Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
november 2015
The Monthly Review is part of a continuing effort to improve communications about the role of geoscience in policy.
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natural hazards
November 10, 2015
The Wildland Fire Science and Technology Task Force, chartered under the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, released a report in conjunction with the Fire Chiefs’ White House Roundtable recommending better communication between federal agencies that gather research on wildfire mitigation and response and the people that use the research to inform policy makers.
The report recommends the creation of a Federal Fire Science Coordination Council to improve interagency coordination and to share the latest advances in wildland-fire science and technology research. The group would consist of fire-management executives from the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to the report, there is no organized reporting of fire research program outcomes conducted by federal agencies. The Task Force concludes that the Council would link fire researchers with fire managers and improve fire mitigation, response, and recovery.
Sources: whitehouse.gov, eenews
House passes legislation preparing the nation for an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event
November 17, 2015
The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 1073) passed the House on November 17; the bill aims to prepare the nation in the event of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to define an EMP as a geomagnetic disturbance caused by solar storms or other naturally occurring phenomena, and as a pulse caused by intentional means including acts of terrorism. The bill was introduced by Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ) on February 25, 2015.
The bill calls on the Department of Homeland Security to create a national plan in response to an EMP event, and also calls for the DHS to provide education to emergency response providers about EMP events. The bill requests an increase in research regarding the potential infrastructure risks an EMP event would cause as well as in the development of resilience measures. A similar bill, S. 1846, was introduced on the Senate side by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) this past July.
Sources: congress.gov, eenews