S 341 ยท Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Introduced
- Jan 30, 2025
- Latest action
- Jan 30, 2025
- Sponsor
- Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]
- Policy area
- Environmental Protection
- Cosponsors
- 7
Summary
Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025 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; develop and disseminate personal and community-based interventions to reduce exposure to, and health effects of, wildland fire smoke emissions and extreme heat; increase the quality of smoke and extreme heat monitoring and prediction tools and techniques; and develop implementation and communication strategies. The EPA must also establish a competitive grant program to assist certain entities (e.g., a state) in developing and implementing collaborative community plans for mitigating the impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat.
Recent actions
- Jan 30, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Jan 30, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Votes
No recorded votes are available for this bill.