I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 527 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the 
United States Geological Survey, to establish a grant program for moni-
toring wildfires by satellite. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2025 
Ms. PETTERSEN (for herself and Mr. OBERNOLTE) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Director of the United States Geological Survey, to es-
tablish a grant program for monitoring wildfires by sat-
ellite. 
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 ‘‘Strengthening Wildfire 
Resiliency Through Satellites Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. MONITORING WILDFIRES BY SATELLITE. 
(a) GRANT PROGRAM TO MONITOR WILDFIRES BY 
SATELLITE.— 
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(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall establish a competitive grant pro-
gram under which the Secretary shall make at least 
three grants to eligible entities to monitor wildfires 
by satellite (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro-
gram’’). 
(2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Each eligible entity 
awarded a grant under the Program shall only use 
such grant to— 
(A) purchase and integrate, through a pub-
lic-private partnership, high-resolution multi- 
and hyper-spectral full spectrum imaging capa-
bility from visible, near-infrared, shortwave in-
frared, thermal infrared, and radar data from 
the latest-generation of wildfire monitoring sat-
ellites; and 
(B) use the data acquired under subpara-
graph (A), as well as any analyses relating to 
such data, to detect, assess, respond to, and 
manage wildfires, with an emphasis on— 
(i) monitoring active fire behavior, 
burned area, intensity, and severity; 
(ii) ensuring the safety and effective-
ness of prescribed fire treatments; and 
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(iii) guiding post-fire risk assessment 
and disaster recovery. 
(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant 
under the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to 
the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Sec-
retary may require. 
(4) GRANT
AMOUNT.—Each grant awarded 
under the Program shall be in an amount the Sec-
retary determines appropriate. 
(5) REPORT.—Not later than the last day of 
the second fiscal year beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report that includes— 
(A) the number of applications received for 
a grant under the Program; 
(B) details of each eligible entity that was 
awarded a grant under the Program; 
(C) the impact of the Program on wildfire 
prevention; 
(D) any recommendation that the Sec-
retary determines appropriate to establish the 
Program as a long-term grant program; and 
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(E) any other information on the effective-
ness of the Program that the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized 
to 
be 
appropriated 
to 
the 
Secretary 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2028 
to carry out the Program. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a State 
forester, emergency manager, or equivalent State of-
ficial; and 
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the 
United States Geological Survey. 
Æ 
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