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House Science Committee advances ACERO bill to use NASA tools for aerial wildfire response
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Summary
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee voted to report HR 390, the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) Act, after adopting an amendment that aligns the bill with prior NASA reauthorization language. Sponsors said the bill will use NASA research to improve coordination and safety during aerial wildfire firef
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Thursday favorably reported HR 390, the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) Act, after adopting an amendment that aligns the bill with language in the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024.
Supporters said ACERO would direct NASA to expand aerospace management tools, improve real-time information sharing among federal and state responders, and create annual progress reports to Congress through 2030.
The ACERO Act “offers a way forward by leveraging NASA's cutting edge technologies to revolutionize how we combat these disasters,” Representative Fong said as he introduced the bill and an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Fong told the committee the bill focuses on four areas: modernizing wildfire response capabilities, fostering collaboration with other agencies and private industry, requiring annual congressional progress reports through 2030, and prohibiting procurement of drones from foreign adversaries except where an exception is needed.
Representative Whiteside, a co-leader on the bill, described the airspace over wildfires as “chaotic” and said the ACERO framework would “bring order to the potential chaos in our airspace during emergencies.” Whiteside also said the bill establishes a pathway toward a midterm vision in which “autonomous or semi autonomous aircraft can suppress fires within 5 minutes of their start.”
Committee members voiced bipartisan support for the measure but several speakers warned that agency funding and staffing constraints could affect implementation. “We must not forget how important it is to actually have the funding to implement them,” a member from Oregon said during general remarks about agency cuts; Ranking Member Lofgren and others similarly urged attention to budget and staffing for science agencies that would carry out the work.
Representative Fong offered the amendment in the nature of a substitute to align ACERO with prior committee language; the committee adopted the amendment by voice vote. Chairman Babin then moved that the committee report HR 390 as amended to the House with a favorable recommendation. A recorded vote was taken later; the committee reported the bill favorably (34 ayes, 0 nays).
The bill would require NOAA and NASA coordination and other interagency work as described in the committee text; details on funding sources and specific procurement authorities were not specified during the markup. The committee authorized staff to make technical and conforming changes before transmittal to the House.
The next procedural step is consideration by the full House. Committee members were given two calendar days to submit supplemental or minority views on the measure.
