II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1812 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

conduct research on wildfire smoke, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESEARCH ON WILDFIRE SMOKE. 

7 (a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 

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

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812

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1 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (re2 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 

3 shall establish at institutions of higher education 4 

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

5 of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke’’, to carry out re6 search relating to— 

7 (A) the effects on public health of smoke 

8 emissions from wildland fires; and 

9 (B) means by which communities can bet10 ter respond to the impacts of emissions from 

11 wildland fires. 

12 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad14 ministrator to carry out this subsection $10,000,000 

15 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

16 (b) RESEARCH.— 

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

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis19 trator shall carry out research— 

20 (A) to study the health effects of smoke 

21 emissions from wildland fires; 

22 (B) to develop and disseminate personal 

23 and community-based interventions to reduce 

24 exposure to and adverse health effects of smoke 

25 emissions from wildland fires; 


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1 (C) to increase the quality of smoke moni2 toring and prediction tools and techniques; and 

3 (D) to develop implementation and com4 munication strategies. 

5 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad7 ministrator to carry out this subsection $20,000,000 

8 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

9 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY SMOKE PLANNING. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es12 tablish a competitive grant program to assist eligible enti13 ties described in subsection (b) in developing and imple14 menting collaborative community plans for mitigating the 

15 impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires. 

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

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

18 is— 

19 (1) a State; 

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

21 special district, such as an air quality management 

22 district or a school district); or 

23 (3) an Indian Tribe. 

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

25 under subsection (a), an eligible entity described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812

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1 section (b) shall submit to the Administrator an applica2 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

3 information as the Administrator may require. 

4 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 

5 may use amounts made available to carry out this section 

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

7 technical assistance in— 

8 (1) submitting grant applications under sub9 section (c); or 

10 (2) carrying out projects using a grant under 

11 this section. 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

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

15 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

Æ 


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