Wildfire Research Legislation in the Works

A wildfire at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.
(Josh O’Connor / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The House Science Committee held a hearing
The hearing picked up a thread from two years ago
However, Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) said at the hearing he is planning new legislation, and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said she looks forward to advancing a “bipartisan package” of wildfire-related bills and reintroduced
Lucas has made weather prediction a committee priority this year and launched an effort
FIRE Act aims to bolster new fire weather research testbed
The FIRE Act would direct NOAA to construct “one or more weather research testbeds to develop improved detection of and forecast capabilities for wildfire events and their impacts,” with a one-year target budget of $15 million. NOAA is already in the process of creating one such testbed.
At the hearing, Garcia highlighted the increasing occurrence of extreme fire events near his Los Angeles-area district, saying, “Fire season is almost becoming a year-round thing.” A former Navy pilot, Garcia went on to characterize fire prevention and firefighting as similar to highly coordinated combat operations.
“In this case, it’s the fires, it’s the brush, it’s the prescribed burns to mitigate in advance of, but especially the predictive modeling ... on the weather side that feeds information to the warfighter — in this case, the firefighters — to make real-time decisions that ultimately save their lives and the lives of our constituents,” he remarked.
Expanding commercial partnerships a focus of the committee
In his opening statement, Lucas said he believes commercial partnerships should play a bigger role in improving firefighting capabilities. “NOAA and the National Weather Service cannot tackle this problem on their own. Long gone are the days of fire watchers sitting in towers with binoculars scanning for smoke,” he said.
One of the witnesses invited to the hearing was James Peverill, CEO of GreenSight, a small business that develops drone-based weather and fire prediction systems. Peverill spoke about the challenges that current regulations set in place by the Federal Aviation Administration pose for his company, arguing the FAA should “look for creative solutions” that enable the integration of private drones in public missions.
This week, the House passed FAA policy legislation that would direct the agency to update its approach
Democrats seek expansive interagency R&D effort
The Democrats’ Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program Act
The bill sets out responsibilities for each participating agency, which include NOAA, NASA, the U.S. Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others. It would also mandate a quadrennial strategic plan covering matters such as R&D goals and how new technologies will translate into measurable reductions in the loss of life, property, and ecosystems. The act recommends Congress annually appropriate about $400 million to the activities it covers, rising to over $480 million by fiscal year 2028.
Lofgren said of the legislation, “Fire seasons are getting longer and more severe. Congress must advance a whole-of-government approach to execute a coordinated and united federal agenda on wildfires that uses science-based and cost-effective measures to change the way we think about, plan for, and respond to wildfires.”
The new version of the bill includes amendments from both Democrats and Republicans that were attached