Luján, Cantwell Bill to Strengthen Federal Wildfire Forecasting and Firefighting Tools Unanimously Passes Senate

Washinton, D.C. - Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Fire Ready Nation Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). The legislation strengthens the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) ability to help forecast, prevent, and fight wildfires. The Fire Ready Nation Act will formally establish a permanent Fire Weather Services program within NOAA and authorize funding for new technologies to forecast weather conditions that cause and impact wildfires.

"As wildfires have devastated New Mexico and the West in recent years, we must do more to better forecast, prevent, and fight wildfires to save lives and livelihoods," said Senator Luján. "I am proud that this bipartisan bill has passed the Senate and is one step closer to becoming law. The Fire Ready Nation Act will equip experts with the tools and resources needed to better predict wildfires before they cost lives."

NOAA already plays a major role in wildfire preparedness and response. However, the agency has no defined authority in law for its wildfire services. And while NOAA is a world leader in wildfire forecasting, better coordination and funding for new high-tech initiatives would help improve forecasting and preparedness.

Specifically, the Fire Ready Nation Act would:

• Establish an official Fire Weather Services Program within NOAA to authorize wildfire response services at the agency.
• Fund the research and acquisition of new technology to improve forecasts of wildfire conditions.
• Create a Fire Weather Testbed to deploy new tools to fight fires, including a pilot program for unmanned aircraft to gather data such as chemical information and survey damage.
• Share NOAA data across multiple federal agencies to improve fire weather data collection and coordination.
• Codify the Incident Meteorologist Service into law to continue deploying IMET forecasters to assist emergency responders. It will also ensure IMETs' receive fair compensation for longer-term deployments.

In addition to Luján and Cantwell, the Fire Ready Nation Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i).

Full bill text is available here.

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