Title: Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2018
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2018
This bill authorizes federal and state wildland firefighting agencies to operate unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones) in managing wildland fires.
The Departments of Agriculture and of the Interior shall:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency may make grants to states to provide funding to certain at-risk communities for the cost-shared installation of reverse-911 systems.
The bill amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to require the National Fire Data Center to gather and analyze additional information on fires, including all injuries sustained by firefighters that were treated by a doctor.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology to: (1) establish national teams to collect data following wildfires in the wildland-urban interface, and (2) implement a research plan for linking economic outcomes with wildfire mitigation.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2290 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2290

      To improve wildfire management operations and the safety of 
    firefighters and communities with the best available technology.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 10, 2018

  Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Mr. Gardner) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To improve wildfire management operations and the safety of 
    firefighters and communities with the best available technology.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire 
Management Technology Advancement Act of 2018''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purpose.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Unmanned aircraft systems.
Sec. 5. Location systems for wildland firefighters.
Sec. 6. Fire risk maps.
Sec. 7. Real-time warnings.
Sec. 8. Smoke projections from active wildland fires.
Sec. 9. Reverse-911 telecommunications systems.
Sec. 10. Firefighter injuries database.
Sec. 11. Rapid response erosion database.
Sec. 12. Research for effectiveness and standards.
Sec. 13. Predicting where wildfires will start.
Sec. 14. Study on aircraft operating at night.
Sec. 15. Termination of authority.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to build on the successes of the Federal 
Wildland Fire Management Policy and National Cohesive Fire Strategy 
established pursuant to section 503 of the FLAME Act of 2009 (43 U.S.C. 
1748b) (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this 
Act), as necessary to protect the safety of firefighters and 
communities from wildfires on public land and National Forest System 
land created from the public domain, by--
            (1) reducing the damages, particularly to houses, from 
        wildfires;
            (2) preparing forests and communities for wildfires;
            (3) increasing the safety of firefighters; and
            (4) containing costs and increasing the accountability of 
        decisions relating to wildland fires.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Burn severity map.--The term ``burn severity map'' 
        means a map created by the Secretary concerned that depicts the 
        changes in land-cover and soil properties caused by a wildland 
        fire.
            (2) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (3) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                activities under the Department of the Interior; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                activities under the Department of Agriculture.
            (4) Wildfire.--The term ``wildfire'' means any nonstructure 
        fire, other than a prescribed fire, occurring in vegetation or 
        natural fuels on--
                    (A) public land; or
                    (B) National Forest System land created from the 
                public domain.
            (5) Wildland-urban interface.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``wildland-urban 
                interface'' has the meaning given the term in section 
                101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 
                U.S.C. 6511).
                    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``wildland-urban 
                interface'' does not include--
                            (i) any forest reserve not created from the 
                        public domain; or
                            (ii) any national grassland or land 
                        utilization project administered under title 
                        III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 
                        U.S.C. 1010 et seq.).

SEC. 4. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Restricted airspace.--The term ``restricted airspace'' 
        means an area for which the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration has established a temporary flight 
        restriction for a wildland fire.
            (2) Unmanned aircraft; unmanned aircraft system.--The terms 
        ``unmanned aircraft'' and ``unmanned aircraft system'' have the 
        meaning given those terms in section 331 of the FAA 
        Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-95; 49 
        U.S.C. 40101 note).
    (b) Official Use.--
            (1) Authorization.--Subject to paragraph (4), Federal and 
        State wildland firefighting agencies (including designees of 
        the agencies) may operate unmanned aircraft systems in managing 
        wildland fires.
            (2) Development of protocols and plans.--Subject to the 
        availability of appropriations, not later than March 1, 2019, 
        Federal wildland firefighting agencies, in coordination with 
        State wildland firefighting agencies, shall develop protocols 
        and plans for the use of unmanned aircraft systems for 
        surveillance, initial and extended attack, and incident 
        management team use, as appropriate, including for the 
        development of real-time maps of the location of wildland 
        fires.
            (3) Deadline.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, not later than May 1, 2020, and in accordance 
        with the protocols and plans developed under paragraph (2), the 
        Secretaries shall begin to equip firefighting personnel with 
        unmanned aircraft systems to develop real-time maps, detect 
        spot fires, assess fire behavior, develop tactical and 
        strategic firefighting plans, position fire resources, and 
        enhance firefighter safety.
            (4) Limitation on operation.--Unmanned aircraft may only be 
        operated under this section in accordance with regulations and 
        other authorities of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
    (c) Unofficial Use.--Not later than May 1, 2018, the Secretaries, 
in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, shall seek to 
reduce the number of conflicts between personal-use unmanned aircraft 
and wildland fire operations by--
            (1) enhancing public awareness of the potential for those 
        conflicts;
            (2) establishing a protocol to notify a user of an unmanned 
        aircraft system operating within or adjacent to restricted 
        airspace;
            (3) employing a system to ground an unmanned aircraft that 
        is operating within restricted airspace; and
            (4) encouraging the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration to enforce penalties available under section 
        46320 of title 49, United States Code, when a user operates an 
        unmanned aircraft system in a restricted airspace.

SEC. 5. LOCATION SYSTEMS FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, not 
later than March 1, 2019, the Secretaries shall jointly develop and 
operate a tracking system (referred to in this section as the 
``system'') to remotely locate the positions of fire resources assigned 
to Federal Type 1 Wildland Fire Incident Management Teams.
    (b) Requirements.--The system shall--
            (1) use technology available to the Secretaries to remotely 
        track the location of an active resource, such as a Global 
        Positioning System;
            (2) depict the location of each fire resource on the maps 
        developed under section 4(b)(2); and
            (3) operate continuously during the period any firefighting 
        personnel are assigned to the applicable Federal wildland fire.
    (c) Operation.--The Secretary concerned shall--
            (1) operate the system during a wildland fire to increase--
                    (A) the safety of employees, officers, and 
                contractors; and
                    (B) the effectiveness of the management of the 
                wildland fire; and
            (2) conduct training and maintain a culture such that an 
        employee, officer, or contractor shall not rely on the system 
        for safety.

SEC. 6. FIRE RISK MAPS.

    Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretaries, in 
consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, may assist a 
State, unit of local government, or nongovernmental organization that 
is seeking technical or financial support to develop or refine maps, at 
a scale and resolution to be useful for local governments, that depict 
the relative risk of wildfires for land in the wildland-urban 
interface.

SEC. 7. REAL-TIME WARNINGS.

    (a) Wildland Fire Protocol.--The Secretaries shall ensure that the 
activities conducted by the Secretaries relating to wildland fire 
safely achieve reasonable objectives while minimizing firefighter 
exposure to the lowest level necessary to accomplish those objectives.
    (b) Wildfire Decision Support System.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretaries shall establish a system 
        to track and monitor decisions made when managing a wildfire.
            (2) Components of the system.--The system established under 
        paragraph (1) shall be able to alert the Secretaries if--
                    (A) unusual costs are incurred;
                    (B) an action is undertaken that would likely 
                endanger the safety of a firefighter; or
                    (C) a decision regarding the management of a 
                wildfire deviates from--
                            (i) a protocol established by the 
                        Secretaries, including the requirement under 
                        subsection (a); or
                            (ii) a spatial fire management plan or fire 
                        management plan of the Secretary concerned.

SEC. 8. SMOKE PROJECTIONS FROM ACTIVE WILDLAND FIRES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries shall establish a program, to be 
known as the ``Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response 
Program'', under which the Secretary concerned--
            (1) to the maximum extent practicable, shall assign a team 
        of air resource advisors to a type 1 incident management team 
        managing a wildland fire; and
            (2) may assign a team of air resource advisors to a type 2 
        incident management team managing a wildland fire.
    (b) Duty.--An air resource advisor assigned under subsection (a) 
shall use a model to project--
            (1) how much smoke will be generated from the wildland 
        fire; and
            (2) where the impacts of the smoke will occur.
    (c) Public Dissemination.--At least once each day, the Secretaries 
shall make available to the public the projections generated under 
subsection (b).

SEC. 9. REVERSE-911 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (referred to in this section as the 
``Administrator'') may use funds appropriated for the emergency 
management performance grant program under section 662 of the Post-
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 762) to make 
grants to States to provide funding to communities on the list of at-
risk communities developed pursuant to title IV of the Department of 
the Interior and Related Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-291; 
114 Stat. 1006) (referred to in this section as ``at-risk 
communities'') for the cost-shared installation of a reverse-911 
system.
    (b) Non-Federal Share.--The non-Federal share of the cost of 
installing a reverse-911 system using a grant under this section shall 
be 50 percent.
    (c) Outcome-Based Performance Measure.--Beginning in fiscal year 
2019, as part of the budget submission of the President, the 
Administrator shall report the percentage of at-risk communities that 
possess a reverse-911 system.

SEC. 10. FIREFIGHTER INJURIES DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--Section 9(a) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, categorized by the 
        type of fire'' after ``such injuries and deaths'';
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``activities;'' and 
        inserting ``activities, including--
                    ``(A) all injuries sustained by a firefighter and 
                treated by a doctor, categorized by the type of 
                firefighter;
                    ``(B) all deaths sustained while undergoing a pack 
                test or while preparing for a work capacity;
                    ``(C) all injuries or deaths resulting from vehicle 
                accidents; and
                    ``(D) all injuries or deaths resulting from 
                aircraft crashes;'';
            (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (4) by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (10); and
            (5) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
            ``(8) the total costs incurred in the management of each 
        wildland fire managed by a Type 1 or 2 Incident Management 
        Team;
            ``(9) the total number of structures lost during wildfires; 
        and''.
    (b) Use of Existing Data Gathering and Analysis Organizations.--
Section 9(b)(3) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2208(b)(3)) is amended by inserting ``, including the Center 
for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends'' after ``public and 
private''.
    (c) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--Section 9 of the Federal Fire 
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Medical Privacy of Firefighters.--The collection, storage, 
and transfer of any medical data collected under this section shall be 
conducted in accordance with--
            ``(1) the privacy regulations promulgated under section 
        264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
        Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note; Public Law 104-191); and
            ``(2) other applicable regulations, including parts 160, 
        162, and 164 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 
        effect on the date of enactment of this subsection).''.

SEC. 11. RAPID RESPONSE EROSION DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
shall establish and maintain a database, to be known as the ``Rapid 
Response Erosion Database'' (referred to in this section as the 
``Database'').
    (b) Open-Source Database.--
            (1) Availability.--The Secretaries shall make the Database 
        (including the original source code)--
                    (A) web-based; and
                    (B) available without charge.
            (2) Components.--The Database shall provide for--
                    (A) the automatic incorporation into a burn 
                severity map of spatial data relating to vegetation, 
                soils, and elevation; and
                    (B) the generation of a composite map that can be 
                used by the Secretary concerned to model the 
                effectiveness of treatments in the burned area to 
                prevent flooding, erosion, and landslides under a range 
                of weather scenarios.
    (c) Use.--The Secretary concerned shall use, to the maximum extent 
practicable, the Database in developing recommendations for emergency 
stabilization treatments or modifications to drainage structures to 
protect values-at-risk following a large wildland fire.

SEC. 12. RESEARCH FOR EFFECTIVENESS AND STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--To assess the effectiveness of fire protection 
strategies, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (referred to in this 
section as the ``Secretary''), shall--
            (1) establish a national team to collect data following 
        wildfires in the wildland-urban interface; and
            (2) implement a research plan to link economic outcomes 
        with wildfire mitigation actions by--
                    (A) understanding the relative contribution of 
                fuels configuration, weather, and terrain;
                    (B) quantifying the cost of providing the current 
                level of fire protection;
                    (C) understanding the losses resulting from 
                wildfires in the wildland-urban interface; and
                    (D) using performance metrics to assess the 
                effectiveness of current designs, materials, and 
                technologies.
    (b) Response-Time Threshold.--The Secretary shall develop optimal 
time-to-response standards for a firefighting agency to reach a 
wildfire in the wildland-urban interface.
    (c) Coordination; Partnerships.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) coordinate with the Secretaries; and
            (2) partner with administrators of firefighting agencies 
        that protect communities from wildfires.

SEC. 13. PREDICTING WHERE WILDFIRES WILL START.

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
acting through the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the 
Secretary of Energy, through the capabilities and assets located at the 
National Laboratories, shall establish and maintain a system to predict 
the locations of future wildfires for fire-prone areas of the United 
States, to be known as the ``Fire Danger Assessment System'' (referred 
to in this section as the ``System'').
    (b) Components.--The System shall use a combination of soil 
moisture levels, precipitation patterns, topography, fuels growth and 
availability, ignition risks, and temperatures to calculate 
probabilities of wildfires igniting or burning in fire-prone areas of 
the United States.
    (c) Use.--Not later than May 1, 2019, the Secretaries shall use the 
System for purposes of developing any wildland fire potential 
forecasts.

SEC. 14. STUDY ON AIRCRAFT OPERATING AT NIGHT.

    (a) Study.--Not later than September 30, 2019, the Secretaries 
shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of operating 
aircraft at night when managing wildland fires.
    (b) Partnerships.--In carrying out this section, the Secretary may 
enter into a cooperative agreement with the Center of Excellence for 
Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting.

SEC. 15. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

    The authority provided by this Act terminates on the date that is 
10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>