U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA) and Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) introduced the Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act (H.R. 903; S. 341) to safeguard communities nationwide—including the more than 25 million people with asthma and 24 million with COPD—from the serious health, economic, and environmental consequences of extreme wildfire smoke and heat events.
The legislation would:
- Allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide grants to state and local agencies to develop and implement programs designed for detecting, preparing for, communicating with the public about, or mitigating the environmental and public health aspects of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.
- Allow EPA to create four Centers of Excellence at institutions of higher education to conduct research on the impact of extreme heat and wildfire smoke on public health.
- Provide $20 million to the EPA to study the public health impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.
- Authorize the EPA to create a grant program to help states, local government, and tribes research, develop, and implement plans to mitigate wildfire smoke and extreme heat.
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