(b) ASSESSMENT.—The Advisory Committee shall 
offer assessments and recommendations relating to the 
following: 
(1) Tailored forecasting, detection, and moni-
toring products and tools. 
(2) Communication and delivery methods of 
wildfire forecasting, detection, and monitoring infor-
mation. 
(3) Opportunities to streamline Federal fore-
casting, monitoring, and detection information to 
local emergency personnel and communities. 
(4) The management, coordination, implemen-
tation, and activities of the Interagency Coordi-
nating Committee on Wildfires under section 3. 
(5) The effectiveness of the Interagency Coordi-
nating Committee on Wildfires in meeting its pur-
poses. 
(c) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Advisory Com-
mittee shall serve without compensation. 
(d) REPORTS.—Not less frequently than biennially, 
the Advisory Committee shall report to the Director of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy on the assess-
ments carried out under subsection (b) and its rec-
ommendations for ways to improve the coordination and 
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dissemination of wildfire forecasts, warnings, and detec-
tion and monitoring information. 
(e) CHARTER.—Notwithstanding section 1013(b)(2) 
of title 5, United States Code, the Advisory Committee 
shall not be required to file a charter subsequent to its 
initial charter, filed under section 1008(c) of such title, 
before the termination date specified in subsection (f) of 
this section. 
(f) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee shall 
terminate on September 30, 2028. 
(g) CONFLICT
OF INTEREST.—An Advisory Com-
mittee member shall recuse himself or herself from any 
Advisory Committee activity in which he or she has an 
actual pecuniary interest. 
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE WEATHER TESTBED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es-
tablish a fire weather testbed to enable engagement across 
the Federal Government, State and local governments, 
academia, private and federally funded research labora-
tories, the private sector, and end-users in order to evalu-
ate the accuracy and usability of technology, models, fire 
weather products and services, and other research to accel-
erate the implementation, transition to operations, and use 
of new capabilities by the National Oceanic and Atmos-
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pheric Administration, Federal and land management 
agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. 
(b) RESOURCES.—In carrying out this section, the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration may not transfer or reprogram any funds, 
detail any personnel, or make use of any infrastructure 
from cooperative institutes of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration in existence as of the date of 
the enactment of this Act for the fire weather testbed es-
tablished under subsection (a). 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 
amounts made available for Procurement, Acquisition, and 
Construction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section. 
SEC. 6. INCIDENT METEOROLOGIST WORKFORCE. 
Not later than six months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate the re-
sults of an assessment of National Weather Service work-
force and training challenges for Incident Meteorologists, 
and a roadmap for overcoming such challenges. Such as-
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sessment shall take into consideration information tech-
nology support, logistical and administrative operations, 
anticipated weather and climate conditions, and feedback 
from relevant stakeholders, and shall include, to the max-
imum extent practicable, an identification by the National 
Weather Service of the following: 
(1) The expected number of Incident Meteorolo-
gists needed over the next five years. 
(2) Potential hiring authorities necessary to 
overcome any identified workforce and training chal-
lenges. 
(3) Alternative services or assistance options 
the National Weather Service could provide to meet 
operational needs. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FIRE ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘fire envi-
ronment’’ means— 
(A) the environmental conditions, such as 
soil moisture, vegetation, topography, snowpack, 
atmospheric temperature, moisture, and wind, 
that influence— 
(i) fuel and fire behavior; and 
(ii) smoke dispersion and transport; 
and 
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(B) the associated environmental impacts 
occurring during and after fire events. 
(2) FIRE WEATHER.—The term ‘‘fire weather’’ 
means the weather conditions that influence the 
start, spread, character, or behavior of wildfires or 
fires at the wildland-urban interface and relevant 
meteorological and chemical phenomena, including 
air quality, smoke, and meteorological parameters 
such as relative humidity, air temperature, wind 
speed and direction, and atmospheric composition 
and chemistry, including emissions and mixing 
heights. 
Æ 
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