Sponsors (24)
The bill directs sustained federal funding, research, and technical assistance to help communities reduce smoke- and extreme‑heat risks, but it relies on competitive grants, delegated rulemaking, and ongoing taxpayer funding that could delay results and produce uneven access to protections.
States, local governments, and Tribes receive sustained federal investment (authorized ~$50M/year for mitigation grants plus ~$30M/year for research and partnerships) to support planning and implementation related to smoke and extreme‑heat risks.
Communities in wildfire- and heat-affected areas (including parents, low-income households, and rural residents) gain targeted research, interventions, and grant-funded planning aimed at reducing smoke- and heat-related health harms.
Localities and outdoor workers benefit from improved monitoring and prediction tools that provide earlier warnings and enable avoidance of hazardous smoke and extreme-heat exposure.
Taxpayers face ongoing federal costs (roughly $30M/year for research plus $50M/year for grants) to fund these programs starting in FY2026.
Competitive grant structures and requirements to partner with certain higher‑education or research institutions risk disadvantaging small, rural, and tribal jurisdictions (and smaller colleges), producing uneven access to protections.
Delegating the definition of “extreme heat” to future EPA rulemaking may delay implementation and create uncertainty for states, employers, and communities about obligations and protections.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates new EPA-led grant and research programs to help communities detect, plan for, and reduce health harms from wildfire smoke and extreme heat. The bill funds competitive grants for air pollution agencies, sets up four university Centers of Excellence plus a related research program, and funds competitive community planning grants; it authorizes multi-year funding and requires the EPA to define “extreme heat” and set allocation formulas and application rules.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Michael Thompson · Last progress January 31, 2025