Sponsors (15)
The bill directs targeted federal funding, training standards, coordination, and research to strengthen wildfire preparedness and responder health—but it increases federal spending and administrative demands, risks cost-shifting or delays through reimbursement and grant rules, and may leave some local departments underfunded or overburdened without further implementation action.
Local fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS (especially in wildfire-prone and WUI areas) receive direct grants to buy PPE, pay for training, and purchase major equipment—including up to $100M in FY2026 and awards up to $9M per community—speeding resources to frontline responders.
Structural and volunteer firefighters gain a standardized wildfire/WUI curriculum plus grant support for nonprofits to expand local training capacity, backed by dedicated Forest Service funding ($5M/year FY2026–2031), improving responder safety and consistent skills across jurisdictions.
State and local firefighters get formal representation on national wildfire coordination bodies and a Senate-confirmed USDA Under Secretary is created to coordinate federal, state, and local preparedness and response—improving cross-agency coherence and ensuring frontline perspectives inform policy.
Taxpayers face substantially higher federal outlays across multiple programs (e.g., $100M FY2026 grants, $20M/yr PFAS research, $10M/yr mental health, $5M/yr training), increasing budgetary costs over the FY2026–2031 window.
Small, volunteer, and rural fire departments may bear significant administrative and compliance burdens (aligning with federal curriculum, participating in studies, meeting new staffing/training criteria), straining limited local capacity.
The reimbursement requirement for DOD support and interagency cost-sharing rules could delay deployments or shift costs to state/local governments, slowing responses to fast-moving fires and straining local budgets during severe seasons.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates a coordinated federal wildfire preparedness program with a new Under Secretary, national training plan, grants for PPE/training, PFAS/health research, DOD assistance rules, and mandatory mental-health supports.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Josh Harder · Last progress August 1, 2025
Creates a federal framework to strengthen firefighter and community protection from wildfires and wildland-urban interface fires. It requires a national training plan and grants for training and PPE, establishes a new Under Secretary for Fire Coordination, funds research on firefighter respiratory risks and PFAS, sets mental-health support standards for responder task forces, authorizes grants to local fire and EMS entities, and allows Defense Department firefighting assistance upon request and reimbursement. Provides multi-year authorizations for implementation (training grants, research, mental health supports, and one-year targeted grant funding), directs reports to Congress, and sets timelines for plan publication and assessments of local training and coordination.