Wildfire Smoke Emergency Declaration Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1814 To authorize the President to declare a smoke emergency, 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 Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To authorize the President to declare a smoke emergency, 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 ‘‘Wildfire Smoke Emer- 4 gency Declaration Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR SMOKE EMERGENCY DECLARA- 6 TION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may declare a 8 smoke emergency in any State in which the President de- 9 termines there is, or anticipates there will be, a significant 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1814.IS S1814 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1814 IS decrease in air quality due to wildland fire smoke in one 1 or more States. 2 (b) REQUEST FROM GOVERNOR.—The Governor, or 3 other appropriate agency, of a State that is or will be af- 4 fected by a significant decrease in air quality due to 5 wildland fire smoke may request a declaration under sub- 6 section (a). 7 (c) ASSISTANCE.—If the President declares a smoke 8 emergency under subsection (a), the President, acting 9 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 10 other appropriate Federal agencies, may provide smoke 11 emergency assistance to States and local communities that 12 are or will be affected by the smoke emergency, including 13 grants, equipment, supplies, and personnel and resources 14 for establishing smoke shelters, air purifiers, and addi- 15 tional air monitoring sites. 16 (d) SBA GRANTS.—The Administrator of the Small 17 Business Administration may provide grants to any small 18 business concern, as defined in section 3 of the Small 19 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), that loses a significant 20 amount of revenue due to wildland fire smoke in an area 21 in which the President has declared a smoke emergency 22 under subsection (a). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1814.IS S1814 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1814 IS (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 2 necessary to carry out this Act. 3 SEC. 3. BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR SMOKE EMERGENCY AS- 4 SISTANCE. 5 Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 6 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) 7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(G) SMOKE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.— 9 ‘‘(i) If, for any fiscal year, appropria- 10 tions for discretionary accounts are en- 11 acted that Congress designates as being 12 for smoke emergency assistance in statute, 13 the adjustment for a fiscal year shall be 14 the total of such appropriations for the fis- 15 cal year in discretionary accounts des- 16 ignated as being for smoke emergency as- 17 sistance. 18 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subpara- 19 graph, the term ‘smoke emergency assist- 20 ance’ means assistance provided under a 21 determination under section 2 of the Wild- 22 fire Smoke Emergency Declaration Act of 23 2019. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1814.IS S1814 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1814 IS ‘‘(iii) Appropriations considered smoke 1 emergency assistance under this subpara- 2 graph in a fiscal year shall not be eligible 3 for adjustments under subparagraph (A) 4 for the fiscal year.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1814.IS S1814 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS