Sponsors
The bill prioritizes immediate, enforceable protections and education for outdoor workers against heat and wildfire smoke, improving health and public-safety outcomes, but does so at a measurable cost and operational burden for employers (especially small farms) and with potential implementation challenges for governments and workers unless rollout and wage protections are carefully managed.
Outdoor workers — especially farmworkers, construction, and transportation workers — will receive concrete protections (respirators, water, cooling, and mandatory rest breaks) that reduce immediate risk of heat illness and smoke-related respiratory harm.
Non-English-speaking and immigrant workers will get training and education in languages they understand, improving proper use of protections and comprehension of heat/smoke risks.
Workers gain stronger, enforceable protections because the Secretary must begin OSHA-level rulemaking quickly and ensure final standards are at least as protective as initial/state standards, accelerating permanent workplace safeguards.
Employers (particularly small farms and other small businesses) and taxpayers face increased compliance and mitigation costs (respirators, cooling facilities, paid breaks), which could raise operating costs, reduce hiring, or translate into higher prices/taxes.
Small and family-run farms may struggle with the expense and logistics of meeting rapid OSHA-level requirements, potentially causing business disruptions, reduced worker hours, or closures in rural communities.
Piece-rate and other low-income farmworkers could lose pay if mandatory rest breaks and reduced on-field productivity are not paired with explicit wage protections.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires an immediate OSHA-level standard protecting farmworkers from wildfire smoke and extreme heat, mandating respirators, water/cooling, training in workers' languages, and regular rest breaks while formal rulemaking proceeds.
Creates an immediate occupational safety standard to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and excessive heat by directing the Secretary of Labor to treat a specified initial standard as an OSHA standard upon enactment and to start formal rulemaking within 90 days. Employers in agricultural operations must provide respirators meeting NIOSH standards when conditions reach hazardous levels, supply water and cooling, allow rest breaks in shaded or less-exposed areas, and deliver training in languages workers understand.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Maxine Dexter · Last progress August 1, 2025