Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Curtis, John R. [R-UT]
Introduced
Summary
Clarifies how wildfire and prescribed fire smoke are treated as "exceptional events" under the Clean Air Act. It speeds EPA rulemaking on exceptional event reviews and creates a competitive Smoke Ready Communities grant program to reduce wildfire smoke hazards in schools and other community buildings.
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- Gives State and Tribal air agencies clearer rules for exceptional events and for prescribed fires. EPA must propose revisions within 270 days and finalize them within 180 days after proposing, and State petitions get set approval timeframes that can be deemed approved if EPA misses its deadline.
- Creates the Smoke Ready Communities Program to fund assessments and protections in community buildings, including schools. Grants are competitive, the federal share is up to 90 percent with waivers for economically distressed areas, and no State may get more than 25 percent of annual grant funds.
- Defines "prescribed fire" to include deliberate burns for land management and recognizes culturally significant tribal burning. The bill also encourages multi-State, Tribal, or local collaboration for regional or cross-jurisdictional smoke events.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Grants to reduce wildfire smoke
If enacted, the EPA would give competitive grants, subject to availability of appropriations, to States, Tribes, and other eligible entities to assess, prevent, control, or abate wildfire smoke hazards in community buildings, including school buildings. The federal share of project costs would be up to 90 percent. EPA could waive the cost-share requirement for facilities in an economically distressed community. No more than 25 percent of funds made available in any fiscal year could be awarded to recipients in any one State.
New rules for wildfire smoke events
If enacted, the bill would rewrite how EPA treats "exceptional events" that affect air quality and speed EPA rulemaking. EPA would publish proposed regulatory revisions within 270 days and finalize them within 180 days after proposals. The definition of exceptional event would explicitly include prescribed fires and allow some evidence for prescribed fires to be met if it is reasonably expected to exist. The EPA would have to approve, disapprove, or approve-in-part State petitions within one year or the petition would be deemed approved unless EPA later finds it is not an exceptional event. At the request of multiple jurisdictions, EPA would lead regional or multistate exceptional-event demonstrations. The bill would not let past stationary source emissions that did not qualify before enactment be reclassified as exceptional events.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Curtis, John R. [R-UT]
UT • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]
WV • R
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
CA • D
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
AR • R
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ]
AZ • D
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov