Sec. 618. Unmanned aircraft system use in wildfire response
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Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, in coordination with the United States Forest Service and any other Federal entity the Administrator considers appropriate, shall develop a plan on the use of unmanned aircraft systems by public entities in wildfire response efforts, including wildfire detection, mitigation, and suppression. The plan under subsection
(a)shall provide recommendations to— identify and designate areas of public land with high potential for wildfires in which public entities may conduct unmanned aircraft system beyond visual line of sight operations as part of wildfire response efforts, including wildfire detection, mitigation, and suppression; develop a process to facilitate the safe and efficient operation of unmanned aircraft systems beyond the visual line of sight in wildfire response efforts in areas designated under paragraph (A), including the waiver process under section 91.113 or section 107.31 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, for public entities that use unmanned aircraft systems for aerial wildfire detection, mitigation, and suppression; and improve coordination between the relevant Federal agencies and public entities on the use of unmanned aircraft systems in wildfire response efforts. Upon completion of the plan under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall submit such plan to, and provide a briefing for, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senates. Upon submission of the plan under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall publish such plan on a publicly available website of the Administration. This section shall only apply to unmanned aircraft systems that are— operated by, or on behalf of, a public entity; operated in airspace covered by a wildfire-related temporary flight restriction under section 91.137 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and under the operational control of, or otherwise are being operationally coordinated by, an authorized aviation coordinator responsible for coordinating disaster relief aircraft within the airspace covered by such temporary flight restriction. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall seek to enter into the necessary agreements to provide a liaison of the Administration to the National Interagency Fire Center to facilitate the use of manned and unmanned aircraft in wildfire response efforts, including wildfire detection, mitigation, and suppression. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to confer upon the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration the authorities of the Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on wildfire response under section 611 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5196 ). In this section: The term public entity means— a Federal agency; a State government; a local government; a Tribal government; and a territorial government. The term public land has the meaning given such term in section 205 of the Sikes Act ( 16 U.S.C. 670k ). The term unmanned aircraft system has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of title 49, United States Code. The term wildfire has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Emergency Wildfire Suppression Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1856m ).
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