Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025
Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025
Plain Language Summary
# Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025 - Plain Language Summary **What the bill would do:** This legislation would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding to help local communities prepare for and respond to two growing environmental threats: wildfire smoke and extreme heat. The EPA would distribute grants to air pollution agencies, which would use the money to develop programs that detect these hazards, prepare residents, communicate warnings, and reduce health risks. The bill also requires the EPA to create four university-based research centers focused on studying how wildfire smoke and extreme heat affect public health and how communities can better protect themselves. **Who it affects:** The bill primarily benefits communities in areas prone to wildfires and extreme heat, as well as local air pollution control agencies that would receive and manage the grants.
Residents in these regions would gain access to better warning systems and preparedness programs. University researchers would also be involved through the new Centers of Excellence, and the general public would benefit from expanded knowledge about health risks from smoke and heat. **Current status:** The bill is still in committee (HR 903, 119th Congress), meaning it has not yet been voted on by the full House of Representatives. It was introduced by Representative Mike Thompson, a Democrat from California.
CRS Official Summary
Smoke and Heat Ready Communities Act of 2025This bill authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to air pollution control agencies to support the development and implementation of programs that support local communities in detecting, preparing for, communicating with the public about, or mitigating the environmental and public health aspects of wildfire smoke and extreme heat. The EPA must establish a formula to distribute the grants among air pollution control agencies.The bill requires the EPA to establish four Centers of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke and Extreme Heat at institutions of higher education to research (1) the effects of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat on public health, and (2) the means by which communities can better respond to impacts from such conditions.Additionally, the EPA must begin to carry out research tostudy the health effects of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat;develop and disseminate personal and community-based interventions to reduce exposure to, and health effects of, wildland fire smoke emissions and extreme heat;increase the quality of smoke and extreme heat monitoring and prediction tools and techniques; anddevelop implementation and communication strategies.The EPA must also establish a competitive grant program to assist certain entities (e.g., a state) in developing and implementing collaborative community plans for mitigating the impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires and extreme heat.
Latest Action
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.