Wildfire Research Coordination Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the “Wildfire Research Coordination Act of 2026”.

(a) Memorandum of understanding.— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into a joint memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the Forest Service) and the Secretary of Interior, to—

(1) identify joint fire science research and technology priorities, including mitigation, ecological resilience, fire and smoke modeling, response, and post-fire recovery, that align with—

(A) the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program of the Department of Defense; and

(B) the Joint Fire Science Program of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior; and

(2) direct research coordination between such programs with respect to the joint priorities identified pursuant to paragraph (1).

(b) Report.— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report on the actions taken by the Secretary to implement subsection (a).