I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4924 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

conduct research on wildfire smoke, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2019 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. COSTA, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 

PANETTA, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TED

LIEU of California, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Ms. PORTER, Mr. CORREA, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SPEIER, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct research on wildfire smoke, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smoke Planning and 

5 Research Act of 2019’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 4924 IH

1 SEC. 2. RESEARCH ON WILDFIRE SMOKE. 

2 (a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (re6 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 

7 shall establish at institutions of higher education 4 

8 centers, each of which shall be known as a ‘‘Center 

9 of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke’’, to carry out re10 search relating to— 

11 (A) the effects on public health of smoke 

12 emissions from wildland fires; and 

13 (B) means by which communities can bet14 ter respond to the impacts of emissions from 

15 wildland fires. 

16 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad18 ministrator to carry out this subsection $10,000,000 

19 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

20 (b) RESEARCH.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis23 trator shall carry out research— 

24 (A) to study the health effects of smoke 

25 emissions from wildland fires; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 4924 IH

1 (B) to develop and disseminate personal 

2 and community-based interventions to reduce 

3 exposure to and adverse health effects of smoke 

4 emissions from wildland fires; 

5 (C) to increase the quality of smoke moni6 toring and prediction tools and techniques; and 

7 (D) to develop implementation and com8 munication strategies. 

9 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad11 ministrator to carry out this subsection $20,000,000 

12 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

13 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY SMOKE PLANNING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es16 tablish a competitive grant program to assist eligible enti17 ties described in subsection (b) in developing and imple18 menting collaborative community plans for mitigating the 

19 impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires. 

20 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is eligible 

21 to submit an application for a grant under subsection (a) 

22 is— 

23 (1) a State; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 4924 IH

1 (2) a unit of local government (including any 

2 special district, such as an air quality management 

3 district or a school district); or 

4 (3) an Indian Tribe. 

5 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

6 under subsection (a), an eligible entity described in sub7 section (b) shall submit to the Administrator an applica8 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

9 information as the Administrator may require. 

10 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 

11 may use amounts made available to carry out this section 

12 to provide to eligible entities described in subsection (b) 

13 technical assistance in— 

14 (1) submitting grant applications under sub15 section (c); or 

16 (2) carrying out projects using a grant under 

17 this section. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

20 carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 

21 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS