Communities would get help to protect buildings from wildfire smoke, and states could more easily use controlled burns.
This bill would create a new grant program to help communities, including schools, make their buildings safer from wildfire smoke. It would also make it simpler for states to use controlled burns to prevent larger wildfires by changing how air quality rules apply.
Currently, the rules for "exceptional events" under the Clean Air Act don't clearly cover prescribed fires, making it hard for states to use them without facing air quality compliance issues. Also, there isn't a federal grant program specifically for protecting community buildings from wildfire smoke. This bill would explicitly include prescribed fires as exceptional events, streamline the approval process for states, and create a new grant program to help communities make their buildings "smoke ready" with up to 90 percent federal funding.
S 5045 · 119th Congress · July 21, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 10/10
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