YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsCorporate BenefitsEnvironmentTransparency & AccountabilityBacks $21 million for wildfire and smoke forecasts, and lifts the overtime pay cap for fire forecasters.
Workers & Jobs
The weather service sends forecasters to work at active wildfires. Their overtime there would skip the federal pay cap, and be figured at a new rate.
Fire crews come from many federal, state, tribal, and local agencies. The bill orders tests of their gear, then public standards for sending alerts during a fire.
Corporate Benefits
NOAA could pay private firms for satellite and aircraft views of wildfires. Those same firms would help advise NOAA on what fire data it needs.
NOAA could not buy drones built in countries the government flags as a risk. It can waive that ban case by case, with Homeland Security's sign-off.
Environment
Wildfire smoke drifts far beyond the fire itself. The program would work on predicting where that smoke goes, and on warning state and local officials sooner.
Transparency & Accountability
The new panel can include people from business, and it advises NOAA on what fire tools are needed. Any member with money at stake must step aside.
A federal standards agency would publish advice on how fire crews should talk to each other. A year later, auditors must tell Congress who followed it.
A panel of experts from outside government would review how well the agencies work together. It skips the usual renewal filings, then shuts down in 2029.
More about this bill
Most people would not see a direct change from this bill. Its aim is better wildfire warnings, reached through research rather than new rules. NOAA (the federal weather agency) would run a program to predict where fires start and how fast they spread. It would also forecast where wildfire smoke drifts. Warnings would go first to state and local emergency officials. Any improvement you notice would come over years, not months. The bill authorizes $4 million a year through 2029 for a fire weather testbed. That is a shared site where agencies and companies test new fire tools. Another $5 million for 2026 would go to testing drones over active fires. NOAA could not buy drones made in countries the government flags as security risks. It could also start paying private firms for satellite and aircraft fire data within a year. Weather Service forecasters sent to active fires would get a pay change. Their emergency overtime would no longer count against the federal pay cap. Separate research would recommend standards for sending real-time alerts to fire crews. A new interagency committee would coordinate wildfire work across FEMA, the Forest Service, NASA, and others. A second panel of outside experts would review that work, then shut down in 2029.
Congressional Summary
This bill establishes programs and requirements related to wildfire forecasting, detection, and management, particularly with respect to communication and collaboration among officials and first responders.For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must establish a program to improve fire forecasting and service delivery through collaboration between federal, state, and local entities. The program must seek to improve the understanding and prediction of wildfires, the assessment of fire weather, and the timeliness of related communications with state and local officials.Under the program, NOAA mayconduct research and development activities related to fire weather and environments,contract with private entities to obtain airborne and space-based data to support fire prediction and monitoring, andconduct pilot programs to test the use of unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones) for fire weather observations.The bill also establishes (1) an interagency committee to coordinate the development of wildfire forecasting and the delivery of related products and services to state and local officials; (2) a national advisory committee to offer recommendations on streamlining federal forecasting information, the management and activities of the interagency committee, and other topics; and (3) a fire weather testbed to enable engagement among governments and other stakeholders.The bill exempts emergency wildfire suppression work performed by incident meteorologists of the National Weather Service from certain premium pay limitations.Finally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology must publish recommendations for improving coordination of communications among first responders and fire management officials.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-06-23
- Date Added
- 2026-04-21
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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