Policy documents and bill actions

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2026-09-17: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

• 2026-10-02 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:19.065998+00:00.

II
119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. 5443
To amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen,
increase oversight of, and compliance with, security standards for health
information, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. W YDEN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act
to strengthen, increase oversight of, and compliance with,
security standards for health information, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S HORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act of 5
2026’’. 6
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7
this Act is as follows: 8
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•S 5443 IS
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—STRENGTHENING AND INCREASING OVERSIGHT OF,
AND COMPLIANCE WITH, SECURITY STANDARDS FOR HEALTH
INFORMATION
Sec. 101. Security requirements.
Sec. 102. Security risk management, reporting requirements, and audits for
covered entities and business associates.
Sec. 103. Increased civil penalties for failure to comply with security standards
and requirements for health information.
Sec. 104. User fee to support data security oversight and enforcement activi-
ties.
TITLE II—MEDICARE ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS CYBERSECURITY
INCIDENTS
201. Medicare safe cybersecurity practices adoption program for eligible hos-
pitals and critical access hospitals.
202. Medicare accelerated and advanced payments in response to cybersecurity
incidents.
TITLE I—STRENGTHENING AND 1
INCREASING OVERSIGHT OF, 2
AND COMPLIANCE WITH, SE-3
CURITY STANDARDS FOR 4
HEALTH INFORMATION 5
SEC. 101. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS. 6
(a) I N GENERAL.—Section 1173(d)(1) of the Social 7
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(d)(1)) is amended— 8
(1) in subparagraph (A), by redesignating 9
clauses (i) through (v) as subclauses (I) through (V) 10
respectively and indenting appropriately; 11
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 12
(B) as clauses (i) and (ii) respectively and indenting 13
appropriately; 14
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•S 5443 IS
(3) by striking ‘‘S ECURITY STANDARDS .—The 1
Secretary’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘M INIMUM 2
SECURITY STANDARDS .— 3
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL .—The Secretary’’; 4
(4) in subparagraph (A), as added by para-5
graph (3)— 6
(A) in clause (i)(V), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 7
the end; 8
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 9
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10
(C) by adding at the end the following new 11
clause: 12
‘‘(iii) include minimum and enhanced 13
security requirements adopted under sub-14
paragraph (B)’’; and 15
(5) by adding at the end the following new sub-16
paragraph: 17
‘‘(B) M INIMUM AND ENHANCED SECURITY 18
REQUIREMENTS.— 19
‘‘(i) A DOPTION.—Subject to clauses 20
(iii) and (iv), in order to protect health in-21
formation, protect patient safety, and en-22
sure the availability and resiliency of 23
health care information systems and health 24
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•S 5443 IS
care transactions, the Secretary shall 1
adopt— 2
‘‘(I) minimum security require-3
ments for covered entities and busi-4
ness associates; and 5
‘‘(II) enhanced security require-6
ments for covered entities and busi-7
ness associates that— 8
‘‘(aa) are of systemic impor-9
tance, as determined by the Sec-10
retary; or 11
‘‘(bb) are important to na-12
tional security, as determined by 13
the Secretary, in consultation 14
with the Director of the Cyberse-15
curity and Infrastructure Secu-16
rity Agency and the Director of 17
National Intelligence. 18
‘‘(ii) A PPLICATION OF ENHANCED SE -19
CURITY REQUIREMENTS .— 20
‘‘(I) N OTIFICATION.—The Sec-21
retary shall, at a time and in a man-22
ner determined appropriate by the 23
Secretary, notify each covered entity 24
and business associate that is subject 25
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•S 5443 IS
to the enhanced security requirements 1
under clause (i)(II). 2
‘‘(II) L IMITATION ON REVIEW .— 3
There shall be no administrative or 4
judicial review under section 1869, 5
1878, or otherwise of the methodology 6
the Secretary uses to determine 7
whether a covered entity or business 8
associate is subject to the enhanced 9
security requirements under clause 10
(i)(II). 11
‘‘(iii) F ACTORS.—In addition to the 12
factors described in subparagraph (A)(i), 13
in developing— 14
‘‘(I) the minimum security re-15
quirements under clause (i)(I), the 16
Secretary shall, in consultation with 17
the Director of Cybersecurity and In-18
frastructure Security Agency and the 19
Director of National Intelligence, de-20
sign the requirements to prevent— 21
‘‘(aa) cyber incidents uti-22
lizing the tools and strategies 23
used to target covered entities or 24
business associates; 25
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•S 5443 IS
‘‘(bb) the potential harms, 1
as defined by the Secretary, to 2
national security that could re-3
sult from a cyber incident involv-4
ing a covered entity or business 5
associate; 6
‘‘(cc) the potential harms, as 7
defined by the Secretary, to pa-8
tients that could result from a 9
cyber incident involving a covered 10
entity or business associate; and 11
‘‘(dd) other potential harms 12
from cyber incidents, as deter-13
mined appropriate by the Sec-14
retary; and 15
‘‘(II) the enhanced security re-16
quirements under clause (i)(II), the 17
Secretary shall, in consultation with 18
the Director of the Cybersecurity and 19
Infrastructure Security Agency and 20
the Director of National Intelligence, 21
design the requirements to prevent 22
the potential harms described in sub-23
clause (I) and protect against the spe-24
cific threats the covered entities and 25
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•S 5443 IS
business associates described in such 1
clause face. 2
‘‘(iv) R EVIEW AND UPDATE OF RE -3
QUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall review 4
and update the minimum and enhanced se-5
curity requirements adopted under clause 6
(i) not less frequently than every 2 years. 7
‘‘(v) E FFECTIVE DATE AND RULE -8
MAKING.— 9
‘‘(I) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The re-10
quirements under this subparagraph 11
shall take effect on the date that is 2 12
years after the date of enactment of 13
this subparagraph. 14
‘‘(II) R ULEMAKING.—Not later 15
than 18 months after the date of en-16
actment of this subparagraph, the 17
Secretary shall promulgate regulations 18
to carry out this subparagraph. 19
‘‘(vi) D EFINITIONS.—For purposes of 20
this subsection: 21
‘‘(I) B USINESS ASSOCIATE .—The 22
term ‘business associate’ has the 23
meaning given such term in section 24
160.103 of title 45, Code of Federal 25
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•S 5443 IS
Regulations (or a successor regula-1
tion). 2
‘‘(II) C OVERED ENTITY .—The 3
term ‘covered entity’ has the meaning 4
given that term in section 160.103 of 5
title 45, Code of Federal Regulations 6
(or a successor regulation). 7
‘‘(III) S …

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'II \n119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION S. 5443 \nTo amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen, \nincrease oversight of, and compliance with, security standards for health \ninformation, and for other purposes. \nIN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES \nSEPTEMBER 17, 2026 \nMr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. W YDEN) introduced the following bill; \nwhich was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance \nA BILL \nTo amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act \nto strengthen, increase oversight of, and compliance with, \nsecurity standards for health information, and for other \npurposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3\n(a) S HORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4\n‘‘Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act of 5\n2026’’. 6\n(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7\nthis Act is as follows: 8\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n2 \n•S 5443 IS\nSec. 1. Short title; table of contents. \nTITLE I—STRENGTHENING AND INCREASING OVERSIGHT OF, \nAND COMPLIANCE WITH, SECURITY STANDARDS FOR HEALTH \nINFORMATION \nSec. 101. Security requirements. \nSec. 102. Security risk management, reporting requirements, and audits for \ncovered entities and business associates. \nSec. 103. Increased civil penalties for failure to comply with security standards \nand requirements for health information. \nSec. 104. User fee to support data security oversight and enforcement activi-\nties. \nTITLE II—MEDICARE ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS CYBERSECURITY \nINCIDENTS \n201. Medicare safe cybersecurity practices adoption program for eligible hos-\npitals and critical access hospitals. \n202. Medicare accelerated and advanced payments in response to cybersecurity \nincidents. \nTITLE I—STRENGTHENING AND 1\nINCREASING OVERSIGHT OF, 2\nAND COMPLIANCE WITH, SE-3\nCURITY STANDARDS FOR 4\nHEALTH INFORMATION 5\nSEC. 101. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS. 6\n(a) I N GENERAL.—Section 1173(d)(1) of the Social 7\nSecurity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(d)(1)) is amended— 8\n(1) in subparagraph (A), by redesignating 9\nclauses (i) through (v) as subclauses (I) through (V) 10\nrespectively and indenting appropriately; 11\n(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 12\n(B) as clauses (i) and (ii) respectively and indenting 13\nappropriately; 14\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n3 \n•S 5443 IS\n(3) by striking ‘‘S ECURITY STANDARDS .—The 1\nSecretary’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘M INIMUM 2\nSECURITY STANDARDS .— 3\n‘‘(A) IN GENERAL .—The Secretary’’; 4\n(4) in subparagraph (A), as added by para-5\ngraph (3)— 6\n(A) in clause (i)(V), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 7\nthe end; 8\n(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 9\nthe end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10\n(C) by adding at the end the following new 11\nclause: 12\n‘‘(iii) include minimum and enhanced 13\nsecurity requirements adopted under sub-14\nparagraph (B)’’; and 15\n(5) by adding at the end the following new sub-16\nparagraph: 17\n‘‘(B) M INIMUM AND ENHANCED SECURITY  18\nREQUIREMENTS.— 19\n‘‘(i) A DOPTION.—Subject to clauses 20\n(iii) and (iv), in order to protect health in-21\nformation, protect patient safety, and en-22\nsure the availability and resiliency of 23\nhealth care information systems and health 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n4 \n•S 5443 IS\ncare transactions, the Secretary shall 1\nadopt— 2\n‘‘(I) minimum security require-3\nments for covered entities and busi-4\nness associates; and 5\n‘‘(II) enhanced security require-6\nments for covered entities and busi-7\nness associates that— 8\n‘‘(aa) are of systemic impor-9\ntance, as determined by the Sec-10\nretary; or 11\n‘‘(bb) are important to na-12\ntional security, as determined by 13\nthe Secretary, in consultation 14\nwith the Director of the Cyberse-15\ncurity and Infrastructure Secu-16\nrity Agency and the Director of 17\nNational Intelligence. 18\n‘‘(ii) A PPLICATION OF ENHANCED SE -19\nCURITY REQUIREMENTS .— 20\n‘‘(I) N OTIFICATION.—The Sec-21\nretary shall, at a time and in a man-22\nner determined appropriate by the 23\nSecretary, notify each covered entity 24\nand business associate that is subject 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n5 \n•S 5443 IS\nto the enhanced security requirements 1\nunder clause (i)(II). 2\n‘‘(II) L IMITATION ON REVIEW .— 3\nThere shall be no administrative or 4\njudicial review under section 1869, 5\n1878, or otherwise of the methodology 6\nthe Secretary uses to determine 7\nwhether a covered entity or business 8\nassociate is subject to the enhanced 9\nsecurity requirements under clause 10\n(i)(II). 11\n‘‘(iii) F ACTORS.—In addition to the 12\nfactors described in subparagraph (A)(i), 13\nin developing— 14\n‘‘(I) the minimum security re-15\nquirements under clause (i)(I), the 16\nSecretary shall, in consultation with 17\nthe Director of Cybersecurity and In-18\nfrastructure Security Agency and the 19\nDirector of National Intelligence, de-20\nsign the requirements to prevent— 21\n‘‘(aa) cyber incidents uti-22\nlizing the tools and strategies 23\nused to target covered entities or 24\nbusiness associates; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n6 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(bb) the potential harms, 1\nas defined by the Secretary, to 2\nnational security that could re-3\nsult from a cyber incident involv-4\ning a covered entity or business 5\nassociate; 6\n‘‘(cc) the potential harms, as 7\ndefined by the Secretary, to pa-8\ntients that could result from a 9\ncyber incident involving a covered 10\nentity or business associate; and 11\n‘‘(dd) other potential harms 12\nfrom cyber incidents, as deter-13\nmined appropriate by the Sec-14\nretary; and 15\n‘‘(II) the enhanced security re-16\nquirements under clause (i)(II), the 17\nSecretary shall, in consultation with 18\nthe Director of the Cybersecurity and 19\nInfrastructure Security Agency and 20\nthe Director of National Intelligence, 21\ndesign the requirements to prevent 22\nthe potential harms described in sub-23\nclause (I) and protect against the spe-24\ncific threats the covered entities and 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n7 \n•S 5443 IS\nbusiness associates described in such 1\nclause face. 2\n‘‘(iv) R EVIEW AND UPDATE OF RE -3\nQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall review 4\nand update the minimum and enhanced se-5\ncurity requirements adopted under clause 6\n(i) not less frequently than every 2 years. 7\n‘‘(v) E FFECTIVE DATE AND RULE -8\nMAKING.— 9\n‘‘(I) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The re-10\nquirements under this subparagraph 11\nshall take effect on the date that is 2 12\nyears after the date of enactment of 13\nthis subparagraph. 14\n‘‘(II) R ULEMAKING.—Not later 15\nthan 18 months after the date of en-16\nactment of this subparagraph, the 17\nSecretary shall promulgate regulations 18\nto carry out this subparagraph. 19\n‘‘(vi) D EFINITIONS.—For purposes of 20\nthis subsection: 21\n‘‘(I) B USINESS ASSOCIATE .—The 22\nterm ‘business associate’ has the 23\nmeaning given such term in section 24\n160.103 of title 45, Code of Federal 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n8 \n•S 5443 IS\nRegulations (or a successor regula-1\ntion). 2\n‘‘(II) C OVERED ENTITY .—The 3\nterm ‘covered entity’ has the meaning 4\ngiven that term in section 160.103 of 5\ntitle 45, Code of Federal Regulations 6\n(or a successor regulation). 7\n‘‘(III) S YSTEMIC IMPORTANCE .— 8\nThe term ‘systemic importance’ 9\nmeans, with respect to a covered enti-10\nty or business associate, that the fail-11\nure of, or a disruption to, such entity 12\nor associate would have a debilitating 13\nimpact on access to health care or the 14\nstability of the health care system of 15\nthe United States (as determined by 16\nthe Secretary).’’. 17\n(b) AVAILABILITY OF HEALTH INFORMATION.—Sec-18\ntion 1173(d)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 19\n1320d–2(d)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the integrity 20\nand confidentiality’’ and inserting ‘‘the availability, integ-21\nrity, and confidentiality. 22\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n9 \n•S 5443 IS\nSEC. 102. SECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT, REPORTING RE-1\nQUIREMENTS, AND AUDITS FOR COVERED 2\nENTITIES AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATES. 3\n(a) S ECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT AND REPORT-4\nING.—Section 1173(d) of the Social Security Act (42 5\nU.S.C. 1320d–2(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 6\nfollowing new paragraph: 7\n‘‘(3) S ECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT AND RE -8\nPORTING.— 9\n‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—Each covered entity 10\nand business associate shall at a minimum, on 11\nan annual basis— 12\n‘‘(i) conduct and document a security 13\nrisk analysis, including information regard-14\ning the manner and extent to which such 15\nentity or associate is exposed to risk 16\nthrough its business associates; 17\n‘‘(ii) document a plan for a rapid and 18\norderly resolution in the event of a natural 19\ndisaster, disruptive cyber incident, or other 20\ntechnological failure to its information sys-21\ntems or those of its business associates; 22\n‘‘(iii) conduct a stress test to evaluate 23\nwhether such entity or associate has the 24\ncapabilities and planning necessary to re-25\ncover essential functions, such as patient 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n10 \n•S 5443 IS\ncare operations and transactions described 1\nin subsection (a)(2), following a cyber inci-2\ndent, a natural disaster, or other substan-3\ntial threat to health care operations, as de-4\ntermined by the Secretary; 5\n‘‘(iv) document whether, based upon 6\nthe results of the stress test described in 7\nclause (iii), the covered entity or business 8\nassociate revised the most recent plan de-9\nscribed in clause (ii); 10\n‘‘(v) provide a written statement 11\nsigned by the chief executive officer and 12\nchief information security officer (or equiv-13\nalent thereof) stating that the covered enti-14\nty or business associate is in compliance 15\nwith security requirements adopted under 16\npart 160 of title 45, Code of Federal Regu-17\nlations, and subparts A and C of part 164 18\nof title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or 19\na successor regulation), including the ap-20\nplicable security requirements adopted 21\nunder paragraph (1)(B); and 22\n‘‘(vi) publish on a publicly accessible 23\nwebsite— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n11 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(I) whether the covered entity 1\nor business associate has received a 2\nnotification from the Secretary pursu-3\nant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(I); 4\n‘‘(II) whether the covered entity 5\nor business associate meets the min-6\nimum security requirements and, if 7\napplicable, the enhanced security re-8\nquirements under paragraph (1)(B); 9\nand 10\n‘‘(III) a copy of each statement 11\nprovided under clause (v) with respect 12\nto each year in a machine-readable 13\nformat. 14\n‘‘(B) S TRESS TEST METHODOLOGY .—The 15\nSecretary shall provide for not less than 2 dif-16\nferent sets of conditions under which the test 17\ndescribed in subparagraph (A)(iii) is to be con-18\nducted. 19\n‘‘(C) W AIVER AUTHORITY .—The Secretary 20\nmay waive the requirements of this paragraph 21\nwith respect to a covered entity or business as-22\nsociate if the burden on the entity or associate 23\nsignificantly outweighs the benefits, taking into 24\naccount the revenue of the entity or associate, 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n12 \n•S 5443 IS\nthe volume of protected health information or 1\nhealth care transactions processed by the entity 2\nor associate, and such other factors as the Sec-3\nretary determines appropriate. 4\n‘‘(D) REPORTING.— 5\n‘‘(i) I N GENERAL .—Subject to clause 6\n(ii), each covered entity and business asso-7\nciate shall submit the documentation re-8\nquired under subparagraph (A) at such 9\ntime, in such form, and containing such in-10\nformation as the Secretary may require. 11\n‘‘(ii) A NNUAL REPORTING FOR COV -12\nERED ENTITIES AND BUSINESS ASSOCI -13\nATES SUBJECT TO ENHANCED SECURITY  14\nREQUIREMENTS.—Each covered entity and 15\nbusiness associate that is subject to en-16\nhanced security requirements shall submit 17\nthe documentation required under subpara-18\ngraph (A) to the Secretary not less fre-19\nquently than on an annual basis. 20\n‘‘(E) D EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 21\nsubsection: 22\n‘‘(i) C YBER INCIDENT .—The term 23\n‘cyber incident’ has the meaning given the 24\nterm ‘incident’ in section 2200(12) of the 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n13 \n•S 5443 IS\nHomeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 1\n650(12)). 2\n‘‘(ii) MACHINE-READABLE.—The term 3\n‘machine-readable’ has the meaning given 4\nsuch term in section 3502 of title 44, 5\nUnited States Code. 6\n‘‘(iii) STRESS TEST .—The term ‘stress 7\ntest’ means an extensive real-world simula-8\ntion intended to test the operational resil-9\nience of the health care operations of a 10\ncovered entity or business associate in re-11\nsponse to a substantial interruption in in-12\nformation systems, including the ability 13\nto— 14\n‘‘(I) continue to provide essential 15\ncare and services during and in the 16\nrecovery period from such substantial 17\ninterruption; and 18\n‘‘(II) timely rebuild the informa-19\ntion systems (as defined in section 20\n2200(14) of the Homeland Security 21\nAct of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 650(14))) of 22\nsuch covered entity or business asso-23\nciate. 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n14 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(F) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The require-1\nments under this paragraph shall take effect on 2\nthe date that is 3 years after the date of enact-3\nment of this paragraph.’’. 4\n(b) I NDEPENDENT SECURITY COMPLIANCE AU-5\nDITS.—Section 1173(d) of the Social Security Act (42 6\nU.S.C. 1320d–2(d)), as amended by subsection (a), is 7\namended by adding at the end the following new para-8\ngraph: 9\n‘‘(4) INDEPENDENT SECURITY COMPLIANCE AU -10\nDITS.— 11\n‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—Each covered entity 12\nand business associate shall— 13\n‘‘(i) contract with an independent 14\nauditor that meets such requirements for 15\nindependence and technical expertise as 16\nthe Inspector General of the Department 17\nof Health and Human Services may estab-18\nlish to conduct an annual audit in accord-19\nance with subparagraph (B); and 20\n‘‘(ii) document the findings of each 21\naudit conducted under clause (i). 22\n‘‘(B) A UDIT REQUIREMENTS .—An audit 23\nconducted under subparagraph (A)(i) shall— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n15 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(i) assess compliance of the covered 1\nentity or business associate with— 2\n‘‘(I) during the period prior to 3\nthe effective date of the requirements 4\nunder paragraph (1)(B), the 5\nHealthcare and Public Health Sector 6\nCybersecurity Performance Goals as 7\ndescribed in the report published by 8\nthe Department of Health and 9\nHuman Services as of the date of en-10\nactment of this paragraph, and titled 11\n‘Healthcare and Public Health Sector- 12\nSpecific Cybersecurity Performance 13\nGoals: Strengthening the Cybersecu-14\nrity of the Healthcare Sector and 15\nKeeping Patients Safe and Secure’; 16\nand 17\n‘‘(II) on or after the effective 18\ndate of the requirements under para-19\ngraph (1)(B), the minimum and en-20\nhanced security requirements adopted 21\nunder such paragraph, as applicable; 22\n‘‘(ii) identify any areas in which the 23\ncovered entity or business associate did not 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n16 \n•S 5443 IS\nmeet such goals or requirements, as appli-1\ncable; and 2\n‘‘(iii) certify that the covered entity or 3\nbusiness associate— 4\n‘‘(I) has resolved any areas of 5\nnoncompliance; or 6\n‘‘(II) is implementing an appro-7\npriate plan to resolve such areas of 8\nnoncompliance in a timely manner. 9\n‘‘(C) W AIVER AUTHORITY .—The Secretary 10\nmay waive the requirements of this paragraph 11\nwith respect to a covered entity or business as-12\nsociate if the burden on the entity or associate 13\nsignificantly outweighs the benefits, taking into 14\naccount the revenue of the entity or associate, 15\nthe volume of protected health information or 16\nhealth care transactions processed by the entity 17\nor associate, and such as other factors as the 18\nSecretary determines appropriate. 19\n‘‘(D) REPORTING.— 20\n‘‘(i) I N GENERAL .—Subject to clause 21\n(ii), each covered entity and business asso-22\nciate shall submit the documentation re-23\nquired under subparagraph (A)(ii) at such 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n17 \n•S 5443 IS\ntime, in such form, and containing such in-1\nformation as the Secretary may require. 2\n‘‘(ii) A NNUAL REPORTING FOR ENTI -3\nTIES AND ASSOCIATES SUBJECT TO EN -4\nHANCED SECURITY REQUIREMENTS .—Each 5\ncovered entity and business associate that 6\nis subject to enhanced security require-7\nments shall submit the documentation re-8\nquired under subparagraph (A)(ii) to the 9\nSecretary not less frequently than on an 10\nannual basis. 11\n‘‘(E) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The require-12\nments under this paragraph shall take effect on 13\nthe date that is 180 days after the date of en-14\nactment of this paragraph.’’. 15\n(c) SECRETARIAL AUDITS OF DATA SECURITY PRAC-16\nTICES.—Section 1173(d) of the Social Security Act (42 17\nU.S.C. 1320d–2(d)), as amended by subsections (a) and 18\n(b), is amended by adding at the end the following new 19\nparagraph: 20\n‘‘(5) S ECRETARIAL AUDITS OF DATA SECURITY  21\nPRACTICES.— 22\n‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—Each year (beginning 23\non or after the date that is 4 years after the 24\ndate of enactment of this paragraph) the Sec-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n18 \n•S 5443 IS\nretary shall conduct an annual audit of the data 1\nsecurity practices of at least 20 covered entities 2\nor business associates under this part. The 3\nComptroller General of the United States shall 4\nmonitor auditing activities conducted under this 5\nparagraph. 6\n‘‘(B) C ONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting cov-7\nered entities or business associates for audit 8\nunder subparagraph (A) the Secretary shall 9\nconsider— 10\n‘‘(i) whether the covered entity or 11\nbusiness associate is of systemic impor-12\ntance; 13\n‘‘(ii) whether any complaints have 14\nbeen made with respect to the data secu-15\nrity practices of the covered entity or busi-16\nness associate; and 17\n‘‘(iii) whether the covered entity or 18\nbusiness associate has a history of previous 19\nviolations. 20\n‘‘(C) C ORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN AND PEN -21\nALTIES.—The findings of an audit under this 22\nparagraph may result in a civil money penalty 23\nbased on the failure of a covered entity or busi-24\nness associate to submit documentation dem-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n19 \n•S 5443 IS\nonstrating that the covered entity or business 1\nassociate has taken corrective actions to achieve 2\ncompliance in response to a finding of a poten-3\ntial violation of a provision of this part within 4\na period of time specified by the Secretary after 5\nreceipt of such findings. 6\n‘‘(D) R EPORTS TO CONGRESS .—The Sec-7\nretary shall submit to Congress reports summa-8\nrizing the results of the audits conducted under 9\nthis paragraph biennially ending on the date 10\nthat is 10 years after the date on which the 11\nfirst report is submitted under this subpara-12\ngraph.’’. 13\n(d) C IVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE 14\nTO COMPLY WITH DOCUMENTATION, R EPORTING, AND 15\nAUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1173(d) of the Social 16\nSecurity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(d)), as amended by sub-17\nsections (a), (b), and (c), is amended by adding at the 18\nend the following new paragraph: 19\n‘‘(6) C IVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR  20\nFAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DOCUMENTATION , RE-21\nPORTING, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS .— 22\n‘‘(A) CIVIL PENALTIES .— 23\n‘‘(i) I N GENERAL .—A covered entity 24\nor business associate that— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n20 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(I) fails to timely submit docu-1\nmentation or a report required under 2\nparagraph (3), (4), or (5); 3\n‘‘(II) fails to comply with an 4\naudit under paragraph (5); or 5\n‘‘(III) fails to comply with a re-6\nsponsibility of a covered entity or a 7\nbusiness associate under section 8\n160.310 of title 45, Code of Federal 9\nRegulations (or a successor regula-10\ntion); 11\nshall be subject to a civil money penalty of 12\nnot more than $5,000 per day for each 13\nsuch failure. 14\n‘‘(ii) P ROCEDURES.—The provisions 15\nof section 1128A (other than subsections 16\n(a), (b), and (d)(1), and the second sen-17\ntence of subsection (f)) shall apply to the 18\nimposition of a civil money penalty under 19\nthis subparagraph in the same manner as 20\nsuch provisions apply to the imposition of 21\na penalty under such section 1128A. 22\n‘‘(iii) C LARIFICATION.—Any civil 23\nmoney penalty under this subparagraph 24\nwith respect to a failure described in clause 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n21 \n•S 5443 IS\n(i) shall be in lieu of the penalties de-1\nscribed in section 1176. 2\n‘‘(B) C RIMINAL PENALTIES .—In addition 3\nto any penalties imposed under subparagraph 4\n(A), whoever submits, or causes to be sub-5\nmitted, any documentation or report required of 6\na covered entity or business associate under 7\nparagraph (3), (4), or (5) knowing that such 8\ndocumentation or report contains false informa-9\ntion, or willfully fails to timely submit, or will-10\nfully causes to not be timely submitted, such a 11\ndocument or report, shall be guilty of a felony 12\nand upon conviction thereof fined not more 13\nthan $1,000,000 or imprisoned for not more 14\nthan 10 years, or both.’’. 15\nSEC. 103. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO 16\nCOMPLY WITH SECURITY STANDARDS AND 17\nREQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH INFORMATION. 18\n(a) INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 1176 of 19\nthe Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–5) is amend-20\ned— 21\n(1) in subsection (a)(1), in the matter pre-22\nceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subsection 23\n(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’; 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n22 \n•S 5443 IS\n(2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 1\nsubsections (e) and (f); and 2\n(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-3\nlowing new subsection: 4\n‘‘(d) S PECIAL RULES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY 5\nWITH SECURITY STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR  6\nHEALTH INFORMATION.— 7\n‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—In the case of a violation of 8\nthe security standards and requirements under sec-9\ntion 1173(d) that occurs after the effective date of 10\nthe requirements under paragraph (1)(B) of such 11\nsection, the following rules shall apply: 12\n‘‘(A) Subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be applied 13\nby substituting ‘that is at least $500’ for ‘that 14\nis at least the amount described in paragraph 15\n(3)(A) but not to exceed the amount described 16\nin paragraph (3)(D)’. 17\n‘‘(B) Subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be applied 18\nby substituting ‘that is at least $5,000’ for 19\n‘that is at least the amount described in para-20\ngraph (3)(B) but not to exceed the amount de-21\nscribed in paragraph (3)(D)’. 22\n‘‘(C) Subsection (a)(1)(C)(i) shall be ap-23\nplied by substituting ‘that is at least $50,000’ 24\nfor ‘that is at least the amount described in 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n23 \n•S 5443 IS\nparagraph (3)(C) but not to exceed the amount 1\ndescribed in paragraph (3)(D)’. 2\n‘‘(D) Subsection (a)(1)(C)(ii) shall be ap-3\nplied by substituting ‘that is at least $250,000’ 4\nfor ‘that is at least the amount described in 5\nparagraph (3)(D)’. 6\n‘‘(E) In addition to the factors described in 7\nthe second sentence of subsection (a)(1), in de-8\ntermining the amount of a penalty under this 9\nsection for a violation of the security standards 10\nand requirements under section 1173(d), the 11\nSecretary shall also base such determination 12\non— 13\n‘‘(i) the size of the covered entity or 14\nbusiness associate (as such terms are de-15\nfined in section 1173(d)(1)(B)(vi)) subject 16\nto the penalty; 17\n‘‘(ii) the full compliance history of the 18\ncovered entity or business associate; 19\n‘‘(iii) good faith efforts to comply with 20\nthe security standards and requirements; 21\nand 22\n‘‘(iv) such other matters as the Sec-23\nretary determines appropriate. 24\n‘‘(F) Subsection (a)(3) shall not apply. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n24 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(2) D ISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN CIVIL MONE -1\nTARY PENALTIES COLLECTED .— 2\n‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—Subject to the regula-3\ntion promulgated pursuant to subparagraph 4\n(B), any civil monetary penalty or monetary 5\nsettlement collected with respect to a violation 6\nof the security standards and requirements 7\nunder section 1173(d) that occurs after the ef-8\nfective date of such requirements under para-9\ngraph (1)(B) of such section shall be trans-10\nferred to the Office for Civil Rights of the De-11\npartment of Health and Human Services to be 12\nused for the purposes of enforcing the provi-13\nsions of this part and subparts C and E of part 14\n164 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or 15\nany successor regulation). 16\n‘‘(B) E STABLISHMENT OF METHODOLOGY  17\nTO DISTRIBUTE PERCENTAGE OF CMPS COL -18\nLECTED TO HARMED INDIVIDUALS .—Not later 19\nthan 18 months after the date of the enactment 20\nof this subparagraph, the Secretary shall estab-21\nlish by regulation a methodology under which 22\nan individual who is harmed by an act that con-23\nstitutes a violation referred to in subparagraph 24\n(A) may receive a percentage of any civil mone-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n25 \n•S 5443 IS\ntary penalty or monetary settlement collected 1\nwith respect to such violation. 2\n‘‘(C) A PPLICATION OF METHODOLOGY .— 3\nThe methodology under subparagraph (B) shall 4\nbe applied to any civil monetary penalty or 5\nmonetary settlement collected with respect to a 6\nviolation of the security standards and require-7\nments under section 1173(d) that occurs after 8\nthe effective date of such requirements under 9\nparagraph (1)(B) of such section.’’. 10\n(b) STRIKING AMENDMENT TO THE HEALTH INFOR-11\nMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ECONOMIC AND CLINICAL 12\nHEALTH ACT RELATED TO FINES AND AUDITS.— 13\n(1) I N GENERAL .—Part 1 of subtitle D of the 14\nHealth Information Technology for Economic and 15\nClinical Health Act (42 U.S.C. 17931 et seq.), as 16\namended by Public Law 116–321, is amended by 17\nstriking section 13412. 18\n(2) E FFECTIVE DATE .—The amendment made 19\nby this subsection shall take effect on the date of en-20\nactment of this Act, and apply to determinations 21\nmade on or after such date. 22\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n26 \n•S 5443 IS\nSEC. 104. USER FEE TO SUPPORT DATA SECURITY OVER-1\nSIGHT AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES. 2\nSection 1173(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3\n1320d–2(d)), as amended by section 102, is amended by 4\nadding at the end the following new paragraph: 5\n‘‘(7) U SER FEE TO SUPPORT DATA SECURITY  6\nOVERSIGHT AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES .— 7\n‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—Each covered entity 8\nand business associate shall pay the fee estab-9\nlished by the Secretary under subparagraph 10\n(B). 11\n‘‘(B) A UTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is 12\nauthorized to charge a fee to each covered enti-13\nty and business associate that is equal to the 14\npro rata share of the entity or associate (equal 15\nto the ratio, as estimated by the Secretary, of 16\nthe revenue of the entity or associate for the 17\npreceding fiscal year to national health expendi-18\ntures, as determined by the Secretary, for the 19\npreceding fiscal year) of the aggregate amount 20\nof fees which the Secretary is directed to collect 21\nin a fiscal year. Any amounts collected shall be 22\navailable without further appropriation to the 23\nSecretary for the purpose of carrying out over-24\nsight and enforcement activities under this sub-25\nsection. 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n27 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(C) L IMITATION.—In any fiscal year (be-1\nginning with fiscal year 2028) the fees collected 2\nby the Secretary under subparagraph (B) shall 3\nnot exceed the lesser of— 4\n‘‘(i) the estimated costs to be incurred 5\nby the Secretary in the fiscal year in car-6\nrying out oversight and enforcement activi-7\nties under this subsection; or 8\n‘‘(ii)(I) in fiscal year 2028, 9\n$40,000,000; 10\n‘‘(II) in fiscal year 2029, 11\n$50,000,000; and 12\n‘‘(III) in fiscal year 2030 or a subse-13\nquent fiscal year, the amount determined 14\nunder this clause for the preceding fiscal 15\nyear, increased by the percentage increase 16\nin the consumer price index for all urban 17\nconsumers (all items; United States city 18\naverage) over the previous year.’’. 19\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n28 \n•S 5443 IS\nTITLE II—MEDICARE ASSIST-1\nANCE TO ADDRESS CYBERSE-2\nCURITY INCIDENTS 3\nSEC. 201. MEDICARE SAFE CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES 4\nADOPTION PROGRAM FOR ELIGIBLE HOS-5\nPITALS AND CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS. 6\n(a) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Section 1886 of the So-7\ncial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww) is amended by add-8\ning at the end the following new subsection: 9\n‘‘(u) INCENTIVES FOR ADOPTION OF ESSENTIAL AND 10\nENHANCED CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES.— 11\n‘‘(1) INVESTMENT.— 12\n‘‘(A) F ISCAL YEARS 2029 AND 2030 .—For 13\nfiscal years 2029 and 2030, upon request, a 14\ncritical access hospital or an eligible high-needs 15\nhospital shall be paid from the Federal Hospital 16\nInsurance Trust Fund established under section 17\n1817 a proportional share (as determined by 18\nthe Secretary) of $800,000,000 to adopt essen-19\ntial cybersecurity practices. 20\n‘‘(B) F ISCAL YEARS 2031 AND 2032 .—For 21\nfiscal years 2031 and 2032, upon request, a 22\ncritical access hospital or an eligible hospital 23\nshall be paid from the Federal Hospital Insur-24\nance Trust Fund established under section 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n29 \n•S 5443 IS\n1817 a proportional share (as determined by 1\nthe Secretary) of $500,000,000 to adopt en-2\nhanced cybersecurity practices. 3\n‘‘(C) F ORM OF PAYMENT .—A payment 4\nunder this subsection may be in the form of a 5\nsingle consolidated payment or in the form of 6\nsuch periodic installments as the Secretary may 7\nspecify. 8\n‘‘(2) ADOPTION.— 9\n‘‘(A) E SSENTIAL CYBERSECURITY PRAC -10\nTICES.—Beginning in fiscal year 2031 for an 11\neligible hospital, and in calendar year 2031 for 12\na critical access hospital, such hospital or crit-13\nical access hospital shall be treated as an adopt-14\ner of essential cybersecurity practices for a pay-15\nment year if such hospital or critical access hos-16\npital submits information to the Secretary, in a 17\nform and manner specified by the Secretary, 18\nand in addition to the information required by 19\nsubsection (n)(3)(A)(iii), attesting to implemen-20\ntation of essential cybersecurity practices se-21\nlected by the Secretary for the EHR reporting 22\nperiod with respect to such year. 23\n‘‘(B) E NHANCED CYBERSECURITY PRAC -24\nTICES.—Beginning in fiscal year 2032 for an 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n30 \n•S 5443 IS\neligible hospital, and in calendar year 2032 for 1\na critical access hospital, such hospital or crit-2\nical access hospital shall be treated as an adopt-3\ner of enhanced cybersecurity practices for a 4\npayment year if such hospital or critical access 5\nhospital submits information to the Secretary, 6\nin a form and manner specified by the Sec-7\nretary, and in addition to the information re-8\nquired by subsection (n)(3)(A)(iii), attesting to 9\nimplementation of enhanced cybersecurity prac-10\ntices selected by the Secretary during the EHR 11\nreporting period with respect to such year. 12\n‘‘(C) I DENTIFICATION OF ESSENTIAL CY -13\nBERSECURITY PRACTICES .—Beginning in fiscal 14\nyear 2029, the Secretary shall, through notice 15\nand comment rulemaking, identify essential cy-16\nbersecurity practices for an EHR reporting pe-17\nriod that address known vulnerabilities to data 18\ninfrastructure and patient health information 19\nand ensure patient safety and continuity of pa-20\ntient care. 21\n‘‘(D) I DENTIFICATION OF ENHANCED CY -22\nBERSECURITY PRACTICES .—Beginning in fiscal 23\nyear 2030, the Secretary shall, through notice 24\nand comment rulemaking, identify enhanced cy-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n31 \n•S 5443 IS\nbersecurity practices for an EHR reporting pe-1\nriod that address the safe use of digital data, 2\nsafety and continuity of patient care, advance 3\ncybersecurity resilience across the hospital sec-4\ntor, address high-risk cybersecurity 5\nvulnerabilities (as determined by the Secretary), 6\nand ensure patient safety and continuity of 7\ncare. 8\n‘‘(E) U PDATING.—The Secretary may up-9\ndate essential and enhanced cybersecurity prac-10\ntices required under this subsection through no-11\ntice and comment rulemaking as needed to re-12\nflect evolving cybersecurity practices. 13\n‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 14\n‘‘(A) L IMITATIONS ON REVIEW .—There 15\nshall be no administrative or judicial review 16\nunder section 1869, section 1878, or otherwise, 17\nof— 18\n‘‘(i) the methodology and standards 19\nfor determining payment amounts under 20\nthis subsection and payment adjustments 21\nunder subsection (b)(3)(B)(xiii) and sec-22\ntion 1814(l)(5)(A); 23\n‘‘(ii) the methodology and standards 24\nfor determining whether an eligible hos-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n32 \n•S 5443 IS\npital is an essential or enhanced cybersecu-1\nrity practices adopter under paragraph (2) 2\nand the Secretary’s determination of 3\nwhether to apply the hardship exception to 4\nan eligible hospital under subsection 5\n(b)(3)(B)(xiii)(III); or 6\n‘‘(iii) any alteration by the Secretary 7\nof the requirements specified in paragraph 8\n(2). 9\n‘‘(B) P OSTING ON WEBSITE .—The Sec-10\nretary shall post on the Internet website of the 11\nCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in an 12\neasily understandable format, the number by 13\nState of eligible hospitals and critical access 14\nhospitals that are not essential or enhanced cy-15\nbersecurity adopters as applicable for a year. 16\n‘‘(4) D EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-17\nsection: 18\n‘‘(A) EHR REPORTING PERIOD .—The term 19\n‘EHR reporting period’ means the period deter-20\nmined by the Secretary under subsection 21\n(n)(6)(A). 22\n‘‘(B) E LIGIBLE HIGH -NEEDS HOSPITAL .— 23\nThe term ‘eligible high-needs hospital’ means 24\nan eligible hospital that— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n33 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(i) is a subsection (d) Puerto Rico 1\nhospital (as defined in subsection 2\n(d)(9)(A)); 3\n‘‘(ii) is operated by the Indian Health 4\nService or by an Indian tribe or tribal or-5\nganization (as those terms are defined in 6\nsection 4 of the Indian Health Care Im-7\nprovement Act); 8\n‘‘(iii) has a disproportionate percent-9\nage of Medicare beneficiaries who are du-10\nally eligible for benefits under this title and 11\ntitle XIX across all subsection (d) hospitals 12\nin the baseline period (as specified by the 13\nSecretary) of at least 75 percent; 14\n‘‘(iv) has a disproportionate percent-15\nage of Medicare beneficiaries who are sub-16\nsidy eligible individuals (as defined in sec-17\ntion 1860D–14(a)(3)) across all subsection 18\n(d) hospitals in the baseline period (as 19\nspecified by the Secretary) of at least 75 20\npercent (as determined by the Secretary 21\nunder subsection (d)(5)(F)(vi)); 22\n‘‘(v) is located in a rural area (as de-23\nfined in subsection (d)(2)(D)); 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n34 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(vi) is classified as a rural referral 1\ncenter under subsection (d)(5)(C); 2\n‘‘(vii) is a sole community hospital (as 3\ndefined in subsection (d)(5)(D)(iii)); 4\n‘‘(viii) is a low-volume hospital (as de-5\nfined in subsection (d)(12)(C)(i)); or 6\n‘‘(ix) is a medicare-dependent, small 7\nrural hospital (as defined in subsection 8\n(d)(5)(G)). 9\n‘‘(C) E LIGIBLE HOSPITAL .—The term ‘eli-10\ngible hospital’ has the meaning given that term 11\nin subsection (n)(6)(B). 12\n‘‘(D) E NHANCED CYBERSECURITY PRAC -13\nTICES.—The term ‘enhanced cybersecurity 14\npractices’ means enhanced security require-15\nments adopted under section 16\n1173(d)(1)(B)(i)(II) and such additional prac-17\ntices as the Secretary may select for a year that 18\nare greater than essential cybersecurity prac-19\ntices. 20\n‘‘(E) E SSENTIAL CYBERSECURITY PRAC -21\nTICES.—The term ‘essential cybersecurity prac-22\ntices’ means the minimum security require-23\nments adopted under section 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n35 \n•S 5443 IS\n1173(d)(1)(B)(i)(I) and such additional prac-1\ntices as the Secretary may select for a year.’’. 2\n(b) PAYMENT REDUCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO ADOPT 3\nSAFE CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES; S IGNIFICANT HARD-4\nSHIP EXCEPTION.— 5\n(1) H OSPITALS.—Section 1886(b)(3)(B) of the 6\nSocial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)) is 7\namended by adding at the end the following new 8\nclause: 9\n‘‘(xiii)(I) For purposes of clause (i)— 10\n‘‘(aa) for fiscal year 2031, in the 11\ncase of an eligible hospital that is not 12\nan adopter of the essential cybersecu-13\nrity practices for a payment year (as 14\ndetermined under subsection 15\n(u)(2)(A)) for an EHR reporting pe-16\nriod for such year, the applicable per-17\ncentage increase otherwise applicable 18\nunder clause (i) (determined without 19\nregard to clause (viii) or (xi)) for such 20\nfiscal year shall be reduced (but not 21\nbelow zero) by 0.25 percentage point; 22\n‘‘(bb) for fiscal year 2032, in the 23\ncase of an eligible hospital that is not 24\nan adopter of the essential cybersecu-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n36 \n•S 5443 IS\nrity practices for a payment year (as 1\ndetermined under subsection 2\n(u)(2)(A)) for an EHR reporting pe-3\nriod for such year— 4\n‘‘(AA) the applicable per-5\ncentage increase otherwise appli-6\ncable under clause (i) (deter-7\nmined without regard to clause 8\n(viii) or (xi)) for such fiscal year 9\nshall be reduced (but not below 10\nzero) by 0.50 percentage point; 11\nand 12\n‘‘(BB) the base operating 13\nDRG payment amount (as de-14\nfined in subsection (o)(7)(D)) for 15\nsuch hospital for each discharge 16\nin such fiscal year shall be re-17\nduced by 0.25 percent; 18\n‘‘(cc) for fiscal year 2033, in the 19\ncase of an eligible hospital that is not 20\nan adopter of the enhanced cybersecu-21\nrity practices for a payment year (as 22\ndetermined under subsection 23\n(u)(2)(B)) for an EHR reporting pe-24\nriod for such fiscal year— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n37 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(AA) the applicable per-1\ncentage increase otherwise appli-2\ncable under clause (i) (deter-3\nmined without regard to clause 4\n(viii) or (xi)) for such fiscal year 5\nshall be reduced (but not below 6\nzero) by 0.75 percentage point; 7\nand 8\n‘‘(BB) the base operating 9\nDRG payment amount (as de-10\nfined in subsection (o)(7)(D)) for 11\nsuch hospital for each discharge 12\nin such fiscal year shall be re-13\nduced by 0.50 percent; 14\n‘‘(dd) for fiscal year 2034, in the 15\ncase of an eligible hospital that is not 16\nan adopter of the enhanced cybersecu-17\nrity practices for a payment year (as 18\ndetermined under subsection 19\n(u)(2)(B)) for an EHR reporting pe-20\nriod for such fiscal year— 21\n‘‘(AA) the applicable per-22\ncentage increase otherwise appli-23\ncable under clause (i) (deter-24\nmined without regard to clause 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n38 \n•S 5443 IS\n(viii) or (xi)) for such fiscal year 1\nshall be reduced (but not below 2\nzero) by 1.0 percentage point; 3\nand 4\n‘‘(BB) the base operating 5\nDRG payment amount (as de-6\nfined in subsection (o)(7)(D)) for 7\nsuch hospital for each discharge 8\nin such fiscal year shall be re-9\nduced by 0.75 percent; and 10\n‘‘(ee) for fiscal year 2035 and 11\neach subsequent fiscal year, in the 12\ncase of an eligible hospital that is not 13\nan adopter of the enhanced cybersecu-14\nrity practices for a payment year (as 15\ndetermined under subsection 16\n(u)(2)(B)) for an EHR reporting pe-17\nriod for such fiscal year— 18\n‘‘(AA) the applicable per-19\ncentage increase otherwise appli-20\ncable under clause (i) (deter-21\nmined without regard to clause 22\n(viii) or (xi)) for such fiscal year 23\nshall be reduced (but not below 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n39 \n•S 5443 IS\nzero) by 1.0 percentage point; 1\nand 2\n‘‘(BB) the base operating 3\nDRG payment amount (as de-4\nfined in subsection (o)(7)(D)) for 5\nsuch hospital for each discharge 6\nin such fiscal year shall be re-7\nduced by 1.0 percent. 8\n‘‘(II) A reduction under subclause (I) 9\nshall apply only with respect to the fiscal 10\nyear involved, and the Secretary shall not 11\ntake into account such reduction in making 12\npayments to a hospital under this section 13\nin a subsequent fiscal year. 14\n‘‘(III) The Secretary may, on a case- 15\nby-case basis, except an eligible hospital 16\nfrom the application of subclause (I) with 17\nrespect to a fiscal year if the Secretary de-18\ntermines, subject to annual renewal, that 19\nrequiring such hospital to be an essential 20\nor enhanced cybersecurity practices adopt-21\ner during such fiscal year would result in 22\na significant hardship, such as in the case 23\nof a natural disaster, a bankruptcy, limited 24\ninternet connectivity, an incident (as de-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n40 \n•S 5443 IS\nfined in section 2200 of the Homeland Se-1\ncurity Act of 2002) that significantly dis-2\nrupts medicare claims processing, or any 3\nother similar situation that the Secretary 4\ndetermines interfered with the ability of 5\nthe eligible hospital to meet the require-6\nments. An eligible hospital may not be 7\ngranted an exemption under this subclause 8\nfor more than 5 years, except in cases 9\nwhere the Secretary determines such hos-10\npital has experienced an incident (as so de-11\nfined) that significantly disrupts medicare 12\nclaims processing. The Secretary shall es-13\ntablish an exception process and post an 14\napplication for an exception on the Inter-15\nnet website of the Centers for Medicare & 16\nMedicaid Services. Such process shall re-17\nquire that the application be submitted to 18\nthe Secretary by not later than 6 months 19\nafter the conclusion of the EHR reporting 20\nperiod for the relevant year. 21\n‘‘(IV) In the case of a State for which 22\nthe Secretary has waived all or part of this 23\nsection under the authority of section 24\n1115A, nothing in this section shall pre-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n41 \n•S 5443 IS\nclude such State from implementing an ad-1\njustment similar to the adjustment under 2\nsubclause (I). 3\n‘‘(V) In this clause, the term ‘eligible 4\nhospital’ has the meaning given such term 5\nin subsection (u)(4).’’. 6\n(2) C RITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS .—Section 7\n1814(l) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 8\n1395f(l)) is amended— 9\n(A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 10\nparagraph (6); 11\n(B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 12\nfollowing new paragraph: 13\n‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 14\nfor cost reporting periods beginning in— 15\n‘‘(i) fiscal year 2031, in the case of a crit-16\nical access hospital that is not an essential cy-17\nbersecurity practices adopter (as determined 18\nunder section 1886(u)(3)(A)) for an EHR re-19\nporting period with respect to such fiscal year, 20\nthe percent described in paragraph (1) shall be 21\nreduced by 0.25 percent; 22\n‘‘(ii) fiscal year 2032, in the case of a crit-23\nical access hospital that is not an essential cy-24\nbersecurity practices adopter (as determined 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n42 \n•S 5443 IS\nunder section 1886(u)(3)(A)) for an EHR re-1\nporting period with respect to such fiscal year, 2\nthe percent described in paragraph (1) shall be 3\nreduced by 0.50 percent; 4\n‘‘(iii) fiscal year 2033, in the case of a crit-5\nical access hospital that is not an enhanced cy-6\nbersecurity practices adopter (as determined 7\nunder section 1886(u)(3)(B)) for a EHR re-8\nporting period with respect to such fiscal year, 9\nthe percent described in paragraph (1) shall be 10\nreduced by 0.75 percent; and 11\n‘‘(iv) fiscal year 2034 or a subsequent fis-12\ncal year, in the case of a critical access hospital 13\nthat is not an enhanced cybersecurity practices 14\nadopter (as determined under section 15\n1886(u)(3)(B)) for a EHR reporting period 16\nwith respect to such fiscal year, the percent de-17\nscribed in paragraph (1) shall be reduced by 1 18\npercent. 19\n‘‘(B) The percent described in paragraph (1) 20\nshall be reduced by no more than a total of 1 per-21\ncent for a fiscal year as the result of the application 22\nof this paragraph and other sections of this title. 23\n‘‘(C) The provisions of subclause (III) of sec-24\ntion 1886(b)(3)(B)(xiii) shall apply with respect to 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n43 \n•S 5443 IS\nsubparagraph (A) for a critical access hospital with 1\nrespect to a cost reporting period in the same man-2\nner as such subclause applies with respect to sub-3\nclause (I) of such section for an eligible hospital.’’; 4\nand 5\n(C) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by 6\nsubparagraph (A)— 7\n(i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 8\n‘‘and’’ at the end; 9\n(ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 10\nthe period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 11\nand’’; and 12\n(iii) by adding at the end the fol-13\nlowing new subparagraphs: 14\n‘‘(E) the methodology and standards for deter-15\nmining payment amounts for critical access hospitals 16\nunder section 1886(u) and payment adjustments 17\nunder paragraph (5); 18\n‘‘(F) the methodology and standards for deter-19\nmining whether a critical access hospital is an essen-20\ntial or enhanced cybersecurity practices adopter 21\nunder section 1886(u)(2) and the Secretary’s deter-22\nmination of whether to apply the hardship exception 23\nunder subsection (b)(3)(B)(xiii)(III) to a critical ac-24\ncess hospital pursuant to paragraph (5)(C); or 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n44 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(G) any alteration by the Secretary of the re-1\nquirements specified in section 1886(u)(2) with re-2\nspect to a critical access hospital.’’. 3\n(c) IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING.—In addition to any 4\namounts otherwise made available, there is appropriated 5\nto the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program 6\nManagement Account from the Federal Hospital Insur-7\nance Trust Fund under section 1817 of the Social Secu-8\nrity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i), $40,000,000 for fiscal year 9\n2027 and $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2029 10\nthrough 2033, to remain available until expended, to carry 11\nout the amendments made by this section. 12\nSEC. 202. MEDICARE ACCELERATED AND ADVANCE PAY-13\nMENTS IN RESPONSE TO CYBERSECURITY IN-14\nCIDENTS. 15\n(a) PART A.—Section 1815(e)(3) of the Social Secu-16\nrity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395g(e)(3)) is amended to read as 17\nfollows: 18\n‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subsection (f), in the case of an 19\neligible provider of services (as defined in subparagraph 20\n(B)) that has an agreement in effect under section 1866 21\nand that has significant cash flow problems resulting from 22\noperations of its medicare administrative contractor under 23\nsection 1874A or from unusual circumstances of such pro-24\nvider’s operation, including significant disruption to Medi-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n45 \n•S 5443 IS\ncare claims processing due to a cybersecurity incident (as 1\ndefined in subparagraph (C)), the Secretary may make 2\navailable appropriate accelerated payments subject to ap-3\npropriate safeguards against fraud, waste, and abuse de-4\ntermined by the Secretary. 5\n‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘eligible providers 6\nof services’ means— 7\n‘‘(i) a subsection (d) hospital or a subsection 8\n(d) Puerto Rico hospital (as defined for purposes of 9\nsection 1886); 10\n‘‘(ii) a hospital described in any of clauses (i) 11\nthrough (vi) of section 1886(d)(1)(B); 12\n‘‘(iii) a critical access hospital (as defined in 13\nsection 1861(mm)(1)); 14\n‘‘(iv) a rural emergency hospital (as defined in 15\nsection 1861(kkk)(2)); 16\n‘‘(v) a skilled nursing facility (as defined in sec-17\ntion 1819(a)); 18\n‘‘(vi) a home health agency (as defined in sec-19\ntion 1861(o)); 20\n‘‘(vii) a hospice program (as defined in section 21\n1861(dd)(2)); 22\n‘‘(viii) a comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation 23\nfacility (as defined in section 1861(cc)(2)); 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n46 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(ix) a rural health clinic (as defined in section 1\n1861(aa)(2)); 2\n‘‘(x) a Federally qualified health center (as de-3\nfined in section 1861(aa)(4)); 4\n‘‘(xi) an opioid treatment program (as defined 5\nin section 1861(jjj)(2)); and 6\n‘‘(xii) a community mental health center (as de-7\nfined in section 1861(ff)(3)(B)). 8\n‘‘(C) In this paragraph, the term ‘cybersecurity inci-9\ndent’ has the meaning given the term ‘incident’ in section 10\n2200 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. 11\n‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 12\nSecretary may implement the provisions of this paragraph 13\nby program instruction or otherwise.’’. 14\n(b) PART B.—Section 1835 of the Social Security Act 15\n(42 U.S.C. 1395n) is amended by adding at the end the 16\nfollowing new subsection: 17\n‘‘(f)(1) Upon the request of a supplier (as defined in 18\nsection 1861(d)) that is participating in the Medicare pro-19\ngram under this title, that is furnishing items or services 20\nunder this part, and that has significant cash flow prob-21\nlems resulting from operations of its medicare administra-22\ntive contractor under section 1874A or from unusual cir-23\ncumstances of such supplier’s operation, including signifi-24\ncant disruption to Medicare claims processing due to a cy-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n47 \n•S 5443 IS\nbersecurity incident (as defined in paragraph (2)), the 1\nSecretary may make available appropriate advance pay-2\nments subject to appropriate safeguards against fraud, 3\nwaste, and abuse determined by the Secretary. 4\n‘‘(2) In this paragraph, the term ‘cybersecurity inci-5\ndent’ has the meaning given the term ‘incident’ in section 6\n2200 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. 7\n‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 8\nSecretary may implement the provisions of this subsection 9\nby program instruction or otherwise.’’. 10\n(c) PROTECTION OF TRUST FUNDS.— 11\n(1) P ART A .—Section 1817 of the Social Secu-12\nrity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i) is amended by adding at 13\nthe end the following new subsection: 14\n‘‘(l)(1) Beginning on the date of enactment of this 15\nsubsection, there shall be transferred from the General 16\nFund of the Treasury to the Trust Fund an amount, as 17\nestimated by the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medi-18\ncare & Medicaid Services, equal to the amount of acceler-19\nated payments made for items and services under this 20\npart. 21\n‘‘(2) There shall be transferred from the Trust Fund 22\nto the General Fund of the Treasury amounts equivalent 23\nto the sum of— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n48 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(A) the amounts by which claims have offset 1\n(in whole or in part) the amount of such payments 2\ndescribed in paragraph (1); and 3\n‘‘(B) the amount of such payments that have 4\nbeen repaid (in whole or in part). 5\n‘‘(3) Amounts described in paragraphs (1) and (2) 6\nshall be transferred from time to time as determined ap-7\npropriate by the Secretary.’’. 8\n(2) P ART B .—Section 1844 of the Social Secu-9\nrity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w) is amended by adding 10\nat the end the following new subsection: 11\n‘‘(g)(1) Beginning on the date of enactment of this 12\nsubsection, there shall be transferred from the General 13\nFund of the Treasury to the Trust Fund an amount, as 14\nestimated by the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medi-15\ncare & Medicaid Services, equal to amounts paid in ad-16\nvance for items and services under this part. 17\n‘‘(2) There shall be transferred from the Trust Fund 18\nto the General Fund of the Treasury amounts equivalent 19\nto the sum of— 20\n‘‘(A) the amounts by which claims have offset 21\n(in whole or in part) the amount of such payments 22\ndescribed in paragraph (1); and 23\n‘‘(B) the amount of such payments that have 24\nbeen repaid (in whole or in part). 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n49 \n•S 5443 IS\n‘‘(3) Amounts described in paragraphs (1) and (2) 1\nshall be transferred from time to time as determined ap-2\npropriate by the Secretary.’’. 3\nÆ \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Sep 22, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\\BILLS\\S5443.IS S5443kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB', 'pages': 49, 'doc_id': '3461314', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/s5443/BILLS-119s5443is.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:19.065998+00:00', 'content_hash': 'dccb9110f81e3defb6f0842c1dc38edc221aebc5345ad2b77258f94ccc6d1930'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2025-01-14: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
• 2025-12-02: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 119-237.
• 2026-02-04: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
• 2026-09-17: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
• 2026-09-17: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 629.

• 2025-02-11 Introduced: Official bill text
• 2026-09-23 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:21.227597+00:00.

II
Calendar No. 629
119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. 91
To improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 14, 2025
Ms. C ORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. S HEEHY) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
Reported by Mr. L EE, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
A BILL
To improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025’’. 5
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2
•S 91 RS
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
this Act is as follows: 2
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I—PREPARATION
Sec. 101. Firefighting account transparency.
Sec. 102. Reimbursement for wildfires caused by military training.
Sec. 103. Strategic wildland fire management planning.
Sec. 104. Study on integrating local firefighters into wildfire response.
TITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION AND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT
Sec. 201. Wildfire detection equipment.
Sec. 202. Slip-on tank units.
Sec. 203. Research and development of unmanned aircraft system fire applica-
tions.
Sec. 204. Study on drone incursions on wildfire suppression.
Sec. 205. Study on modernizing wildfire response technologies.
TITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY SUPPORT
Sec. 301. Funding for online guides for post-disaster assistance.
Sec. 302. Post-fire management and recovery.
Sec. 303. Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account.
Sec. 304. Prize for wildfire-related invasive species reduction.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3
In this Act: 4
(1) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 5
‘‘congressional committees’’ means— 6
(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 7
Resources and the Committee on Appropria-8
tions of the Senate; and 9
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 10
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 11
House of Representatives. 12
(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 13
means— 14
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3
•S 91 RS
(A) public lands (as defined in section 103 1
of the Federal Land Policy and Management 2
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 3
(B) units of the National Park System; 4
(C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 5
System; 6
(D) land held in trust by the United States 7
for the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 8
an Indian Tribe; and 9
(E) land in the National Forest System. 10
(3) FIRESHED.—The term ‘‘fireshed’’ means a 11
geographically delineated forest landscape, within 12
which a fire ignition would threaten homes, commu-13
nities, or critical infrastructure. 14
(4) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 15
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 16
Forest System’’ has the meaning given the term 17
in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 18
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 19
U.S.C. 1609(a)). 20
(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 21
Forest System’’ does not include— 22
(i) the national grasslands and land 23
utilization projects administered under title 24
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4
•S 91 RS
III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 1
Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 2
(ii) National Forest System land east 3
of the 100th meridian. 4
(5) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 5
‘‘resource management plan’’ has the meaning given 6
the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res-7
toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 8
(6) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 9
means— 10
(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 11
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 12
(7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-13
retary concerned’’ means— 14
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, in the 15
case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 16
the Secretary of the Interior; and 17
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the 18
case of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 19
the Secretary of Agriculture. 20
TITLE I—PREPARATION 21
SEC. 101. FIREFIGHTING ACCOUNT TRANSPARENCY. 22
(a) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Section 104(a) of division 23
O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 24
U.S.C. 1748a–2(a)), is amended— 25
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5
•S 91 RS
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 1
striking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and all that follows 2
through ‘‘this division,’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal 3
year,’’; and 4
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘report with 5
respect to the additional new budget authority;’’ and 6
inserting ‘‘report on the amounts obligated and the 7
amounts expended from Wildland Fire Management 8
accounts, including any amounts obligated or ex-9
pended using additional new budget authority under 10
section 251(b)(2)(F) of the Balanced Budget and 11
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 12
901(b)(2)(F)), in the preceding fiscal year;’’. 13
(b) INCLUSIONS.—Section 104(b) of division O of the 14
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a– 15
2(b)), is amended— 16
(1) in paragraph (3), in the matter preceding 17
subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a statistically signifi-18
cant sample of large fires, including an analysis for 19
each fire’’ and inserting ‘‘each catastrophic wildfire 20
described in subsection (c), including an analysis for 21
each such catastrophic wildfire’’; and 22
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘by fire size’’ 23
and all that follows through the semicolon at the end 24
and inserting the following: ‘‘by— 25
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6
•S 91 RS
‘‘(A) the total ground-based operations 1
costs; 2
‘‘(B) the total aircraft operations costs; 3
‘‘(C) the total personnel costs; 4
‘‘(D) the total on-incident and off-incident 5
support costs; 6
‘‘(E) the total funding allocated from the 7
Wildland Fire Management account of the Sec-8
retary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri-9
culture (as applicable) to pay for administrative 10
costs; and 11
‘‘(F) any other relevant factors, as deter-12
mined by the Secretary of the Interior or the 13
Secretary of Agriculture (as applicable);’’. 14
(c) CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—Section 15
104 of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 16
2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a–2), is amended by adding at the 17
end the following: 18
‘‘(c) CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—A cat-19
astrophic wildfire referred to in subsection (b)(3) is a wild-20
fire incident or wildfire complex that— 21
‘‘(1) requires the mobilization or use of Federal 22
firefighting resources; 23
‘‘(2)(A) burns at least 100,000 acres of land; or 24
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7
•S 91 RS
‘‘(B) burns at least 50,000 acres of land, with 1
a 50 percent or greater portion at high severity; and 2
‘‘(3)(A) results in total suppression costs of 3
$50,000,000 or more; 4
‘‘(B) destroys 1 or more primary residences; or 5
‘‘(C) directly results in the death of 1 or more 6
individuals.’’. 7
SEC. 102. REIMBURSEMENT FOR WILDFIRES CAUSED BY 8
MILITARY TRAINING. 9
(a) MUTUAL AID.—In accordance with section 2 of 10
the Act of May 27, 1955 (42 U.S.C. 1856a) (commonly 11
known as the ‘‘Reciprocal Fire Protection Act’’), the Sec-12
retary of Defense sh…

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'II \nCalendar No. 629 \n119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION S. 91 \nTo improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for other purposes. \nIN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES \nJANUARY 14, 2025 \nMs. C ORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. S HEEHY) introduced the following \nbill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and \nNatural Resources \nSEPTEMBER 17, 2026 \nReported by Mr. L EE, with an amendment \n[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] \nA BILL \nTo improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for \nother purposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3\n(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4\n‘‘Western Wildfire Support Act of 2025’’. 5\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n2 \n•S 91 RS\n(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1\nthis Act is as follows: 2\nSec. 1. Short title; table of contents. \nSec. 2. Definitions. \nTITLE I—PREPARATION \nSec. 101. Firefighting account transparency. \nSec. 102. Reimbursement for wildfires caused by military training. \nSec. 103. Strategic wildland fire management planning. \nSec. 104. Study on integrating local firefighters into wildfire response. \nTITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION AND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT \nSec. 201. Wildfire detection equipment. \nSec. 202. Slip-on tank units. \nSec. 203. Research and development of unmanned aircraft system fire applica-\ntions. \nSec. 204. Study on drone incursions on wildfire suppression. \nSec. 205. Study on modernizing wildfire response technologies. \nTITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY SUPPORT \nSec. 301. Funding for online guides for post-disaster assistance. \nSec. 302. Post-fire management and recovery. \nSec. 303. Long-Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account. \nSec. 304. Prize for wildfire-related invasive species reduction. \nSEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3\nIn this Act: 4\n(1) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 5\n‘‘congressional committees’’ means— 6\n(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 7\nResources and the Committee on Appropria-8\ntions of the Senate; and 9\n(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 10\nand the Committee on Appropriations of the 11\nHouse of Representatives. 12\n(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 13\nmeans— 14\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n3 \n•S 91 RS\n(A) public lands (as defined in section 103 1\nof the Federal Land Policy and Management 2\nAct of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 3\n(B) units of the National Park System; 4\n(C) units of the National Wildlife Refuge 5\nSystem; 6\n(D) land held in trust by the United States 7\nfor the benefit of Indian Tribes or members of 8\nan Indian Tribe; and 9\n(E) land in the National Forest System. 10\n(3) FIRESHED.—The term ‘‘fireshed’’ means a 11\ngeographically delineated forest landscape, within 12\nwhich a fire ignition would threaten homes, commu-13\nnities, or critical infrastructure. 14\n(4) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.— 15\n(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 16\nForest System’’ has the meaning given the term 17\nin section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 18\nRenewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 19\nU.S.C. 1609(a)). 20\n(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘National 21\nForest System’’ does not include— 22\n(i) the national grasslands and land 23\nutilization projects administered under title 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n4 \n•S 91 RS\nIII of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 1\nAct (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 2\n(ii) National Forest System land east 3\nof the 100th meridian. 4\n(5) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 5\n‘‘resource management plan’’ has the meaning given 6\nthe term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res-7\ntoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511). 8\n(6) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 9\nmeans— 10\n(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 11\n(B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 12\n(7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-13\nretary concerned’’ means— 14\n(A) the Secretary of the Interior, in the 15\ncase of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 16\nthe Secretary of the Interior; and 17\n(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the 18\ncase of Federal land under the jurisdiction of 19\nthe Secretary of Agriculture. 20\nTITLE I—PREPARATION 21\nSEC. 101. FIREFIGHTING ACCOUNT TRANSPARENCY. 22\n(a) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Section 104(a) of division 23\nO of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 24\nU.S.C. 1748a–2(a)), is amended— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n5 \n•S 91 RS\n(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 1\nstriking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and all that follows 2\nthrough ‘‘this division,’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal 3\nyear,’’; and 4\n(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘report with 5\nrespect to the additional new budget authority;’’ and 6\ninserting ‘‘report on the amounts obligated and the 7\namounts expended from Wildland Fire Management 8\naccounts, including any amounts obligated or ex-9\npended using additional new budget authority under 10\nsection 251(b)(2)(F) of the Balanced Budget and 11\nEmergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 12\n901(b)(2)(F)), in the preceding fiscal year;’’. 13\n(b) INCLUSIONS.—Section 104(b) of division O of the 14\nConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a– 15\n2(b)), is amended— 16\n(1) in paragraph (3), in the matter preceding 17\nsubparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a statistically signifi-18\ncant sample of large fires, including an analysis for 19\neach fire’’ and inserting ‘‘each catastrophic wildfire 20\ndescribed in subsection (c), including an analysis for 21\neach such catastrophic wildfire’’; and 22\n(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘by fire size’’ 23\nand all that follows through the semicolon at the end 24\nand inserting the following: ‘‘by— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n6 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(A) the total ground-based operations 1\ncosts; 2\n‘‘(B) the total aircraft operations costs; 3\n‘‘(C) the total personnel costs; 4\n‘‘(D) the total on-incident and off-incident 5\nsupport costs; 6\n‘‘(E) the total funding allocated from the 7\nWildland Fire Management account of the Sec-8\nretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri-9\nculture (as applicable) to pay for administrative 10\ncosts; and 11\n‘‘(F) any other relevant factors, as deter-12\nmined by the Secretary of the Interior or the 13\nSecretary of Agriculture (as applicable);’’. 14\n(c) CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—Section 15\n104 of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 16\n2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a–2), is amended by adding at the 17\nend the following: 18\n‘‘(c) CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—A cat-19\nastrophic wildfire referred to in subsection (b)(3) is a wild-20\nfire incident or wildfire complex that— 21\n‘‘(1) requires the mobilization or use of Federal 22\nfirefighting resources; 23\n‘‘(2)(A) burns at least 100,000 acres of land; or 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n7 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(B) burns at least 50,000 acres of land, with 1\na 50 percent or greater portion at high severity; and 2\n‘‘(3)(A) results in total suppression costs of 3\n$50,000,000 or more; 4\n‘‘(B) destroys 1 or more primary residences; or 5\n‘‘(C) directly results in the death of 1 or more 6\nindividuals.’’. 7\nSEC. 102. REIMBURSEMENT FOR WILDFIRES CAUSED BY 8\nMILITARY TRAINING. 9\n(a) MUTUAL AID.—In accordance with section 2 of 10\nthe Act of May 27, 1955 (42 U.S.C. 1856a) (commonly 11\nknown as the ‘‘Reciprocal Fire Protection Act’’), the Sec-12\nretary of Defense shall seek to enter into reciprocal agree-13\nments with State agencies for mutual aid in furnishing 14\nfire suppression services. 15\n(b) REIMBURSEMENTS.—Each reciprocal agreement 16\nentered into under subsection (a) shall provide for the re-17\nimbursement of the State agency that is a party to the 18\nagreement for fire suppression services provided by the 19\nState agency as a result of a fire caused by military train-20\ning or other planned actions carried out by the Depart-21\nment of Defense in support of military operations. 22\n(c) LIMITATION.—Services reimbursable under sub-23\nsection (b) shall be limited to services directly attributable 24\nto the fire for which reimbursement is sought. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n8 \n•S 91 RS\n(d) APPLICATION.—Each application from a State 1\nagency for reimbursement for services under subsection 2\n(b) shall provide an itemized request of the services cov-3\nered by the application, including the costs of the services. 4\n(e) FUNDS.—Reimbursements under subsection (b) 5\nshall be made from amounts authorized to be appropriated 6\nto the Department of Defense for operation and mainte-7\nnance. 8\n(f) EXISTING AGREEMENTS.—An agreement in effect 9\nas of the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered 10\nan agreement entered into under subsection (a) if the 11\nagreement otherwise meets the requirements of such an 12\nagreement under this section. 13\nSEC. 103. STRATEGIC WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT PLAN-14\nNING. 15\n(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 16\n2026, the Secretary concerned shall review existing spatial 17\nfire management policies for each fireshed on Federal land 18\nand issue, as appropriate, new or revised policies that in-19\ncorporate the best available science and planning tools. 20\n(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Spatial fire management poli-21\ncies issued under subsection (a) shall— 22\n(1) be routinely reviewed and updated— 23\n(A) to include forest management activities 24\nor changes in accessibility; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n9 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) not later than 1 year after the date on 1\nwhich a wildfire incident has occurred within 2\nthe applicable fireshed; and 3\n(C) not less frequently than once every 10 4\nyears; 5\n(2) identify potential wildfire and smoke risks 6\nto first responders, communities, critical infrastruc-7\nture, and high-value resources; 8\n(3) be consistent with any resource manage-9\nment plan developed for the applicable fireshed; 10\n(4) in coordination with any State that includes 11\nthat fireshed, delineate potential wildland fire oper-12\national delineations that— 13\n(A) identify potential wildfire control loca-14\ntions; and 15\n(B) specify the places in which risk to 16\nwildfire responders may be elevated as a result 17\nof— 18\n(i) exceeding a certain slope for the 19\nlandscape; 20\n(ii) containing an excess of hazardous 21\nfuels such that a threat would be posed 22\nunder severe fire weather conditions; or 23\n(iii) containing other known hazards; 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n10 \n•S 91 RS\n(5) include a description of the weather condi-1\ntions for the fireshed that would comprise severe fire 2\nweather conditions; and 3\n(6) include other prefire planning provisions rel-4\nevant to wildfire response, at the discretion of the 5\nSecretary concerned. 6\n(c) WILDFIRE CONSIDERATION DURING LAND MAN-7\nAGEMENT PLANNING.—To the maximum extent prac-8\nticable, the Secretary concerned shall include, on a team 9\ncarrying out any development or revision of a resource 10\nmanagement plan for Federal land containing 1 more 11\nfiresheds, an employee that was involved in the develop-12\nment of the spatial fire management policies for that 13\nfireshed. 14\nSEC. 104. STUDY AND REPORT ON INTEGRATING LOCAL 15\nFIREFIGHTERS INTO WILDFIRE RESPONSE. 16\n(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 17\ndate of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 18\nSecurity, acting through the Administrator of the U.S. 19\nFire Administration and in coordination with the National 20\nWildfire Coordinating Group, shall— 21\n(1) conduct a study on the gaps in training for 22\nstructural firefighters in high wildfire risk areas; 23\nand 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n11 \n•S 91 RS\n(2) submit to the congressional committees a 1\nreport describing the results of the study conducted 2\nunder paragraph (1). 3\n(b) INCLUSIONS.—The report submitted under sub-4\nsection (a)(2) shall include— 5\n(1) a summary of existing coordination prac-6\ntices between Federal wildland firefighters and 7\nState, local, or Tribal firefighters; 8\n(2) an analysis of the differences in best re-9\nsponse practices for State, local, or Tribal fire-10\nfighters when responding to a fire incident that 11\nthreatens a single structure as compared to a wild-12\nfire that threatens a community; 13\n(3) existing training modules, or gaps in exist-14\ning training modules, available through the National 15\nFire Academy to train State, local, or Tribal fire-16\nfighters on best response practices for a wildfire that 17\nthreatens a community; and 18\n(4) an estimated cost and spending plan to ad-19\ndress any gaps in existing training modules de-20\nscribed in paragraph (3). 21\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n12 \n•S 91 RS\nTITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION 1\nAND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT 2\nSEC. 201. WILDFIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT. 3\nTo the extent practicable, the Secretary concerned 4\nshall— 5\n(1) expedite the placement of wildfire detection 6\nequipment, such as sensors, cameras, and other rel-7\nevant equipment, in areas at risk of wildfire; 8\n(2) expand the use of satellite data to improve 9\nwildfire detection and response; 10\n(3) expedite any permitting required by the 11\nSecretary concerned for the installation, mainte-12\nnance, or removal of wildfire detection equipment; 13\n(4) use unmanned aerial vehicles to assess 14\nwildland fires in their incipient stages to determine 15\nthe appropriate initial response actions; 16\n(5) review permitting described in paragraph 17\n(3) and procurement requirements for wildfire detec-18\ntion equipment within the context of modern and in-19\nnovative technology; and 20\n(6) annually provide a forum for companies en-21\ngaging in the development and testing of emergent 22\nwildland fire technology to engage with wildland fire 23\nmanagers. 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n13 \n•S 91 RS\nSEC. 202. SLIP-ON TANKER UNITS. 1\n(a) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR ACQUISITION OF 2\nFIREFIGHTING SLIP-ON TANKER UNITS.—Section 3\n40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 4\nAct (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 5\nIndian Tribes’’ after ‘‘local governments’’. 6\n(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 7\n(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-8\nrior shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 9\nNatural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 10\non Natural Resources of the House of Representa-11\ntives an annual report on the implementation of sec-12\ntion 40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment 13\nand Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)), including a 14\ndescription of— 15\n(A) the total number of slip-on tanker 16\nunits purchased with financial assistance pro-17\nvided by the Secretary of the Interior under 18\nthat section in the preceding year, by State; 19\n(B) the number of requests received by the 20\nSecretary of the Interior for financial assistance 21\nunder that section to purchase slip-on tanker 22\nunits in the preceding year; and 23\n(C) any barriers identified by the Secretary 24\nof the Interior to the ability of local govern-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n14 \n•S 91 RS\nments and Indian Tribes to participate in the 1\npilot program established under that section. 2\n(2) TIMING.— 3\n(A) INITIAL REPORT.—The Secretary of 4\nthe Interior shall submit the first report re-5\nquired under paragraph (1) not later than Oc-6\ntober 1, 2026. 7\n(B) SUNSET.—The requirements of this 8\nsubsection shall expire on October 1, 2028. 9\n(c) INTEGRATION INTO WILDFIRE RESPONSE.—The 10\nSecretaries, in coordination with recipients of financial as-11\nsistance for slip-on tanker units provided under section 12\n40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 13\nAct (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)), shall— 14\n(1) in coordination with the Administrator of 15\nthe U.S. Fire Administration, promulgate guidance 16\nfor the mobilization of slip-on tanker units for wild-17\nfire response; 18\n(2) as practicable, incorporate mobilized slip-on 19\ntanker units into resource tracking systems; and 20\n(3) collaborate with the Administrator of the 21\nU.S. Fire Administration regarding any necessary 22\ntraining for operators of slip-on tanker units. 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n15 \n•S 91 RS\nSEC. 203. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF UNMANNED 1\nAIRCRAFT SYSTEM FIRE APPLICATIONS. 2\n(a) DEFINITION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYS-3\nTEM.—In this section, the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft sys-4\ntem’’ means an unmanned aircraft and associated ele-5\nments (including, if applicable, communication links and 6\nthe components that control the unmanned aircraft) that 7\nare required for the operator to operate safely and effi-8\nciently. 9\n(b) RESEARCH.—The Secretaries shall, acting 10\nthrough the Joint Fire Science Program, work with uni-11\nversities and other research institutions to carry out re-12\nsearch and development on the wildfire response applica-13\ntions of unmanned aircraft systems. 14\n(c) TESTING.—The Secretaries may coordinate with 15\nthe Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 16\nto test an unmanned aircraft system developed under this 17\nsection at an unmanned aircraft test range in accordance 18\nwith section 44803 of title 49, United States Code. 19\n(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 20\nare authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries such 21\nsums as are necessary to carry out this section. 22\nSEC. 204. STUDY ON DRONE INCURSIONS ON WILDFIRE 23\nSUPPRESSION. 24\n(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n16 \n•S 91 RS\n(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1\ntrator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2\nAviation Administration. 3\n(2) DRONE.—The term ‘‘drone’’ means an un-4\nmanned aircraft system owned by a private indi-5\nvidual or entity. 6\n(3) DRONE INCURSION.—The term ‘‘drone in-7\ncursion’’ means the operation of a drone within any 8\nairspace for which the Administrator has issued a 9\ntemporary flight restriction because of a wildfire. 10\n(b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in con-11\nsultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-12\nretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the For-13\nest Service, shall conduct a study on the effects of drone 14\nincursions on wildfire suppression with respect to land 15\nmanaged by the Department of the Interior or the Depart-16\nment of Agriculture. 17\n(c) STUDY CONTENTS.—In conducting the study re-18\nquired under subsection (b), the Administrator shall— 19\n(1) determine, for each of the 5 most recent 20\ncalendar years— 21\n(A) the number of occurrences in which a 22\ndrone incursion interfered with wildfire suppres-23\nsion; and 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n17 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) the estimated effect of each occurrence 1\ndescribed in subparagraph (A) on— 2\n(i) the length of time required to 3\nachieve complete suppression; 4\n(ii) any associated delay in the field-5\ning of aerial firefighting response units; 6\nand 7\n(iii) the amounts expended by the 8\nFederal Government; and 9\n(2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of 10\nvarious actions to prevent drone incursions, includ-11\ning— 12\n(A) the use of counter-drone radio towers; 13\n(B) the use of reasonable force to disable, 14\ndamage, or destroy a drone; 15\n(C) the seizure of a drone, including sei-16\nzure with a net device; and 17\n(D) the dissemination of educational mate-18\nrials relating to the effects of drone incursions 19\non wildfire suppression. 20\n(d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 21\ndate of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub-22\nmit to the congressional committees, the Committee on 23\nCommerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n18 \n•S 91 RS\nand the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 1\nof the House of Representatives a report describing— 2\n(1) the findings of the study required under 3\nsubsection (b); and 4\n(2) any recommendations relating to those find-5\nings. 6\nSEC. 205. STUDY ON MODERNIZING WILDFIRE RESPONSE 7\nTECHNOLOGIES. 8\n(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall conduct a 9\nstudy on— 10\n(1) necessary improvements to radio commu-11\nnications systems and infrastructure during wildland 12\nfire or prescribed fire operations, including— 13\n(A) an assessment of the quality and reli-14\nability of existing radio infrastructure; 15\n(B) for any instance in which existing 16\nradio communications infrastructure has failed, 17\nan assessment of the impacts on forest manage-18\nment or wildfire response activities; 19\n(C) a comparison of existing options to im-20\nprove on-the-ground communications; and 21\n(D) a cost analysis and estimated timeline 22\nto install the most feasible option identified 23\nunder subparagraph (C); 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n19 \n•S 91 RS\n(2) real-time or near-real-time situational 1\nawareness tools for operational firefighters, includ-2\ning— 3\n(A) standards and requirements for such 4\ntools to ensure interoperability between Federal 5\nfirefighting entities and applicable State, local, 6\nTribal, or other partners; 7\n(B) any requirements for additional remote 8\nsensing and mapping capabilities to fully lever-9\nage such situational awareness tools; and 10\n(C) a cost comparison between commer-11\ncially available systems and internally developed 12\nsystems; and 13\n(3) wildland fire predictive modeling, includ-14\ning— 15\n(A) an analysis of the data required to re-16\nduce predictive error for existing or developing 17\nmodels; 18\n(B) an analysis of computing needs to 19\nmore swiftly or accurately model wildland fire 20\nusing existing or developing models; 21\n(C) the feasibility of using artificial intel-22\nligence for wildland fire modeling; and 23\n(D) existing or developing wildland fire 24\npredictive models that could assist with estab-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n20 \n•S 91 RS\nlishing safe conditions for igniting a prescribed 1\nfire. 2\n(b) SUBMISSION AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not 3\nlater than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 4\nthe Secretaries shall submit to the congressional commit-5\ntees and make publicly available the results of the study 6\nconducted under subsection (a). 7\nTITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY 8\nSUPPORT 9\nSEC. 301. FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR POST-DIS-10\nASTER ASSISTANCE. 11\n(a) USE OF SERVICES OF OTHER AGENCIES.—Sec-12\ntion 201(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 13\nEmergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131(a)) is amend-14\ned— 15\n(1) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 16\nthe end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 17\n(2) by adding at the end the following: 18\n‘‘(8) post-disaster assistance.’’. 19\n(b) FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST-20\nANCE.—Section 201 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 21\nRelief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131) 22\nis amended by adding at the end the following: 23\n‘‘(e) FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST-24\nANCE.— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n21 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 1\nFederal Emergency Management Agency may enter 2\ninto cooperative agreements to provide funding or 3\ntechnical assistance to a State agency designated or 4\nestablished under subsection (c) to establish, update, 5\nor operate a website to provide information relating 6\nto post-disaster recovery funding and resources to a 7\ncommunity or an individual impacted by a major 8\ndisaster or emergency. 9\n‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT.—A website established, up-10\ndated, or operated under this subsection shall be— 11\n‘‘(A) managed by the State agency; and 12\n‘‘(B) suitable for the residents of the State 13\nof the State agency. 14\n‘‘(3) CONTENT.—The Administrator may pro-15\nvide funding to a State agency under this subsection 16\nto establish, update, or operate a website that pro-17\nvides only 1 or more of the following: 18\n‘‘(A) A list of Federal, State, and local 19\nsources of post-disaster recovery funding or as-20\nsistance that may be available to a community 21\nafter a disaster or emergency. 22\n‘‘(B) A list of Federal, State, and local 23\nsources of post-disaster recovery funding or as-24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n22 \n•S 91 RS\nsistance that may be available to an individual 1\nimpacted by a major disaster or emergency. 2\n‘‘(C) A technical guide that lists and ex-3\nplains the costs and benefits of alternatives 4\navailable to a community to mitigate the im-5\npacts of a major disaster or emergency and pre-6\npare for sequential hazards, such as flooding 7\nafter a wildfire. 8\n‘‘(4) COOPERATION.—A State agency that re-9\nceives funding or technical assistance to establish, 10\nupdate, or operate a website under this subsection 11\nshall cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior, 12\nthe Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Hous-13\ning and Urban Development, the Administrator of 14\nthe Small Business Administration, and the Admin-15\nistrator of the Federal Emergency Management 16\nAgency in establishing, updating, or operating the 17\nwebsite under this subsection. 18\n‘‘(5) UPDATES.—A State agency that receives 19\nfunding to establish, update, or operate a website 20\nunder this subsection shall update the website not 21\nless frequently than once every 180 days.’’. 22\nSEC. 302. POST-FIRE MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY. 23\n(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 24\ndate of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n23 \n•S 91 RS\nshall establish 1 or more permanent Burned Area Emer-1\ngency Response Teams (referred to in this section as a 2\n‘‘BAER Team’’) to coordinate immediate post-wildfire 3\nemergency stabilization and erosion planning efforts. 4\n(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A BAER Team shall— 5\n(1) survey the landscape affected by a wildfire 6\nto determine burn severity; 7\n(2) identify and remove, as necessary, dead or 8\ndying trees that may pose an immediate hazard to 9\nindividuals, communities, or critical infrastructure; 10\n(3) stabilize or remove hazardous materials re-11\nsulting from a wildfire that may pose an immediate 12\nhazard to individuals, communities, or the environ-13\nment; 14\n(4) conduct emergency landscape stabilization 15\nand erosion prevention work, prioritizing efforts that 16\nensure public safety; 17\n(5) prevent the proliferation and spread of 18\ninvasive species; 19\n(6) assist with informing the public of hazards 20\nresulting from a wildfire; 21\n(7) collaborate, as necessary, with activities 22\nunder section 303; and 23\n(8) conduct such other work as the Secretary 24\nconcerned determines to be necessary. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n24 \n•S 91 RS\n(c) DURATION.—To the maximum extent practicable, 1\na BAER Team shall coordinate and respond to immediate 2\npost-wildfire emergency stabilization and erosion planning 3\nneeds for a period of not more than 1 year after the date 4\nof containment of a wildfire. 5\n(d) FUNDING.—The Secretary concerned may use to 6\ncarry out this section funds made available by section 7\n40803(c)(16) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 8\nAct (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(16)). 9\nSEC. 303. LONG-TERM BURNED AREA REHABILITATION AC-10\nCOUNT. 11\n(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is estab-12\nlished in the Treasury of the United States the Long- 13\nTerm Burned Area Rehabilitation account for the Depart-14\nment of Agriculture. 15\n(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16\nare authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2025 and 17\neach fiscal year thereafter for the account established by 18\nsubsection (a) such sums as are necessary to carry out 19\nthe activities described in subsection (d), not to exceed 20\n$100,000,000. 21\n(c) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 22\nyear 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary 23\nof Agriculture shall submit through the budget request of 24\nthe President and in accordance with subsection (b), a re-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n25 \n•S 91 RS\nquest for amounts in the National Forest System appro-1\npriation account to carry out the activities described in 2\nsubsection (d). 3\n(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Ag-4\nriculture shall use amounts in the account established by 5\nsubsection (a) for rehabilitation projects located at sites 6\nimpacted by a wildfire or post-wildfire flooding primarily 7\non Federal land, but may include areas on non-Federal 8\nland, that— 9\n(1) restore the functions of an ecosystem, in-10\ncluding— 11\n(A) identifying areas where natural regen-12\neration is unlikely to occur; 13\n(B) revegetation and reforestation, includ-14\ning coordinating any necessary site preparation, 15\nsalvage harvesting, and replanting; 16\n(C) watershed restoration; 17\n(D) invasive species mitigation and re-18\nmoval; and 19\n(E) wildlife habitat restoration; or 20\n(2) repair or replace infrastructure or facilities 21\ncritical for land management activities. 22\n(e) DURATION OF ACTIVITIES.—A rehabilitation 23\nproject under subsection (d) shall— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n26 \n•S 91 RS\n(1) begin not earlier than the date on which the 1\nwildfire was contained; and 2\n(2) be completed not later than 5 years after 3\nthe date on which the wildfire was contained. 4\n(f) AGREEMENT AUTHORITY.— 5\n(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 6\nmay enter to agreements with non-Federal entities 7\nto carry out activities described in subsection (d). 8\n(2) COST SHARE.—The non-Federal share of 9\nthe costs of implementing activities under an agree-10\nment entered into under paragraph (1)— 11\n(A) shall be not more than 20 percent; and 12\n(B) may include in-kind contributions. 13\n(3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub-14\nsection— 15\n(A) requires the Secretary of Agriculture 16\nto enter into agreements with non-Federal enti-17\nties to carry out activities described in sub-18\nsection (d); or 19\n(B) limits the effect of the prioritization 20\nrequirements under subsection (g). 21\n(g) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.—The Secretary of 22\nAgriculture shall prioritize, on a nationwide basis, projects 23\nfor which funding requests are submitted under this sec-24\ntion based on downstream effects on water resources. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n27 \n•S 91 RS\n(h) REPORTING.—Beginning in fiscal year 2027, and 1\neach fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture 2\nshall annually submit to Congress a report on the burned 3\narea recovery work performed using— 4\n(1) amounts from the account established by 5\nsubsection (a); 6\n(2) amounts made available under the Act of 7\nJune 9, 1930 (16 U.S.C. 576 et seq.); and 8\n(3) amounts from the Reforestation Trust Fund 9\nestablished by section 303(a) of Public Law 96–451 10\n(16 U.S.C. 1606a(a)). 11\nSEC. 304. PRIZE FOR WILDFIRE-RELATED INVASIVE SPE-12\nCIES REDUCTION. 13\nSection 7001(d) of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Con-14\nservation, Management, and Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 15\n742b note; Public Law 116–9) is amended— 16\n(1) by striking ‘‘paragraph (8)(A)’’ each place 17\nit appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)(A)’’; 18\n(2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (8)(B)’’ each place 19\nit appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)(B)’’; 20\n(3) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para-21\ngraph (9); 22\n(4) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-23\nlowing: 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n28 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(8) THEODORE ROOSEVELT GENIUS PRIZE 1\nFOR MANAGEMENT OF WILDFIRE-RELATED INVASIVE 2\nSPECIES.— 3\n‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 4\n‘‘(i) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ 5\nmeans the Management of Wildfire-Related 6\nInvasive Species Technology Advisory 7\nBoard established by subparagraph (C)(i). 8\n‘‘(ii) PRIZE COMPETITION.—The term 9\n‘prize competition’ means the Theodore 10\nRoosevelt Genius Prize for the manage-11\nment of wildfire-related invasive species es-12\ntablished under subparagraph (B). 13\n‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 14\ndays after the date of enactment of the Western 15\nWildfire Support Act of 2025, the Secretary 16\nshall establish under section 24 of the Steven-17\nson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 18\n(15 U.S.C. 3719) a prize competition, to be 19\nknown as the ‘Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize 20\nfor the management of wildfire-related invasive 21\nspecies’— 22\n‘‘(i) to encourage technological innova-23\ntion with the potential to advance the mis-24\nsion of the National Invasive Species 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n29 \n•S 91 RS\nCouncil with respect to the management of 1\nwildfire-related invasive species; and 2\n‘‘(ii) to award 1 or more prizes annu-3\nally for a technological advancement that 4\nmanages wildfire-related invasive species. 5\n‘‘(C) ADVISORY BOARD.— 6\n‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is es-7\ntablished an advisory board, to be known 8\nas the ‘Management of Wildfire-Related 9\nInvasive Species Technology Advisory 10\nBoard’. 11\n‘‘(ii) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall 12\nbe composed of not fewer than 9 members 13\nappointed by the Secretary, who shall pro-14\nvide expertise in— 15\n‘‘(I) invasive species; 16\n‘‘(II) biology; 17\n‘‘(III) technology development; 18\n‘‘(IV) engineering; 19\n‘‘(V) economics; 20\n‘‘(VI) business development and 21\nmanagement; 22\n‘‘(VII) wildfire; and 23\n‘‘(VIII) any other discipline, as 24\nthe Secretary determines to be nec-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n30 \n•S 91 RS\nessary to achieve the purposes of this 1\nparagraph. 2\n‘‘(iii) DUTIES.—Subject to clause (iv), 3\nwith respect to the prize competition, the 4\nBoard shall— 5\n‘‘(I) select a topic; 6\n‘‘(II) issue a problem statement; 7\n‘‘(III) advise the Secretary re-8\ngarding any opportunity for techno-9\nlogical innovation to manage wildfire- 10\nrelated invasive species; and 11\n‘‘(IV) advise winners of the prize 12\ncompetition regarding opportunities to 13\npilot and implement winning tech-14\nnologies in relevant fields, including in 15\npartnership with conservation organi-16\nzations, Federal or State agencies, 17\nfederally recognized Indian Tribes, 18\nprivate entities, and research institu-19\ntions with expertise or interest relat-20\ning to the management of wildfire-re-21\nlated invasive species. 22\n‘‘(iv) CONSULTATION.—In selecting a 23\ntopic and issuing a problem statement for 24\nthe prize competition, the Board shall con-25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n31 \n•S 91 RS\nsult widely with Federal and non-Federal 1\nstakeholders, including— 2\n‘‘(I) 1 or more Federal agencies 3\nwith jurisdiction over the management 4\nof invasive species; 5\n‘‘(II) 1 or more Federal agencies 6\nwith jurisdiction over the management 7\nof wildfire; 8\n‘‘(III) 1 or more State agencies 9\nwith jurisdiction over the management 10\nof invasive species; 11\n‘‘(IV) 1 or more State agencies 12\nwith jurisdiction over the management 13\nof wildfire; 14\n‘‘(V) 1 or more State, regional, 15\nor local wildlife organizations, the 16\nmission of which relates to the man-17\nagement of invasive species; and 18\n‘‘(VI) 1 or more wildlife con-19\nservation groups, technology compa-20\nnies, research institutions, institutions 21\nof higher education, industry associa-22\ntions, or individual stakeholders with 23\nan interest in the management of 24\nwildfire-related invasive species. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n32 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(v) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board 1\nshall comply with all requirements under 2\nparagraph (9)(A). 3\n‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION BY THE NATIONAL 4\nINVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL.—The Secretary, 5\nacting through the Executive Director of the 6\nNational Invasive Species Council, shall admin-7\nister the prize competition and perform the du-8\nties described in paragraph (9)(B)(i). 9\n‘‘(E) JUDGES.— 10\n‘‘(i) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary 11\nshall appoint not fewer than 3 judges who 12\nshall, except as provided in clause (ii), se-13\nlect the 1 or more annual winners of the 14\nprize competition. 15\n‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION BY SEC-16\nRETARY.—The judges appointed under 17\nclause (i) shall not select any annual win-18\nner of the prize competition if the Sec-19\nretary makes a determination that, in any 20\nfiscal year, none of the technological ad-21\nvancements entered into the prize competi-22\ntion merits an award. 23\n‘‘(F) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 24\nthan 60 days after the date on which a cash 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n33 \n•S 91 RS\nprize is awarded under this paragraph, the Sec-1\nretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 2\nand Natural Resources of the Senate and the 3\nCommittee on Natural Resources of the House 4\nof Representatives a report on the prize com-5\npetition that includes— 6\n‘‘(i) a statement by the Board that 7\ndescribes the activities carried out by the 8\nBoard relating to the duties described in 9\nsubparagraph (C)(iii); 10\n‘‘(ii) a description of the 1 or more 11\nannual winners of the prize competition; 12\nand 13\n‘‘(iii) a statement by 1 or more of the 14\njudges appointed under subparagraph (E) 15\nthat explains the basis on which the 1 or 16\nmore winners of the prize competition was 17\nselected. 18\n‘‘(G) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The 19\nBoard and all authority provided under this 20\nparagraph shall terminate on December 31, 21\n2028.’’; and 22\n(5) in paragraph (9) (as so redesignated)— 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n34 \n•S 91 RS\n(A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 1\npreceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘or (7)(C)(i)’’ 2\nand inserting ‘‘(7)(C)(i), or (8)(C)(i)’’; and 3\n(B) in subparagraph (C)— 4\n(i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and the 5\namount of the initial cash prize awarded 6\nfor a year under paragraph (8)’’ after 7\n‘‘subparagraph (B)(i)(IX)’’; and 8\n(ii) by adding at the end the fol-9\nlowing: 10\n‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL WILDFIRE CASH 11\nPRIZES.—If the Secretary determines that 12\nfunds are available for an additional cash 13\nprize under the prize competition under 14\nparagraph (8) for a year, the Secretary 15\nshall determine the amount of the addi-16\ntional cash prize.’’. 17\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 18\n(a) S HORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 19\n‘‘Western Wildfire Support Act of 2026’’. 20\n(b) T ABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 21\nthis Act is as follows: 22\nSec. 1. Short title; table of contents. \nSec. 2. Definitions. \nTITLE I—PREPARATION \nSec. 101. Firefighting account transparency. \nSec. 102. Reimbursement for wildfires caused by military training. \nSec. 103. Strategic wildland fire management planning. \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6213 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n35 \n•S 91 RS\nSec. 104. Study and report on integrating local firefighters into wildfire response. \nTITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION AND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT \nSec. 201. Wildfire detection equipment. \nSec. 202. Slip-on tanker units. \nSec. 203. Research and development of unmanned aircraft system fire applica-\ntions. \nSec. 204. Study on drone incursions on wildfire suppression. \nSec. 205. Study on modernizing wildfire response technologies. \nTITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY SUPPORT \nSec. 301. Funding for online guides for post-disaster assistance. \nSec. 302. Post-fire management and recovery. \nSec. 303. Burned area rehabilitation. \nSEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1\nIn this Act: 2\n(1) C ONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES .—The term 3\n‘‘congressional committees’’ means— 4\n(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 5\nResources and the Committee on Appropriations 6\nof the Senate; and 7\n(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 8\nand the Committee on Appropriations of the 9\nHouse of Representatives. 10\n(2) F EDERAL LAND .—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 11\nmeans— 12\n(A) land under the jurisdiction of the Sec-13\nretary; 14\n(B) land held in trust by the United States 15\nfor the benefit of an Indian Tribe or members of 16\nan Indian Tribe; and 17\n(C) National Forest System land. 18\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n36 \n•S 91 RS\n(3) F IRESHED.—The term ‘‘fireshed’’ means a 1\ngeographically delineated landscape, within which a 2\nfire ignition would threaten homes, communities, or 3\ncritical infrastructure. 4\n(4) F OREST PLAN .—The term ‘‘forest plan’’ 5\nmeans a land and resource management plan pre-6\npared by the Secretary of Agriculture for a unit of the 7\nNational Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the 8\nForest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning 9\nAct of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 10\n(5) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 11\nhas the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In-12\ndian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 13\nAct (25 U.S.C. 5304). 14\n(6) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM .— 15\n(A) IN GENERAL .—The term ‘‘National For-16\nest System’’ means land of the National Forest 17\nSystem (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest 18\nand Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning 19\nAct of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) administered 20\nby the Secretary of Agriculture. 21\n(B) E XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘National 22\nForest System’’ does not include— 23\n(i) the national grasslands and land 24\nutilization projects administered under title 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n37 \n•S 91 RS\nIII of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant 1\nAct (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); or 2\n(ii) any forest reserve not created from 3\nthe public domain. 4\n(7) R ESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN .—The term 5\n‘‘resource management plan’’ means a land use plan 6\nprepared for public lands under section 202 of the 7\nFederal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 8\n(43 U.S.C. 1712). 9\n(8) S ECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 10\nmeans— 11\n(A) the Secretary; and 12\n(B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 13\n(9) S ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14\nthe Secretary of the Interior. 15\n(10) S ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-16\nretary concerned’’ means— 17\n(A) the Secretary, in the case of Federal 18\nland described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 19\nparagraph (2); and 20\n(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the case 21\nof Federal land described in paragraph (2)(C). 22\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n38 \n•S 91 RS\nTITLE I—PREPARATION 1\nSEC. 101. FIREFIGHTING ACCOUNT TRANSPARENCY. 2\n(a) A NNUAL REPORTING.—Section 104(a) of division 3\nO of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 U.S.C. 4\n1748a–2(a)), is amended— 5\n(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 6\nstriking ‘‘the fiscal year’’ and all that follows through 7\n‘‘this division,’’ and inserting ‘‘each fiscal year,’’; and 8\n(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘report with 9\nrespect to the additional new budget authority;’’ and 10\ninserting ‘‘report on the amounts obligated and the 11\namounts expended from Wildland Fire Management 12\naccounts, including any amounts obligated or ex-13\npended using additional new budget authority under 14\nsection 251(b)(2)(F) of the Balanced Budget and 15\nEmergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 16\n901(b)(2)(F)), in the preceding fiscal year;’’. 17\n(b) I NCLUSIONS.—Section 104(b) of division O of the 18\nConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a– 19\n2(b)), is amended— 20\n(1) in paragraph (3), in the matter preceding 21\nsubparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a statistically signifi-22\ncant sample of large fires, including an analysis for 23\neach fire’’ and inserting ‘‘each catastrophic wildfire 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n39 \n•S 91 RS\ndescribed in subsection (c), including an analysis for 1\neach such catastrophic wildfire’’; and 2\n(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘by fire size’’ 3\nand all that follows through the semicolon at the end 4\nand inserting the following: ‘‘by— 5\n‘‘(A) the total ground-based operations costs; 6\n‘‘(B) the total aircraft operations costs; 7\n‘‘(C) the total personnel costs; 8\n‘‘(D) the total on-incident and off-incident 9\nsupport costs; 10\n‘‘(E) the total funding allocated from the 11\nWildland Fire Management account of the Sec-12\nretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri-13\nculture (as applicable) to pay for administrative 14\ncosts; and 15\n‘‘(F) any other relevant factors, as deter-16\nmined by the Secretary of the Interior or the 17\nSecretary of Agriculture (as applicable);’’. 18\n(c) C ATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—Section 19\n104 of division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 20\n2018 (43 U.S.C. 1748a–2), is amended by adding at the 21\nend the following: 22\n‘‘(c) C ATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE DESCRIBED.—A cata-23\nstrophic wildfire referred to in subsection (b)(3) is a wild-24\nfire incident or wildfire complex that— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n40 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(1) requires the mobilization or use of Federal 1\nfirefighting resources; 2\n‘‘(2) burns at least— 3\n‘‘(A) 100,000 acres of land; or 4\n‘‘(B) 50,000 acres of land, with a 50 percent 5\nor greater portion at high severity; and 6\n‘‘(3)(A) results in total suppression costs of 7\n$50,000,000 or more; 8\n‘‘(B) destroys 1 or more primary residences; or 9\n‘‘(C) directly results in the death of 1 or more 10\nindividuals.’’. 11\nSEC. 102. REIMBURSEMENT FOR WILDFIRES CAUSED BY 12\nMILITARY TRAINING. 13\n(a) MUTUAL AID.—In accordance with section 2 of the 14\nAct of May 27, 1955 (42 U.S.C. 1856a) (commonly known 15\nas the ‘‘Reciprocal Fire Protection Act’’), the Secretary of 16\nDefense shall seek to enter into reciprocal agreements with 17\nState agencies for mutual aid in furnishing fire suppression 18\nservices. 19\n(b) R EIMBURSEMENTS.—Each reciprocal agreement 20\nentered into under subsection (a) shall provide for the reim-21\nbursement of the State agency that is a party to the agree-22\nment for fire suppression services provided by the State 23\nagency as a result of a fire caused by military training 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n41 \n•S 91 RS\nor other planned actions carried out by the Department of 1\nDefense in support of military operations. 2\n(c) L IMITATION.—Services reimbursable under sub-3\nsection (b) shall be limited to services directly attributable 4\nto the fire for which reimbursement is sought. 5\n(d) A PPLICATION.—Each application from a State 6\nagency for reimbursement for services under subsection (b) 7\nshall provide an itemized request of the services covered by 8\nthe application, including the costs of the services. 9\n(e) F UNDS.—Reimbursements under subsection (b) 10\nshall be made from amounts authorized to be appropriated 11\nto the Department of Defense for operation and mainte-12\nnance. 13\n(f) E XISTING AGREEMENTS.—An agreement in effect 14\nas of the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered 15\nan agreement entered into under subsection (a) if the agree-16\nment otherwise meets the requirements of such an agreement 17\nunder this section. 18\nSEC. 103. STRATEGIC WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT PLAN-19\nNING. 20\n(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 2027, 21\nthe Secretary concerned shall review existing spatial fire 22\nmanagement policies for each fireshed on Federal land and 23\nissue, as appropriate, new or revised policies that incor-24\nporate the best available science and planning tools. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n42 \n•S 91 RS\n(b) R EQUIREMENTS.—Spatial fire management poli-1\ncies issued under subsection (a) shall— 2\n(1) be routinely reviewed and updated as nec-3\nessary to reflect changes in the fireshed as a result of 4\nforest or land management activities or wildfire inci-5\ndents that have occurred within the applicable 6\nfireshed; 7\n(2) identify potential wildfire and smoke risks to 8\nfirst responders, communities, critical infrastructure, 9\nand high-value resources; 10\n(3) be consistent with any resource management 11\nplan or forest plan developed for the applicable 12\nfireshed; 13\n(4) in coordination with the local government, 14\nState, or Indian Tribe that includes that fireshed, de-15\nlineate potential wildland fire operational delinea-16\ntions that— 17\n(A) identify potential wildfire control loca-18\ntions; and 19\n(B) specify the places in which risk to wild-20\nfire responders may be elevated as a result of— 21\n(i) exceeding a certain slope for the 22\nlandscape; 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n43 \n•S 91 RS\n(ii) containing an excess of hazardous 1\nfuels such that a threat would be posed 2\nunder severe fire weather conditions; or 3\n(iii) containing other known hazards; 4\n(5) include a description of the weather condi-5\ntions for the fireshed that would lead to severe fire 6\nweather conditions, including the hot-dry-windy 7\nindex and other relevant factors; and 8\n(6) include other prefire planning provisions rel-9\nevant to wildfire response. 10\n(c) W ILDFIRE CONSIDERATION DURING LAND MAN-11\nAGEMENT PLANNING.—To the maximum extent practicable, 12\nthe Secretary concerned shall include in the development 13\nor revision of a resource management plan or forest plan 14\nfor Federal land containing 1 or more firesheds an employee 15\nthat was involved in the development of the spatial fire 16\nmanagement policies for that fireshed. 17\nSEC. 104. STUDY AND REPORT ON INTEGRATING LOCAL 18\nFIREFIGHTERS INTO WILDFIRE RESPONSE. 19\n(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 20\nof enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-21\nrity, acting through the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Ad-22\nministration and in coordination with the National Wild-23\nfire Coordinating Group, shall— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n44 \n•S 91 RS\n(1) conduct a study on the gaps in training for 1\nstructural firefighters in high wildfire risk areas; and 2\n(2) submit to the congressional committees, the 3\nCommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental 4\nAffairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Science, 5\nSpace, and Technology of the House of Representa-6\ntives a report describing the results of the study con-7\nducted under paragraph (1). 8\n(b) I NCLUSIONS.—The report submitted under sub-9\nsection (a)(2) shall include— 10\n(1) a summary of existing coordination practices 11\nbetween Federal wildland firefighters and State, local, 12\nor Tribal firefighters; 13\n(2) an analysis of the differences in best response 14\npractices for State, local, or Tribal firefighters when 15\nresponding to a fire incident that threatens a single 16\nstructure as compared to a wildfire that threatens a 17\ncommunity; 18\n(3) existing training modules, or gaps in exist-19\ning training modules, available through the National 20\nFire Academy to train State, local, or Tribal fire-21\nfighters on best response practices for a wildfire that 22\nthreatens a community; 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n45 \n•S 91 RS\n(4) an estimated cost and spending plan to ad-1\ndress any gaps in existing training modules described 2\nin paragraph (3); 3\n(5) an examination of the costs to State, local, 4\nand Tribal governments in integrating State, local, 5\nand Tribal firefighters in wildfire response; and 6\n(6) an examination of ways the Federal Govern-7\nment may integrate State, local, and Tribal fire-8\nfighters in wildfire response while minimizing the 9\ncosts for State, local, and Tribal governments. 10\nTITLE II—WILDFIRE DETECTION 11\nAND SUPPRESSION SUPPORT 12\nSEC. 201. WILDFIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT. 13\nTo the extent practicable, the Secretary concerned 14\nshall— 15\n(1) expedite the placement of wildfire detection 16\nequipment, such as sensors, cameras, and other rel-17\nevant equipment, in areas at high risk of wildfire; 18\n(2) expand the use of satellite data to improve 19\nwildfire detection and response; 20\n(3) expedite any permitting required by the Sec-21\nretary concerned for the installation, maintenance, or 22\nremoval of wildfire detection equipment; 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n46 \n•S 91 RS\n(4) use unmanned aerial vehicles to assess 1\nwildland fires in their incipient stages to determine 2\nthe appropriate initial response actions; and 3\n(5) review permitting described in paragraph (3) 4\nand procurement requirements for wildfire detection 5\nequipment within the context of modern and innova-6\ntive technology. 7\nSEC. 202. SLIP-ON TANKER UNITS. 8\n(a) F INANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR ACQUISITION OF  9\nFIREFIGHTING SLIP-ON TANKER UNITS.—Section 10\n40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 11\n(16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and In-12\ndian Tribes’’ after ‘‘local governments’’. 13\n(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 14\n(1) I N GENERAL .—The Secretary shall submit to 15\nthe Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 16\nthe Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 17\nof the House of Representatives an annual report on 18\nthe implementation of section 40803(c)(5) of the In-19\nfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 20\n6592(c)(5)), including a description of— 21\n(A) the total number of slip-on tanker units 22\npurchased with financial assistance provided by 23\nthe Secretary under that section in the preceding 24\nyear, by State; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n47 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) the number of requests received by the 1\nSecretary for financial assistance under that sec-2\ntion to purchase slip-on tanker units in the pre-3\nceding year; and 4\n(C) any barriers identified by the Secretary 5\nto the ability of local governments and Indian 6\nTribes to participate in the pilot program estab-7\nlished under that section. 8\n(2) TIMING.— 9\n(A) I NITIAL REPORT .—The Secretary shall 10\nsubmit the first report required under paragraph 11\n(1) not later than October 1, 2027. 12\n(B) SUNSET.—The requirements of this sub-13\nsection shall expire on October 1, 2029. 14\n(c) I NTEGRATION INTO WILDFIRE RESPONSE.—The 15\nSecretaries, in coordination with recipients of financial as-16\nsistance for slip-on tanker units provided under section 17\n40803(c)(5) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 18\n(16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(5)), shall— 19\n(1) as practicable, incorporate mobilized slip-on 20\ntanker units into resource tracking systems; and 21\n(2) collaborate with the Administrator of the 22\nU.S. Fire Administration regarding any necessary 23\ntraining for operators of slip-on tanker units. 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n48 \n•S 91 RS\nSEC. 203. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF UNMANNED 1\nAIRCRAFT SYSTEM FIRE APPLICATIONS. 2\n(a) D EFINITION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.— 3\nIn this section, the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has 4\nthe meaning given the term in section 44801 of title 49, 5\nUnited States Code. 6\n(b) RESEARCH.—The Secretaries shall, acting through 7\nthe Joint Fire Science Program, work with universities and 8\nother research institutions to carry out research and devel-9\nopment on the wildfire response applications of unmanned 10\naircraft systems. 11\n(c) TESTING.—The Secretaries may test an unmanned 12\naircraft system developed under this section at an un-13\nmanned aircraft test range in accordance with section 14\n44803 of title 49, United States Code, in coordination with 15\nthe Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. 16\nSEC. 204. STUDY ON DRONE INCURSIONS ON WILDFIRE 17\nSUPPRESSION. 18\n(a) D EFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘un-19\nmanned aircraft’’ and ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ have 20\nthe meanings given those terms in section 44801 of title 49, 21\nUnited States Code. 22\n(b) S TUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 23\nacting through the Chief of the Forest Service, in consulta-24\ntion with the Secretary and the Administrator of the Fed-25\neral Aviation Administration, shall conduct a study on the 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n49 \n•S 91 RS\neffects of unauthorized unmanned aircraft on wildfire sup-1\npression with respect to land managed by the Department 2\nof the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. 3\n(c) S TUDY CONTENTS.—In conducting the study re-4\nquired under subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture 5\nshall— 6\n(1) determine, for each of the 5 most recent cal-7\nendar years— 8\n(A) the number of occurrences in which an 9\nunauthorized unmanned aircraft interfered with 10\nwildfire suppression; and 11\n(B) the estimated effect of each occurrence 12\ndescribed in subparagraph (A) on— 13\n(i) the length of time required to 14\nachieve complete suppression; 15\n(ii) any associated delay in the field-16\ning of aerial firefighting response units; and 17\n(iii) the amounts expended by the Fed-18\neral Government; and 19\n(2) evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and 20\nsafety impacts and results of various actions to pre-21\nvent unauthorized unmanned aircraft from inter-22\nfering with wildfire suppression, including— 23\n(A) the deployment of nonkinetic counter- 24\nUAS equipment; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n50 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) the seizure of an unmanned aircraft 1\nsystem, including through the use of kinetic 2\ncounter-UAS equipment, such as a net; and 3\n(C) the dissemination of educational mate-4\nrials relating to the effects of unauthorized un-5\nmanned aircraft on wildfire suppression. 6\n(d) R EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 7\nof enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 8\nsubmit to the congressional committees, the Committee on 9\nCommerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and 10\nthe Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 11\nHouse of Representatives a report describing— 12\n(1) the findings of the study required under sub-13\nsection (b); and 14\n(2) any recommendations relating to those find-15\nings. 16\nSEC. 205. STUDY ON MODERNIZING WILDFIRE RESPONSE 17\nTECHNOLOGIES. 18\n(a) I N GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall conduct a 19\nstudy on— 20\n(1) necessary improvements to radio communica-21\ntions systems and infrastructure during wildland fire 22\nor prescribed fire operations, including— 23\n(A) an assessment of the quality and reli-24\nability of existing radio infrastructure; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n51 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) for any instance in which existing 1\nradio communications infrastructure has failed, 2\nan assessment of the impacts on forest manage-3\nment or wildfire response activities; 4\n(C) a comparison of existing options to im-5\nprove on-the-ground communications; and 6\n(D) a cost analysis and estimated timeline 7\nto install the most feasible option identified 8\nunder subparagraph (C); 9\n(2) real-time or near-real-time situational 10\nawareness tools for operational firefighters, includ-11\ning— 12\n(A) standards and requirements for such 13\ntools to ensure interoperability between Federal 14\nfirefighting entities and applicable State, local, 15\nTribal, or other partners; 16\n(B) any requirements for additional remote 17\nsensing and mapping capabilities to fully lever-18\nage such situational awareness tools; and 19\n(C) a cost comparison between commercially 20\navailable systems and internally developed sys-21\ntems; and 22\n(3) wildland fire and smoke predictive modeling, 23\nincluding— 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n52 \n•S 91 RS\n(A) an analysis of the data required to re-1\nduce predictive error for existing or developing 2\nmodels; 3\n(B) an analysis of computing needs to more 4\nswiftly or accurately model wildland fire using 5\nexisting or developing models; 6\n(C) the feasibility of using artificial intel-7\nligence for wildland fire and smoke modeling; 8\nand 9\n(D) existing or developing wildland fire 10\npredictive models that could assist with estab-11\nlishing preferred conditions for igniting a pre-12\nscribed fire and predicting smoke impacts. 13\n(b) S UBMISSION AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not 14\nlater than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 15\nthe Secretaries shall submit to the congressional committees 16\nand make publicly available the results of the study con-17\nducted under subsection (a). 18\nTITLE III—POST-FIRE RECOVERY 19\nSUPPORT 20\nSEC. 301. FUNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR POST-DIS-21\nASTER ASSISTANCE. 22\n(a) USE OF SERVICES OF OTHER AGENCIES.—Section 23\n201(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-24\ngency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131(a)) is amended— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n53 \n•S 91 RS\n(1) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 1\nthe end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2\n(2) by adding at the end the following: 3\n‘‘(8) post-wildfire assistance.’’. 4\n(b) F UNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST-5\nANCE.—Section 201 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-6\nlief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131) is 7\namended by adding at the end the following: 8\n‘‘(e) F UNDING FOR ONLINE GUIDES FOR ASSIST-9\nANCE.— 10\n‘‘(1) I N GENERAL .—The Administrator of the 11\nFederal Emergency Management Agency may enter 12\ninto cooperative agreements to provide funding or 13\ntechnical assistance to a State agency designated or 14\nestablished under subsection (c) to establish, update, 15\nor operate a website to provide information relating 16\nto post-wildfire recovery funding and resources to a 17\ncommunity or an individual impacted by a cata-18\nstrophic wildfire. 19\n‘‘(2) M ANAGEMENT.—A website established, up-20\ndated, or operated under this subsection shall be— 21\n‘‘(A) managed by the State agency; and 22\n‘‘(B) suitable for the residents of the State 23\nof the State agency. 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n54 \n•S 91 RS\n‘‘(3) CONTENT.—The Administrator may provide 1\nfunding to a State agency under this subsection to es-2\ntablish, update, or operate a website that provides 1 3\nor more of the following: 4\n‘‘(A) A list of Federal, State, and local 5\nsources of post-wildfire recovery funding or as-6\nsistance that may be available to a community 7\nafter a catastrophic wildfire. 8\n‘‘(B) A list of Federal, State, and local 9\nsources of post-wildfire recovery funding or as-10\nsistance that may be available to an individual 11\nimpacted by a catastrophic wildfire. 12\n‘‘(C) A technical guide that lists and ex-13\nplains the costs and benefits of alternatives 14\navailable to a community to mitigate the im-15\npacts of a catastrophic wildfire and prepare for 16\nsequential hazards, such as flooding after a wild-17\nfire. 18\n‘‘(4) C OOPERATION.—A State agency that re-19\nceives funding or technical assistance to establish, up-20\ndate, or operate a website under this subsection shall 21\ncooperate with the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec-22\nretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and 23\nUrban Development, the Administrator of the Small 24\nBusiness Administration, and the Administrator of 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n55 \n•S 91 RS\nthe Federal Emergency Management Agency in estab-1\nlishing, updating, or operating the website under this 2\nsubsection. 3\n‘‘(5) U PDATES.—A State agency that receives 4\nfunding to establish, update, or operate a website 5\nunder this subsection shall update the website as nec-6\nessary to ensure the content is accurate.’’. 7\nSEC. 302. POST-FIRE MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY. 8\n(a) I N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9\ndate of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall, 10\nto the maximum extent practicable, establish 1 or more per-11\nmanent Burned Area Emergency Response Teams (referred 12\nto in this section as a ‘‘BAER Team’’) to coordinate imme-13\ndiate post-fire emergency response and stabilization efforts. 14\n(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A BAER Team shall— 15\n(1) survey the landscape affected by a wildfire to 16\ndetermine burn severity; 17\n(2) carry out risk assessments— 18\n(A) to determine risks to critical values; 19\nand 20\n(B) to identify post-fire emergency situa-21\ntions; and 22\n(3) mitigate risks to critical values, including— 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n56 \n•S 91 RS\n(A) identifying and removing, as necessary, 1\ndead or dying trees that may pose an immediate 2\nhazard; 3\n(B) stabilizing or removing hazardous ma-4\nterials resulting from a wildfire that may pose 5\nan immediate hazard; 6\n(C) conducting emergency landscape sta-7\nbilization and erosion prevention work, 8\nprioritizing efforts that ensure public safety; 9\n(D) preventing the proliferation and spread 10\nof invasive species; 11\n(E) assisting with informing the public of 12\npost-wildfire hazards; 13\n(F) collaborating, as necessary, with activi-14\nties under section 303; and 15\n(G) conducting such other work as the Sec-16\nretary concerned determines to be necessary to 17\nidentify and address imminent post-wildfire 18\nthreats to human life and safety, property, and 19\ncritical natural or cultural resources. 20\n(c) DURATION.—A BAER Team— 21\n(1) to the maximum extent practicable, shall co-22\nordinate post-fire emergency response and stabiliza-23\ntion efforts for a period of not more than 1 year after 24\nthe date of containment of a wildfire; and 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n57 \n•S 91 RS\n(2) may monitor and maintain post-fire emer-1\ngency response and stabilization efforts for a period 2\nof not more than 5 years after the date of contain-3\nment of a wildfire. 4\nSEC. 303. BURNED AREA REHABILITATION. 5\n(a) E STABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is estab-6\nlished in the Treasury of the United States the Long-Term 7\nBurned Area Rehabilitation account under the Wildland 8\nFire Management account for the Department of Agri-9\nculture, which shall be available to the Secretaries. 10\n(b) P RESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUESTS.—For fiscal 11\nyear 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary con-12\ncerned shall submit through the budget request of the Presi-13\ndent a request for amounts in the National Forest System 14\nappropriation account to carry out the activities described 15\nin subsection (c). 16\n(c) A UTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary con-17\ncerned shall carry out rehabilitation projects located at sites 18\nimpacted by a wildfire or post-wildfire flooding primarily 19\non Federal land, but may include areas on non-Federal 20\nland (with the express consent of the landowner), that— 21\n(1) restore the functions of an ecosystem, includ-22\ning— 23\n(A) identifying areas where natural regen-24\neration is unlikely to occur; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n58 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) revegetation and reforestation, includ-1\ning coordinating any necessary site preparation, 2\nsalvage harvesting, and replanting; 3\n(C) watershed restoration; 4\n(D) invasive species mitigation and re-5\nmoval; and 6\n(E) wildlife habitat restoration; or 7\n(2) repair or replace infrastructure or facilities 8\ncritical for land management activities. 9\n(d) D URATION OF ACTIVITIES.—A rehabilitation 10\nproject under subsection (c) shall— 11\n(1) begin not earlier than the date on which the 12\nwildfire was contained; and 13\n(2) be completed, to the extent practicable, not 14\nlater than 5 years after the date on which the wildfire 15\nwas contained. 16\n(e) AGREEMENT AUTHORITY.— 17\n(1) I N GENERAL .—The Secretary concerned may 18\nenter into agreements with States, local governments, 19\nIndian Tribes, and other non-Federal entities to carry 20\nout activities described in subsection (c). 21\n(2) C OST SHARE .—The non-Federal share of the 22\ncosts of implementing activities under an agreement 23\nentered into under paragraph (1)— 24\n(A) shall be not more than 20 percent; and 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\n59 \n•S 91 RS\n(B) may include in-kind contributions. 1\n(3) S AVINGS PROVISION .—Nothing in this sub-2\nsection— 3\n(A) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to 4\nenter into agreements with non-Federal entities 5\nto carry out activities described in subsection (c); 6\nor 7\n(B) limits the effect of the prioritization re-8\nquirements under subsection (f). 9\n(f) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDING.—The Secretary con-10\ncerned shall prioritize, on a nationwide basis, projects for 11\nwhich funding requests are submitted under this section 12\nbased on landscape and watershed benefits. 13\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS\n\nCalendar No. 629 \n119THCONGRESS \n2DSESSION S. 91 \nA BILL \nTo improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, \nand for other purposes. \nSEPTEMBER17, 2026 \nReported with an amendment \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Sep 18, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\\BILLS\\S91.RS S91ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS', 'pages': 60, 'doc_id': '3459963', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/s91/BILLS-119s91rs.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:21.227597+00:00', 'content_hash': 'bc816cdbb638dd805e0b7edf5853ec701a532252586eb8b7a3cb0fb86cf52537'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2026-09-16: Introduced in House
• 2026-09-16: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

• 2026-09-22 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:21.619497+00:00.

I
119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 10430
To establish the United States Space Academy as a service academy of
the United States, to require that the Academy be located in the State
of Florida, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 16, 2026
Mr. DONALDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
A BILL
To establish the United States Space Academy as a service
academy of the United States, to require that the Acad-
emy be located in the State of Florida, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing The Advance-4
ment of Rising Spacefarers Act of 2026’’ or the ‘‘STARS 5
Act of 2026’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
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2
•HR 10430 IH
(1) Space is a vital domain for the national se-1
curity, economic competitiveness, and technological 2
leadership of the United States, and the Nation’s 3
continued dominance in space depends on a pipeline 4
of highly trained astronauts, engineers, operators, 5
and civil servants. 6
(2) On August 28, 2026, the President signed 7
an Executive order establishing the Presidential 8
Commission on the United States Space Academy, 9
directing that Commission to recommend a govern-10
ance framework, curriculum, and site-selection proc-11
ess for a proposed NASA-led Federal service acad-12
emy dedicated to space. 13
(3) Recent executive actions, including the es-14
tablishment of the Presidential Commission on the 15
United States Space Academy, reflect a renewed na-16
tional commitment to expanding the pipeline of 17
American space talent and reasserting American 18
leadership in the space domain amid growing stra-19
tegic competition, including from the People’s Re-20
public of China. 21
(4) The State of Florida is home to the John 22
F. Kennedy Space Center, the single most active 23
human spaceflight launch complex in the world, and 24
to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, from which 25
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3
•HR 10430 IH
the majority of the Nation’s orbital launches are 1
conducted. 2
(5) Florida hosts Patrick Space Force Base and 3
Space Launch Delta 45, giving the State an un-4
matched concentration of active-duty Space Force 5
personnel, launch range safety infrastructure, and 6
operational expertise directly relevant to the mission 7
of the Space Academy. 8
(6) Florida’s ‘‘Space Coast’’ region supports 9
one of the largest concentrations of commercial 10
space companies in the United States, including na-11
tional security launch providers, satellite manufac-12
turers, and in-space logistics firms, creating an un-13
paralleled ecosystem of industry partners, internship 14
opportunities, and post-graduate employment path-15
ways for Academy cadets. 16
(7) Florida’s institutions of higher education, 17
including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the 18
University of Central Florida, and the Florida Insti-19
tute of Technology, already offer nationally recog-20
nized aerospace engineering and space operations 21
programs, and are positioned to support and com-22
plement the academic mission of the Academy. 23
(8) Space Florida, the State’s spaceport author-24
ity and aerospace economic development agency, has 25
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4
•HR 10430 IH
decades of experience coordinating range operations, 1
workforce development, and infrastructure invest-2
ment in direct support of NASA, the Space Force, 3
and the commercial launch industry. 4
(9) Florida’s climate permits a high annual 5
number of flyable launch days, and the State’s 6
coastal geography provides safe overwater trajec-7
tories for launch and reentry operations, both of 8
which are operationally significant for a service 9
academy whose cadets will train alongside active 10
launch operations. 11
(10) Locating the Space Academy in Florida 12
would allow cadets to train in direct proximity to 13
operational launch, range, and Space Force facili-14
ties, providing a level of real-world immersion un-15
available at any other location in the United States. 16
(11) It is in the national interest to establish 17
the Space Academy without delay and to resolve the 18
question of its permanent location in a manner that 19
maximizes its operational integration with existing 20
space launch, range, and military infrastructure. 21
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 22
In this Act: 23
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5
•HR 10430 IH
(1) A CADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 1
the United States Space Academy established under 2
section 4. 3
(2) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-4
trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 5
Aeronautics and Space Administration. 6
(3) C OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 7
means the Presidential Commission on the United 8
States Space Academy established by Executive 9
Order of August 28, 2026. 10
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SPACE 11
ACADEMY. 12
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, as an acad-13
emy of the United States within the National Aeronautics 14
and Space Administration, the United States Space Acad-15
emy, which shall provide undergraduate technical edu-16
cation, leadership development, and commissioning or 17
civil-service preparation pathways for future leaders of the 18
space domain. 19
(b) R ELATIONSHIP TO COMMISSION.—The Adminis-20
trator shall, in developing the governance, curriculum, and 21
implementation plan for the Academy, consider the rec-22
ommendations of the Commission, except that no rec-23
ommendation of the Commission may supersede the site- 24
selection requirement of section 5. 25
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6
•HR 10430 IH
SEC. 5. LOCATION OF THE ACADEMY. 1
(a) I N GENERAL.—The permanent campus of the 2
Academy shall be located within the State of Florida. 3
(b) S ITE SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting the 4
specific site within the State of Florida, the Administrator 5
shall give priority to sites that— 6
(1) are in reasonable proximity to, or have or 7
plan to have reasonable access to, the Kennedy 8
Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta-9
tion; 10
(2) currently allow for, or plan for, direct aca-11
demic and operational partnership with Space 12
Launch Delta 45 and Patrick Space Force Base; 13
(3) can accommodate the future growth of the 14
Academy’s cadet corps, faculty, and supporting in-15
frastructure; and 16
(4) leverage existing Federal, State, or univer-17
sity-owned land to minimize acquisition costs within 18
the State of Florida. 19
(c) COORDINATION WITH STATE OF FLORIDA.—The 20
Administrator shall consult with the Governor of Florida 21
in carrying out this section. 22
SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORT. 23
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24
of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com-25
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 26
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7
•HR 10430 IH
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-1
nology of the House of Representatives a report that in-2
cludes— 3
(1) a proposed final site for the Academy within 4
the State of Florida; 5
(2) a proposed ac…

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'I \n119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION H. R. 10430 \nTo establish the United States Space Academy as a service academy of \nthe United States, to require that the Academy be located in the State \nof Florida, and for other purposes. \nIN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES \nSEPTEMBER 16, 2026 \nMr. DONALDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the \nCommittee on Science, Space, and Technology \nA BILL \nTo establish the United States Space Academy as a service \nacademy of the United States, to require that the Acad-\nemy be located in the State of Florida, and for other \npurposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3\nThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing The Advance-4\nment of Rising Spacefarers Act of 2026’’ or the ‘‘STARS 5\nAct of 2026’’. 6\nSEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7\nCongress finds the following: 8\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n2 \n•HR 10430 IH\n(1) Space is a vital domain for the national se-1\ncurity, economic competitiveness, and technological 2\nleadership of the United States, and the Nation’s 3\ncontinued dominance in space depends on a pipeline 4\nof highly trained astronauts, engineers, operators, 5\nand civil servants. 6\n(2) On August 28, 2026, the President signed 7\nan Executive order establishing the Presidential 8\nCommission on the United States Space Academy, 9\ndirecting that Commission to recommend a govern-10\nance framework, curriculum, and site-selection proc-11\ness for a proposed NASA-led Federal service acad-12\nemy dedicated to space. 13\n(3) Recent executive actions, including the es-14\ntablishment of the Presidential Commission on the 15\nUnited States Space Academy, reflect a renewed na-16\ntional commitment to expanding the pipeline of 17\nAmerican space talent and reasserting American 18\nleadership in the space domain amid growing stra-19\ntegic competition, including from the People’s Re-20\npublic of China. 21\n(4) The State of Florida is home to the John 22\nF. Kennedy Space Center, the single most active 23\nhuman spaceflight launch complex in the world, and 24\nto Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, from which 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n3 \n•HR 10430 IH\nthe majority of the Nation’s orbital launches are 1\nconducted. 2\n(5) Florida hosts Patrick Space Force Base and 3\nSpace Launch Delta 45, giving the State an un-4\nmatched concentration of active-duty Space Force 5\npersonnel, launch range safety infrastructure, and 6\noperational expertise directly relevant to the mission 7\nof the Space Academy. 8\n(6) Florida’s ‘‘Space Coast’’ region supports 9\none of the largest concentrations of commercial 10\nspace companies in the United States, including na-11\ntional security launch providers, satellite manufac-12\nturers, and in-space logistics firms, creating an un-13\nparalleled ecosystem of industry partners, internship 14\nopportunities, and post-graduate employment path-15\nways for Academy cadets. 16\n(7) Florida’s institutions of higher education, 17\nincluding Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the 18\nUniversity of Central Florida, and the Florida Insti-19\ntute of Technology, already offer nationally recog-20\nnized aerospace engineering and space operations 21\nprograms, and are positioned to support and com-22\nplement the academic mission of the Academy. 23\n(8) Space Florida, the State’s spaceport author-24\nity and aerospace economic development agency, has 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n4 \n•HR 10430 IH\ndecades of experience coordinating range operations, 1\nworkforce development, and infrastructure invest-2\nment in direct support of NASA, the Space Force, 3\nand the commercial launch industry. 4\n(9) Florida’s climate permits a high annual 5\nnumber of flyable launch days, and the State’s 6\ncoastal geography provides safe overwater trajec-7\ntories for launch and reentry operations, both of 8\nwhich are operationally significant for a service 9\nacademy whose cadets will train alongside active 10\nlaunch operations. 11\n(10) Locating the Space Academy in Florida 12\nwould allow cadets to train in direct proximity to 13\noperational launch, range, and Space Force facili-14\nties, providing a level of real-world immersion un-15\navailable at any other location in the United States. 16\n(11) It is in the national interest to establish 17\nthe Space Academy without delay and to resolve the 18\nquestion of its permanent location in a manner that 19\nmaximizes its operational integration with existing 20\nspace launch, range, and military infrastructure. 21\nSEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 22\nIn this Act: 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n5 \n•HR 10430 IH\n(1) A CADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 1\nthe United States Space Academy established under 2\nsection 4. 3\n(2) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-4\ntrator’’ means the Administrator of the National 5\nAeronautics and Space Administration. 6\n(3) C OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 7\nmeans the Presidential Commission on the United 8\nStates Space Academy established by Executive 9\nOrder of August 28, 2026. 10\nSEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SPACE 11\nACADEMY. 12\n(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, as an acad-13\nemy of the United States within the National Aeronautics 14\nand Space Administration, the United States Space Acad-15\nemy, which shall provide undergraduate technical edu-16\ncation, leadership development, and commissioning or 17\ncivil-service preparation pathways for future leaders of the 18\nspace domain. 19\n(b) R ELATIONSHIP TO COMMISSION.—The Adminis-20\ntrator shall, in developing the governance, curriculum, and 21\nimplementation plan for the Academy, consider the rec-22\nommendations of the Commission, except that no rec-23\nommendation of the Commission may supersede the site- 24\nselection requirement of section 5. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n6 \n•HR 10430 IH\nSEC. 5. LOCATION OF THE ACADEMY. 1\n(a) I N GENERAL.—The permanent campus of the 2\nAcademy shall be located within the State of Florida. 3\n(b) S ITE SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting the 4\nspecific site within the State of Florida, the Administrator 5\nshall give priority to sites that— 6\n(1) are in reasonable proximity to, or have or 7\nplan to have reasonable access to, the Kennedy 8\nSpace Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta-9\ntion; 10\n(2) currently allow for, or plan for, direct aca-11\ndemic and operational partnership with Space 12\nLaunch Delta 45 and Patrick Space Force Base; 13\n(3) can accommodate the future growth of the 14\nAcademy’s cadet corps, faculty, and supporting in-15\nfrastructure; and 16\n(4) leverage existing Federal, State, or univer-17\nsity-owned land to minimize acquisition costs within 18\nthe State of Florida. 19\n(c) COORDINATION WITH STATE OF FLORIDA.—The 20\nAdministrator shall consult with the Governor of Florida 21\nin carrying out this section. 22\nSEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORT. 23\nNot later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24\nof this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com-25\nmittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n7 \n•HR 10430 IH\nSenate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-1\nnology of the House of Representatives a report that in-2\ncludes— 3\n(1) a proposed final site for the Academy within 4\nthe State of Florida; 5\n(2) a proposed academic and leadership cur-6\nriculum; 7\n(3) proposed service obligations for graduates; 8\n(4) an estimated construction and operational 9\nbudget; and 10\n(5) an implementation timeline. 11\nSEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 12\nThere is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-13\nistrator such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 14\nAct, including for site acquisition, design, and construc-15\ntion of the Academy’s permanent campus. 16\nSEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 17\nThis Act shall take effect on the date of enactment 18\nof this Act. 19\nÆ \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\\BILLS\\H10430.IH H10430kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB', 'pages': 7, 'doc_id': '3459615', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr10430/BILLS-119hr10430ih.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:21.619497+00:00', 'content_hash': 'd4cdda1e075e8b6862e5555f3c869fee061d944129a7e3f1f8bf165e678f41f9'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2026-06-23: Introduced in House
• 2026-06-23: Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
• 2026-06-24: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
• 2026-06-24: Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 0.
• 2026-09-10: Reported by the Committee on Homeland Security. H. Rept. 119-813.
• 2026-09-10: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 712.
• 2026-09-16: Mr. Van Epps moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
• 2026-09-16: Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5900-5901)
• 2026-09-16: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 9394.
• 2026-09-16: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5900)
• 2026-09-16: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
• 2026-09-16: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

• 2026-06-24 Introduced: Official bill text
• 2026-09-10 Introduced: Official bill text
• 2026-09-17 Engrossed: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:21.803783+00:00.

119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 9394
AN ACT
To require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct
an exercise related to agroterrorism, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

2
•HR 9394 EH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Preparedness for 2
Agroterrorism Exercise Act of 2026’’. 3
SEC. 2. EXERCISE ON AGROTERRORISM. 4
(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, or as part of exer-5
cise programs currently carried out by the Department of 6
Homeland Security, to enhance domestic preparedness for 7
and collective response to terrorism, promote the dissemi-8
nation of homeland security information, and test the se-9
curity posture of the United States, the Secretary of 10
Homeland Security, acting through appropriate offices 11
and components of the Department and in coordination 12
with the heads of appropriate Federal departments and 13
agencies, shall, not later than four years after the date 14
of the enactment of this section, conduct an exercise re-15
lated to the prevention, response to, recovery from, and 16
mitigation of an act of agroterrorism. 17
(b) E XERCISE REQUIREMENTS.—The exercise re-18
quired under subsection (a) shall— 19
(1) include a scenario involving— 20
(A) developing preparedness for 21
agroterrorists attempting to unlawfully trans-22
port into the United States a biological agent 23
capable of adversely affecting the operations 24
of— 25

3
•HR 9394 EH
(i) the agriculture and food critical in-1
frastructure sector; or 2
(ii) other related economic sectors; 3
(B) developing preparedness for 4
agroterrorists deploying within the United 5
States a biological agent capable of adversely 6
affecting the operations of— 7
(i) the agriculture and food critical in-8
frastructure sector; or 9
(ii) other related economic sectors; 10
and 11
(C) collective action by participants to de-12
termine the most effective response in man-13
aging and mitigating the effects of widespread 14
disruption to the agriculture and food critical 15
infrastructure sector or other related economic 16
sectors as a result of agroterrorism, including 17
through— 18
(i) effectively deploying incident com-19
mand involving the entities specified in 20
paragraph (2); 21
(ii) identifying key resources nec-22
essary to respond to, and recover from, 23
and mitigate widespread disruption of the 24
agriculture and food critical infrastructure 25

4
•HR 9394 EH
sector or other related economic sectors as 1
a result of agroterrorism; and 2
(iii) determining an efficient and ef-3
fective allocation of such key resources, 4
and addressing capability and capacity 5
gaps at all levels of government; and 6
(2) include coordination with appropriate— 7
(A) Federal departments and agencies; 8
(B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 9
agencies; 10
(C) private sector owners and operators 11
of— 12
(i) food and agricultural facilities; 13
(ii) other components of the agri-14
culture and food critical infrastructure sec-15
tor; and 16
(iii) components of other related eco-17
nomic sectors; 18
(D) representatives of and practitioners 19
from the emergency preparedness and response 20
community; and 21
(E) other stakeholders in, and subject mat-22
ter experts of, the defense of the agriculture 23
and food critical infrastructure sector from 24
agroterrorism. 25

5
•HR 9394 EH
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com-1
pletion of the exercise required under subsection (a), the 2
Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with the 3
protection of classified information, submit to the Com-4
mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa-5
tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-6
ernmental Affairs of the Senate an after-action report that 7
contains the following: 8
(1) The findings of such exercise, together with 9
associated plans and a timeline for incorporating les-10
sons learned into future operations of the Depart-11
ment of Homeland Security to counter and deter 12
agroterrorism. 13
(2) Recommended legislative actions for improv-14
ing the security posture of the United States and the 15
future operations of the Department to counter and 16
deter agroterrorism. 17
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18
(1) A GROTERRORISM.—The term 19
‘‘agroterrorism’’ means an act of terrorism (as such 20
term is defined in section 2 of the Homeland Secu-21
rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)) that threatens to 22
target or targets the agriculture and food critical in-23
frastructure sector of the United States. 24

6
•HR 9394 EH
(2) A GROTERRORIST.—The term 1
‘‘agroterrorist’’ means any actor who commits an act 2
of agroterrorism. 3
(3) B IOLOGICAL AGENT .—The term ‘‘biological 4
agent’’ has the meaning given such term in section 5
178 of title 18, United States Code. 6
(4) C RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The term 7
‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 8
term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 9
U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 10
Passed the House of Representatives September 16,
2026.
Attest:
Clerk.

119THCONGRESS
2DSESSION H. R. 9394
AN ACT
To require the Department of Homeland Security
to conduct an exercise related to agroterrorism,
and for other purposes.

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': '119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION H. R. 9394 \nAN ACT \nTo require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct \nan exercise related to agroterrorism, and for other purposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\n\n2 \n•HR 9394 EH\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1\nThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Preparedness for 2\nAgroterrorism Exercise Act of 2026’’. 3\nSEC. 2. EXERCISE ON AGROTERRORISM. 4\n(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, or as part of exer-5\ncise programs currently carried out by the Department of 6\nHomeland Security, to enhance domestic preparedness for 7\nand collective response to terrorism, promote the dissemi-8\nnation of homeland security information, and test the se-9\ncurity posture of the United States, the Secretary of 10\nHomeland Security, acting through appropriate offices 11\nand components of the Department and in coordination 12\nwith the heads of appropriate Federal departments and 13\nagencies, shall, not later than four years after the date 14\nof the enactment of this section, conduct an exercise re-15\nlated to the prevention, response to, recovery from, and 16\nmitigation of an act of agroterrorism. 17\n(b) E XERCISE REQUIREMENTS.—The exercise re-18\nquired under subsection (a) shall— 19\n(1) include a scenario involving— 20\n(A) developing preparedness for 21\nagroterrorists attempting to unlawfully trans-22\nport into the United States a biological agent 23\ncapable of adversely affecting the operations 24\nof— 25\n\n3 \n•HR 9394 EH\n(i) the agriculture and food critical in-1\nfrastructure sector; or 2\n(ii) other related economic sectors; 3\n(B) developing preparedness for 4\nagroterrorists deploying within the United 5\nStates a biological agent capable of adversely 6\naffecting the operations of— 7\n(i) the agriculture and food critical in-8\nfrastructure sector; or 9\n(ii) other related economic sectors; 10\nand 11\n(C) collective action by participants to de-12\ntermine the most effective response in man-13\naging and mitigating the effects of widespread 14\ndisruption to the agriculture and food critical 15\ninfrastructure sector or other related economic 16\nsectors as a result of agroterrorism, including 17\nthrough— 18\n(i) effectively deploying incident com-19\nmand involving the entities specified in 20\nparagraph (2); 21\n(ii) identifying key resources nec-22\nessary to respond to, and recover from, 23\nand mitigate widespread disruption of the 24\nagriculture and food critical infrastructure 25\n\n4 \n•HR 9394 EH\nsector or other related economic sectors as 1\na result of agroterrorism; and 2\n(iii) determining an efficient and ef-3\nfective allocation of such key resources, 4\nand addressing capability and capacity 5\ngaps at all levels of government; and 6\n(2) include coordination with appropriate— 7\n(A) Federal departments and agencies; 8\n(B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 9\nagencies; 10\n(C) private sector owners and operators 11\nof— 12\n(i) food and agricultural facilities; 13\n(ii) other components of the agri-14\nculture and food critical infrastructure sec-15\ntor; and 16\n(iii) components of other related eco-17\nnomic sectors; 18\n(D) representatives of and practitioners 19\nfrom the emergency preparedness and response 20\ncommunity; and 21\n(E) other stakeholders in, and subject mat-22\nter experts of, the defense of the agriculture 23\nand food critical infrastructure sector from 24\nagroterrorism. 25\n\n5 \n•HR 9394 EH\n(c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com-1\npletion of the exercise required under subsection (a), the 2\nSecretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with the 3\nprotection of classified information, submit to the Com-4\nmittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa-5\ntives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-6\nernmental Affairs of the Senate an after-action report that 7\ncontains the following: 8\n(1) The findings of such exercise, together with 9\nassociated plans and a timeline for incorporating les-10\nsons learned into future operations of the Depart-11\nment of Homeland Security to counter and deter 12\nagroterrorism. 13\n(2) Recommended legislative actions for improv-14\ning the security posture of the United States and the 15\nfuture operations of the Department to counter and 16\ndeter agroterrorism. 17\n(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18\n(1) A GROTERRORISM.—The term 19\n‘‘agroterrorism’’ means an act of terrorism (as such 20\nterm is defined in section 2 of the Homeland Secu-21\nrity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)) that threatens to 22\ntarget or targets the agriculture and food critical in-23\nfrastructure sector of the United States. 24\n\n6 \n•HR 9394 EH\n(2) A GROTERRORIST.—The term 1\n‘‘agroterrorist’’ means any actor who commits an act 2\nof agroterrorism. 3\n(3) B IOLOGICAL AGENT .—The term ‘‘biological 4\nagent’’ has the meaning given such term in section 5\n178 of title 18, United States Code. 6\n(4) C RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The term 7\n‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 8\nterm in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 9\nU.S.C. 5195c(e)). 10\nPassed the House of Representatives September 16, \n2026. \nAttest: \nClerk. \n\n\n\n119THCONGRESS \n2DSESSION H. R. 9394 \nAN ACT \nTo require the Department of Homeland Security \nto conduct an exercise related to agroterrorism, \nand for other purposes. ', 'pages': 8, 'doc_id': '3458937', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr9394/BILLS-119hr9394eh.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:21.803783+00:00', 'content_hash': '5cdff36f1820ca5623f985e507c8010dfb93db182e58fc26d40c431d103d7550'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2025-11-20: Introduced in House
• 2025-11-20: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 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.
• 2025-11-20: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
• 2026-09-01: Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
• 2026-09-01: Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
• 2026-09-16: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
• 2026-09-16: Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 39 - 0.

• 2025-11-21 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:22.222321+00:00.

I
119TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 6207
To prohibit purchases of certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment
from foreign entities of concern or subsidiaries of foreign entities of
concern, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 20, 2025
Ms. L OFGREN (for herself, Mr. O BERNOLTE, Mr. K RISHNAMOORTHI, Mr.
MOOLENAAR, Mr. L ANDSMAN, and Mrs. H OUCHIN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To prohibit purchases of certain semiconductor manufac-
turing equipment from foreign entities of concern or
subsidiaries of foreign entities of concern, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chip Equipment Qual-4
ity, Usefulness, and Integrity Protection Act of 2025’’ or 5
the ‘‘Chip EQUIP Act’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

2
•HR 6207 IH
SEC. 2. PURCHASES OF SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFAC-1
TURING EQUIPMENT. 2
(a) D EFINITIONS.—Section 9901 of the William M. 3
(Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 4
Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651) is amended by adding 5
at the end the following: 6
‘‘(14) The term ‘completed, fully assembled’, 7
with respect to semiconductor manufacturing equip-8
ment, means the state in which all (or substantially 9
all) necessary parts, chambers, subsystems, and sub-10
components have been put together, resulting in 11
such equipment that is— 12
‘‘(A) ready-to-use or ready-to-install; and 13
‘‘(B) ready to be purchased directly from 14
an entity. 15
‘‘(15) The term ‘ineligible semiconductor manu-16
facturing equipment’— 17
‘‘(A) means completed, fully assembled 18
equipment that is manufactured, assembled, or 19
refurbished by a foreign entity of concern or 20
subsidiary thereof and designed for use in the 21
fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced pack-22
aging, production, or research and development 23
of semiconductors; 24
‘‘(B) includes— 25
‘‘(i) deposition equipment; 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

3
•HR 6207 IH
‘‘(ii) etching equipment; 1
‘‘(iii) lithography equipment; 2
‘‘(iv) inspection, measuring, and test 3
equipment; 4
‘‘(v) wafer slicing equipment; 5
‘‘(vi) wafer dicing equipment; 6
‘‘(vii) wire bonders; 7
‘‘(viii) ion implantation equipment; 8
‘‘(ix) chemical mechanical polishing; 9
‘‘(x) diffusion or oxidation furnaces; 10
‘‘(xi) thermal processing equipment; 11
and 12
‘‘(xii) automated material handling 13
systems; and 14
‘‘(C) does not include any part, chamber, 15
subsystem, or subcomponent that enables or is 16
incorporated into such equipment.’’. 17
(b) I NELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—Section 9909 of 18
the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Au-19
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4659) 20
is amended— 21
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-22
section (g); and 23
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-24
lowing new subsection: 25
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4
•HR 6207 IH
‘‘(f) INELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 1
‘‘(1) I N GENERAL .—Subject to paragraph (2), 2
the Secretary shall include in the terms of each 3
agreement with a covered entity for the award of 4
Federal financial assistance under section 9902, or 5
with the recipient of an award made under section 6
9906, prohibitions with respect to a project relating 7
to the procurement, installation, or use of ineligible 8
semiconductor manufacturing equipment, to be ef-9
fective for 10 years beginning on the date on which 10
the agreement is signed. 11
‘‘(2) W AIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 12
prohibitions referred to in paragraph (1) if— 13
‘‘(A) the ineligible semiconductor manufac-14
turing equipment to be purchased by the appli-15
cable covered entity is not produced in the 16
United States or an allied or partner country in 17
sufficient and reasonably available quantities or 18
of a satisfactory quality to support established 19
or expected production capabilities; 20
‘‘(B) the ineligible semiconductor manufac-21
turing equipment at issue was manufactured or 22
assembled by an entity that is not a foreign en-23
tity of concern or subsidiary thereof and was 24
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5
•HR 6207 IH
refurbished by a foreign entity of concern or 1
subsidiary thereof; or 2
‘‘(C)(i) the use of the ineligible semicon-3
ductor manufacturing equipment complies with 4
the requirements set forth in the Export Ad-5
ministration Regulations (as such term is de-6
fined in section 1742 of the Export Control Re-7
form Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801)); and 8
‘‘(ii) the Secretary, in consultation 9
with the Director of National Intelligence 10
or the Secretary of Defense, determines 11
such waiver is in the national security in-12
terest of the United States. 13
‘‘(3) F OREIGN ENTITIES OF CONCERN .—Noth-14
ing in this subsection may be construed to waive the 15
application of section 9907.’’. 16
Æ
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Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'I \n119TH CONGRESS \n1ST SESSION H. R. 6207 \nTo prohibit purchases of certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment \nfrom foreign entities of concern or subsidiaries of foreign entities of \nconcern, and for other purposes. \nIN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES \nNOVEMBER 20, 2025 \nMs. L OFGREN (for herself, Mr. O BERNOLTE, Mr. K RISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. \nMOOLENAAR, Mr. L ANDSMAN, and Mrs. H OUCHIN) introduced the fol-\nlowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-\nmerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-\nnology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in \neach case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-\ntion of the committee concerned \nA BILL \nTo prohibit purchases of certain semiconductor manufac-\nturing equipment from foreign entities of concern or \nsubsidiaries of foreign entities of concern, and for other \npurposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3\nThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chip Equipment Qual-4\nity, Usefulness, and Integrity Protection Act of 2025’’ or 5\nthe ‘‘Chip EQUIP Act’’. 6\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n2 \n•HR 6207 IH\nSEC. 2. PURCHASES OF SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFAC-1\nTURING EQUIPMENT. 2\n(a) D EFINITIONS.—Section 9901 of the William M. 3\n(Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 4\nFiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651) is amended by adding 5\nat the end the following: 6\n‘‘(14) The term ‘completed, fully assembled’, 7\nwith respect to semiconductor manufacturing equip-8\nment, means the state in which all (or substantially 9\nall) necessary parts, chambers, subsystems, and sub-10\ncomponents have been put together, resulting in 11\nsuch equipment that is— 12\n‘‘(A) ready-to-use or ready-to-install; and 13\n‘‘(B) ready to be purchased directly from 14\nan entity. 15\n‘‘(15) The term ‘ineligible semiconductor manu-16\nfacturing equipment’— 17\n‘‘(A) means completed, fully assembled 18\nequipment that is manufactured, assembled, or 19\nrefurbished by a foreign entity of concern or 20\nsubsidiary thereof and designed for use in the 21\nfabrication, assembly, testing, advanced pack-22\naging, production, or research and development 23\nof semiconductors; 24\n‘‘(B) includes— 25\n‘‘(i) deposition equipment; 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n3 \n•HR 6207 IH\n‘‘(ii) etching equipment; 1\n‘‘(iii) lithography equipment; 2\n‘‘(iv) inspection, measuring, and test 3\nequipment; 4\n‘‘(v) wafer slicing equipment; 5\n‘‘(vi) wafer dicing equipment; 6\n‘‘(vii) wire bonders; 7\n‘‘(viii) ion implantation equipment; 8\n‘‘(ix) chemical mechanical polishing; 9\n‘‘(x) diffusion or oxidation furnaces; 10\n‘‘(xi) thermal processing equipment; 11\nand 12\n‘‘(xii) automated material handling 13\nsystems; and 14\n‘‘(C) does not include any part, chamber, 15\nsubsystem, or subcomponent that enables or is 16\nincorporated into such equipment.’’. 17\n(b) I NELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—Section 9909 of 18\nthe William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Au-19\nthorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4659) 20\nis amended— 21\n(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-22\nsection (g); and 23\n(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-24\nlowing new subsection: 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n4 \n•HR 6207 IH\n‘‘(f) INELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 1\n‘‘(1) I N GENERAL .—Subject to paragraph (2), 2\nthe Secretary shall include in the terms of each 3\nagreement with a covered entity for the award of 4\nFederal financial assistance under section 9902, or 5\nwith the recipient of an award made under section 6\n9906, prohibitions with respect to a project relating 7\nto the procurement, installation, or use of ineligible 8\nsemiconductor manufacturing equipment, to be ef-9\nfective for 10 years beginning on the date on which 10\nthe agreement is signed. 11\n‘‘(2) W AIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 12\nprohibitions referred to in paragraph (1) if— 13\n‘‘(A) the ineligible semiconductor manufac-14\nturing equipment to be purchased by the appli-15\ncable covered entity is not produced in the 16\nUnited States or an allied or partner country in 17\nsufficient and reasonably available quantities or 18\nof a satisfactory quality to support established 19\nor expected production capabilities; 20\n‘‘(B) the ineligible semiconductor manufac-21\nturing equipment at issue was manufactured or 22\nassembled by an entity that is not a foreign en-23\ntity of concern or subsidiary thereof and was 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n5 \n•HR 6207 IH\nrefurbished by a foreign entity of concern or 1\nsubsidiary thereof; or 2\n‘‘(C)(i) the use of the ineligible semicon-3\nductor manufacturing equipment complies with 4\nthe requirements set forth in the Export Ad-5\nministration Regulations (as such term is de-6\nfined in section 1742 of the Export Control Re-7\nform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801)); and 8\n‘‘(ii) the Secretary, in consultation 9\nwith the Director of National Intelligence 10\nor the Secretary of Defense, determines 11\nsuch waiver is in the national security in-12\nterest of the United States. 13\n‘‘(3) F OREIGN ENTITIES OF CONCERN .—Noth-14\ning in this subsection may be construed to waive the 15\napplication of section 9907.’’. 16\nÆ \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 21, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\\BILLS\\H6207.IH H6207kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB', 'pages': 5, 'doc_id': '3285458', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr6207/BILLS-119hr6207ih.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:22.222321+00:00', 'content_hash': '71b390900e60524fd3043d7ae770e1ffacd5bc2810b87992914031108828a5ae'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2026-09-15: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

• 2026-10-02 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:22.536496+00:00.

II
119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. 5400
To provide for multilateral semiconductor technology supply chain
coordination, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
Mr. CURTIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To provide for multilateral semiconductor technology supply
chain coordination, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Semiconductor Tech-4
nology Resilience, Integrity, and Defense Enhancement 5
Act’’ or the ‘‘STRIDE Act’’. 6
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7
It is the sense of Congress that— 8
(1) the global semiconductor technology supply 9
chain is critical to United States and allied national 10
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

2
•S 5400 IS
security, economic competitiveness, and technological 1
leadership; 2
(2) the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing 3
strategies to dominate the semiconductor technology 4
industry to assist in its military modernization ef-5
forts and human rights abuses through nonmarket 6
practices, export control violations and avoidance, 7
economic espionage, military-civil fusion, and preda-8
tory investment; 9
(3) the integrity of the global semiconductor 10
technology supply chain requires coordinated action 11
with allied and partner countries to prevent techno-12
logical capture by the Chinese Communist Party and 13
other foreign adversaries; 14
(4) unilateral export controls for protecting crit-15
ical semiconductor technologies can be amplified 16
with multilateral coordination; and 17
(5) fully utilizing certain unilateral United 18
States export control authorities, including the For-19
eign Direct Product Rule, has proven effective at 20
preventing circumvention or avoidance of United 21
States export controls through third-country produc-22
tion. 23
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 24
It is the policy of the United States to— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

3
•S 5400 IS
(1) maintain United States and allied partner 1
technological leadership in semiconductor technology 2
research, design, manufacturing, and advanced ma-3
terials; 4
(2) prevent the capture by foreign adversaries 5
of key chokepoints in the global semiconductor tech-6
nology supply chain; 7
(3) coordinate with allied and partner countries 8
to expand and enhance semiconductor technology 9
protection; 10
(4) ensure that United States-origin technology 11
and intellectual property, including the direct prod-12
ucts of United States-origin technology, do not con-13
tribute to the Chinese Communist Party’s military 14
modernization, human rights abuses, and pursuit of 15
technological dominance over the United States and 16
its allies and partners; and 17
(5) promote resilient, secure, and trusted semi-18
conductor supply chains among United States allies 19
and partners. 20
SEC. 4. MULTILATERAL SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY 21
SUPPLY CHAIN COORDINATION. 22
(a) I N GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall co-23
ordinate with governments of countries that maintain sig-24
nificant capabilities in semiconductor technology research, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

4
•S 5400 IS
design, manufacturing, materials, equipment, or equip-1
ment subsystems and components to establish coordinated 2
and expanded approaches for protecting critical semicon-3
ductor technologies from acquisition by the Chinese Com-4
munist Party and other foreign adversaries of the United 5
States and its allies and partners. 6
(b) C OORDINATION OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out 7
subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall seek to 8
achieve— 9
(1) alignment of export control policies regard-10
ing semiconductor technology manufacturing equip-11
ment, including lithography systems, deposition 12
equipment, etching tools, thermocompression bond-13
ing equipment, resist processing tools, chemical me-14
chanical planarization tools, cleaning tools, handling 15
tools, assembly, packaging, and test tools, and in-16
spection systems and the critical subcomponents 17
needed to produce such equipment; 18
(2) expanded restrictions on semiconductor 19
technology design tools, intellectual property trans-20
fers, equipment servicing, and technical assistance 21
that could enable indigenous semiconductor tech-22
nology development capabilities in countries of con-23
cern; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

5
•S 5400 IS
(3) harmonized approaches to controlling dual- 1
use semiconductor technology materials, including 2
photoresists, specialty gases, and advanced sub-3
strates; 4
(4) joint monitoring, enforcement, and adminis-5
tration mechanisms to prevent circumvention of 6
semiconductor technology controls through third- 7
country entities as well as prevent foreign backfilling 8
of restricted items; 9
(5) information sharing regarding semicon-10
ductor technology transfer risks, end-user 11
verification, and supply chain security threats; and 12
(6) establishment of trusted supplier networks 13
for critical semiconductor technology components 14
and manufacturing services. 15
(c) CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-COOPERATION.— 16
(1) A SSESSMENT OF COOPERATION .—The Sec-17
retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 18
Commerce, shall regularly assess the extent to which 19
countries described in subsection (a) are imple-20
menting measures consistent with United States pol-21
icy described in section 3. 22
(2) D ETERMINATION OF INSUFFICIENT SECU -23
RITY MEASURES .—If the Secretary of State deter-24
mines that a country described in subsection (a) is 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

6
•S 5400 IS
not implementing security measures sufficient to 1
fully prevent semiconductor technology transfer to 2
countries of concern, the Secretary shall— 3
(A) provide øto ll?¿ a detailed expla-4
nation of the specific deficiencies in the coun-5
try’s semiconductor technology protection meas-6
ures; 7
(B) not later than 21 days after making 8
the determination, request the Secretary of 9
Commerce to convene a meeting of the Export 10
Advisory Review Board to identify and execute 11
a plan of action to address the insufficient secu-12
rity measures; and 13
(C) not later than 30 days after making 14
the determination, notify the appropriate con-15
gressional committees of the determination and 16
provide routine updates on the Export Advisory 17
Review Board meeting request and plan of ac-18
tion described in subparagraph (B). 19
(3) E NHANCED FOREIGN DIRECT PRODUCT 20
RULE APPLICATION .—In carrying out the process 21
described in paragraph (2)(B) with respect to a 22
country the Secretary determines under paragraph 23
(2) is not implementing security measures sufficient 24
to fully prevent semiconductor technology transfer to 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB

7
•S 5400 IS
countries of concern, the Secretary of State shall 1
provide to the Export Advisory Review Board— 2
(A) recommendations for the application of 3
Foreign Direct Product Rule restrictions to 4
semiconductor technology produced in the coun-5
try that incorporate United States-origin tech-6
nology, software, or equipment; 7
(B) recommended entities for the expan-8
sion of Ent…

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'II \n119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION S. 5400 \nTo provide for multilateral semiconductor technology supply chain \ncoordination, and for other purposes. \nIN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES \nSEPTEMBER 15, 2026 \nMr. CURTIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred \nto the Committee on Foreign Relations \nA BILL \nTo provide for multilateral semiconductor technology supply \nchain coordination, and for other purposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3\nThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Semiconductor Tech-4\nnology Resilience, Integrity, and Defense Enhancement 5\nAct’’ or the ‘‘STRIDE Act’’. 6\nSEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7\nIt is the sense of Congress that— 8\n(1) the global semiconductor technology supply 9\nchain is critical to United States and allied national 10\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n2 \n•S 5400 IS\nsecurity, economic competitiveness, and technological 1\nleadership; 2\n(2) the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing 3\nstrategies to dominate the semiconductor technology 4\nindustry to assist in its military modernization ef-5\nforts and human rights abuses through nonmarket 6\npractices, export control violations and avoidance, 7\neconomic espionage, military-civil fusion, and preda-8\ntory investment; 9\n(3) the integrity of the global semiconductor 10\ntechnology supply chain requires coordinated action 11\nwith allied and partner countries to prevent techno-12\nlogical capture by the Chinese Communist Party and 13\nother foreign adversaries; 14\n(4) unilateral export controls for protecting crit-15\nical semiconductor technologies can be amplified 16\nwith multilateral coordination; and 17\n(5) fully utilizing certain unilateral United 18\nStates export control authorities, including the For-19\neign Direct Product Rule, has proven effective at 20\npreventing circumvention or avoidance of United 21\nStates export controls through third-country produc-22\ntion. 23\nSEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 24\nIt is the policy of the United States to— 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n3 \n•S 5400 IS\n(1) maintain United States and allied partner 1\ntechnological leadership in semiconductor technology 2\nresearch, design, manufacturing, and advanced ma-3\nterials; 4\n(2) prevent the capture by foreign adversaries 5\nof key chokepoints in the global semiconductor tech-6\nnology supply chain; 7\n(3) coordinate with allied and partner countries 8\nto expand and enhance semiconductor technology 9\nprotection; 10\n(4) ensure that United States-origin technology 11\nand intellectual property, including the direct prod-12\nucts of United States-origin technology, do not con-13\ntribute to the Chinese Communist Party’s military 14\nmodernization, human rights abuses, and pursuit of 15\ntechnological dominance over the United States and 16\nits allies and partners; and 17\n(5) promote resilient, secure, and trusted semi-18\nconductor supply chains among United States allies 19\nand partners. 20\nSEC. 4. MULTILATERAL SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY 21\nSUPPLY CHAIN COORDINATION. 22\n(a) I N GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall co-23\nordinate with governments of countries that maintain sig-24\nnificant capabilities in semiconductor technology research, 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n4 \n•S 5400 IS\ndesign, manufacturing, materials, equipment, or equip-1\nment subsystems and components to establish coordinated 2\nand expanded approaches for protecting critical semicon-3\nductor technologies from acquisition by the Chinese Com-4\nmunist Party and other foreign adversaries of the United 5\nStates and its allies and partners. 6\n(b) C OORDINATION OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out 7\nsubsection (a), the Secretary of State shall seek to 8\nachieve— 9\n(1) alignment of export control policies regard-10\ning semiconductor technology manufacturing equip-11\nment, including lithography systems, deposition 12\nequipment, etching tools, thermocompression bond-13\ning equipment, resist processing tools, chemical me-14\nchanical planarization tools, cleaning tools, handling 15\ntools, assembly, packaging, and test tools, and in-16\nspection systems and the critical subcomponents 17\nneeded to produce such equipment; 18\n(2) expanded restrictions on semiconductor 19\ntechnology design tools, intellectual property trans-20\nfers, equipment servicing, and technical assistance 21\nthat could enable indigenous semiconductor tech-22\nnology development capabilities in countries of con-23\ncern; 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n5 \n•S 5400 IS\n(3) harmonized approaches to controlling dual- 1\nuse semiconductor technology materials, including 2\nphotoresists, specialty gases, and advanced sub-3\nstrates; 4\n(4) joint monitoring, enforcement, and adminis-5\ntration mechanisms to prevent circumvention of 6\nsemiconductor technology controls through third- 7\ncountry entities as well as prevent foreign backfilling 8\nof restricted items; 9\n(5) information sharing regarding semicon-10\nductor technology transfer risks, end-user 11\nverification, and supply chain security threats; and 12\n(6) establishment of trusted supplier networks 13\nfor critical semiconductor technology components 14\nand manufacturing services. 15\n(c) CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-COOPERATION.— 16\n(1) A SSESSMENT OF COOPERATION .—The Sec-17\nretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 18\nCommerce, shall regularly assess the extent to which 19\ncountries described in subsection (a) are imple-20\nmenting measures consistent with United States pol-21\nicy described in section 3. 22\n(2) D ETERMINATION OF INSUFFICIENT SECU -23\nRITY MEASURES .—If the Secretary of State deter-24\nmines that a country described in subsection (a) is 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n6 \n•S 5400 IS\nnot implementing security measures sufficient to 1\nfully prevent semiconductor technology transfer to 2\ncountries of concern, the Secretary shall— 3\n(A) provide øto ll?¿ a detailed expla-4\nnation of the specific deficiencies in the coun-5\ntry’s semiconductor technology protection meas-6\nures; 7\n(B) not later than 21 days after making 8\nthe determination, request the Secretary of 9\nCommerce to convene a meeting of the Export 10\nAdvisory Review Board to identify and execute 11\na plan of action to address the insufficient secu-12\nrity measures; and 13\n(C) not later than 30 days after making 14\nthe determination, notify the appropriate con-15\ngressional committees of the determination and 16\nprovide routine updates on the Export Advisory 17\nReview Board meeting request and plan of ac-18\ntion described in subparagraph (B). 19\n(3) E NHANCED FOREIGN DIRECT PRODUCT  20\nRULE APPLICATION .—In carrying out the process 21\ndescribed in paragraph (2)(B) with respect to a 22\ncountry the Secretary determines under paragraph 23\n(2) is not implementing security measures sufficient 24\nto fully prevent semiconductor technology transfer to 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n7 \n•S 5400 IS\ncountries of concern, the Secretary of State shall 1\nprovide to the Export Advisory Review Board— 2\n(A) recommendations for the application of 3\nForeign Direct Product Rule restrictions to 4\nsemiconductor technology produced in the coun-5\ntry that incorporate United States-origin tech-6\nnology, software, or equipment; 7\n(B) recommended entities for the expan-8\nsion of Entity List designations for semicon-9\nductor technology supply chain companies or re-10\nsearch institutions in the country that pose 11\ntechnology transfer risks; and 12\n(C) guidance on what additional steps may 13\nbe needed to prevent foreign backfilling of 14\nUnited States technology in restricted sectors 15\nor entities in countries of concern. 16\n(d) REPORTS.— 17\n(1) IN GENERAL .—Not later than 90 days after 18\nthe date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 19\ndays thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 20\nto the appropriate congressional committees a report 21\non— 22\n(A) the status of diplomatic engagement 23\nwith key semiconductor technology-producing 24\ncountries; 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n8 \n•S 5400 IS\n(B) progress toward achieving the coordi-1\nnation objectives specified in subsection (b); 2\n(C) any determinations made under sub-3\nsection (c) that a country is not implementing 4\nsecurity measures sufficient to fully prevent 5\nsemiconductor technology transfer to countries 6\nof concern; and 7\n(D) the effectiveness of multilateral coordi-8\nnation in preventing semiconductor technology 9\ntransfer to countries of concern. 10\n(2) F ORM.—The report required by paragraph 11\n(1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 12\ninclude a classified annex. 13\nSEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 14\nIn this Act: 15\n(1) A PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -16\nTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-17\nmittees’’ means— 18\n(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 19\nthe House of Representatives; and 20\n(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 21\nand the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 22\nUrban Affairs of the Senate. 23\n(2) C OUNTRIES OF CONCERN .—The term 24\n‘‘countries of concern’’ has the meaning given the 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n9 \n•S 5400 IS\nterm ‘‘covered nation’’ in section 4872(f) of title 10, 1\nUnited States Code. 2\n(3) E NTITY LIST .—The term ‘‘Entity List’’ 3\nmeans the list maintained by the Bureau of Industry 4\nand Security of the Department of Commerce and 5\nset forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of title 6\n15, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regu-7\nlations. 8\n(4) F OREIGN DIRECT PRODUCT RULE .—The 9\nterm ‘‘Foreign Direct Product Rule’’ means the rule 10\nexercising United States export controls on an item 11\nproduced in a foreign country for shipment or trans-12\nmission to another foreign country or foreign person, 13\nif the item— 14\n(A) is produced using technology or soft-15\nware that is otherwise subject to the jurisdic-16\ntion of the United States; 17\n(B) is produced with the use of a plant or 18\nmajor component of a plant that— 19\n(i) is located outside the United 20\nStates; and 21\n(ii) has been created using the tech-22\nnology or software described in subpara-23\ngraph (A); or 24\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n10 \n•S 5400 IS\n(C) contains, is commingled with, is bun-1\ndled with, is drawn from, or is produced by an 2\nitem described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 3\n(5) S EMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY .—The term 4\n‘‘semiconductor technology’’ includes— 5\n(A) integrated circuits, microprocessors, 6\nand memory devices; 7\n(B) semiconductor manufacturing equip-8\nment and tools, including subsystems and com-9\nponents; 10\n(C) semiconductor design software and in-11\ntellectual property; 12\n(D) semiconductor materials and specialty 13\nchemicals; 14\n(E) testing, assembly, and packaging 15\nequipment; and 16\n(F) any technology, component, or service 17\nthat is essential to semiconductor design, manu-18\nfacturing, or testing processes. 19\nÆ \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\\BILLS\\S5400.IS S5400kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB', 'pages': 10, 'doc_id': '3461591', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/s5400/BILLS-119s5400is.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:22.536496+00:00', 'content_hash': '8ff41e94c9a3043c255205ff7fccccf9580ec788f33b63f1ee19ec771880acb8'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.

Detail checked 2026-10-03T23:54:21.904362+00:00.

• 2026-09-15: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

• 2026-09-23 Introduced: Official bill text

Observed 2026-10-05T09:21:22.843449+00:00.

II
119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. 5398
To establish the United States Space Academy as a service academy of
the United States, to require that the Academy be located in the State
of Florida, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
Mrs. MOODY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To establish the United States Space Academy as a service
academy of the United States, to require that the Acad-
emy be located in the State of Florida, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing The Advance-4
ment of Rising Spacefarers Act of 2026’’ or the ‘‘STARS 5
Act of 2026’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
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2
•S 5398 IS
(1) Space is a vital domain for the national se-1
curity, economic competitiveness, and technological 2
leadership of the United States, and the Nation’s 3
continued dominance in space depends on a pipeline 4
of highly trained astronauts, engineers, operators, 5
and civil servants. 6
(2) On August 28, 2026, the President signed 7
an Executive order establishing the Presidential 8
Commission on the United States Space Academy, 9
directing that Commission to recommend a govern-10
ance framework, curriculum, and site-selection proc-11
ess for a proposed NASA-led Federal service acad-12
emy dedicated to space. 13
(3) Recent executive actions, including the es-14
tablishment of the Presidential Commission on the 15
United States Space Academy, reflect a renewed na-16
tional commitment to expanding the pipeline of 17
American space talent and reasserting American 18
leadership in the space domain amid growing stra-19
tegic competition, including from the People’s Re-20
public of China. 21
(4) The State of Florida is home to the John 22
F. Kennedy Space Center, the single most active 23
human spaceflight launch complex in the world, and 24
to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, from which 25
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3
•S 5398 IS
the majority of the Nation’s orbital launches are 1
conducted. 2
(5) Florida hosts Patrick Space Force Base and 3
Space Launch Delta 45, giving the State an un-4
matched concentration of active-duty Space Force 5
personnel, launch range safety infrastructure, and 6
operational expertise directly relevant to the mission 7
of the Space Academy. 8
(6) Florida’s ‘‘Space Coast’’ region supports 9
one of the largest concentrations of commercial 10
space companies in the United States, including na-11
tional security launch providers, satellite manufac-12
turers, and in-space logistics firms, creating an un-13
paralleled ecosystem of industry partners, internship 14
opportunities, and post-graduate employment path-15
ways for Academy cadets. 16
(7) Florida’s institutions of higher education, 17
including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the 18
University of Central Florida, and the Florida Insti-19
tute of Technology, already offer nationally recog-20
nized aerospace engineering and space operations 21
programs, and are positioned to support and com-22
plement the academic mission of the Academy. 23
(8) Space Florida, the State’s spaceport author-24
ity and aerospace economic development agency, has 25
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4
•S 5398 IS
decades of experience coordinating range operations, 1
workforce development, and infrastructure invest-2
ment in direct support of NASA, the Space Force, 3
and the commercial launch industry. 4
(9) Florida’s climate permits a high annual 5
number of flyable launch days, and the State’s 6
coastal geography provides safe overwater trajec-7
tories for launch and reentry operations, both of 8
which are operationally significant for a service 9
academy whose cadets will train alongside active 10
launch operations. 11
(10) Locating the Space Academy in Florida 12
would allow cadets to train in direct proximity to 13
operational launch, range, and Space Force facili-14
ties, providing a level of real-world immersion un-15
available at any other location in the United States. 16
(11) It is in the national interest to establish 17
the Space Academy without delay and to resolve the 18
question of its permanent location in a manner that 19
maximizes its operational integration with existing 20
space launch, range, and military infrastructure. 21
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 22
In this Act: 23
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5
•S 5398 IS
(1) A CADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 1
the United States Space Academy established under 2
section 4. 3
(2) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-4
trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 5
Aeronautics and Space Administration. 6
(3) C OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 7
means the Presidential Commission on the United 8
States Space Academy established by Executive 9
order of August 28, 2026. 10
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SPACE 11
ACADEMY. 12
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, as an acad-13
emy of the United States within the National Aeronautics 14
and Space Administration, the United States Space Acad-15
emy, which shall provide undergraduate technical edu-16
cation, leadership development, and commissioning or 17
civil-service preparation pathways for future leaders of the 18
space domain. 19
(b) R ELATIONSHIP TO COMMISSION.—The Adminis-20
trator shall, in developing the governance, curriculum, and 21
implementation plan for the Academy, consider the rec-22
ommendations of the Commission, except that no rec-23
ommendation of the Commission may supersede the site- 24
selection requirement of section 5. 25
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6
•S 5398 IS
SEC. 5. LOCATION OF THE ACADEMY. 1
(a) I N GENERAL.—The permanent campus of the 2
Academy shall be located within the State of Florida. 3
(b) S ITE SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting the 4
specific site within the State of Florida, the Administrator 5
shall give priority to sites that— 6
(1) are in reasonable proximity to, or have or 7
plan to have reasonable access to, the Kennedy 8
Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta-9
tion; 10
(2) currently allow for, or plan for, direct aca-11
demic and operational partnership with Space 12
Launch Delta 45 and Patrick Space Force Base; 13
(3) can accommodate the future growth of the 14
Academy’s cadet corps, faculty, and supporting in-15
frastructure; and 16
(4) leverage existing Federal, State, or univer-17
sity-owned land to minimize acquisition costs within 18
the State of Florida. 19
(c) COORDINATION WITH STATE OF FLORIDA.—The 20
Administrator shall consult with the Governor of Florida 21
in carrying out this section. 22
SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORT. 23
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24
of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com-25
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 26
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7
•S 5398 IS
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-1
nology of the House of Representatives a report that in-2
cludes— 3
(1) a proposed final site for the Academy within 4
the State of Florida; 5
(2) a proposed acade…

Oct. 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m.: selected_text changed since Oct. 4, 2026, 12:40 a.m..

{'selected_text': None}

{'selected_text': {'text': 'II \n119TH CONGRESS \n2D SESSION S. 5398 \nTo establish the United States Space Academy as a service academy of \nthe United States, to require that the Academy be located in the State \nof Florida, and for other purposes. \nIN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES \nSEPTEMBER 15, 2026 \nMrs. MOODY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred \nto the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation \nA BILL \nTo establish the United States Space Academy as a service \nacademy of the United States, to require that the Acad-\nemy be located in the State of Florida, and for other \npurposes. \nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1\ntives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2\nSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3\nThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing The Advance-4\nment of Rising Spacefarers Act of 2026’’ or the ‘‘STARS 5\nAct of 2026’’. 6\nSEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7\nCongress finds the following: 8\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n2 \n•S 5398 IS\n(1) Space is a vital domain for the national se-1\ncurity, economic competitiveness, and technological 2\nleadership of the United States, and the Nation’s 3\ncontinued dominance in space depends on a pipeline 4\nof highly trained astronauts, engineers, operators, 5\nand civil servants. 6\n(2) On August 28, 2026, the President signed 7\nan Executive order establishing the Presidential 8\nCommission on the United States Space Academy, 9\ndirecting that Commission to recommend a govern-10\nance framework, curriculum, and site-selection proc-11\ness for a proposed NASA-led Federal service acad-12\nemy dedicated to space. 13\n(3) Recent executive actions, including the es-14\ntablishment of the Presidential Commission on the 15\nUnited States Space Academy, reflect a renewed na-16\ntional commitment to expanding the pipeline of 17\nAmerican space talent and reasserting American 18\nleadership in the space domain amid growing stra-19\ntegic competition, including from the People’s Re-20\npublic of China. 21\n(4) The State of Florida is home to the John 22\nF. Kennedy Space Center, the single most active 23\nhuman spaceflight launch complex in the world, and 24\nto Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, from which 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n3 \n•S 5398 IS\nthe majority of the Nation’s orbital launches are 1\nconducted. 2\n(5) Florida hosts Patrick Space Force Base and 3\nSpace Launch Delta 45, giving the State an un-4\nmatched concentration of active-duty Space Force 5\npersonnel, launch range safety infrastructure, and 6\noperational expertise directly relevant to the mission 7\nof the Space Academy. 8\n(6) Florida’s ‘‘Space Coast’’ region supports 9\none of the largest concentrations of commercial 10\nspace companies in the United States, including na-11\ntional security launch providers, satellite manufac-12\nturers, and in-space logistics firms, creating an un-13\nparalleled ecosystem of industry partners, internship 14\nopportunities, and post-graduate employment path-15\nways for Academy cadets. 16\n(7) Florida’s institutions of higher education, 17\nincluding Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the 18\nUniversity of Central Florida, and the Florida Insti-19\ntute of Technology, already offer nationally recog-20\nnized aerospace engineering and space operations 21\nprograms, and are positioned to support and com-22\nplement the academic mission of the Academy. 23\n(8) Space Florida, the State’s spaceport author-24\nity and aerospace economic development agency, has 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n4 \n•S 5398 IS\ndecades of experience coordinating range operations, 1\nworkforce development, and infrastructure invest-2\nment in direct support of NASA, the Space Force, 3\nand the commercial launch industry. 4\n(9) Florida’s climate permits a high annual 5\nnumber of flyable launch days, and the State’s 6\ncoastal geography provides safe overwater trajec-7\ntories for launch and reentry operations, both of 8\nwhich are operationally significant for a service 9\nacademy whose cadets will train alongside active 10\nlaunch operations. 11\n(10) Locating the Space Academy in Florida 12\nwould allow cadets to train in direct proximity to 13\noperational launch, range, and Space Force facili-14\nties, providing a level of real-world immersion un-15\navailable at any other location in the United States. 16\n(11) It is in the national interest to establish 17\nthe Space Academy without delay and to resolve the 18\nquestion of its permanent location in a manner that 19\nmaximizes its operational integration with existing 20\nspace launch, range, and military infrastructure. 21\nSEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 22\nIn this Act: 23\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n5 \n•S 5398 IS\n(1) A CADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 1\nthe United States Space Academy established under 2\nsection 4. 3\n(2) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-4\ntrator’’ means the Administrator of the National 5\nAeronautics and Space Administration. 6\n(3) C OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 7\nmeans the Presidential Commission on the United 8\nStates Space Academy established by Executive 9\norder of August 28, 2026. 10\nSEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SPACE 11\nACADEMY. 12\n(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, as an acad-13\nemy of the United States within the National Aeronautics 14\nand Space Administration, the United States Space Acad-15\nemy, which shall provide undergraduate technical edu-16\ncation, leadership development, and commissioning or 17\ncivil-service preparation pathways for future leaders of the 18\nspace domain. 19\n(b) R ELATIONSHIP TO COMMISSION.—The Adminis-20\ntrator shall, in developing the governance, curriculum, and 21\nimplementation plan for the Academy, consider the rec-22\nommendations of the Commission, except that no rec-23\nommendation of the Commission may supersede the site- 24\nselection requirement of section 5. 25\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Sep 21, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n6 \n•S 5398 IS\nSEC. 5. LOCATION OF THE ACADEMY. 1\n(a) I N GENERAL.—The permanent campus of the 2\nAcademy shall be located within the State of Florida. 3\n(b) S ITE SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting the 4\nspecific site within the State of Florida, the Administrator 5\nshall give priority to sites that— 6\n(1) are in reasonable proximity to, or have or 7\nplan to have reasonable access to, the Kennedy 8\nSpace Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta-9\ntion; 10\n(2) currently allow for, or plan for, direct aca-11\ndemic and operational partnership with Space 12\nLaunch Delta 45 and Patrick Space Force Base; 13\n(3) can accommodate the future growth of the 14\nAcademy’s cadet corps, faculty, and supporting in-15\nfrastructure; and 16\n(4) leverage existing Federal, State, or univer-17\nsity-owned land to minimize acquisition costs within 18\nthe State of Florida. 19\n(c) COORDINATION WITH STATE OF FLORIDA.—The 20\nAdministrator shall consult with the Governor of Florida 21\nin carrying out this section. 22\nSEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORT. 23\nNot later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24\nof this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com-25\nmittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 26\nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB\n\n7 \n•S 5398 IS\nSenate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-1\nnology of the House of Representatives a report that in-2\ncludes— 3\n(1) a proposed final site for the Academy within 4\nthe State of Florida; 5\n(2) a proposed academic and leadership cur-6\nriculum; 7\n(3) proposed service obligations for graduates; 8\n(4) an estimated construction and operational 9\nbudget; and 10\n(5) an implementation timeline. 11\nSEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 12\nThere is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-13\nistrator such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 14\nAct, including for site acquisition, design, and construc-15\ntion of the Academy’s permanent campus. 16\nSEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 17\nThis Act shall take effect on the date of enactment 18\nof this Act. 19\nÆ \nVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Sep 16, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\\BILLS\\S5398.IS S5398kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB', 'pages': 7, 'doc_id': '3459794', 'truncated': False, 'extraction': 'source-pdf-text', 'source_url': 'https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/s5398/BILLS-119s5398is.pdf', 'observed_at': '2026-10-05T09:21:22.843449+00:00', 'content_hash': '02bc999f021bfe4a5fb2f9fa7c28ed86b03ae329b4cffb42cd01644b622d56e9'}}

Collection history starts with our observations; it is not complete legislative amendment history.