Sec. 102. Wildfire Intelligence Center
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In this section: The term Board means the Board governing the Center appointed under subsection (f). The term Center means the Wildfire Intelligence Center established under subsection (b). Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior shall establish a joint office, to be known as the Wildfire Intelligence Center , the duties of which are to study, plan, coordinate, and implement issues of joint concern among the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, including— serving as the development and operational center for the comprehensive assessment and prediction of wildfires and fires that move into the built environment to provide decision support services to inform land and fuels management, community outreach and risk reduction, post-wildfire recovery and rehabilitation, and fire management and response activities carried out by entities, including— the Federal Government;
State, Tribal, and local governments; land managers; incident management teams; the National Interagency Coordination Center; geographic coordination centers; land, air, and water managers; burned area rehabilitation teams; public health entities; and other entities identified by the Board; facilitating collaboration and information sharing across Federal and State departments and agencies, Tribal entities, academia, and the private sector with respect to matters relating to wildfires; and addressing such other issues as the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior may identify as issues of joint interest in support of the functions of the Center described in subsection (d).
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall select from within the United States a permanent location for the physical headquarters of the Center. The functions of the Center shall include the following: Providing real-time, science-based, and data-rich scientific and technical analytical services, decision support, and predictive services across all phases of fire to inform pre-fire land and fuels management, pre-fire community and built environment risk reduction, active fire management and emergency response, and post-fire recovery in the built and natural environments.
Assessing and monitoring wildfires and wildfire conditions across all phases of fire, including ignition, behavior, and spread, climate, weather, drought, soil moisture, fuel conditions, smoke, aerosols, fire severity, debris flows, and erosion. Comprehensive modeling of wildfire behavior and risks, including ignitions, wildfire intensity and spread inside the built and natural environments, air quality, and dependence on burn history, vegetation conditions, climate, and weather.
Providing and procuring, if commercially available, and combining existing data, mapping, technological, and consultation services to support pre-, active, and post-fire activities, including— creating and maintaining a real-time nationwide wildfire risk catalog by leveraging existing risk mapping at land management agencies; assisting with the creation of evacuation plans for at-risk communities; assisting with the creation of public safety power shutoff plans; assisting with the creation and updating of wildfire response strategies, plans, and treatment and mitigation measures, including mitigation measures in the built environment and the development of community wildfire protection plans; providing decision support and gridded and point data forecast and assessment products in support of operational and planning activities, including the pre-positioning of wildfire suppression personnel and assets based on real-time-risk; and assisting with the safe and effective use of prescribed fire.
Consolidating air quality monitoring and forecasting data to support health risk information to help inform risks to public health and protect the public from smoke impacts associated with wildfires, including providing planning guidance for safe and effective beneficial fire opportunities to prevent the risk of wildfires. Providing accessible tools and products that support emergency and land management decisions relating to wildfire prevention, preparedness, and response, including risk assessment and contingency planning, which shall include the development of a data interface to assist and inform, in real-time, firefighters, first responders, and approved contractors in responding to wildfires, including the use of any observations by the civil, military, and intelligence communities of the Federal Government and commercial Earth observations.
Establishing an interoperable information technology infrastructure accessible by Federal agencies, State government offices, units of local government, and Tribal governments. To the extent feasible, establishing data interoperability through— the development of common data standards; the provision of comprehensive searchable data inventories; working with Tribal governments in nation-to-nation partnership; the integration and sharing of information and resources of the Federal Government and State and local governments to support the essential functions of the Center; the development of data standards to protect confidential information that may be essential to the core functions of the Center; regular updates and maintenance of research and technology essential to achieving the core functions of the Center; and the development and maintenance of a big-data architecture to compile, maintain, standardize, and evaluate data associated with the core functions of the Center.
In coordination with relevant Federal agencies and coordinating entities, as determined by the Board, and in consultation with State government agencies, units of local government, territories of the United States, and federally recognized Indian Tribes, developing, procuring where commercially available, and disseminating tools to support wildfire planning, risk reduction and response guidance, guidelines, maps, and training materials to help inform State, territorial, local, and Tribal governments and decisionmakers with respect to— the use and implementations of wildfire risk assessments; the applied use of the database and information developed under paragraphs
(7)and (8); reducing losses from wildfires; increasing benefits from wildfires; resources available for communities and responders working to improve wildfire preparedness; and enhancing communication management in emergency wildfire situations, land and resource management, and scientific studies. Working with Federal, State, and Tribal agencies to develop and improve National Wildfire Coordinating Group wildfire preparedness curricula and training modules for— State, territorial, local, and Tribal officials; and Federal, State, territorial, local, and Tribal emergency managers and responders. Maintaining the Fireshed Registry. Administering the pilot program established under section 303 and streamlining procurement processes for technologies identified under that pilot program and technology systems related to addressing wildfire and smoke for purposes of scaling such technologies and systems across Federal agencies. The Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior shall cooperatively administer the Center. Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior may transfer funds provided to establish, and carry out the duties of, the Center between— the Forest Service; and the United States Geological Survey. Not later than 15 days before transferring funds under subparagraph (A), the Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a notice of the proposed transfer. The Center shall be governed by a Board, to be composed of 16 members, as follows: 1 member who is a career employee of the Department of Agriculture, to be appointed by the Secretary. 1 member who is a career employee of the research and development areas of the Forest Service, to be appointed by the Chief of the Forest Service. 1 member who is a career employee in fire and aviation management of the Forest Service, to be appointed by the Chief of the Forest Service. 1 member who is a career employee of the Department of the Interior, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 1 member who is a career employee of the Bureau of Land Management, to be appointed by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. 1 member who is a career employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to be appointed by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. 1 member who is a career employee of the National Park Service, to be appointed by the Director of the National Park Service. 1 member who is a career employee of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to be appointed by the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 1 member who is a career employee of the United States Geological Survey, to be appointed by the Director of the United States Geological Survey. 1 member who is a career employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to be appointed by the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 1 member who is a career employee of the National Weather Service, to be appointed by the Director of the National Weather Service. 1 member who is a career employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to be appointed by the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 1 member who is a career employee of the United States Fire Administration, to be appointed by the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration. 1 member who is a career employee of the Department of Defense, to be appointed by the Secretary of Defense. 1 member who is a career employee of the National Science Foundation, to be appointed by the Director of the National Science Foundation. 1 member who is a career employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to be appointed by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A member of the Board— shall be appointed for a term of 3 years; and may be reappointed for not more than 3 additional terms. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board shall— be selected by the members of the Board from among the members appointed under subparagraphs (B), (I), and
(J)of paragraph (1); and serve for a term of 1 year. A voting consensus by the Board shall be not less than a 2/3 majority vote of the members present. At the discretion of the Board, the Board may include nonvoting observers to the Board. The Center shall have an Executive Director, who shall be appointed by, and serve at the direction of, the Board. The Executive Director shall engage with relevant Federal agencies, State agencies, and entities in the private sector to improve drought monitoring, forecasting, communication, and response that may be essential to the core functions of the Center, if the Executive Director determines that the engagement is appropriate, beneficial, and cost-effective. The Executive Director may enter into and perform contracts, agreements, memoranda of understanding, or other, similar transactions, as the Executive Director determines to be appropriate to carry out the functions of the Center described in subsection (d). Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board and the Executive Director shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a report that provides— an assessment of existing contracting authorities of the Executive Director; recommendations regarding whether any new contracting authorities or modifications of existing contracting authorities are needed; and a description of technologies that may be commercially available to perform the functions of the Center, together with the costs and timelines of procuring those technologies or developing relevant capabilities. The Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior may detail or assign to the Center such employees of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, respectively, as the Secretaries determine to be necessary to carry out the duties of the Center. Notwithstanding section 708 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2023 ( Public Law 117–328 ; 136 Stat. 4706), or any other, similar provision of law, interagency financing may be used to fund the Center. To carry out the functions of the Center described in subsection (d), the Board shall coordinate with agencies represented on the Board and other relevant entities, including— the National Wildfire Coordinating Group; State and Tribal governments; any other agency that— is responsible for the management of Federal or State land; or has data, science, and technology expertise relevant to the Center; and any other relevant Federal, State, Tribal, or nongovernmental entity that is representative of an element of the wildland fire community. Not later than 180 days after the appointment of the Executive Director, the Executive Director shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress an operational plan describing— the structure of the Center; staffing and funding needs of the Center; technological capabilities within the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, and the other Federal departments and agencies comprising the Board that are available to the Center; an assessment of the potential of commercially available technologies to perform the functions of the Center; and a timeline for full operational functioning of the Center. The plan under paragraph
(1)shall include estimated costs, key milestones, coordination strategies with Federal, State, and private entities, and recommendations for ensuring the effective operation of the Center. The Director shall update the plan not less frequently than annually to reflect progress, adjustments in funding, and the adoption of new technologies. Nothing in this section affects the ownership of any data source.
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- 136 Stat. 4706
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