Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025

Bill: 119-hr-956
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4]
Introduced: 2025-02-04
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Aviation and airports

Fires

Forests, forestry, trees

Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Latest action: action_date: 2025-03-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture.

Summaries:
action_date: 2025-02-04
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins October 1, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035.</p><p>The bill also provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant).</p><p>The bill removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.</p>

tv_txt: I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 956 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 4, 2025 Mr. Newhouse (for himself, Mr. Ellzey , Mr. Carbajal , and Mr. Vasquez ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform , and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services , and Agriculture , 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 amend the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to reauthorize the sale by the Department of Defense of aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression purposes, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025 . 2. Modification and reauthorization of authority for sale by Department of Defense of aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression purposes Section 2 of the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 ( Public Law 104–307 ; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(1)— (A) by striking a period and inserting the period ; and (B) by inserting or water after fire retardant ; (2) in subsection (b), by striking sold under subsection (a) and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting sold under subsection (a) may be used only for the provision of aircraft services for wildfire suppression purposes. ; (3) in subsection (c), by inserting or water after fire retardant ; (4) in subsection (d)(1), in the second sentence, by striking subsection (a)(1) and inserting subsection (g) ; and (5) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following: (g) Period for exercise of authority The period specified in this subsection is the period beginning on October 1, 2025, and ending on October 1, 2035. .