Smoke Planning and Research Act of 2019

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 Protec- tion Agency to conduct research on wildfire smoke, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smoke Planning and 4 Research Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. RESEARCH ON WILDFIRE SMOKE. 6 (a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1812 IS trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (re- 1 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 2 shall establish at institutions of higher education 4 3 centers, each of which shall be known as a ‘‘Center 4 of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke’’, to carry out re- 5 search relating to— 6 (A) the effects on public health of smoke 7 emissions from wildland fires; and 8 (B) means by which communities can bet- 9 ter respond to the impacts of emissions from 10 wildland fires. 11 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 12 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 13 ministrator to carry out this subsection $10,000,000 14 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 15 (b) RESEARCH.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 18 trator shall carry out research— 19 (A) to study the health effects of smoke 20 emissions from wildland fires; 21 (B) to develop and disseminate personal 22 and community-based interventions to reduce 23 exposure to and adverse health effects of smoke 24 emissions from wildland fires; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1812 IS (C) to increase the quality of smoke moni- 1 toring and prediction tools and techniques; and 2 (D) to develop implementation and com- 3 munication strategies. 4 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 6 ministrator to carry out this subsection $20,000,000 7 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 8 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY SMOKE PLANNING. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es- 11 tablish a competitive grant program to assist eligible enti- 12 ties described in subsection (b) in developing and imple- 13 menting collaborative community plans for mitigating the 14 impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires. 15 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is eligible 16 to submit an application for a grant under subsection (a) 17 is— 18 (1) a State; 19 (2) a unit of local government (including any 20 special district, such as an air quality management 21 district or a school district); or 22 (3) an Indian Tribe. 23 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 24 under subsection (a), an eligible entity described in sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1812 IS section (b) shall submit to the Administrator an applica- 1 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 2 information as the Administrator may require. 3 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 4 may use amounts made available to carry out this section 5 to provide to eligible entities described in subsection (b) 6 technical assistance in— 7 (1) submitting grant applications under sub- 8 section (c); or 9 (2) carrying out projects using a grant under 10 this section. 11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 13 carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 14 and each fiscal year thereafter. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1812.IS S1812 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS