Wildfire Aerial Response Safety Act
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The bill would direct the FAA to study how drone incursions into wildfire airspace restrictions affect firefighting operations, and would require a report to Congress with findings and recommendations within 18 months.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would require the FAA, working with the Interior and Agriculture Departments, to study how drone flights into temporary flight-restricted airspace over wildfires on federal land have interfered with wildfire suppression. The study would cover the five most recent calendar years, tallying incursion occurrences and estimating each one's effect on suppression time, delays in deploying aerial firefighting units, and federal spending.
The study would also assess the feasibility of two mitigation approaches: distributing educational materials about incursion effects and deploying approved counter-drone systems to detect and prevent incursions. The FAA would then have to submit a report on the study's findings and recommendations to designated House and Senate committees within 18 months of enactment. The bill does not itself authorize deployment of counter-drone systems or fund any mitigation program.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the FAA, in consultation with Interior and Agriculture, to study effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression on federal land
- 2Would require the study to quantify incursion occurrences and their effects on suppression time, unit deployment delays, and federal spending over the past five years
- 3Would require evaluation of educational outreach and counter-drone system deployment as mitigation options
- 4Would require the FAA to submit a report on findings and recommendations to specified congressional committees within 18 months of enactment
Who would be affected
The Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, which would jointly conduct the study. Aerial firefighting crews, drone operators near wildfires, and members of Congress on the relevant oversight committees who would receive the resulting report are also affected.
Why it matters
The findings could shape future decisions on whether to deploy counter-drone technology or educational campaigns to prevent drone interference with aerial firefighting, which can delay suppression efforts and raise costs. The bill itself creates no new authority or funding, so any concrete action would depend on later legislation.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Deadline for the FAA to submit its report on the study's findings and recommendations
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6618 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026–2030 period, with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
H.R. 6618 would require the Federal Aviation Administration, in consultation with the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, to report to Congress on how certain drone operations affect wildfire suppression efforts on federal lands. CBO estimates the cost of implementing the bill — primarily producing that report — would be less than $500,000 over the 2026–2030 period; any such spending would depend on future appropriations (discretionary funds that Congress must explicitly provide each year). The bill has no effect on direct (mandatory) spending or revenues, and it would not increase the deficit in any 10-year period through 2065. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
The FAA would lead the study in consultation with the Interior Department and the Forest Service, examining five years of temporary-flight-restriction data tied to wildfires on federal land. It would compile incursion counts and effects, evaluate mitigation options like educational materials and counter-drone systems, and compile the results into a report. That report would go to six named House and Senate committees within 18 months of enactment, with no further action mandated by the bill itself.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Official CRS summary
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This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to study the effects of unmanned aircraft system (i.e., drone) incursions on wildfire suppression on public lands.
Specifically, the FAA must study drone operations in any airspace for which the FAA issued a temporary flight restriction because of a wildfire on land managed by the Departments of Agriculture or the Interior. Among other things, the study must determine the number of occurrences over the last five years in which a drone incursion interfered with wildfire suppression and estimate the effects of each occurrence.
The study must also evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of (1) deploying counter-drone systems to detect, mitigate, and prevent drone incursions during wildfire suppression operations; and (2) disseminating educational materials related to the effects of the incursions on wildfire suppression operations.
The FAA must submit a report to Congress on the study's findings and any related recommendations.
Legislative subjects
Aviation and airports; Congressional oversight; Fires; Forests, forestry, trees; Government studies and investigations; Transportation and Public Works; Transportation safety and security
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-548