SB1079 - Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: Fire Innovation Unit.

Amended IN Assembly August 27, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 21, 2026 Amended IN Senate April 28, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1079 Introduced by Senator Stern (Principal coauthors: Senators Allen and Becker) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bennett, Irwin, Petrie-Norris, and Rogers) February 13, 2026 An act to add and repeal Section 8589.66 of the Government Code, to amend Section 10298 of, to amend, repeal, and add Section 10340 of, and to add Section 10340.1 to, the Public Contract Code, and to add and repeal Article 4 (commencing with Section 785) of Chapter 2.5 of Division 1 of the Public Resources Code, relating to disaster response. fire prevention. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1079, as amended, Stern. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: Fire Innovation Unit: Office of Emergency Services: Emergency Services Innovation Unit: procurement procedures: exemptions. Unit. Existing law establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and establishes various programs for the prevention and reduction of wildfires. This bill bill, which would be operative until January 1, 2033, and only upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the Fire Innovation Unit within the department to serve as the department’s innovation arm and the state’s principal hub for wildfire technology research, coordination, procurement, and deployment for technologies that, among other things, improve ecosystem and landscape scale resilience. The bill would require the unit to consist of the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development, the Innovation, Outreach and Coordination Program, and the Rapid Acquisition and Deployment Program, as provided. The bill would authorize the unit to establish and administer a grant program to fund early-stage, mature, or dual-use technology projects that enhance wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response through grants, contracts, or both. readiness, mitigation, or response. The bill would also authorize the unit to, among other things, to (1) administer or monitor pilot, prototype, or demonstration projects to evaluate, mature, and validate wildfire-related technologies. technologies, (2) collaborate with public and private educational and research institutions on wildfire technology and innovation, (3) establish testbeds to test or evaluate emerging technologies, (4) provide technical assistance to local, state, federal, and international fire agencies to facilitate deployment of wildfire-related technologies, (5) maintain a publicly accessible resource to provide visibility into these wildfire-related technologies, and (6) provide opportunities for participation in demonstrations, pilot programs, and field testing, as provided. This bill would require the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature summarizing certain information related to the unit, including, among other things, the technologies and projects evaluated, tested, or deployed. Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and makes it responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services. This bill would establish the Emergency Services Innovation Unit within the Office of Emergency Services to study, test, evaluate, and advise regarding procurement and statewide deployment of emerging technologies and tools that improve California’s preparedness for, response to, mitigation of, and recovery from all hazards emergencies, as defined. The bill would authorize the unit to undertake specified activities, including a research and development program designed to identify, research, test, procure, and evaluate emerging technologies and tools that support statewide emergency management across all hazards. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to the Governor and specified legislative committees summarizing activities of the unit, as provided. This bill would make the above-described provisions concerning the Fire Innovation Unit and the Emergency Services Innovation Unit (1) operative until January 1, 2033, and, except as specified, (2) operative upon an appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires a state agency to secure at least 3 competitive bids or proposals for each contract, except as specified. This bill would authorize an authorized unit, defined as either the above-described Fire Innovation Unit or Emergency Services Innovation Unit, to award a contract for innovative technology, as defined, designed to support fire or disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation, or response, without competitive solicitation and consistent with specified conditions. The bill would authorize these contracts for a vendor that has (1) completed a pilot, prototype, or demonstration project and (2) received a written formal validation from the authorized unit based on documented results. The bill would authorize these contracts to be awarded as multiphase agreements, as provided. The bill would require the department awarding these contracts to submit to the Department of General Services the validation findings, proposed contract or phase scope, and budget. The bill would authorize the Department of General Services to object only if the proposed scope materially exceeds the validated technology’s demonstrated capabilities. Existing law prohibits a person, firm, or subsidiary thereof that has been awarded a consulting services contract from submitting a bid for, or being awarded a contract for, the provision of services, the procurement of goods or supplies, or any other related action that is required, suggested, or otherwise deemed appropriate in the end product of the consulting services contract, with certain exceptions. This bill would additionally exempt from this prohibition contracts for innovative technology awarded by the Fire Innovation Unit or the Emergency Services Innovation Unit, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services to consolidate the needs of multiple state agencies for goods, information technology, and services, as provided, and to make the services of the department available, upon the terms and conditions agreed to, to local governmental bodies or corporations, as provided. This bill would authorize the Department of General Services, upon request by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or the Office of Emergency Services, to assume administration of a contract awarded on or before January 1, 2033, for innovative technology by the Fire Innovation Unit or the Emergency Services Innovation Unit and establish the contract as a leveraged procurement agreement available for use by state agencies, local governments, and public agencies in other states, provided that the vendor consents to the expanded terms. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The increasing frequency, severity, and cost of wildfires in California threaten lives, communities, infrastructure, economies, and ecosystems. (b) New wildfire technologies and innovations are rapidly emerging as critical tools to improve wildfire prediction, detection, modeling, suppression, community risk reduction, and land management. (c) The pace of innovation moves more rapidly than current state procurement processes. (d) California’s firefighters and land managers require streamlined access to these innovations and technologies that will enhance early detection, fast fire suppression, decision support tools, community risk reduction, ecosystem and landscape scale resilience, and ignition reduction to more effectively address the wildfire crisis. (e) Although the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development was established to evaluate new tools, the state still lacks a unified structure to identify firefighter needs, source technologies, rapidly prototype solutions, and move the most successful technologies from pilot to scale through flexible procurement mechanisms. (f) A Fire Innovation Unit within the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is therefore necessary to close the innovation gap by coordinating with end users of wildfire technology, connecting technological solutions with operational needs, accelerating pilot-to-scale adoption, and enhancing collaboration across government, educational institutions, industry, and philanthropy. SEC. 2. Section 8589.66 is added to the Government Code , to read: 8589.66. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “All hazards emergencies” means natural, technological, or human-caused threats that may result in death, injury, property damage, infrastructure disruption, or environmental harm, including, but not limited to, fire, flood, extreme heat, tsunami, earthquake, cybersecurity incidents, terrorism, and epidemics. (2) “ESIU” means the Emergency Services Innovation Unit. (b) The ESIU is hereby established within the Office of Emergency Services to study, test, evaluate, and advise regarding procurement and statewide deployment of emerging technologies and tools that improve California’s preparedness for, response to, mitigation of, and recovery from all hazards emergencies. The ESIU shall serve as an organizing resource for procuring and identifying emerging disaster technologies and assessing their applicability to statewide disaster coordination, mutual aid operations, public alert and warning, hazard mitigation, disaster intelligence, and other critical emergency functions. (c) The ESIU may undertake, but is not limited to, the following activities: (1) Developing a balanced, multimodal research and development program designed to identify, research, test, procure, and evaluate emerging technologies and tools that support statewide emergency management across all hazards, including, but not limited to, communications platforms, situational awareness systems, hazard prediction and modeling tools, mobile or field-deployable equipment, decision support software, and technologies used by first responders engaged in emergency operations. (2) Consulting with public, private, nonprofit, academic, tribal, and other entities to identify advances in emergency preparedness and response relevant to the Mutual Aid System and the Standardized Emergency Management System. (3) Making recommendations to state, local, federal, and tribal entities on technologies and tools that are effective for procurement and statewide integration into emergency operations. (d) The ESIU may collaborate with the FIRESCOPE Program established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 13070) of Part 1 of Division 12 of the Health and Safety Code, the Fire Innovation Unit established pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 785) of Chapter 2.5 of Division 1 of the Public Resources Code, local emergency management agencies, law enforcement agencies, federal partners, utilities, academic institutions, and private sector developers to ensure consistency of standards, technology interoperability, and alignment with statewide emergency management structures. (e) The ESIU may administer pilot, prototype, testing, or demonstration projects and may enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, memoranda of understanding, or grant agreements with governmental entities, tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, research institutions, utilities, and private technology developers for purposes of evaluating, validating, and deploying technologies that support statewide emergency coordination. (f) On or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the Office of Emergency Services shall submit a report to the Governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature summarizing the following activities of the ESIU: (1) Technologies and projects evaluated, tested, or deployed. (2) Findings regarding cost effectiveness and operational performance. (3) Partnerships and funding sources leveraged to support innovation activities. (g) Except as provided in subdivision (h), the Director of Emergency Services shall implement this section upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute. (h) Notwithstanding subdivision (g), the Office of Emergency Services may reorganize existing positions and resources to fulfill the purposes of this section. (i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2033, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 3. Section 10298 of the Public Contract Code is amended to read: 10298. (a) The director may consolidate the needs of multiple state agencies for goods, information technology, and services, and, pursuant to the procedures established in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12100), establish contracts, master agreements, multiple award schedules, cooperative agreements, including agreements with entities outside the state, and other types of agreements that leverage the state’s buying power, for acquisitions authorized under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290), Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12100), and Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 12125). State and local agencies may contract with suppliers awarded those contracts without further competitive bidding. (b) The director may make the services of the department available, upon the terms and conditions agreed to, to any city, county, city and county, district, or other local governmental body or corporation empowered to expend public funds for the acquisition of goods, information technology, or services for assisting the agency in acquisitions conducted pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290), Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12100), and Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 12125). The state shall not incur financial responsibility in connection with contracting for local agencies under this section. (c) Upon request of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or the Office of Emergency Services, the department may assume administration of a contract awarded pursuant to Section 10340.1 on or before January 1, 2033, and establish the contract as a leveraged procurement agreement available for use by state agencies, local governments, and, through a participating addendum, public agencies in other states, provided that the vendor consents to the expanded terms. SEC. 4. Section 10340 of the Public Contract Code is amended to read: 10340. (a) Except as provided by subdivision (b), a state agency shall secure at least three competitive bids or proposals for each contract. (b) Three competitive bids or proposals are not required in any of the following cases: (1) In cases of an emergency where [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]