Sponsors (2)
The bill would accelerate testing and coordination of wildfire detection and mitigation technologies—potentially improving response, protecting vulnerable communities, and fostering innovation—while requiring taxpayer funding and posing risks from unproven tools, procurement favoritism, and privacy concerns.
Firefighters and local emergency response agencies gain earlier access to tested wildfire prevention and detection tools, improving on-the-ground response capabilities and potentially reducing property and life losses.
Rural and Tribal communities see improved wildfire mitigation through prioritized hazardous fuels reduction technologies and remote sensing, which can reduce wildfire severity and protect vulnerable lands.
Public agencies may lower long-term costs if the Pilot identifies scalable, cost‑efficient prevention and response technologies, reducing future fire damage and emergency expenditures.
Taxpayers may bear new costs to fund the 7‑year Pilot Program and to scale recommended technologies, increasing public spending with uncertain net savings.
Deploying unproven or experimental technologies during active wildfires risks operational failures or diverting resources from established tactics, potentially endangering responders and reducing effectiveness.
Private firms participating in the program could receive preferential access to government contracts or real-world testing opportunities, raising concerns about fairness, competition, and favoritism in procurement.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a seven-year public-private pilot to field-test and deploy wildfire prevention, detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies with multiagency coordination and annual reporting.
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress November 18, 2025
Creates a public-private pilot program to test, deploy, and evaluate wildfire prevention, detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies. The program must be set up jointly by the Agriculture and Interior Departments within one year, coordinate across many federal, tribal, state, and local agencies, accept applications from private companies, nonprofits, and universities for field testing, and report to Congress annually; the pilot sunsets seven years after enactment.