H.R. 6094

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6094 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6094

To direct the establishment of a public-private wildfire technology 
deployment and demonstration partnership, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 18, 2025

Mrs. Kim (for herself and Mr. Crow) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, and 
Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the establishment of a public-private wildfire technology 
deployment and demonstration partnership, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Innovation Unit Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE WILDFIRE TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT AND DEMONSTRATION 
PARTNERSHIP.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means--
(A) each Federal land management agency (as defined 
in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation 
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801));
(B) the Department of Defense;
(C) the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
(D) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration;
(E) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(F) the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration;
(G) the United States Fire Administration;
(H) the General Services Administration;
(I) a State, Tribal, county, or municipal fire 
department, fire district, land management agency, 
natural resources agency, or equivalent agency 
operating through the United States Fire Administration 
or pursuant to an agreement with a Federal agency; and
(J) any other Federal agency involved in wildfire 
response.
(2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means--
(A) a private entity;
(B) a nonprofit organization; and
(C) an institution of higher education (as defined 
in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1001)).
(3) Pilot program.--The term ``Pilot Program'' means the 
deployment and demonstration pilot program established under 
subsection (b).
(4) Relevant committees of congress.--The term ``relevant 
committees of Congress'' means--
(A) in the Senate--
(i) the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry;
(ii) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources;
(iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs;
(iv) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs; and
(v) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation; and
(B) in the House of Representatives--
(i) the Committee on Agriculture;
(ii) the Committee on Natural Resources; 
and
(iii) the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology.
(5) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting jointly.
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall establish a deployment and 
demonstration pilot program for new and innovative wildfire prevention, 
detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies.
(c) Functions.--In carrying out the Pilot Program, the Secretaries 
shall--
(1) consult with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group;
(2) in consultation with the heads of the covered agencies, 
identify and advance the demonstration and deployment of key 
technology priority areas, including for mature and 
commercially available technologies, with respect to the 
deployment of wildfire prevention, detection, communication, 
and mitigation technologies, including--
(A) innovations in hazardous fuels reduction 
activities or treatments, including the use of 
prescribed or cultural fire;
(B) spatial planning for unplanned human-caused 
ignitions;
(C) wildfire modeling and effectiveness algorithms;
(D) dispatch communications;
(E) remote sensing, detection, and tracking;
(F) safety equipment;
(G) common operating pictures or operational 
dashboards;
(H) interoperable commercial data;
(I) autonomous suppression systems;
(J) grid resilience;
(K) community resilience and home hardening; and
(L) prioritization and decision support tools;
(3) connect each covered entity selected to participate in 
the Pilot Program with the appropriate covered agency to 
coordinate real-time and on-the-ground testing of technology 
during wildfire mitigation activities and training;
(4) define clear criteria for evaluating the success of 
technologies (including mature and commercially available 
technologies) demonstrated under the Pilot Program, focusing on 
effectiveness, scalability, and cost-efficiency; and
(5) coordinate with covered agencies to ensure the 
efficient deployment of scaled technologies, including through 
expanded public-private partnerships, multiagency contracting 
for procurement, and authorization of covered agency staff with 
technological procurement expertise to assist other covered 
agencies in need of that expertise.
(d) Applications.--To be eligible to participate in the Pilot 
Program, a covered entity shall submit to the Secretaries an 
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretaries may require, including a proposal to 
demonstrate technologies specific to key technology priority areas 
identified under subsection (c)(2).
(e) Existing Partnerships.--
(1) In general.--A covered agency may submit a statement to 
the Secretaries describing the effectiveness, scalability, and 
cost-efficiency of an existing partnership, pilot project, or 
contract a covered entity providing a technology described in 
subsection (c)(2).
(2) Successfulness.--The Secretaries may deem a technology 
described in a statement submitted under paragraph (1) to be a 
successful technology for purposes of this section.
(f) Outreach.--The Secretaries, in coordination with the heads of 
the covered agencies, shall make publicly available the key technology 
priority areas identified under subsection (c)(2) and invite covered 
entities to apply under subsection (d) to deploy and demonstrate 
technologies to address those priority areas.
(g) Reports and Recommendations.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of establishment of the Pilot Program, and annually thereafter for 
the duration of the Pilot Program, the Secretaries shall submit to the 
relevant committees of Congress a report that includes the following 
with respect to the Pilot Program:
(1) A brief description of potential technologies deployed 
and demonstrated.
(2) An estimate of the cost of acquiring each such 
technology and applying the technology at scale.
(3) Outreach efforts by covered agencies to covered 
entities developing wildfire technologies.
(4) Assessments of, and recommendations relating to, new 
technologies with potential adoption and application at-scale 
in the wildfire prevention, detection, communication, and 
mitigation efforts of Federal land management agencies (as 
defined in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation 
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801)).
(5) A description of the relationship and coordination 
between the Pilot Program and the activities of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the Fire 
Weather Testbed.
(6) Barriers and solutions for procurement of technologies 
by covered agencies.
(h) Sunset.--The Pilot Program terminates on the date that is 7 
years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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