I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5781 
To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2021 
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. PERLMUTTER, and Ms. 
BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve the Federal effort to reduce wildland fire risks, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Wildland Fire 
Risk Reduction Program Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 
The President shall establish a National Wildland 
Fire Risk Reduction Program with the purpose of achiev-
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ing major measurable reductions in the losses of life and 
property from wildland fires through a coordinated Fed-
eral effort to— 
(1) improve the assessment of fire environments 
and the understanding and prediction of wildland 
fires, associated smoke, and their impacts, includ-
ing— 
(A) at the wildland-urban interface; 
(B) on communities, buildings and other 
infrastructure; and 
(C) social and economic impacts; 
(2) develop and encourage the adoption of 
science-based and cost-effective measures to prevent 
and mitigate wildland fire and associated smoke im-
pacts; and 
(3) improve the understanding and mitigation 
of the impacts of climate change and variability on 
wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity, and to in-
form paragraphs (1) and (2). 
SEC. 3. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 
The Program shall consist of the activities described 
under section 6, which shall be designed— 
(1) to support research and development, in-
cluding interdisciplinary research, related to fire en-
vironments, wildland fires, associated smoke, and 
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their impacts, in furtherance of a coordinated inter-
agency effort to address wildland fire risk reduction; 
(2) to support data management and steward-
ship, and the development and coordination of data 
systems and computational tools to accelerate the 
understanding of fire environments, wildland fires, 
associated smoke, and their impacts; 
(3) to support the development of novel tools 
and technologies to improve understanding, moni-
toring, prediction, and mitigation of wildland fires, 
associated smoke, and their impacts; 
(4) to support education and training to expand 
the number of students and researchers in areas of 
study and research related to wildland fires; 
(5) to accelerate the translation of research re-
lated to wildland fires and associated smoke into op-
erations to reduce harm to communities, buildings, 
and other infrastructure; 
(6) to conduct communication and outreach re-
garding wildland fire science and wildland fire risk 
mitigation, to communities, energy utilities and op-
erators of other critical infrastructure, and other rel-
evant stakeholders; 
(7) to support research and development 
projects funded under joint solicitations or through 
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memoranda of understanding between no fewer than 
two agencies participating in the Program; and 
(8) to disseminate, to the extent practicable, 
scientific data and related products and services in 
formats meeting shared standards to enhance the 
interoperability, usability, and accessibility of Pro-
gram Agency data in order to better meet the needs 
of Program agencies, other Federal agencies, and 
relevant stakeholders. 
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 
WILDLAND FIRE RISK REDUCTION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy shall establish an Interagency Co-
ordinating Committee on Wildland Fire Risk Reduction, 
to be co-chaired by the Director and the Director of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—In addition to the co-chairs, the 
Committee shall be composed of— 
(1) the Director of the National Science Foun-
dation; 
(2) the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration; 
(3) the Administrator of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency; 
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(4) the United States Fire Administration; 
(5) the Chief of the Forest Service; 
(6) the Administrator of the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration; 
(7) the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency; 
(8) the Secretary of Energy; 
(9) the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy; 
(10) the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget; 
(11) the Secretary of the Interior; 
(12) the Director of United States Geological 
Survey; 
(13) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices; 
(14) the Secretary of Defense; 
(15) the Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment; and 
(16) the head of any other Federal agency that 
the Director considers appropriate. 
(c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet not less 
than twice a year for the first 2 years and then not less 
than once a year at the call of the Director. 
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(d) GENERAL PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—The Com-
mittee shall oversee the planning, management, and co-
ordination of the Program, and solicit stakeholder input 
on Program goals. 
(e) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The Committee shall develop 
and submit to Congress, not later than 1 year after enact-
ment, a Strategic Plan for the Program that includes— 
(1) prioritized goals for the Program, consistent 
with the purposes of the Program as described in 
section 2; 
(2) short-term, mid-term, and long-term re-
search and development objectives to achieve those 
goals; 
(3) a description of the role of each Program 
agency in achieving the prioritized goals; 
(4) a description of how the Committee will fos-
ter collaboration between and among the Program 
agencies to help meet the goals of the Program; 
(5) the methods by which progress toward the 
goals will be assessed; 
(6) an explanation of how the Program will fos-
ter the translation of research into measurable re-
ductions in the losses of life and property from 
wildland fires, including recommended outcomes and 
metrics for each program goal and how operational 
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Program agencies will transition demonstrated tech-
nologies and research findings into operations; 
(7) a description of the research infrastructure, 
including databases and computational tools, needed 
to accomplish the research and development objec-
tives outlined in paragraph (2), a description of how 
research infrastructure in existence at the time of 
the development of the plan will be used to meet the 
objectives, and an explanation of how new research 
infrastructure will be developed to meet the objec-
tives; 
(8) a description of how Program agencies will 
collaborate with stakeholders and take into account 
stakeholder needs and recommendations in devel-
oping research and development objectives; 
(9) recommendations on the most effective 
means to integrate the research results into wildland 
fire preparedness and response actions across Fed-
eral, State, and local levels; and 
(10) guidance on how the Committee’s rec-
ommendations are best used in climate adaptation 
planning for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and terri-
torial entities. 
(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL EF-
FORTS.—The Director shall ensure that the activities of 
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the Program are coordinated with other relevant Federal 
initiatives as appropriate. 
(g) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date transmission of the Strategic Plan from 
subsection (e) to Congress and not less frequently than 
once every 2 years thereafter, the Committee shall submit 
to the Congress a report on the progress of the Program 
that includes— 
(1) a description of the activities funded under 
the Program, a description of how those activities 
align with the prioritized goals and research objec-
tives established in the Strategic Plan, and the 
budgets, per agency, for these activities; and 
(2) the outcomes achieved by the Program for 
each of the goals identified in the Strategic Plan. 
SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW. 
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit a report to Congress that— 
(1) evaluates the progress and performance of 
the Program in establishing and making progress to-
ward the goals of the Program as set forth in this 
Act; and 
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(2) includes such recommendations as the 
Comptroller General determines are appropriate to 
improve the Program. 
SEC. 6. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROGRAM AGENCIES. 
(a) NATIONAL
INSTITUTE
OF
STANDARDS
AND 
TECHNOLOGY.—The responsibilities of the Director of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology with re-
spect to the Program are as follows: 
(1) RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT
ACTIVI-
TIES.—The Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology shall— 
(A) carry out research on the impact of 
wildland fires on communities, buildings, and 
other infrastructure; 
(B) carry out research on the generation of 
firebrands from wildland fires and on methods 
and materials to prevent or reduce firebrand ig-
nition of communities, buildings, and other in-
frastructure; 
(C) carry out research on novel materials, 
systems, structures, and construction designs to 
harden structures, parcels, and communities to 
the impact of wildland fires; 
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(D) carry out research on the impact of 
environmental factors on wildland fire behavior, 
including wind, terrain, and moisture; and 
(E) support the development of perform-
ance-based tools to mitigate the impact of 
wildland fires, and work with appropriate 
groups to promote the use of such tools, includ-
ing through model building codes and fire 
codes, standard test methods, voluntary con-
sensus standards, and construction and retrofit 
best practices. 
(2) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE FIRE POST- 
INVESTIGATIONS.—The Director of the National In-
stitute of Standards and Technology shall— 
(A) coordinate Federal post-wildland fire 
investigations of fires at the wildland-urban 
interface; and 
(B) develop methodologies to characterize 
the impact of wildland fires on communities and 
the impact of changes in building and fire 
codes, including methodologies— 
(i) for collecting, inventorying, and 
analyzing information on the performance 
of communities, buildings, and other infra-
structure in wildland fires; and 
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(ii) for improved collection of perti-
nent information from different sources, 
including first responders, the design and 
construction industry, insurance compa-
nies, and building officials. 
(b) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—As a part of 
the Program, the Director of the National Science Foun-
dation shall support— 
(1) research to improve the understanding and 
prediction of wildland fire risks, including the condi-
tions that increase the likelihood of a wildland fire, 
the behavior of wildland fires, and their impacts on 
buildings, communities, infrastructure, ecosystems 
and living systems; 
(2) development and improvement of tools and 
technologies, including databases and computational 
models, to enable and accelerate the understanding 
and prediction of wildland fires and their impacts; 
(3) development of research infrastructure, as 
appropriate, to enable and accelerate the under-
standing and prediction of wildland fires and their 
impacts, including upgrades or additions to the Na-
tional Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure; 
(4) research to improve the understanding of— 
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(A) the response to wildland fire risk mes-
sages by individuals, communities, and policy-
makers; 
(B) economic and other factors influencing 
the implementation and adoption of wildland 
fire risk reduction measures by individuals, 
communities, and policymakers; and 
(C) decision making and emergency re-
sponse to wildland fires; 
(5) undergraduate and graduate research op-
portunities and graduate and postdoctoral fellow-
ships and traineeships in fields of study relevant to 
wildland fires and their impacts; and 
(6) research to improve the understanding of 
the impacts of climate change and climate variability 
on wildland fires, including wildland fire risk, fre-
quency, and severity, and wildland fire prediction, 
mitigation, and resilience strategies. 
(c) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN-
ISTRATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’) shall conduct research, observations, mod-
eling, forecasting, prediction, and historical analysis 
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of wildland fires to improve understanding of 
wildland fires, and associated fire weather and 
smoke, for the protection of life and property and 
for the enhancement of the national economy. 
(2) WEATHER
FORECASTING
AND
DECISION 
SUPPORT
FOR
WILDLAND
FIRES.—The Adminis-
trator shall— 
(A) develop and provide accurate, timely, 
and effective warnings and forecasts of wildland 
fires and fire weather events that endanger life 
and property. Such warnings may include red 
flag warnings, operational fire weather alerts, 
and any other warnings or alerts the Adminis-
trator deems appropriate; 
(B) provide stakeholders and the public 
with impact-based decision support services, 
seasonal climate predictions, air quality prod-
ucts, and smoke forecasts; and 
(C) provide on-site weather forecasts, sea-
sonal climate predictions, and other decision 
support to wildland fire incident command 
posts. 
(3) WILDLAND
FIRE
INCIDENT
RESEARCH 
DATABASE.—The Administrator, in collaboration 
with Program agencies and relevant stakeholders, 
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shall develop a publicly accessible Fire Incident Re-
search Database to support the archiving, steward-
ship, and understanding of historical wildland fire 
and fire weather data, and to advance wildland fire 
science. In developing the database, NOAA shall col-
laborate with Program agencies and stakeholders 
to— 
(A) develop data standards to enhance 
interoperability of diverse wildland fire data and 
improve usability of data for a diverse range of 
stakeholders; and 
(B) solicit data from other Program agen-
cies and from relevant stakeholders. 
(4) WILDLAND FIRE AND FIRE WEATHER SUR-
VEILLANCE
AND
OBSERVATIONS.—The Adminis-
trator, in coordination with Administrator of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall 
(A) leverage existing observations, tech-
nologies and assets and develop new tech-
nologies to sustain and enhance environmental 
observations used for wildland fire prediction 
and detection, fire weather and smoke fore-
casting and monitoring, and post-wildland fire 
recovery, with a focus on— 
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(i) collecting data for pre-ignition 
analysis, such as drought, fuel conditions, 
and soil moisture, that will help predict se-
vere wildland fire conditions on subsea-
sonal to decadal timescales; 
(ii) supporting identification and clas-
sification of fire environments to determine 
vulnerability to wildland fires and rapid 
wildland fire growth; 
(iii) detecting, observing, and moni-
toring wildland fires and smoke; 
(iv) supporting research on the inter-
action of weather and wildland fire behav-
ior; and 
(v) supporting post-fire assessments 
conducted by Program agencies; and 
(B) prioritize the ability to detect wildfire 
and smoke in its requirements for its current 
and future operational space-based assessments 
and commercial data purchases. 
(5) FIRE WEATHER TESTBED.—In collaboration 
with Program agencies, the Administrator shall es-
tablish a Fire Weather Testbed to evaluate physical 
and social science, technology, and other research to 
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develop fire weather products and services for imple-
mentation by relevant stakeholders. 
(6) WILDLAND FIRE AND FIRE WEATHER RE-
SEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT.—The Administrator 
shall support a wildland fire and smoke research and 
development program with the goals of— 
(A) improving the understanding, pre-
diction, detection, forecasting, monitoring, and 
assessments of wildland fires and associated fire 
weather and smoke; 
(B) developing products and services to 
meet stakeholder needs; 
(C) 
transitioning 
physical 
and 
social 
science research into operations; 
(D) improving modeling and technology, 
including coupled fire-atmosphere fire behavior 
modeling; and 
(E) better understanding of links between 
fire weather events and subseasonal-to-climate 
impacts. 
(7) EXTRAMURAL
RESEARCH.—The Adminis-
trator shall collaborate with and support the non- 
Federal wildland fire research community, which in-
cludes institutions of higher education, private enti-
ties, nongovernmental organizations, and other rel-
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evant stakeholders, by making funds available 
through competitive grants, contracts, and coopera-
tive agreements. 
(8) HIGH
PERFORMANCE
COMPUTING.—The 
Administrator shall acquire high performance com-
puting technologies and supercomputing technologies 
to conduct research and development activities, sup-
port research to operations under this section, and 
host operational fire and smoke forecast models. 
(9) INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE AS-
SESSMENT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology in the House, and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Sen-
ate the results of an assessment of National Weath-
er Service workforce and training needs for Incident 
Meteorologists for wildland fires and other extreme 
events and the potential need for more such Incident 
Meteorologists. Such assessment shall take into con-
sideration information technology support, logistical 
and administrative operations, future climate condi-
tions, and feedback from relevant stakeholders. 
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(d) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGEN-
CY.—The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency shall— 
(1) support— 
(A) the development of risk assessment 
tools and effective mitigation techniques for 
wildland fires; 
(B) wildland fire-related data collection 
and analysis; 
(C) public outreach and information dis-
semination related to wildland fires and 
wildland fire risk; and 
(D) promotion of the adoption of wildland 
fire preparedness and risk reduction measures, 
including for households, businesses, and com-
munities; 
(2) work closely with standards development or-
ganizations and building code organizations, in con-
junction with the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, to promote the implementation of 
research results and promote better buildings and 
retrofit practices within the design and construction 
industry, including architects, engineers, contractors, 
builders, and inspectors; and 
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(3) acting through the United States Fire Ad-
ministration— 
(A) help translate new information and re-
search findings into best practices to improve 
the training of firefighters in wildland fire fire-
fighting; and 
(B) conduct outreach and information dis-
semination to fire departments regarding best 
practices for wildland fire firefighting and 
training in wildland fire firefighting. 
(e) NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINIS-
TRATION.—The responsibilities of the Administrator of 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (in 
this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) with 
respect to the Program are as follows: 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, 
with respect to the Program— 
(A) support relevant basic and applied sci-
entific research and modeling; 
(B) ensure the use in the Program of all 
relevant National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration Earth observations data for max-
imum utility; 
(C) explore and apply novel tools and tech-
nologies in the activities of the Program; 
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(D) support the translation of research to 
operations, including to Program agencies and 
relevant stakeholders; and 
(E) 
facilitate 
the 
communication 
of 
wildland fire research, knowledge, and tools to 
relevant stakeholders. 
(2) WILDLAND FIRE RESEARCH AND APPLICA-
TIONS.—The Administrator shall support basic and 
applied wildland fire research and modeling activi-
ties, including competitively-selected research, to— 
(A) improve the understanding and pre-
diction of fire environments, wildland fires, as-
sociated smoke, and their impacts; 
(B) improve the understanding of the im-
pacts of climate change and variability on 
wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity; 
(C) characterize the pre-fire phase and 
fire-inducing conditions, such as soil moisture 
and vegetative fuel availability; 
(D) characterize the active fire phase, such 
as fire and smoke plume mapping, fire behavior 
and spread modeling, and domestic and global 
fire activity; 
(E) characterize the post-fire phase, such 
as landscape changes, air quality, erosion, land-
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slides, and impacts on carbon distributions in 
forest biomass; 
(F) contribute to advancing predictive 
wildland fire models; 
(G) address other relevant investigations 
and measurements prioritized by the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi-
cine Decadal Survey on Earth Science and Ap-
plications from Space; 
(H) improve the translation of research 
knowledge into actionable information; 
(I) develop research and data products, in-
cluding maps, decision-support information, and 
tools, and support related training as appro-
priate and practicable; 
(J) collaborate with other Program agen-
cies and relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, 
on joint research and development projects, in-
cluding research grant solicitations and field 
campaigns; and 
(K) transition research advances to oper-
ations, including to Program agencies and rel-
evant stakeholders, as practicable. 
(3) WILDLAND FIRE DATA SYSTEMS AND COM-
PUTATIONAL TOOLS.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall— 
(i) identify, from the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration’s Earth 
science data systems, data, including com-
bined data products, that can contribute to 
improving the understanding, monitoring, 
prediction, and mitigation of wildland fires 
and their impacts, including data related 
to fire weather, plume dynamics, smoke 
and fire behavior, impacts of climate 
change and variability, land and property 
burned, wildlife and ecosystem destruction, 
among other areas; 
(ii) prioritize the dissemination of 
data identified under this subparagraph to 
the widest extent practicable to support 
relevant research and operational stake-
holders; 
(iii) consider opportunities to support 
the Program under section 2 and the Pro-
gram activities under section 3 when plan-
ning and developing Earth observation sat-
ellites, instruments, and airborne measure-
ment platforms; 
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(iv) identify opportunities, in collabo-
ration with Program agencies and relevant 
stakeholders, as practicable and appro-
priate, to acquire additional airborne and 
space-based data and observations that 
may enhance or supplement the under-
standing, monitoring, prediction, and miti-
gation of wildland fire risks, and the rel-
evant Program activities under section 3; 
and 
(v) lead, in collaboration with Pro-
gram agencies, the development of a 
Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Scientific 
Data Collaboration Environment for the 
purposes of accelerating the understanding 
and prediction of wildland fires and to fa-
cilitate communications and outreach on 
wildland fire data, science, and risk to Pro-
gram agencies and relevant stakeholders. 
(B) DATA COLLABORATION ENVIRONMENT 
SPECIFICATIONS.—The Wildland Fire Risk Re-
duction Scientific Data Collaboration Environ-
ment under clause (v) of subparagraph (A) 
shall be— 
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(i) a publicly available means of ac-
cessing Program agencies’ wildland fire 
risk scientific data related to active 
wildland fires; and 
(ii) comprised of observations, avail-
able real-time and near-real-time measure-
ments, derived science and data products, 
such as risk and spread maps, and other 
relevant decision support and information 
tools. 
(4) NOVEL TOOLS FOR ACTIVE WILDLAND FIRE 
MONITORING AND RISK MITIGATION.—The Adminis-
trator, in collaboration with other Program agencies 
and relevant stakeholders shall apply novel tools and 
technologies to support active wildland fire research, 
monitoring, mitigation, and risk reduction, as prac-
ticable and appropriate. In particular, the Adminis-
trator shall: 
(A) Establish a program to develop and 
demonstrate a unified concept of operations for 
the safe and effective deployment of diverse air 
capabilities in active wildland fire monitoring, 
mitigation, and risk reduction. The objectives of 
the Program shall be to— 
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(i) develop a wildland fire airspace op-
erations system accounting for piloted air-
craft, uncrewed aerial systems, and other 
new and emerging capabilities such as au-
tonomous and high-altitude assets; 
(ii) develop an interoperable commu-
nications strategy to support such system; 
(iii) develop a roadmap for the on- 
ramping of new technologies, capabilities, 
or entities into such system; 
(iv) identify additional development, 
testing, and demonstration that would be 
required to expand the scale of operations 
of such system; 
(v) identify actions that would be re-
quired to transition the program into ongo-
ing, operational use; and 
(vi) identify other objectives for such 
system, as deemed appropriate by the Ad-
ministrator. 
(B) Develop and demonstrate affordable 
and deployable sensing technologies, in con-
sultation with other Program agencies and rel-
evant stakeholders, to improve the monitoring 
of fire fuel and active wildland fires, wildland 
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fire behavior models and forecast, mapping ef-
forts, and the prediction and mitigation of 
wildland fires and their impacts. The Adminis-
trator shall— 
(i) test and demonstrate technologies 
such as infrared, microwave, and active 
sensors suitable for deployment on space-
craft, aircraft, and uncrewed aerial sys-
tems, as appropriate and practicable; 
(ii) develop and demonstrate afford-
able and deployable sensing technologies 
that can be transitioned to operations for 
collection of near-real-time localized meas-
urements; 
(iii) identify opportunities and actions 
required, in collaboration with Program 
agencies and relevant stakeholders, to 
transition 
relevant 
technologies, 
tech-
niques, and data to science operations, 
upon successful demonstration of the feasi-
bility and scientific utility of the sensors 
and data; 
(iv) transition demonstrated tech-
nologies, techniques, and data into ongo-
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ing, operational use, including to Program 
agencies and relevant stakeholders; and 
(v) prioritize and facilitate, to the 
greatest extent practicable, the dissemina-
tion of these science data to operations, in-
cluding to Program agencies and relevant 
stakeholders. 
(f) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.—The 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
shall support environmental research and development ac-
tivities to— 
(1) improve the understanding of— 
(A) wildland fire and smoke impacts on 
communities, and on water and outdoor and in-
door air quality; 
(B) wildland fire smoke plume characteris-
tics, chemical transformation, and transport; 
(C) wildland fire and smoke impacts to 
contaminant containment and remediation; 
(D) the contribution of wildland fire emis-
sions to climate forcing emissions; 
(E) differences between the impacts of pre-
scribed fires compared to other wildland fires 
on communities and air and water quality; and 
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(F) climate change and variability on 
wildland fires and smoke plumes, including on 
smoke exposure; 
(2) develop and improve tools, sensors, and 
technologies including databases and computational 
models, to accelerate the understanding, monitoring, 
and prediction of wildland fires and smoke exposure; 
(3) better integrate observational data into 
wildland fire and smoke characterization models to 
improve modeling at finer temporal and spatial reso-
lution; and 
(4) improve communication of wildland fire and 
smoke risk reduction strategies to the public in co-
ordination with relevant stakeholders and other Fed-
eral agencies. 
(g) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—The Secretary of 
Energy shall carry out activities to research and develop 
tools, techniques, and technologies for— 
(1) withstanding and addressing the current 
and projected impact of wildland fires on energy sec-
tor infrastructure; 
(2) providing real-time or near-time awareness 
of the risks posed by wildland fires to the operation 
of energy infrastructure in affected and potentially 
affected areas; 
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(3) early detection of malfunctioning electrical 
equipment on the transmission and distribution grid, 
including detection of spark ignition causing 
wildland fires; 
(4) assisting with the planning, safe execution 
of, and safe and timely restoration of power after 
emergency power shut offs following wildland fires 
started by grid infrastructure; 
(5) improving electric grid and energy sector 
safety and resilience in the event of multiple simul-
taneous or co-located weather or climate events lead-
ing to extreme conditions, such as extreme wind, 
wildland fires, extreme cold, and extreme heat; 
(6) coordinating data across relevant entities to 
promote resilience and wildland fire prevention in 
the planning, design, construction, operation, and 
maintenance of transmission infrastructure; and 
(7) considering optimal building energy effi-
ciency practices, as practicable, in wildland fire re-
search. 
SEC. 7. BUDGET ACTIVITIES. 
The Director of the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, the Director of the National Science 
Foundation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, the Director of the Fed-
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eral Emergency Management Agency, the Administrator 
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy, and the Secretary of Energy shall each include in the 
annual budget request to Congress of each respective 
agency a description of the projected activities of such 
agency under the Program for the fiscal year covered by 
the budget request and an estimate of the amount such 
agency plans to spend on such activities for the relevant 
fiscal year. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy. 
(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 
the Program established under section 2. 
(3) PROGRAM AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘Program 
agencies’’ means any Federal agency with respon-
sibilities under the Program. 
(4) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 
means any public or private organization engaged in 
addressing wildland fires, associated smoke, and 
their impacts, and shall include relevant Federal 
agencies, States, territories, Tribes, State and local 
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