Fire Weather Development Act of 2025

The Fire Weather Development Act of 2025 would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a comprehensive program to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and delivery of related products and services. The aim is to reduce loss of life, injuries, property damage, and economic impacts from wildfires by improving how fire weather and environments are observed, predicted, and communicated to state and local emergency officials and other stakeholders. The act emphasizes collaboration with federal and state agencies, academia, industry, and communities, and expands focus to include wildland-urban interface considerations, prescribed burns, and novel tools and data sources. The bill also creates a governance framework and supporting activities: an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires (chaired by NOAA, with representation from major federal agencies), a National Advisory Committee on Wildfires (non-federal experts from academia, public safety, state/local governments, industry, etc.), a NOAA fire weather testbed to pilot and transition new capabilities to operations, and a workforce and research agenda (including an Incident Meteorologist workforce assessment and new public safety communications research). It authorizes specific funding for pilot programs, testbeds, and unmanned aircraft systems (drones) use, and includes provisions to encourage private sector data, ensure coordination across agencies, and promote data interoperability.