I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4866 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and local collaboration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California (for himself, Ms. CARAVEO, and Mrs. KIM of 

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to 

improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, 

detection, and local collaboration, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Weather Develop5 ment Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING AND DETECTION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall es4 tablish a program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro5 gram’’) to improve fire weather and fire environment fore6 casting, detection, and delivery of products or services 

7 through collaboration with Federal and State agencies or 

8 departments, local emergency mangers, and relevant enti9 ties. 

10 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the Program shall be to 

11 develop and improve accurate fire weather and fire envi12 ronment forecasts and warnings in order to reduce loss 

13 of life, reduce injuries, protect property, and reduce dam14 age to the economy from wildfires. The Program shall seek 

15 to improve the assessment of fire weather and fire environ16 ments, the understanding and prediction of wildfires, and 

17 the communications regarding such assessments with 

18 State and local emergency officials in a timely and stream19 lined fashion, with a focus on improving the following: 

20 (1) The prediction of ignition, intensification 

21 and spread of wildfires. 

22 (2) The observation and monitoring of fire 

23 weather and fire environments. 

24 (3) The forecast and communication of smoke 

25 dispersion from wildfires. 


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1 (4) Information dissemination and risk commu2 nication to develop more effective watch and warning 

3 products relating to wildfires. 

4 (5) The early detection of wildfires, including 

5 pre-ignition analysis and ground condition character6 izations. 

7 (6) The development, testing, and deployment 

8 of novel tools and techniques related to under9 standing, monitoring, and predicting fire weather 

10 and fire environments. 

11 (7) The understanding and association of cli12 mate change and its impacts on fire weather and 

13 fire environments. 

14 (8) The unique characteristics, including obser15 vation or modeling requirements, related to fires at 

16 the wildland-urban interface. 

17 (9) The forecasting and understanding of the 

18 impacts of prescribed burns (as such term is defined 

19 in section 2 of the Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 

20 2016 (16 U.S.C. 551c–1 note)). 

21 (c) COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—In de22 veloping the Program required under this section, the Ad23 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad24 ministration shall solicit and take into consideration input 

25 from the weather industry, such academic entities as the 


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1 Administrator considers appropriate, and other relevant 

2 stakeholders. 

3 (d) ACTIVITIES.—To achieve the goals specified in 

4 subsection (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

5 and Atmospheric Administration may conduct research, 

6 development, testing, demonstration, and operational 

7 transition activities related to fire weather and fire envi8 ronments, including regarding the following: 

9 (1) Tools and services to inform, support, and 

10 complement active land management, local emer11 gency personnel, the United States Forest Service, 

12 and State, local, and Tribal entities during their re13 sponse and mitigation efforts. 

14 (2) Sensing technologies, such as infrared, 

15 microwave, and active sensors suitable for potential 

16 deployment on spacecraft, aircraft, and unmanned 

17 aircraft systems, to improve the monitoring and 

18 forecasting of fire fuel and active wildfires, wildfire 

19 behavior models and forecasts, mapping efforts, and 

20 the prediction of wildfires and the impacts of such. 

21 (3) Grid-based assessments and outlooks of fuel 

22 moisture and danger levels. 

23 (4) Social and behavior sciences related to fire 

24 weather and fire environment warning products. 


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1 (5) Advanced satellite detection products cou2 pled with atmosphere and fire weather modeling sys3 tems. 

4 (6) Education and training to expand the num5 ber of students and researchers in areas of study 

6 and research related to wildfires, fire weather, and 

7 fire environments. 

8 (7) Modeling systems to link long-term climate 

9 predictions to localized or general land management 

10 decisions. 

11 (8) Communication and outreach to commu12 nities, energy utilities, owners and operators of crit13 ical infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders 

14 regarding fire weather and fire environment risk. 

15 (9) Stewardship and dissemination, to the ex16 tent practicable, of National Oceanic and Atmos17 pheric Administration scientific data and related 

18 products and services in formats meeting shared 

19 standards to enhance the interoperability, usability, 

20 and accessibility of such data in order to better meet 

21 the needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

22 Administration, other Federal agencies, and relevant 

23 stakeholders. 

24 (10) Improvement of spatial and temporal reso25 lution observations. 


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1 (11) Any other topic or activity the Adminis2 trator determines relevant. 

3 (e) NOVEL TOOLS FOR MONITORING AND PRE4 DICTION.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 

5 and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the 

6 heads of the agencies specified in section 3, or other ap7 propriate stakeholders, including commercial partners, 

8 shall develop novel tools and technologies to support the 

9 activities of the Program and which may be applied to 

10 broader wildland fire research, monitoring, and mitigation 

11 activities, as practicable and appropriate. 

12 (f) EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH.—The Administrator of 

13 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

14 shall collaborate with and support the non-Federal 

15 wildland fire research community, which includes institu16 tions of higher education, private sector entities, non17 governmental organizations, and other relevant stake18 holders, by making funds available through competitive 

19 grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. 

20 (g) COMMERCIAL DATA.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad23 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration, in consultation with the 

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1 holders, may enter into contracts with one or more 

2 private sector entities to obtain additional airborne 

3 and space-based data and observations that may en4 hance or supplement the understanding, monitoring, 

5 and prediction, of fire weather and fire environ6 ments, and the relevant Program activities under 

7 this section. 

8 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out activities 

9 under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Na10 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

11 consult with private sector entities through the Na12 tional Advisory Committee on Wildfires under sec13 tion 4 to identify needed tools and data that can be 

14 best provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

15 Administration satellites and are most beneficial to 

16 wildfire and smoke detection and monitoring. 

17 (h) NONDUPLICATION.—To the maximum extent 

18 practicable, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

19 and Atmospheric Administration shall consult with the 

20 National Interagency Fire Center, including the Joint Fire 

21 Science Program, to avoid duplication of activities under 

22 this section and ensure the Administration’s focus on 

23 unique research activities best suited for transition to op24 erations. 

25 (i) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

3 shall— 

4 (A) assess the role and potential benefits 

5 of unmanned aircraft systems to improve data 

6 collection in support of fire weather and fire en7 vironment modeling, meteorological observa8 tions, predictions, and forecasts; 

9 (B) identify objectives for testing such sys10 tems’ use for obtaining fire weather and fire en11 vironment observations, and other relevant ac12 tivities; and 

13 (C) transition unmanned aircraft systems 

14 technologies from research to operations as the 

15 Administrator considers appropriate. 

16 (2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 270 days after 

17 the date of enactment of the Act, the Administrator 

18 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis19 tration shall brief the appropriate committees of 

20 Congress on the activities under paragraph (1). 

21 (3) PILOT PROGRAMS.—Not later than 18 

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

23 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At24 mospheric Administration may conduct pilot pro25 grams of unmanned aircraft systems for fire weather 


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1 and fire environment observations, including relating 

2 to the following: 

3 (A) Testing of unmanned aircraft systems 

4 in approximations of real-world scenarios. 

5 (B) Assessment of the utility of meteoro6 logical data collected from fire response and as7 sessment aircraft. 

8 (C) Input into appropriate models of col9 lected data to predict fire behavior, including 

10 coupled atmosphere and fire models. 

11 (D) Collection of best management prac12 tices for deployment of unmanned aircraft sys13 tems for fire weather and fire environment ob14 servations. 

15 (4) PROHIBITION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

17 under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Adminis18 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

19 Administration may not procure any unmanned 

20 aircraft system that is manufactured or assem21 bled by an entity in a foreign country of con22 cern. 

23 (B) EXEMPTION.—The prohibition under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the Admin25 istrator of the National Oceanic and AtmosVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Aug 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4866.IH H4866

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1 pheric Administration if the Administrator de2 termines, in consultation with the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, that the procurement of an 

4 unmanned aircraft system is necessary for the 

5 sole purpose of marine or atmospheric science 

6 or management. 

7 (C) WAIVER.—The Administrator of the 

8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra9 tion may waive the prohibition under subpara10 graph (A) on a case-by-case basis— 

11 (i) with the approval of the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security; and 

13 (ii) upon written or electronic notifica14 tion to appropriate committees of Congress 

15 not later than 30 days after any such waiv16 er. 

17 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 From amounts made available for Procurement, Ac19 quisition, and Construction of the National Oceanic 

20 and Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized 

21 to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 

22 to carry out this section. 

23 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON25 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Aug 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4866.IH H4866

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1 gress’’ means the Committee on Science, Space, and 

2 Technology and the Committee on Homeland Secu3 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

5 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov6 ernmental Affairs of the Senate. 

7 (2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

8 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 

9 term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 

10 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

11 (3) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The 

12 term ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ has the meaning 

13 given such term in section 9901 of the William M. 

14 (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 

15 Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651). 

16 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High19 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

20 (5) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 

21 ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the meaning given 

22 such term in section 44801 of title 49, United 

23 States Code. 

24 (6) WEATHER INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘weather 

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1 tion 2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting In2 novation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501). 

3 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

4 WILDFIRES. 

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

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

7 Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 

8 interagency coordinating committee to be known as the 

9 ‘‘Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires’’ (in 

10 this section referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). The chair 

11 of the Committee shall be the Administrator of the Na12 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The Committee shall coordinate the 

14 development of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting, 

15 detection, monitoring, and delivery of related products or 

16 services that best assist State and local emergency officials 

17 while avoiding duplication of activities. 

18 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—In addition to the chair, the 

19 Committee shall be composed of the heads or appropriate 

20 designees of the following program agencies: 

21 (1) The Federal Emergency Management Agen22 cy. 

23 (2) The United States Fire Administration. 

24 (3) The United States Forest Service. 


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1 (4) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad2 ministration. 

3 (5) The Department of the Interior. 

4 (6) The Department of Agriculture. 

5 (7) The United States Geological Survey. 

6 (8) The Office of Science and Technology Pol7 icy. 

8 (9) Any other Federal department or agency 

9 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

10 Policy considers appropriate. 

11 (d) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than one year after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall 

13 submit to Congress a strategic plan for the Program that 

14 includes the following: 

15 (1) A description of short-term, mid-term, and 

16 long-term objectives to achieve the purpose specified 

17 in subsection (b). 

18 (2) A description of how agencies specified in 

19 subsection (c) will collaborate with stakeholders and 

20 take into account stakeholder needs and rec21 ommendations in developing such objectives. 

22 (3) A description of existing and new observa23 tional and data infrastructure needed to accomplish 

24 such objectives. 


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1 (4) A description of the role of each such agen2 cy in achieving such objectives. 

3 (5) Guidance regarding how the Committee’s 

4 recommendations are best used in climate adapta5 tion planning for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 

6 territorial entities. 

7 (e) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—The heads of 

8 agencies specified in subsection (c) may enter into one or 

9 more interagency agreements providing for cooperation 

10 and collaboration in the development of wildfire fore11 casting, detection, and monitoring tools, instruments, 

12 technologies, and research to accomplish the purpose de13 scribed in subsection (b). 

14 (f) COLLABORATION.—The head of each agency spec15 ified in subsection (c) shall, to the extent practicable, in16 crease engagement and cooperation with international, 

17 academic, State, and local communities regarding the in18 frastructure, data, and scientific research necessary to 

19 best advance the forecasting, detection, and monitoring of 

20 and preparation for wildfires. 

21 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WILDFIRES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the submission of the strategic plan required by sec25 tion 3(d), the Director of the Office of Science and 


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1 Technology Policy shall establish a national advisory 

2 committee to be known as the ‘‘National Advisory 

3 Committee on Wildfires’’ (in this section referred to 

4 as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). The Advisory Com5 mittee shall consist of not fewer than seven and not 

6 more than 15 members who are qualified to provide 

7 advice regarding wildfire forecasting, detection, mon8 itoring, and delivery of related products or services, 

9 including from the following entities: 

10 (A) Research and academic institutions. 

11 (B) Public communication or broadcast en12 tities. 

13 (C) Emergency management agencies. 

14 (D) State, local, or Tribal governments. 

15 (E) The National Association of State For16 esters. 

17 (F) Business communities. 

18 (G) Other entities as designated by the Di19 rector of the Office of Science and Technology 

20 Policy. 

21 (2) PROHIBITION.—Members of the Advisory 

22 Committee may not be employees of the Federal 

23 Government. 


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1 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Advisory Committee shall 

2 offer assessments and recommendations relating to the 

3 following: 

4 (1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and moni5 toring products and tools. 

6 (2) Communication and delivery methods of 

7 wildfire forecasting, detection, and monitoring infor8 mation. 

9 (3) Opportunities to streamline Federal fore10 casting, monitoring, and detection information to 

11 local emergency personnel and communities. 

12 (4) The management, coordination, implemen13 tation, and activities of the Interagency Coordi14 nating Committee on Wildfires under section 3. 

15 (5) The effectiveness of the Interagency Coordi16 nating Committee on Wildfires in meeting its pur17 poses. 

18 (c) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Advisory Com19 mittee shall serve without compensation. 

20 (d) REPORTS.—Not less frequently than biennially, 

21 the Advisory Committee shall report to the Director of the 

22 Office of Science and Technology Policy on the assess23 ments carried out under subsection (b) and its rec24 ommendations for ways to improve the coordination and 


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1 dissemination of wildfire forecasts, warnings, and detec2 tion and monitoring information. 

3 (e) CHARTER.—Notwithstanding section 1013(b)(2) 

4 of title 5, United States Code, the Advisory Committee 

5 shall not be required to file a charter subsequent to its 

6 initial charter, filed under section 1008(c) of such title, 

7 before the termination date specified in subsection (f) of 

8 this section. 

9 (f) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee shall 

10 terminate on September 30, 2028. 

11 (g) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—An Advisory Com12 mittee member shall recuse himself or herself from any 

13 Advisory Committee activity in which he or she has an 

14 actual pecuniary interest. 

15 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na17 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es18 tablish a fire weather testbed to enable engagement across 

19 the Federal Government, State and local governments, 

20 academia, private and federally funded research labora21 tories, the private sector, and end-users in order to evalu22 ate the accuracy and usability of technology, models, fire 

23 weather products and services, and other research to accel24 erate the implementation, transition to operations, and use 

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1 pheric Administration, Federal and land management 

2 agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 

3 (b) RESOURCES.—In carrying out this section, the 

4 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

5 Administration may not transfer or reprogram any funds, 

6 detail any personnel, or make use of any infrastructure 

7 from cooperative institutes of the National Oceanic and 

8 Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act for the fire weather testbed es10 tablished under subsection (a). 

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 

12 amounts made available for Procurement, Acquisition, and 

13 Construction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

14 Administration, there is authorized to be appropriated 

15 $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section. 

16 SEC. 6. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE. 

17 Not later than six months after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oce19 anic and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to the 

20 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com22 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate the re23 sults of an assessment of National Weather Service work24 force and training challenges for Incident Meteorologists, 

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1 sessment shall take into consideration information tech2 nology support, logistical and administrative operations, 

3 anticipated weather and climate conditions, and feedback 

4 from relevant stakeholders, and shall include, to the max5 imum extent practicable, an identification by the National 

6 Weather Service of the following: 

7 (1) The expected number of Incident Meteorolo8 gists needed over the next five years. 

9 (2) Potential hiring authorities necessary to 

10 overcome any identified workforce and training chal11 lenges. 

12 (3) Alternative services or assistance options 

13 the National Weather Service could provide to meet 

14 operational needs. 

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) FIRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi18 ronment’’ means— 

19 (A) the environmental conditions, such as 

20 soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 

21 atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 

22 that influence— 

23 (i) fuel and fire behavior; and 

24 (ii) smoke dispersion and transport; 

25 and 


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1 (B) the associated environmental impacts 

2 occurring during and after fire events. 

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

4 means the weather conditions that influence the 

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

6 fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 

7 meteorological and chemical phenomena, including 

8 air quality, smoke, and meteorological parameters 

9 such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind 

10 speed and direction, and atmospheric composition 

11 and chemistry, including emissions and mixing 

12 heights. 

Æ 


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