusability of 

25 historical and near real-time data across Federal, 


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1 State, Tribal, and local users, including ensuring 

2 digital access and machine-readability of historical 

3 fire weather records; and 

4 (4) to support equitable access, cross-sectoral 

5 collaboration and innovation, and local planning and 

6 decision making. 

7 SEC. 6. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall seek 

9 to acquire sufficient high-performance computing re10 sources and capacity for research, operations, and data 

11 storage in support of the program established under sec12 tion 3(a). 

13 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In acquiring high-perform14 ance computing capacity under subsection (a), the Under 

15 Secretary shall consider requirements needed for— 

16 (1) the transition of research and testbed devel17 opments into operations; and 

18 (2) skilled workforce development. 

19 SEC. 7. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

20 ON FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

24 on the program established under section 3(a). 


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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

2 (a) shall— 

3 (1) evaluate the performance of the program by 

4 establishing initial baseline capabilities and tracking 

5 progress made toward fully operationalizing the 

6 functions described in section 3(b); 

7 (2) assess the efficacy of cross-agency collabora8 tion and stakeholder engagement in carrying out the 

9 program and provide recommendations to improve 

10 such activities; 

11 (3) assess the program for inefficiencies, iden12 tify duplicative efforts across Federal efforts, and 

13 provide relevant recommendations; and 

14 (4) include such other recommendations as the 

15 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

16 improve the program. 

17 SEC. 8. FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER

19 TESTBED.—The Under Secretary shall establish a fire 

20 weather testbed that enables engagement across the Fed21 eral Government, State and local governments, academia, 

22 private and federally funded research laboratories, the pri23 vate sector, and end-users in order to evaluate the accu24 racy and usability of technology, models, fire weather 

25 products and services, and other research to accelerate the 


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1 implementation, transition to operations, and use of new 

2 capabilities by the Administration, Federal and land man3 agement agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 

4 (b) UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 

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

6 (A) research and assess the role and poten7 tial of uncrewed aircraft systems to improve 

8 data collection in support of modeling, observa9 tions, predictions, forecasts, and impact-based 

10 decision support services; and 

11 (B) transition uncrewed aircraft systems 

12 technologies from research to operations as the 

13 Under Secretary considers appropriate. 

14 (2) PILOT REQUIRED.—In carrying out para15 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 

17 conduct at least 1 pilot of uncrewed aircraft systems 

18 for fire weather and fire environment observations. 

19 (3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activi21 ties under this subsection, the Under Secretary 

22 shall ensure that any testing or deployment of 

23 uncrewed aircraft systems follow procedures, re24 strictions, and protocols established by the 

25 heads of the Federal agencies with statutory or 


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1 regulatory jurisdiction over any airspace in 

2 which wildfire response activities are conducted 

3 during an active wildfire event. 

4 (B) CONSULTATION AND COORDINA5 TION.—The Under Secretary shall consult and 

6 coordinate with relevant Federal land manage7 ment agencies and the Federal Aviation Admin8 istration to develop processes for the appro9 priate deployment of the systems described in 

10 subparagraph (A). 

11 SEC. 9. FIRE WEATHER SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

12 (a) ANNUAL POST-FIRE-WEATHER SEASON SURVEY

13 AND ASSESSMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the second winter 

15 following the enactment of this Act, and each year 

16 thereafter, the Under Secretary shall conduct a post17 fire-weather season survey and assessment. 

18 (2) ELEMENTS.—After conducting a post-fire19 weather season survey and assessment under para20 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall— 

21 (A) investigate any gaps in data collected 

22 during the assessment; 

23 (B) identify and implement strategies and 

24 procedures to improve program services and in25 formation dissemination; 


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1 (C) update systems, processes, strategies, 

2 and procedures to enhance the efficiency and 

3 reliability of data obtained from the assessment; 

4 (D) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy of 

5 physical fire weather forecasting information 

6 for each incident included in the survey and as7 sessment; and 

8 (E) assess and refine performance meas9 ures, as needed. 

10 (b) SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING INDI11 VIDUAL WILDFIRE EVENTS.—The Under Secretary may 

12 conduct surveys and assessments following individual wild13 fire events as the Under Secretary determines necessary. 

14 (c) GOAL.—In carrying out activities under this sec15 tion, the Under Secretary shall seek to increase the num16 ber of post-wildfire community impact studies, including 

17 by surveying individual and collective responses and incor18 porating other applicable topics of social science research. 

19 (d) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—Not less frequently than 

20 once each year, the Under Secretary shall provide a brief21 ing to the appropriate committees of Congress that pro22 vides— 

23 (1) an overview of the fire season; and 

24 (2) an outlook for the fire season for the com25 ing year. 


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1 (e) COORDINATION.—In conducting any survey or as2 sessment under this section, the Under Secretary shall co3 ordinate with Federal, State, and local partners, Tribal 

4 governments, private entities, and such institutions of 

5 higher education as the Under Secretary considers rel6 evant in order to— 

7 (1) improve operations and collaboration; and 

8 (2) optimize data collection, sharing, integra9 tion, assimilation, and dissemination. 

10 (f) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

11 make the data and findings obtained from each assess12 ment conducted under this section available to the public 

13 in an accessible digital format as soon as practicable after 

14 conducting the assessment. 

15 (g) SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Secretary 

16 shall make best efforts to incorporate the results and rec17 ommendations of each assessment conducted under this 

18 section into the research and development plan and oper19 ations of the Administration. 

20 SEC. 10. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST SERVICE. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary shall es22 tablish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service 

23 within the National Weather Service (in this section re24 ferred to as the ‘‘Service’’). 


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1 (b) INCLUSION OF EXISTING INCIDENT METEOROLO2 GISTS.—The Service shall include— 

3 (1) the incident meteorologists of the Adminis4 tration as of the date of this enactment of this Act; 

5 and 

6 (2) such incident meteorologists of the Adminis7 tration as may be appointed after such date. 

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

9 (1) on-site impact-based decision support serv10 ices to Federal, State, Tribal government, and local 

11 government emergency response agencies preceding, 

12 during, and following wildland fires or other events 

13 that threaten life or property, including high-impact 

14 and extreme weather events; and 

15 (2) support to Federal, State, Tribal govern16 ment, and local government decision makers, part17 ners, and stakeholders for seasonal planning. 

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

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

20 (2) at the request of the head of another Fed21 eral agency. 

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) SYMBOL.— 

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

3 (A) create, adopt, and publish in the Fed4 eral Register a symbol for the Service; and 

5 (B) restrict the use of such symbol as ap6 propriate. 

7 (2) USE OF SYMBOL.—The Under Secretary 

8 may authorize the use of a symbol adopted under 

9 this subsection by any individual or entity as the 

10 Under Secretary considers appropriate. 

11 (3) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Under Sec12 retary may award contracts for the creation of sym13 bols under this subsection. 

14 (4) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any 

15 person— 

16 (A) to represent themselves as an official 

17 of the Service absent the designation or ap18 proval of the Under Secretary; 

19 (B) to manufacture, reproduce, or other20 wise use any symbol adopted by the Under Sec21 retary under this subsection, including to sell 

22 any item bearing such a symbol, unless author23 ized by the Under Secretary; or 

24 (C) to violate any regulation promulgated 

25 by the Secretary under this subsection. 


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1 (g) 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 involved 

9 with response to high-impact and extreme fire weather 

10 events. 

11 SEC. 11. AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM. 

12 (a) JOINT ASSESSMENT AND PLAN.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in col14 laboration with the Administrator of the Federal 

15 Aviation Administration and the Secretary of De16 fense, shall— 

17 (A) conduct an assessment of resources, 

18 personnel, procedures, and activities necessary 

19 to maximize the functionality and utility of the 

20 automated surface observing system of the 

21 United States that identifies— 

22 (i) key system upgrades needed to im23 prove observation quality and utility for 

24 weather forecasting, aviation safety, and 

25 other users; 


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1 (ii) improvements needed in observa2 tions within the planetary boundary layer, 

3 including mixing height; 

4 (iii) improvements needed in public 

5 accessibility of observational data; 

6 (iv) improvements needed to reduce 

7 latency in reporting of observational data; 

8 (v) relevant data to be collected for 

9 the production of forecasts or forecast 

10 guidance relating to atmospheric composi11 tion, including particulate and air quality 

12 data, and aviation safety; 

13 (vi) areas of concern regarding oper14 ational continuity and reliability of the sys15 tem, which may include needs for on-night 

16 staff, particularly in remote and rural 

17 areas and areas where system failure 

18 would have the greatest negative impact to 

19 the community; 

20 (vii) stewardship, data handling, data 

21 distribution, and product generation needs 

22 arising from upgrading and changing the 

23 automated surface observation systems; 

24 (viii) possible solutions for areas of 

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1 ing with respect to the potential use of 

2 backup systems, power and communication 

3 system reliability, staffing needs and per4 sonnel location, and the acquisition of crit5 ical component backups and proper storage 

6 location to ensure rapid system repair nec7 essary to ensure system operational con8 tinuity; and 

9 (ix) research, development, and transi10 tion to operations needed to develop ad11 vanced data collection, quality control, and 

12 distribution so that the data are provided 

13 to models, users, and decision support sys14 tems in a timely manner; and 

15 (B) develop and implement a plan that ad16 dresses the findings of the assessment con17 ducted under subparagraph (A), including by 

18 seeking and allocating resources necessary to 

19 ensure that system upgrades are standardized 

20 across the Administration, the Federal Aviation 

21 Administration, and the Department of Defense 

22 to the extent practicable. 

23 (2) STANDARDIZATION.—Any system standard24 ization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall 


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1 not impede activities to upgrade or improve indi2 vidual units of the system. 

3 (3) REMOTE AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION

4 COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary, in collabora5 tion with relevant Federal agencies and the National 

6 Interagency Fire Center, shall assess and develop co7 operative agreements to improve coordination, inter8 operability standards, operations, and placement of 

9 remote automatic weather stations for the purpose 

10 of improving utility and coverage of remote auto11 matic weather stations, automated surface observa12 tion systems, and other similar stations and systems 

13 for weather and climate operations. 

14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 

17 Secretary, in collaboration with the Administrator of 

18 the Federal Aviation Administration and the Sec19 retary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate 

20 committees of Congress a report that— 

21 (A) details the findings of the assessment 

22 required by subparagraph (A) of subsection 

23 (a)(1); and 

24 (B) the plan required by subparagraph (B) 

25 of such subsection. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para2 graph (1) shall include a detailed assessment of ap3 propriations required— 

4 (A) to address the findings of the assess5 ment required by subparagraph (A) of sub6 section (a)(1); and 

7 (B) to implement the plan required by sub8 paragraph (B) of such subsection. 

9 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE10 PORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

12 States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

13 (1) evaluates the functionality, utility, reli14 ability, and operational status of the automated sur15 face observing system across the Administration, the 

16 Federal Aviation Administration, and the Depart17 ment of Defense; 

18 (2) evaluates the progress, performance, and 

19 implementation of the plan required by subsection 

20 (a)(1)(B); 

21 (3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collabo22 ration and stakeholder engagement in carrying out 

23 the plan and provides recommendations to improve 

24 such activities; 


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1 (4) evaluates the operational continuity and re2 liability of the system, particularly in remote and 

3 rural areas and areas where system failure would 

4 have the greatest negative impact to the community, 

5 and provides recommendations to improve such con6 tinuity and reliability; 

7 (5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the 

8 remote automatic weather station network, air re9 source advisors, and other Federal observing assets 

10 used for weather and climate modeling and response 

11 activities, and provides recommendations for im12 provements; and 

13 (6) includes such other recommendations as the 

14 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

15 improve the system. 

16 SEC. 12. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

19 any applicable locality-based comparability payment 

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

21 any applicable special rate supplement under section 

22 5305 of such title, or any equivalent payment under 

23 a similar provision of law. 


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

2 employee’’ means an employee of the Department of 

3 Commerce. 

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

5 services’’ means services performed by a covered em6 ployee while— 

7 (A) serving as an incident meteorologist 

8 accompanying a wildland firefighter crew; 

9 (B) serving— 

10 (i) on an incident management team; 

11 (ii) as an emergency response spe12 cialist; 

13 (iii) at the National Interagency Fire 

14 Center; 

15 (iv) at a Geographic Area Coordina16 tion Center; or 

17 (v) at an operations center; or 

18 (C) serving in a capacity determined by the 

19 Secretary, or the Under Secretary acting on be20 half of the Secretary, to be primarily relating to 

21 emergency response activities. 

22 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 2105 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 


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

2 means premium pay for the purposes of section 

3 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

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) LIMITATION.—A covered employee may be 

12 paid premium pay that is disregarded under para13 graph (1) only to the extent that the aggregate of 

14 the basic pay and premium pay paid to that covered 

15 employee in the applicable calendar year, including 

16 premium pay that is disregarded under that para17 graph, does not exceed the rate of basic pay for a 

18 position at level II of the Executive Schedule under 

19 section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in ef20 fect at the end of that calendar year. 

21 (c) APPLICATION.—If the application of subsection 

22 (b) results in the payment of additional pay to a covered 

23 employee of a type that is normally creditable as basic pay 

24 for retirement or any other purpose, that additional pay 

25 shall not— 


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1 (1) be considered to be basic pay of the covered 

2 employee for any purpose; or 

3 (2) be used in computing a lump-sum payment 

4 to the covered employee for accumulated and ac5 crued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552 of 

6 title 5, United States Code. 

7 (d) AMENDMENT.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, the De9 partment of Commerce,’’ after ‘‘Interior’’. 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend11 ment made by this section shall take effect as if enacted 

12 on January 1, 2020. 

13 (f) DERIVATION OF FUNDS.—Any amounts used to 

14 pay covered employees for covered services shall not be 

15 derived from amounts made available to the Administra16 tion or amounts saved by reducing the number of full17 time-equivalent employees of the Administration. 

18 (g) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH, 

19 SAFETY, AND WELL-BEING.—The Under Secretary shall 

20 maintain policies and procedures that ensure that the de21 ployment of a covered employee to perform a covered serv22 ice will not compromise the health, safety, and well-being 

23 of the covered employee. 


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1 SEC. 13. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

2 ON INTERAGENCY WILDFIRE FORECASTING, 

3 PREVENTION, PLANNING, AND MANAGEMENT 

4 BODIES. 

5 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

7 shall submit to Congress a report that— 

8 (1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies es9 tablished for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, pre10 vention, planning, and management (such as wildfire 

11 councils, commissions, and workgroups), including— 

12 (A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council; 

13 (B) the National Interagency Fire Center; 

14 (C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy 

15 Committee; 

16 (D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and 

17 Management Commission; 

18 (E) the National Interagency Fire Center; 

19 (F) the National Interagency Coordination 

20 Center; 

21 (G) the National Predictive Services Over22 sight Group; 

23 (H) the Interagency Council for Advancing 

24 Meteorological Services; 

25 (I) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

26 Group; 


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1 (J) the National Multi-Agency Coordi2 nating Group; and 

3 (K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership 

4 Group; 

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

6 of such interagency bodies; 

7 (3) evaluates the progress, performance, and 

8 implementation of such interagency bodies; 

9 (4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential 

10 overlap and duplication of such interagency bodies in 

11 carrying out interagency collaboration with respect 

12 to wildfire prevention, planning, and management; 

13 and 

14 (5) includes such other recommendations as the 

15 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

16 streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, preven17 tion, planning, and management, including rec18 ommendations regarding the interagency bodies for 

19 which the addition of the Administration is nec20 essary to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, 

21 planning, and management. 


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1 SEC. 14. AMENDMENTS TO INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

2 AND JOBS ACT RELATING TO WILDFIRE MITI3 GATION. 

4 The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public 

5 Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 429) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 70202— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

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

9 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

11 the period at the end and inserting a semi12 colon; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(L) the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

17 and’’; 

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

19 and Technology of the House of Representa20 tives.’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (6)— 

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

23 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

25 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

26 and’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 through the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

5 Oceans and Atmosphere.’’; and 

6 (2) in section 70203(b)(1)(B)— 

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

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

9 (B) in clause (i)— 

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

11 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

13 at the end; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(VI) the National Oceanic and 

17 Atmospheric Administration.’’; 

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

19 inserting a semicolon; and 

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

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

22 be appropriate, 1 or more representatives 

23 from the relevant line offices of the Na24 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis25 tration; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 15. WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION AMEND2 MENTS. 

3 Section 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conserva4 tion, Management, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b– 

5 1) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Na7 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 

8 after ‘‘Federal Aviation Administration,’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (e)(2)— 

10 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

11 subparagraph (C); and 

12 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

16 subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall 

17 consult with the Under Secretary of Com18 merce for Oceans and Atmosphere regard19 ing any development of impact-based deci20 sion support services that relate to wildlife21 related activities of the National Oceanic 

22 and Atmospheric Administration. 

23 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION OF IMPACT-BASED

24 DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—In this 

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1 vice and interpretative services the Na2 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis3 tration provides to help core partners, such 

4 as emergency personnel and public safety 

5 officials, make decisions when weather, 

6 water, and climate impact the lives and 

7 livelihoods of the people of the United 

8 States.’’; and 

9 (3) in subsection (f)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

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

12 and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesig13 nated, 2 ems to the right; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretaries’’ and in15 serting the following: 

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

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

18 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out para19 graph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the 

20 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At21 mosphere to improve coordination, utility of systems 

22 and assets, and interoperability of data for smoke 

23 prediction, forecasting, and modeling.’’. 


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1 SEC. 16. COOPERATION; COORDINATION; SUPPORT TO NON2 FEDERAL ENTITIES. 

3 (a) COOPERATION.—Each Federal agency shall co4 operate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as ap5 propriate, in carrying out this Act and the amendments 

6 made by this Act. 

7 (b) COORDINATION.— 

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

9 under this Act and the amendments made by this 

10 Act, the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as 

11 appropriate, establish agreements with Federal and 

12 external partners to fully use and leverage existing 

13 assets, systems, networks, technologies, and sources 

14 of data. 

15 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Coordination carried out 

16 under paragraph (1) shall include coordination 

17 with— 

18 (A) the National Interagency Fire Center, 

19 including the Predictive Services Program that 

20 provides impact-based decision support services 

21 to the wildland fire community at the Geo22 graphic Area Coordination Center and the Na23 tional Interagency Coordination Center; 

24 (B) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

25 Group; and 


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1 (C) relevant interagency bodies identified 

2 in the report required by section 13. 

3 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub4 section, the Under Secretary shall consult with Fed5 eral partners including— 

6 (A) the National Aeronautics and Space 

7 Administration; 

8 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

9 (C) the Federal Emergency Management 

10 Agency; 

11 (D) the National Science Foundation; 

12 (E) the United States Geological Survey; 

13 (F) the Department of Agriculture; 

14 (G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

15 (H) the Department of Energy; 

16 (I) the Department of Defense; 

17 (J) the National Institute of Standards 

18 and Technology; and 

19 (K) such other departments and agencies 

20 as the Under Secretary considers relevant. 

21 (c) COORDINATION WITH NON-FEDERAL ENTI22 TIES.—Not later than 540 days after the date of the en23 actment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop and 

24 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a proc25 ess for annual coordination with Tribal, State, and local 


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1 governments to assist the development of improved fire 

2 weather products and services. 

3 (d) SUPPORT TO NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—In car4 rying out the activities under this Act and the amend5 ments made by this Act, the Under Secretary may provide 

6 support to non-Federal entities by making funds and re7 sources available through— 

8 (1) competitive grants; 

9 (2) contracts under the mobility program under 

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

11 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Intergovern12 mental Personnel Act Mobility Program’’); 

13 (3) cooperative agreements; and 

14 (4) colocation agreements as described in sec15 tion 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

16 Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amend17 ments Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 851 note prec.). 

18 SEC. 17. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may develop 

20 collaborative relationships and agreements with foreign 

21 partners and counterparts to address transboundary 

22 issues pertaining to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, air 

23 quality, and associated conditions and hazards or other 

24 relevant meteorological phenomena, as appropriate, to fa25 cilitate full and open exchange of data and information. 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities under 

2 this section, the Under Secretary shall consult with the 

3 Department of State and such other Federal partners as 

4 the Under Secretary considers relevant. 

5 SEC. 18. SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE 

6 FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM, INCI7 DENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS, 

8 AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORK9 FORCE SUPPORT. 

10 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 540 days 

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

12 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

13 Congress— 

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

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

16 and 

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

18 (b) FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM PLAN.— 

19 (1) ELEMENTS.—The plan submitted under 

20 subsection (a)(1) shall detail— 

21 (A) the observational data, modeling re22 quirements, ongoing computational needs, re23 search, development, and technology transfer 

24 activities, data management, skilled-personnel 

25 requirements, engagement with relevant Federal 


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1 emergency and land management agencies and 

2 partners, and corresponding resources and 

3 timelines necessary to achieve the functions de4 scribed in subsection (b) of section 3 and the 

5 priorities described in subsection (c) of such 

6 section; and 

7 (B) plans and needs for all other activities 

8 and requirements under this Act and the 

9 amendments made by this Act. 

10 (2) SUBMITTAL OF ANNUAL BUDGET FOR

11 PLAN.—Following completion of the plan submitted 

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

13 not less frequently than once each year concurrent 

14 with the submission of the budget by the President 

15 to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, submit 

16 to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with 

17 the elements detailed in the plan. 

18 (c) INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS

19 ASSESSMENT.— 

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

21 conduct a workforce needs assessment on the cur22 rent and future demand for additional incident me23 teorologists for wildfires and other high-impact fire 

24 weather events. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

3 (A) A description of staffing levels as of 

4 the date on which the assessment is submitted 

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

6 staffing levels. 

7 (B) An assessment of the state of the in8 frastructure of the National Weather Service as 

9 of the date on which the assessment is sub10 mitted and future needs of such infrastructure 

11 in order to meet current and future demands, 

12 including with respect to information technology 

13 support and logistical and administrative oper14 ations. 

15 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the as16 sessment required by paragraph (1), the Under Sec17 retary shall consider factors including projected cli18 mate conditions, infrastructure, all hazard meteoro19 logical response system equipment, user needs, and 

20 feedback from relevant stakeholders. 

21 (d) SUPPORT SERVICES ASSESSMENT.— 

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

23 conduct a workforce support services assessment 

24 with respect to employees of the National Weather 

25 Service 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 

5 Service engaged in emergency response through 

6 services provided by the Public Health Service. 

7 (B) A detailed assessment of appropria8 tions required to secure the level of support 

9 services needed as identified in the assessment 

10 described in subparagraph (A). 

11 (3) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES.—Fol12 lowing the completion of the assessment required by 

13 paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to ac14 quire additional support services to meet the needs 

15 identified in the assessment. 

16 SEC. 19. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin18 istration to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

19 by this Act— 

20 (1) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

21 (2) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

22 (3) $135,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

23 (4) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 

24 (5) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 Ready Nation Act of 2022’’. 

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

5 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. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data management. 

Sec. 5. Digital fire weather services and data management. 

Sec. 6. High-performance computing. 

Sec. 7. Government Accountability Office report on fire weather services program. 

Sec. 8. Fire weather testbed. 

Sec. 9. Fire weather surveys and assessments. 

Sec. 10. Incident Meteorologist Service. 

Sec. 11. Automated surface observing system. 

Sec. 12. Emergency response activities. 

Sec. 13. Government Accountability Office report on interagency wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, and management bodies. 

Sec. 14. Amendments to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act relating to wildfire mitigation. 

Sec. 15. Wildfire technology modernization amendments. 

Sec. 16. Cooperation; coordination; support to non-Federal entities. 

Sec. 17. International coordination. 

Sec. 18. Submissions to Congress regarding the fire weather services program, incident meteorologist workforce needs, and National Weather 

Service workforce support. 

Sec. 19. Government Accountability Office report; Fire Science and Technology 

Working Group; strategic plan. 

Sec. 20. Fire weather rating system. 

Sec. 21. Avoidance of duplication. 

Sec. 22. Authorization of appropriations. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra9 tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

10 Administration. 

11 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

12 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

13 means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

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

4 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

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

6 system model’’ means a mathematical model con7 taining all relevant components of the Earth, namely 

8 the atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, and bio9 sphere. 

10 (4) FIRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi11 ronment’’ means— 

12 (A) the environmental conditions, such as 

13 soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 

14 atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 

15 that influence— 

16 (i) fuel and fire behavior; and 

17 (ii) smoke dispersion and transport; 

18 and 

19 (B) the associated environmental impacts 

20 occurring during and after fire events. 

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

22 means the weather conditions that influence the start, 

23 spread, character, or behavior of wildfire or fires at 

24 the wildland-urban interface and relevant meteorolog25 ical and chemical phenomena, including air quality, 


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1 smoke, and meteorological parameters such as relative 

2 humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction, 

3 and atmospheric composition and chemistry, includ4 ing emissions and mixing heights. 

5 (6) IMPACT-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SERV6 ICES.—The term ‘‘impact-based decision support serv7 ices’’ means forecast advice and interpretative services 

8 the Administration provides to help core partners, 

9 such as emergency personnel and public safety offi10 cials, make decisions when weather, water, and cli11 mate impact the lives and livelihoods of the people of 

12 the United States. 

13 (7) SEASONAL.—The term ‘‘seasonal’’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 2 of the Weather 

15 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 

16 U.S.C. 8501). 

17 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Commerce. 

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

21 the air as a result of combustion. 

22 (10) 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 (11) SUBSEASONAL.—The term ‘‘subseasonal’’ 

5 has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the 

6 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 

7 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 

8 (12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

9 government’’ means the recognized governing body of 

10 any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 

11 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com12 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

13 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 

14 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec15 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 

16 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

17 (13) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

18 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

19 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

20 (14) WEATHER ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘weath21 er enterprise’’ has the meaning given that term in sec22 tion 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Inno23 vation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 

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

25 any non-structure fire that occurs in vegetation or 


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1 natural fuels, originating from an unplanned igni2 tion. 

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

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

5 region of transition between unoccupied or undevel6 oped land and human development where structures 

7 and other human development meet or intermingle 

8 with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. 

9 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PRO10 GRAM. 

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

12 and maintain a coordinated fire weather services program 

13 among the offices of the Administration in existence as of 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act and designated by the 

15 Under Secretary. 

16 (b) PROGRAM FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the pro17 gram established under subsection (a), consistent with the 

18 priorities described in section 101 of the Weather Research 

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

20 shall be— 

21 (1) to support readiness, responsiveness, under22 standing, and overall resilience of the United States 

23 to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, and other associated 

24 conditions, hazards, and impacts in built and natural 

25 environments and at the wildland-urban interface; 


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1 (2) to collaboratively develop and disseminate 

2 accurate, precise, effective, and timely risk commu3 nications, forecasts, watches, and warnings relating to 

4 wildfires, fire weather, smoke, and other associated 

5 conditions, hazards, and impacts, as applicable, with 

6 Federal land management agencies; 

7 (3) to partner with and support the public, Fed8 eral, State, and Tribal governments, and academic 

9 and local partners through the development of capa10 bilities, impact-based decision support services, and 

11 overall service delivery and utility; 

12 (4) to conduct and support research and develop13 ment of new and innovative models, technologies, 

14 techniques, products, systems, processes, and proce15 dures to improve understanding of wildfires, fire 

16 weather, air quality, and the fire environment; 

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

18 operations-to-research transitions, in order to facili19 tate delivery of products, services, and tools to oper20 ational users and platforms; and 

21 (6) to develop, in coordination with Federal land 

22 management agencies, impact-based decision support 

23 services that operationalize and integrate the func24 tions described in paragraphs (1) through (5) in 


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1 order to provide comprehensive impact-based decision 

2 support services that encompass the fire environment. 

3 (c) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—In developing and imple4 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

5 Under Secretary shall prioritize— 

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

7 system model and data assimilation systems that— 

8 (A) are capable of prediction and fore9 casting across relevant spatial and temporal 

10 timescales; 

11 (B) include variables associated with fire 

12 weather, air quality from smoke, and the fire en13 vironment; 

14 (C) improve understanding of the connec15 tions between fire weather and modes of climate 

16 variability; and 

17 (D) incorporate emerging techniques such as 

18 artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 

19 cloud computing; 

20 (2) advancement of existing and new observa21 tional capabilities, including satellite-, airborne-, air22 , and ground-based systems and technologies and so23 cial networking and other public information-gath24 ering applications that— 

25 (A) identify— 


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

2 (ii) conditions that influence fire be3 havior and spread including those condi4 tions that suppress active fire events; and 

5 (iii) fire risk values; 

6 (B) support real-time notification and mon7 itoring of ignitions; 

8 (C) support observations and data collection 

9 of fire weather and fire environment variables, 

10 including smoke, for development of the model 

11 and systems under paragraph (1); and 

12 (D) support forecasts and advancing under13 standing and research of the impacts of wildfires 

14 on human health, ecosystems, climate, transpor15 tation, and economies; and 

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 03:40 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4237.RS S4237

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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. 

6 (d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In developing and imple7 menting the program established under subsection (a), the 

8 Under Secretary may— 

9 (1) conduct relevant physical and social science 

10 research activities in support of the functions de11 scribed in subsection (b) and the priorities described 

12 in subsection (c); 

13 (2) conduct relevant activities, in coordination 

14 with Federal land management agencies and Federal 

15 science agencies, to assess fuel characteristics, includ16 ing moisture, loading, and other parameters used to 

17 determine fire risk levels and outlooks; 

18 (3) support and conduct research that assesses 

19 impacts to marine, riverine, and other relevant eco20 systems, which may include forest and rangeland eco21 systems, resulting from activities associated with 

22 mitigation of and response to wildfires; 

23 (4) support and conduct attribution science re24 search relating to wildfires, fire weather, fire risk, 

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


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1 (5) develop smoke and air quality forecasts, fore2 cast guidance, and prescribed burn weather forecasts, 

3 and conduct research on the impact of such forecasts 

4 on response behavior that minimizes health-related 

5 impacts from smoke exposure; 

6 (6) use, in coordination with Federal land man7 agement agencies, wildland fire resource intelligence 

8 to inform fire environment impact-based decision 

9 support products and services for safety; 

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

11 tools, and services to support determinations by such 

12 agencies for the implementation of mitigation meas13 ures; 

14 (8) provide training and support to ensure effec15 tive media utilization of impact-based decision sup16 port products and guidance to the public regarding 

17 actions needing to be taken; 

18 (9) provide comprehensive training to ensure 

19 staff of the program established under subsection (a) 

20 is properly equipped to deliver the impact-based deci21 sion support products and services described in para22 graphs (1) through (6); and 

23 (10) acquire through contracted purchase private 

24 sector-produced observational data to fill identified 

25 gaps, as needed. 


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1 (e) COLLABORATION; AGREEMENTS.— 

2 (1) COLLABORATION.—The Under Secretary 

3 shall, as the Under Secretary considers appropriate, 

4 collaborate and consult with partners in the weather 

5 and climate enterprises, academic institutions, States, 

6 Tribal governments, local partners, and Federal agen7 cies, including land and fire management agencies, in 

8 the development and implementation of the program 

9 established under subsection (a). 

10 (2) AGREEMENTS.—The Under Secretary may 

11 enter into agreements in support of the functions de12 scribed in subsection (b), the priorities described in 

13 subsection (c), the activities described in subsection 

14 (d), and activities carried out under section 8. 

15 (f) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION PLAN.— 

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

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec18 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

19 Congress a plan that details how the program estab20 lished under subsection (a) will be administered and 

21 governed within the Administration. 

22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para23 graph (1) should include a description of— 

24 (A) how the functions described in sub25 section (b), the priorities described in subsection 


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

2 will be distributed among the line offices of the 

3 Administration; and 

4 (B) the mechanisms in place to ensure 

5 seamless coordination among those offices. 

6 SEC. 4. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS7 TRATION DATA MANAGEMENT. 

8 Section 301 of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 collected by the National Oceanic and Atmos17 pheric Administration that the Under Secretary 

18 has the legal right to redistribute fully and open19 ly available, in accordance with chapter 35 of 

20 title 44, United States Code, and the Founda21 tions for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 

22 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 5529) and 

23 the amendments made by that Act, and preserve 

24 and curate such data and metadata, in accord25 ance with chapter 31 of title 44, United States 


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1 Code (commonly known as the ‘Federal Records 

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

3 data and metadata; and 

4 ‘‘(B) manage and steward the access, archi5 val, and retrieval activities for the data and 

6 metadata described in subparagraph (A) by— 

7 ‘‘(i) using— 

8 ‘‘(I) enterprise-wide infrastruc9 ture, emerging technologies, commercial 

10 partnerships, and the skilled workforce 

11 needed to provide appropriate data 

12 management from collection to broad 

13 access; and 

14 ‘‘(II) associated information serv15 ices; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) pursuing the maximum inter17 operability of data and information by— 

18 ‘‘(I) leveraging data, information, 

19 knowledge, and tools from across the 

20 Federal Government to support equi21 table access, cross-sectoral collaboration 

22 and innovation, and local planning 

23 and decision-making; and 

24 ‘‘(II) developing standards and 

25 practices for the adoption and citation 


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1 of digital object identifiers for datasets, 

2 models, and analytical tools. 

3 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out this sub4 section, the Under Secretary shall collaborate with 

5 such Federal partners and stakeholders as the Under 

6 Secretary considers relevant— 

7 ‘‘(A) to develop standards to pursue max8 imum interoperability of data, information, 

9 knowledge, and tools across the Federal Govern10 ment, convert historical records into common 

11 digital formats, and improve access and 

12 usability of data by partners and stakeholders; 

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

14 from Federal and international partners and 

15 other relevant stakeholders, as the Under Sec16 retary considers appropriate; and 

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

18 the adoption and citation of digital object identi19 fiers for datasets, models, and analytical tools.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. DIGITAL FIRE WEATHER SERVICES AND DATA MAN21 AGEMENT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 (1) DIGITAL PRESENCE.—The Under Secretary 

24 shall develop and maintain a comprehensive, central25 ized, and publicly accessible digital presence designed 


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1 to promote findability, accessibility, interoperability, 

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

3 information produced by the program established 

4 under section 3(a). 

5 (2) DIGITAL PLATFORM AND TOOLS.—In car6 rying out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall 

7 seek to ensure the digital platform and tools of the 

8 Administration integrate geospatial data, decision 

9 support tools, training, and best practices to provide 

10 real-time fire weather forecasts and address fire-re11 lated issues and needs. 

12 (b) INTERNET-BASED TOOLS.—In carrying out sub13 sections (a) and (b), the Under Secretary shall develop and 

14 implement internet-based tools, such as webpages and 

15 smartphone and other mobile applications, to increase util16 ity and access to services and products for the benefit of 

17 users. 

18 SEC. 6. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall seek to 

20 acquire sufficient high-performance computing resources 

21 and capacity for research, operations, and data storage in 

22 support of the program established under section 3(a). 

23 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In acquiring high-performance 

24 computing capacity under subsection (a), the Under Sec25 retary shall consider requirements needed for— 


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1 (1) conducting research and development; 

2 (2) the transition of research and testbed devel3 opments into operations; 

4 (3) capabilities existing in other Federal agen5 cies and the commercial sector; and 

6 (4) skilled workforce development. 

7 SEC. 7. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

8 ON FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

11 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on 

12 the program established under section 3(a). 

13 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

14 shall— 

15 (1) evaluate the performance of the program by 

16 establishing initial baseline capabilities and tracking 

17 progress made toward fully operationalizing the func18 tions described in section 3(b); and 

19 (2) include such other recommendations as the 

20 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

21 improve the program. 

22 SEC. 8. FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED.— 

24 The Under Secretary shall establish a fire weather testbed 

25 that enables engagement across the Federal Government, 


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1 State and local governments, academia, private and feder2 ally funded research laboratories, the private sector, and 

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

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

5 and other research to accelerate the implementation, transi6 tion to operations, and use of new capabilities by the Ad7 ministration, Federal and land management agencies, and 

8 other relevant stakeholders. 

9 (b) UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 

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

11 (A) research and assess the role and poten12 tial of uncrewed aircraft systems to improve 

13 data collection in support of modeling, observa14 tions, predictions, forecasts, and impact-based 

15 decision support services; 

16 (B) transition uncrewed aircraft systems 

17 technologies from research to operations as the 

18 Under Secretary considers appropriate; and 

19 (C) coordinate with other Federal agencies 

20 that may be developing uncrewed aircraft sys21 tems and related technologies to meet the chal22 lenges of wildland fire management. 

23 (2) PILOT REQUIRED.—In carrying out para24 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date of the 

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1 duct pilots of uncrewed aircraft systems for fire 

2 weather and fire environment observations, includ3 ing— 

4 (A) testing of unscrewed systems in ap5 proximations of real-world scenarios; 

6 (B) assessment of the utility of meteorolog7 ical data collected from fire response and assess8 ment aircraft; 

9 (C) input of the collected data into appro10 priate models to predict fire behavior, including 

11 coupled atmosphere and fire models; and 

12 (D) collection of best management practices 

13 for deployment of unscrewed systems and other 

14 remote data technology, including for commu15 nication and coordination between the stake16 holders described in subsection (a). 

17 (3) PROHIBITION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

19 under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Under 

20 Secretary may not procure any covered un21 manned aircraft system that is manufactured or 

22 assembled by a covered foreign entity, which in23 cludes associated elements (consisting of commu24 nication links and the components that control 

25 the unmanned aircraft) that are required for the 


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1 operator to operate safely and efficiently in the 

2 national airspace system. The Federal Acquisi3 tion Security Council, in coordination with the 

4 Secretary of Transportation, shall develop and 

5 update a list of associated elements. 

6 (B) EXEMPTION.—The Under Secretary, in 

7 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Se8 curity, is exempt from the prohibition under sub9 paragraph (A) if the operation or procurement is 

10 necessary for the sole purpose of marine or at11 mospheric science or management. 

12 (C) WAIVER.—The Under Secretary may 

13 waive the prohibition under subparagraph (A) 

14 on a case-by-case basis— 

15 (i) with the approval of the Secretary 

16 of Homeland Security or the Secretary of 

17 Defense; and 

18 (ii) upon notification to Congress. 

19 (D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

20 (i) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The 

21 term ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means an en22 tity included on a list developed and main23 tained by the Federal Acquisition Security 

24 Council. The list shall include entities in 

25 the following categories: 


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1 (I) An entity included on the 

2 Consolidated Screening List. 

3 (II) Any entity that is subject to 

4 extrajudicial direction from a foreign 

5 government, as determined by the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security. 

7 (III) Any entity the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security, in coordination 

9 with the Director of National Intel10 ligence and the Secretary of Defense, 

11 determines poses a national security 

12 risk. 

13 (IV) Any entity domiciled in the 

14 People’s Republic of China or subject 

15 to influence or control by the Govern16 ment of the People’s Republic of China 

17 or the Communist Party of the People’s 

18 Republic of China, as determined by 

19 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

20 (V) Any subsidiary or affiliate of 

21 an entity described in subclauses (I) 

22 through (IV). 

23 (ii) COVERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

24 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘covered unmanned 

25 aircraft system’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ in sec2 tion 44801 of title 49, United States Code. 

3 (4) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activi5 ties under this subsection, the Under Secretary 

6 shall ensure that any testing or deployment of 

7 uncrewed aircraft systems follow procedures, re8 strictions, and protocols established by the heads 

9 of the Federal agencies with statutory or regu10 latory jurisdiction over any airspace in which 

11 wildfire response activities are conducted during 

12 an active wildfire event. 

13 (B) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.— 

14 The Under Secretary shall consult and coordi15 nate with relevant Federal land management 

16 agencies, Federal science agencies, and the Fed17 eral Aviation Administration to develop proc18 esses for the appropriate deployment of the sys19 tems described in subparagraph (A). 

20 (c) ADDITIONAL PILOT PROJECTS.—The Under Sec21 retary shall establish additional pilot projects relating to 

22 the fire weather testbed that may include the following ele23 ments: 

24 (1) Advanced satellite detection products. 

25 (2) Procurement and use of commercial data. 


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1 SEC. 9. FIRE WEATHER SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

2 (a) ANNUAL POST-FIRE-WEATHER SEASON SURVEY

3 AND ASSESSMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the second winter fol5 lowing the enactment of this Act, and each year there6 after, the Under Secretary shall conduct a post-fire7 weather season survey and assessment. 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—After conducting a post-fire9 weather season survey and assessment under para10 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall— 

11 (A) investigate any gaps in data collected 

12 during the assessment; 

13 (B) identify and implement strategies and 

14 procedures to improve program services and in15 formation dissemination; 

16 (C) update systems, processes, strategies, 

17 and procedures to enhance the efficiency and re18 liability of data obtained from the assessment; 

19 (D) evaluate the accuracy and efficacy of 

20 physical fire weather forecasting information for 

21 each incident included in the survey and assess22 ment; and 

23 (E) assess and refine performance measures, 

24 as needed. 

25 (b) SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING INDI26 VIDUAL WILDFIRE EVENTS.—The Under Secretary may 


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1 conduct surveys and assessments following individual wild2 fire events as the Under Secretary determines necessary. 

3 (c) GOAL.—In carrying out activities under this sec4 tion, the Under Secretary shall seek to increase the number 

5 of post-wildfire community impact studies, including by 

6 surveying individual and collective responses and incor7 porating other applicable topics of social science research. 

8 (d) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—Not less frequently than once 

9 each year, the Under Secretary shall provide a briefing to 

10 the appropriate committees of Congress that provides— 

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

12 (2) an outlook for the fire season for the coming 

13 year. 

14 (e) COORDINATION.—In conducting any survey or as15 sessment under this section, the Under Secretary shall co16 ordinate with Federal, State, and local partners, Tribal 

17 governments, private entities, and such institutions of high18 er education as the Under Secretary considers relevant in 

19 order to— 

20 (1) improve operations and collaboration; and 

21 (2) optimize data collection, sharing, integration, 

22 assimilation, and dissemination. 

23 (f) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

24 make the data and findings obtained from each assessment 

25 conducted under this section available to the public in an 


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1 accessible digital format as soon as practicable after con2 ducting the assessment. 

3 (g) SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS.—The Under Secretary 

4 shall make best efforts to incorporate the results and rec5 ommendations of each assessment conducted under this sec6 tion into the research and development plan and operations 

7 of the Administration. 

8 SEC. 10. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST SERVICE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary shall es10 tablish and maintain an Incident Meteorologist Service 

11 within the National Weather Service (in this section re12 ferred to as the ‘‘Service’’). 

13 (b) INCLUSION OF EXISTING INCIDENT METEOROLO14 GISTS.—The Service shall include— 

15 (1) the incident meteorologists of the Administra16 tion as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

17 (2) such incident meteorologists of the Adminis18 tration as may be appointed after such date. 

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

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

21 to Federal, State, Tribal government, and local gov22 ernment emergency response agencies preceding, dur23 ing, and following wildland fires or other events that 

24 threaten life or property, including high-impact and 

25 extreme weather events; and 


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1 (2) support to Federal, State, Tribal government, 

2 and local government decision makers, partners, and 

3 stakeholders for seasonal planning. 

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

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

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

7 agency and with the approval of the Under Secretary. 

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

9 maintaining the Service, the Under Secretary shall iden10 tify, acquire, and maintain adequate levels of staffing and 

11 resources to meet user needs. 

12 (f) SYMBOL.— 

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

14 (A) create, adopt, and publish in the Fed15 eral Register a symbol for the Service; and 

16 (B) restrict the use of such symbol as appro17 priate. 

18 (2) USE OF SYMBOL.—The Under Secretary may 

19 authorize the use of a symbol adopted under this sub20 section by any individual or entity as the Under Sec21 retary considers appropriate. 

22 (3) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Under Sec23 retary may award contracts for the creation of sym24 bols under this subsection. 


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1 (4) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any per2 son— 

3 (A) to represent themselves as an official of 

4 the Service absent the designation or approval of 

5 the Under Secretary; 

6 (B) to manufacture, reproduce, or otherwise 

7 use any symbol adopted by the Under Secretary 

8 under this subsection, including to sell any item 

9 bearing such a symbol, unless authorized by the 

10 Under Secretary; or 

11 (C) to violate any regulation promulgated 

12 by the Secretary under this subsection. 

13 (g) SUPPORT FOR INCIDENT METEOROLOGISTS.—The 

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

15 fire weather forecasts, training, administrative and 

16 logistical support, and access to professional counseling or 

17 other forms of support as the Under Secretary considers ap18 propriate for the betterment of the emotional and mental 

19 health and well-being of incident meteorologists and other 

20 employees of the Administration involved with response to 

21 high-impact and extreme fire weather events. 

22 SEC. 11. AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM. 

23 (a) JOINT ASSESSMENT AND PLAN.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in col25 laboration with the Administrator of the Federal 


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1 Aviation Administration and the Secretary of De2 fense, shall— 

3 (A) conduct an assessment of resources, per4 sonnel, procedures, and activities necessary to 

5 maximize the functionality and utility of the 

6 automated surface observing system of the United 

7 States that identifies— 

8 (i) key system upgrades needed to im9 prove observation quality and utility for 

10 weather forecasting, aviation safety, and 

11 other users; 

12 (ii) improvements needed in observa13 tions within the planetary boundary layer, 

14 including mixing height; 

15 (iii) improvements needed in public 

16 accessibility of observational data; 

17 (iv) improvements needed to reduce la18 tency in reporting of observational data; 

19 (v) relevant data to be collected for the 

20 production of forecasts or forecast guidance 

21 relating to atmospheric composition, includ22 ing particulate and air quality data, and 

23 aviation safety; 

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1 tem, which may include needs for on-night 

2 staff, particularly in remote and rural 

3 areas and areas where system failure would 

4 have the greatest negative impact to the 

5 community; 

6 (vii) stewardship, data handling, data 

7 distribution, and product generation needs 

8 arising from upgrading and changing the 

9 automated surface observation systems; 

10 (viii) possible solutions for areas of 

11 concern identified under clause (vi), includ12 ing with respect to the potential use of 

13 backup systems, power and communication 

14 system reliability, staffing needs and per15 sonnel location, and the acquisition of crit16 ical component backups and proper storage 

17 location to ensure rapid system repair nec18 essary to ensure system operational con19 tinuity; and 

20 (ix) research, development, and transi21 tion to operations needed to develop ad22 vanced data collection, quality control, and 

23 distribution so that the data are provided to 

24 models, users, and decision support systems 

25 in a timely manner; and 


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1 (B) develop and implement a plan that ad2 dresses the findings of the assessment conducted 

3 under subparagraph (A), including by seeking 

4 and allocating resources necessary to ensure that 

5 system upgrades are standardized across the Ad6 ministration, the Federal Aviation Administra7 tion, and the Department of Defense to the extent 

8 practicable. 

9 (2) STANDARDIZATION.—Any system standard10 ization implemented under paragraph (1)(B) shall 

11 not impede activities to upgrade or improve indi12 vidual units of the system. 

13 (3) REMOTE AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION CO14 ORDINATION.—The Under Secretary, in collaboration 

15 with relevant Federal agencies and the National 

16 Interagency Fire Center, shall assess and develop co17 operative agreements to improve coordination, inter18 operability standards, operations, and placement of 

19 remote automatic weather stations for the purpose of 

20 improving utility and coverage of remote automatic 

21 weather stations, automated surface observation sys22 tems, smoke monitoring platforms, and other similar 

23 stations and systems for weather and climate oper24 ations. 

25 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec3 retary, in collaboration with the Administrator of the 

4 Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of 

5 Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

6 Congress a report that— 

7 (A) details the findings of the assessment re8 quired by subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1); 

9 and 

10 (B) the plan required by subparagraph (B) 

11 of such subsection. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para13 graph (1) shall include a detailed assessment of ap14 propriations required— 

15 (A) to address the findings of the assessment 

16 required by subparagraph (A) of subsection 

17 (a)(1); and 

18 (B) to implement the plan required by sub19 paragraph (B) of such subsection. 

20 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE21 PORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

23 States shall submit to Congress a report that— 

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1 face observing system across the Administration, the 

2 Federal Aviation Administration, and the Depart3 ment of Defense; 

4 (2) evaluates the progress, performance, and im5 plementation of the plan required by subsection 

6 (a)(1)(B); 

7 (3) assesses the efficacy of cross-agency collabora8 tion and stakeholder engagement in carrying out the 

9 plan and provides recommendations to improve such 

10 activities; 

11 (4) evaluates the operational continuity and reli12 ability of the system, particularly in remote and 

13 rural areas and areas where system failure would 

14 have the greatest negative impact to the community, 

15 and provides recommendations to improve such con16 tinuity and reliability; 

17 (5) assesses Federal coordination regarding the 

18 remote automatic weather station network, air re19 source advisors, and other Federal observing assets 

20 used for weather and climate modeling and response 

21 activities, and provides recommendations for im22 provements; and 

23 (6) includes such other recommendations as the 

24 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 

25 improve the system. 


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1 SEC. 12. 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. 

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

13 services’’ means services performed by a covered em14 ployee while serving as an incident meteorologist ac15 companying a wildland firefighter crew. 

16 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

17 meaning given that term in section 2105 of title 5, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (5) PREMIUM PAY.—The term ‘‘premium pay’’ 

20 means premium pay for the purposes of section 

21 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (b) WAIVER.— 

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

24 a covered employee for covered services shall be dis25 regarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay 

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1 poses of applying the limitation on premium pay 

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

3 (2) LIMITATION.—A covered employee may be 

4 paid premium pay that is disregarded under para5 graph (1) only to the extent that the aggregate of the 

6 basic pay and premium pay paid to that covered em7 ployee in the applicable calendar year, including pre8 mium pay that is disregarded under that paragraph, 

9 does not exceed the rate of basic pay for a position 

10 at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 

11 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect at the 

12 end of that calendar year. 

13 (c) APPLICATION.—If the application of subsection (b) 

14 results in the payment of additional pay to a covered em15 ployee of a type that is normally creditable as basic pay 

16 for retirement or any other purpose, that additional pay 

17 shall not— 

18 (1) be considered to be basic pay of the covered 

19 employee for any purpose; or 

20 (2) be used in computing a lump-sum payment 

21 to the covered employee for accumulated and accrued 

22 annual leave under section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 


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

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

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend5 ment made by this section shall take effect as if enacted 

6 on January 1, 2020. 

7 (f) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH, SAFE8 TY, AND WELL-BEING.—The Under Secretary shall main9 tain polices and procedures to promote the health, safety, 

10 and well-being of covered employees. 

11 SEC. 13. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

12 ON INTERAGENCY WILDFIRE FORECASTING, 

13 PREVENTION, PLANNING, AND MANAGEMENT 

14 BODIES. 

15 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

17 shall submit to Congress a report that— 

18 (1) identifies all Federal interagency bodies es19 tablished for the purpose of wildfire forecasting, pre20 vention, planning, and management (such as wildfire 

21 councils, commissions, and workgroups), including— 

22 (A) the Wildland Fire Leadership Council; 

23 (B) the National Interagency Fire Center; 

24 (C) the Wildland Fire Management Policy 

25 Committee; 


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1 (D) the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Man2 agement Commission; 

3 (E) the Joint Science Fire Program; 

4 (F) the National Interagency Coordination 

5 Center; 

6 (G) the National Predictive Services Over7 sight Group; 

8 (H) the Interagency Council for Advancing 

9 Meteorological Services; 

10 (I) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

11 Group; 

12 (J) the National Multi-Agency Coordinating 

13 Group; and 

14 (K) the Mitigation Framework Leadership 

15 Group; 

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

17 of such interagency bodies; 

18 (3) evaluates the progress, performance, and im19 plementation of such interagency bodies; 

20 (4) assesses efficacy and identifies potential over21 lap and duplication of such interagency bodies in 

22 carrying out interagency collaboration with respect to 

23 wildfire prevention, planning, and management; and 

24 (5) includes such other recommendations as the 

25 Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 


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1 streamline and improve wildfire forecasting, preven2 tion, planning, and management, including rec3 ommendations regarding the interagency bodies for 

4 which the addition of the Administration is necessary 

5 to improve wildfire forecasting, prevention, planning, 

6 and management. 

7 SEC. 14. AMENDMENTS TO INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

8 AND JOBS ACT RELATING TO WILDFIRE MITI9 GATION. 

10 The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public 

11 Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 429) is amended— 

12 (1) in section 70202— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

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

15 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

17 the period at the end and inserting a semi18 colon; and 

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

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

22 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

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

24 Technology of the House of Representatives.’’; 

25 and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (6)— 

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

3 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

6 and 

7 (iii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

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

10 through the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

11 Oceans and Atmosphere.’’; and 

12 (2) in section 70203(b)(1)(B)— 

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

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

15 (B) in clause (i)— 

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

17 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

19 at the end; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(VI) the National Oceanic and 

23 Atmospheric Administration.’’; 

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

25 inserting a semicolon; and 


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

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

3 be appropriate, 1 or more representatives 

4 from the relevant line offices of the National 

5 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 

6 and’’. 

7 SEC. 15. WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION AMEND8 MENTS. 

9 Section 1114 of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, 

10 Management, and Recreation Act (43 U.S.C. 1748b–1) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,’’ 

14 after ‘‘Federal Aviation Administration,’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (e)(2)— 

16 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

17 subparagraph (C); and 

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

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

22 subparagraph (A), the Secretaries shall con23 sult with the Under Secretary of Commerce 

24 for Oceans and Atmosphere regarding any 

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1 port services that relate to wildlife-related 

2 activities of the National Oceanic and At3 mospheric Administration. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION OF IMPACT-BASED

5 DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES.—In this sub6 paragraph, the term ‘impact-based decision 

7 support services’ means forecast advice and 

8 interpretative services the National Oceanic 

9 and Atmospheric Administration provides 

10 to help core partners, such as emergency 

11 personnel and public safety officials, make 

12 decisions when weather, water, and climate 

13 impact the lives and livelihoods of the peo14 ple of the United States.’’; and 

15 (3) in subsection (f)— 

16 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

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

18 and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesig19 nated, 2 ems to the right; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretaries’’ and in21 serting the following: 

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

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

24 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out para25 graph (1), the Secretaries shall collaborate with the 


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1 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos2 phere to improve coordination, utility of systems and 

3 assets, and interoperability of data for smoke pre4 diction, forecasting, and modeling.’’. 

5 SEC. 16. COOPERATION; COORDINATION; SUPPORT TO NON6 FEDERAL ENTITIES. 

7 (a) COOPERATION.—Each Federal agency shall cooper8 ate and coordinate with the Under Secretary, as appro9 priate, in carrying out this Act and the amendments made 

10 by this Act. 

11 (b) COORDINATION.— 

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

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

14 the Under Secretary shall coordinate, and as appro15 priate, establish agreements with Federal and external 

16 partners to fully use and leverage existing assets, sys17 tems, networks, technologies, and sources of data. 

18 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Coordination carried out 

19 under paragraph (1) shall include coordination 

20 with— 

21 (A) the National Interagency Fire Center, 

22 including the Predictive Services Program that 

23 provides impact-based decision support services 

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1 graphic Area Coordination Center and the Na2 tional Interagency Coordination Center; 

3 (B) the National Wildfire Coordinating 

4 Group; and 

5 (C) relevant interagency bodies identified in 

6 the report required by section 13. 

7 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub8 section, the Under Secretary shall consult with Fed9 eral partners including— 

10 (A) the National Aeronautics and Space 

11 Administration; 

12 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

13 (C) the Federal Emergency Management 

14 Agency; 

15 (D) the National Science Foundation; 

16 (E) the United States Geological Survey; 

17 (F) the Department of Agriculture; 

18 (G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

19 (H) the Department of Energy; 

20 (I) the Department of Defense; 

21 (J) the National Institute of Standards and 

22 Technology; and 

23 (K) such other departments and agencies as 

24 the Under Secretary considers relevant. 


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1 (c) COORDINATION WITH NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.— 

2 Not later than 540 days after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, the Under Secretary shall develop and submit to 

4 the appropriate committees of Congress a process for annual 

5 coordination with Tribal, State, and local governments to 

6 assist the development of improved fire weather products 

7 and services. 

8 (d) SUPPORT TO NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—In car9 rying out the activities under this Act and the amendments 

10 made by this Act, the Under Secretary may provide support 

11 to non-Federal entities by making funds and resources 

12 available through— 

13 (1) competitive grants; 

14 (2) contracts under the mobility program under 

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

16 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Intergovernmental 

17 Personnel Act Mobility Program’’); 

18 (3) cooperative agreements; and 

19 (4) colocation agreements as described in section 

20 502 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin21 istration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments 

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

23 SEC. 17. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may develop 

25 collaborative relationships and agreements with foreign 


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1 partners and counterparts to address transboundary issues 

2 pertaining to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, air quality, 

3 and associated conditions and hazards or other relevant me4 teorological phenomena, as appropriate, to facilitate full 

5 and open exchange of data and information. 

6 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities under 

7 this section, the Under Secretary shall consult with the De8 partment of State and such other Federal partners as the 

9 Under Secretary considers relevant. 

10 SEC. 18. SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE 

11 FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM, INCI12 DENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS, 

13 AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORK14 FORCE SUPPORT. 

15 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 540 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Sec17 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con18 gress— 

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

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

21 and 

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

23 (b) FIRE WEATHER SERVICES PROGRAM PLAN.— 

24 (1) ELEMENTS.—The plan submitted under sub25 section (a)(1) shall detail— 


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1 (A) the observational data, modeling re2 quirements, ongoing computational needs, re3 search, development, and technology transfer ac4 tivities, data management, skilled-personnel re5 quirements, engagement with relevant Federal 

6 emergency and land management agencies and 

7 partners, and corresponding resources and 

8 timelines necessary to achieve the functions de9 scribed in subsection (b) of section 3 and the pri10 orities described in subsection (c) of such section; 

11 and 

12 (B) plans and needs for all other activities 

13 and requirements under this Act and the amend14 ments made by this Act. 

15 (2) SUBMITTAL OF ANNUAL BUDGET FOR

16 PLAN.—Following completion of the plan submitted 

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

18 not less frequently than once each year concurrent 

19 with the submission of the budget by the President to 

20 Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

21 Code, submit to Congress a proposed budget cor22 responding with the elements detailed in the plan. 

23 (c) INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE NEEDS

24 ASSESSMENT.— 


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

2 conduct a workforce needs assessment on the current 

3 and future demand for additional incident meteorolo4 gists for wildfires and other high-impact fire weather 

5 events. 

6 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

7 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

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

9 date on which the assessment is submitted under 

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

11 levels. 

12 (B) An assessment of the state of the infra13 structure of the National Weather Service as of 

14 the date on which the assessment is submitted 

15 and future needs of such infrastructure in order 

16 to meet current and future demands, including 

17 with respect to information technology support 

18 and logistical and administrative operations. 

19 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the assess20 ment required by paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

21 shall consider factors including projected climate con22 ditions, infrastructure, relevant hazard meteorological 

23 response system equipment, user needs, and feedback 

24 from relevant stakeholders. 

25 (d) SUPPORT SERVICES ASSESSMENT.— 


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

2 conduct a workforce support services assessment with 

3 respect to employees of the National Weather Service 

4 engaged in emergency response. 

5 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 

6 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

7 (A) An assessment of need for further sup8 port of employees of the National Weather Serv9 ice engaged in emergency response through serv10 ices provided by the Public Health Service. 

11 (B) A detailed assessment of appropriations 

12 required to secure the level of support services 

13 needed as identified in the assessment described 

14 in subparagraph (A). 

15 (3) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES.—Following 

16 the completion of the assessment required by para17 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall seek to acquire 

18 additional support services to meet the needs identi19 fied in the assessment. 

20 SEC. 19. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT; 

21 FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING 

22 GROUP; STRATEGIC PLAN. 

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1 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

2 States shall submit to Congress a report that identifies— 

3 (1) the authorities, roles, and science and sup4 port services relating to wildland fire prediction, de5 tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, 

6 management, and assessment provided by— 

7 (A) the Department of Commerce, including 

8 the Administration and the National Institute of 

9 Standards and Technology; 

10 (B) the National Aeronautics and Space 

11 Administration; 

12 (C) the Department of the Interior; 

13 (D) the Department of Agriculture; 

14 (E) the National Science Foundation; 

15 (F) the Department of Energy; 

16 (G) the Federal Emergency Management 

17 Agency; 

18 (H) the Department of Transportation; 

19 (I) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

20 and 

21 (J) the Department of Defense; and 

22 (2) recommended areas in and mechanisms by 

23 which the agencies listed under paragraph (1) could 

24 support and improve— 


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1 (A) coordination between Federal agencies, 

2 State and local governments, Tribal govern3 ments, and other relevant stakeholders, including 

4 through examination of possible public-private 

5 partnerships; 

6 (B) research and development, including 

7 interdisciplinary research, related to fire envi8 ronments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and 

9 the impacts of such environments, fires, and 

10 smoke, in furtherance of a coordinated inter11 agency effort to address wildland fire risk reduc12 tion; 

13 (C) data management and stewardship, the 

14 development and coordination of data systems 

15 and computational tools, and the creation of a 

16 centralized, integrated data collaboration envi17 ronment for agency data, including historical 

18 data, relating to weather, fire environments, 

19 wildland fires, associated smoke, and the impacts 

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

21 assessment of wildland fire risk mitigation meas22 ures; 

23 (D) interoperability, usability, and accessi24 bility of the scientific data, data systems, and 


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1 computational and information tools of the agen2 cies listed under paragraph (1); 

3 (E) coordinated public safety communica4 tions relating to fire weather events, fire hazards, 

5 and wildland fire and smoke risk reduction 

6 strategies; and 

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

8 alerts, and advisories to wildland firefighters 

9 and other decision support tools for wildland fire 

10 incident command posts. 

11 (b) FIRE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING

12 GROUP.— 

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

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Execu15 tive Director of the Interagency Committee for Ad16 vancing Weather Services established under section 

17 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innova18 tion Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this section re19 ferred to as the ‘‘Interagency Committee’’) shall estab20 lish a working group, to be known as the ‘‘Fire 

21 Science and Technology Working Group’’ (in this sec22 tion referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

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

24 chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. 

25 (3) GENERAL DUTIES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

2 shall seek to build efficiencies among the agencies 

3 listed under subsection (a)(1) and coordinate the 

4 planning and management of science, research, 

5 technology, and operations related to science and 

6 support services for wildland fire prediction, de7 tection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, re8 sponse, management, and assessments. 

9 (B) INPUT.—The Working Group shall so10 licit input from non-Federal stakeholders. 

11 (c) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after 

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

14 Committee shall prepare and submit to Congress a 

15 strategic plan for interagency coordination, research, 

16 and development that will improve the assessment of 

17 fire environments and the understanding and pre18 diction of wildland fires, associated smoke, and the 

19 impacts of such fires and smoke, including— 

20 (A) at the wildland-urban interface; 

21 (B) on communities, buildings, and other 

22 infrastructure; 

23 (C) on ecosystem services and watersheds; 

24 (D) social and economic impacts; 


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1 (E) by developing and encouraging the 

2 adoption of science-based and cost-effective meas3 ures— 

4 (i) to enhance community resilience to 

5 wildland fires; 

6 (ii) to address and mitigate the im7 pacts of wildland fire and associated smoke; 

8 and 

9 (iii) to restore natural fire regimes in 

10 fire-dependent ecosystems; 

11 (F) by improving the understanding and 

12 mitigation of the effects of weather and long-term 

13 drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, and se14 verity; 

15 (G) through integrations of social and be16 havioral sciences in public safety fire commu17 nication; 

18 (H) by improving the forecasting and un19 derstanding of prescribed fires and the impacts 

20 of such fires, and how those impacts may differ 

21 from impacts of wildland fires that originate 

22 from an unplanned ignition; and 

23 (I) consideration and adoption of any rec24 ommendations included in the report required by 


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1 subsection (a) pursuant to paragraph (2) of such 

2 subsection. 

3 (2) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan re4 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

5 (A) A description of the priorities and needs 

6 of vulnerable populations. 

7 (B) A description of high-performance com8 puting, visualization, and dissemination needs. 

9 (C) A timeline and guidance for implemen10 tation of— 

11 (i) an interagency data sharing system 

12 for data relevant to performing fire assess13 ments and modeling fire risk and fire be14 havior; 

15 (ii) a system for ensuring that the fire 

16 prediction models of relevant agencies can 

17 be interconnected; and 

18 (iii) to the maximum extent prac19 ticable, any recommendations included in 

20 the report required by subsection (a). 

21 (D) A plan for incorporating and coordi22 nating research and operational observations, in23 cluding from infrared technologies, microwave, 

24 radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, and 

25 uncrewed aerial systems. 


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1 (E) A flexible framework to communicate 

2 clear and simple fire event information to the 

3 public. 

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

5 and communication research to improve the fire 

6 operational environment and societal informa7 tion reception and response. 

8 SEC. 20. FIRE WEATHER RATING SYSTEM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col10 laboration with the Chief of the United States Forest Serv11 ice, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the 

12 Director of the National Park Service, the Administrator 

13 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and such 

14 stakeholders as the Under Secretary considers appro15 priate— 

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

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

18 (2) determine whether updates to that system are 

19 required to ensure that the ratings accurately reflect 

20 the severity of fire risk. 

21 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de22 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the system 

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

24 the Under Secretary shall update that system. 


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1 SEC. 21. AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall ensure, 

3 to the greatest extent practicable, that activities carried out 

4 under this Act and the amendments made by this Act are 

5 not duplicative of activities supported by other parts of the 

6 Administration or other relevant Federal agencies. 

7 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out activities under 

8 this Act and the amendments made by this Act, the Under 

9 Secretary shall coordinate with the Administration and 

10 heads of other Federal research agencies— 

11 (1) to ensure those activities enhance and com12 plement, but do not constitute unnecessary duplica13 tion of, efforts; and 

14 (2) to ensure the responsible stewardship of 

15 funds. 

16 SEC. 22. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts appro18 priated under title VIII of division D of the Infrastructure 

19 Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 

20 1094), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad21 ministration to carry out new policies and programs to ad22 dress fire weather under this Act and the amendments made 

23 by this Act— 

24 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

25 (2) $111,360,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

26 (3) $116,928,000 for fiscal year 2025; 


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1 (4) $122,774,400 for fiscal year 2026; and 

2 (5) $128,913,120 for fiscal year 2027. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION.—None of the amounts authorized to 

4 be appropriated by subsection (a) may be used to unneces5 sarily duplicate activities funded under title VIII of divi6 sion D of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub7 lic Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1094). 


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kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 662 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4237 

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 

DECEMBER 15, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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