Fire Science and Technology Working Group; strategic plan

(a) Fire Science and Technology Working Group (1) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Executive Director of the Interagency Council for Advancing Weather Services established under section 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this section referred to as the Interagency Council) shall establish a working group, to be known as the Fire Science and Technology Working Group (in this section referred to as the Working Group). (2) Chair The Working Group shall be chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. (3) General duties (A) In general The Working Group shall seek to build efficiencies among the agencies listed under section 711(c)(1) and coordinate the planning and management of science, research, technology, and operations related to science and support services for wildland fire prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, management, and assessments. (B) Input The Working Group shall solicit input from non-Federal stakeholders. (b) Strategic plan (1) In general Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Interagency Council shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for interagency coordination, research, and development that will improve the assessment of fire environments and the understanding and prediction of wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such fires and smoke, including— (A) on communities, buildings, and other infrastructure; (B) on ecosystem services and watersheds; (C) social and economic impacts; (D) by developing and encouraging the adoption of science-based and cost-effective measures— (i) to enhance community resilience to wildland fires; (ii) to address and mitigate the impacts of wildland fires and associated wildfire smoke; and (iii) to restore natural fire regimes in fire-dependent ecosystems; (E) by improving the understanding and mitigation of the effects of weather and long-term drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity; (F) through integrations of social and behavioral sciences in public safety fire communication; (G) by improving the forecasting and understanding of prescribed fires and the impacts of such fires, and how those impacts may differ from impacts of wildland fires that originate from an unplanned ignition; and (H) consideration and adoption of any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c). (2) Plan elements The strategic plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following: (A) A description of the priorities and needs of vulnerable populations. (B) A description of high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs. (C) A timeline and guidance for implementation of— (i) an interagency data sharing system for data relevant to performing fire assessments and modeling fire risk and fire behavior; (ii) a system for ensuring that the fire prediction models of relevant agencies can be interconnected; and (iii) to the maximum extent practicable, any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c). (D) A plan for incorporating and coordinating research and operational observations, including from infrared technologies, microwave, radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, and uncrewed aerial systems. (E) A flexible framework to communicate clear and simple fire event information to the public. (F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, and communication research to improve the fire operational environment and societal information reception and response. (c) Sunset The Working Group shall terminate not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(a) Fire Science and Technology Working Group (1) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Executive Director of the Interagency Council for Advancing Weather Services established under section 402 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8542) (in this section referred to as the Interagency Council) shall establish a working group, to be known as the Fire Science and Technology Working Group (in this section referred to as the Working Group). (2) Chair The Working Group shall be chaired by the Under Secretary, or designee. (3) General duties (A) In general The Working Group shall seek to build efficiencies among the agencies listed under section 711(c)(1) and coordinate the planning and management of science, research, technology, and operations related to science and support services for wildland fire prediction, detection, forecasting, modeling, resilience, response, management, and assessments. (B) Input The Working Group shall solicit input from non-Federal stakeholders. (b) Strategic plan (1) In general Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Interagency Council shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for interagency coordination, research, and development that will improve the assessment of fire environments and the understanding and prediction of wildland fires, associated wildfire smoke, and the impacts of such fires and smoke, including— (A) on communities, buildings, and other infrastructure; (B) on ecosystem services and watersheds; (C) social and economic impacts; (D) by developing and encouraging the adoption of science-based and cost-effective measures— (i) to enhance community resilience to wildland fires; (ii) to address and mitigate the impacts of wildland fires and associated wildfire smoke; and (iii) to restore natural fire regimes in fire-dependent ecosystems; (E) by improving the understanding and mitigation of the effects of weather and long-term drought on wildland fire risk, frequency, and severity; (F) through integrations of social and behavioral sciences in public safety fire communication; (G) by improving the forecasting and understanding of prescribed fires and the impacts of such fires, and how those impacts may differ from impacts of wildland fires that originate from an unplanned ignition; and (H) consideration and adoption of any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c). (2) Plan elements The strategic plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following: (A) A description of the priorities and needs of vulnerable populations. (B) A description of high-performance computing, visualization, and dissemination needs. (C) A timeline and guidance for implementation of— (i) an interagency data sharing system for data relevant to performing fire assessments and modeling fire risk and fire behavior; (ii) a system for ensuring that the fire prediction models of relevant agencies can be interconnected; and (iii) to the maximum extent practicable, any recommendations included in the report required by section 711(c). (D) A plan for incorporating and coordinating research and operational observations, including from infrared technologies, microwave, radars, satellites, mobile weather stations, and uncrewed aerial systems. (E) A flexible framework to communicate clear and simple fire event information to the public. (F) Integration of social, behavioral, risk, and communication research to improve the fire operational environment and societal information reception and response. (c) Sunset The Working Group shall terminate not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.