119-hr390

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 390 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 390

 To utlitize the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response to 
 Operations project of NASA to improve aerial responses to wildfires, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 14, 2025

Mr. Fong (for himself and Ms. McClellan) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To utlitize the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response to 
 Operations project of NASA to improve aerial responses to wildfires, 
 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 ``Advanced Capabilities for Emergency 
Response Operations Act'' or the ``ACERO Act''.

SEC. 2. ADVANCED CAPABILITIES FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall leverage NASA-developed 
tools and technologies to conduct research and development activities 
under the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations

    (ACERO) project to improve aerial responses to wildfires.

    (b) Goals.--The research and development activities conducted under 
subsection

    (a) shall, to the extent practicable, address the following:

    (1) Advanced aircraft technologies and airspace management 
 efforts to assist in the management, deconfliction, and 
 coordination of aerial assets during wildfire response efforts.

    (2) Information sharing and real-time data exchange for 
 wildfire response teams.

    (3) Development of an interoperable platform to provide 
 situational awareness of aerial assets during wildfire 
 response.

    (4) Establishment of a multi-agency concept of operations, 
 which may involve Federal, State, and local government 
 agencies, to enable coordination of aerial activities for 
 wildfire response.
            (c) Collaboration.--In carrying out this section, the 
Administrator--

    (1) may coordinate and collaborate with other Federal, 
 State, and local government agencies, regional organizations, 
 and commercial partners and academic institutions involved in 
 wildfire management; and

    (2) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, consult with 
 the heads of other Federal departments and agencies to avoid 
 duplication of activities.
            (d) Prohibition.--

    (1) In general.--Except as provided in this subsection, the 
 Administrator may not procure an unmanned aircraft system to 
 conduct activities described in this section if such unmanned 
 aircraft system is manufactured or assembled by a covered 
 foreign entity.

    (2) Exemption.--The Administrator may waive the prohibition 
 under paragraph

    (1) on a case-by-case basis if the 
 Administrator--
        (A) determines that the procurement of an unmanned 
 aircraft system is--
            (i) in the national interest of the United 
 States; and
            (ii) necessary for the sole purpose of 
 improving aerial responses to wildfires; and
        (B) notifies the Committee on Science, Space, and 
 Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
 the Senate not later than 30 days after a determination 
 in the affirmative under subparagraph
        (A) .

    (e) Annual Reports.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter until December 31, 2030, 
the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report describing 
the activities, including results, carried out pursuant to this 
section. Each such report, at minimum, shall contain the following:

    (1) A description of any research and development 
 activities.

    (2) A description of the Administrator's activities 
 pursuant to subsection
            (c) .

    (3) An assessment of the effectiveness of such activities 
 in preventing injuries and loss of life, protecting property, 
 and reducing economic damage.

    (4) An identification of any topics related to improvement 
 of aerial responses to wildfires that could benefit from 
 further research.

    (5) A description of any continuing efforts under this 
 section.

    (6) Any other information determined appropriate by the 
 Administrator.

    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 to carry out this 
section.

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
 Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
 Administration.

    (2) Covered foreign entity.--The term ``covered foreign 
 entity'' has the meaning given such term in 

section 1822 of the 
 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public 
 Law 118-31).

    (3) NASA.--The term ``NASA'' means the National Aeronautics 
 and Space Administration.

    (4) Unmanned aircraft system.--The term ``unmanned aircraft 
 system'' has the meaning given such term in 

section 44801 of 
 title 49, United States Code.
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