Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2018

Bill: 115-s-2290
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2018-01-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Aviation and airports
Disaster relief and insurance
Economic performance and conditions
Emergency communications systems
Emergency planning and evacuation
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fires
First responders and emergency personnel
Forests, forestry, trees
Government studies and investigations
Health information and medical records

Summary:
action_date: 2018-01-10
text: 

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: 
 
 
 jointly develop and operate a tracking system to remotely locate the positions of fire resources assigned to federal type 1 wildland fire incident management teams; 
 
establish the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program to assign air resource advisors to such a team managing a wildland fire; 
 
establish the Rapid Response Erosion Database to provide for the automatic incorporation of spatial data related to vegetation, soils, and elevation into burn severity maps; 
 
 establish the Fire Danger Assessment System for predicting the locations of future wildfires in fire-prone areas; and 
 
 study the feasibility of operating aircraft at night to manage wildland fires. 
 
 
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.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-12-19
text: By Senator Murkowski from Committee on Energy and Natural Resources filed written report. Report No. 115-441.
action_date: 2018-12-19
text: By Senator Murkowski from Committee on Energy and Natural Resources filed written report. Report No. 115-441.
action_date: 2018-12-04
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 712.
action_date: 2018-12-04
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2018-12-04
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2018-10-02
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2018-01-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2018-01-10
text: Introduced in Senate