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Requires the President, acting through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, to provide assistance to qualified entities to buy and deliver smoke‑mitigation equipment to people at risk of wildfire smoke illness in areas where the Air Quality Index is unhealthy for at least three straight days. If equipment cannot sufficiently reduce health risk, the measure also directs provision of cost‑efficient temporary shelter for those individuals. Defines who qualifies (low‑income households, parents/guardians of children under 19, pregnant people, people 65+, and people with chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, or other smoke‑sensitive conditions), identifies eligible distributing entities (states, local governments, local public health authorities, coordinated care organizations), lists covered equipment (portable air filters, certified masks, weather stripping, one portable AC per household, ventilation and shading devices, etc.), and sets the income cutoff for “low‑income” at 200% of the federal poverty level using Census Bureau rules.
The bill provides targeted federal support to protect low-income and vulnerable people from wildfire smoke exposure (equipment and sheltering) and eases local budget burdens, but it increases federal costs and may leave some needy people without help due to eligibility rules, item caps, and implementation complexity.
Low-income households and vulnerable people (children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses) receive free or subsidized air purifiers, filters, and NIOSH‑certified masks during multi-day unhealthy wildfire smoke events, reducing direct smoke exposure.
When in-home mitigation is insufficient, affected individuals can access cost‑efficient transitional sheltering, giving people without adequate home protection a safer place during severe smoke events.
Qualified local entities (state and local governments and public-health partners) receive federal assistance to purchase and distribute mitigation equipment, reducing local budget pressure and improving rapid response capacity.
Taxpayers face higher federal costs to supply equipment and transitional sheltering, which could increase budgetary pressure or require reallocating FEMA or other resources.
Eligibility tied to prior-year taxable income (IRS definitions) may exclude needy households (for example, people with recent job loss), leaving some at-risk individuals without assistance during smoke events.
Capping some items (e.g., one portable AC per household) and limiting sheltering to 'cost-efficient' options could leave people with greater needs—like those with severe health conditions—without adequate protection during prolonged events.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress September 18, 2025