Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025
Introduced Jan 30, 2025 by Sen. Jeff Merkley
It's waiting on a committee vote to reach the full chamber. Most bills never leave this stage.
This bill authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to air pollution control agencies to support the development and implementation of programs that support local communities in detecting, preparing for, communicating with the public about, or mitigating the environmental and public health aspects of wildfire smoke and extreme heat. The EPA must establish a formula to distribute the grants among air pollution control agencies.
The bill requires the EPA to establish four Centers of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke and Extreme Heat at institutions of higher education to research (1) the effects of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat on public health, and (2) the means by which communities can better respond to impacts from such conditions.
Additionally, the EPA must begin to carry out research to
study the health effects of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat;
Read the full summary on Congress.govSummary by the Congressional Research Service.
No floor votes yet — it hasn't reached the floor of either chamber.