This bill would give the President authority to declare a smoke emergency in states experiencing significant air quality problems from wildfire smoke, similar to how emergency declarations work for other disasters. When such a declaration is made, the federal government through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies could provide assistance including grants, equipment, air purifiers, and personnel to help establish smoke shelters and air monitoring sites in affected communities. The bill also allows the Small Business Administration to provide grants to small businesses that lose significant revenue due to wildfire smoke in declared emergency areas. The legislation includes an open-ended authorization for Congress to appropriate whatever funding is necessary to carry out these programs, and it creates a budget adjustment mechanism so smoke emergency spending would not be subject to certain federal budget caps. The bill was introduced in July 2023 by Senator Jeff Merkley and three other senators from western states affected by wildfires.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.