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Requires the President, through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, to fund or supply smoke-mitigation equipment to designated at-risk individuals when wildfire causes an area to have an Air Quality Index rated “unhealthy” for at least three consecutive days. Covered recipients include low-income people, parents/guardians of children under 19, pregnant people, adults 65+, and people with chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, or other conditions worsened by smoke. If in-home equipment and supplies are insufficient to reduce health risks, the President must provide cost-efficient temporary shelter assistance. Specifies eligible distributors (states, local governments, local public health authorities, coordinated care organizations) and a list of covered items (portable air filtration units, filters, NIOSH-certified masks/respirators, low-cost household smoke-exclusion measures, and similar devices). The measure sets an income threshold of 200% of the Census poverty level for the low-income category and requires use of existing FEMA Transitional Sheltering Assistance authority to deliver assistance.
The bill expands FEMA support to protect vulnerable Americans from prolonged wildfire smoke—providing filters, masks, and temporary shelter—but raises federal costs and administrative demands and leaves coverage gaps for shorter/intense smoke events and households with higher-cost needs.
Low-income people, children, seniors, pregnant people, and individuals with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular conditions receive free or subsidized air filtration (HEPA/portable filters), N95 masks, and weatherization support when local AQI is unhealthy for 3+ consecutive days, reducing smoke exposure and short-term respiratory and cardiovascular risks.
When in-home mitigation is insufficient to protect health, eligible individuals (particularly low-income households, seniors, and pregnant people) can access cost-efficient transitional sheltering for rapid relocation to safer indoor environments during prolonged smoke events.
Qualified state and local entities can obtain federal assistance to purchase and distribute mitigation equipment, reducing local cost burdens and enabling coordinated responses during wildfire smoke events.
Limiting eligibility to areas with 3+ consecutive unhealthy‑AQI days will leave people exposed during shorter but intense smoke episodes without program support, leaving many at-risk individuals unprotected.
Specifying allowed equipment and caps (for example, one portable air conditioner per household and emphasis on lower-cost measures) may not cover higher-cost needs or effectively protect renters, leaving residual exposure risks for some households.
Implementation will impose administrative and logistical burdens on state and local governments to qualify for, request, and rapidly distribute equipment and shelter during fast-moving wildfire events, which could slow or complicate relief delivery.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress September 18, 2025