Smoke Planning and Research Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4924 To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct research on wildfire smoke, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 30, 2019 Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. COSTA, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. PORTER, Mr. CORREA, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. LEVIN of Cali- fornia, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SPEIER, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4924 IH SEC. 2. RESEARCH ON WILDFIRE SMOKE. 1 (a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 4 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (re- 5 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 6 shall establish at institutions of higher education 4 7 centers, each of which shall be known as a ‘‘Center 8 of Excellence for Wildfire Smoke’’, to carry out re- 9 search relating to— 10 (A) the effects on public health of smoke 11 emissions from wildland fires; and 12 (B) means by which communities can bet- 13 ter respond to the impacts of emissions from 14 wildland fires. 15 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 16 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 17 ministrator to carry out this subsection $10,000,000 18 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 19 (b) RESEARCH.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 22 trator shall carry out research— 23 (A) to study the health effects of smoke 24 emissions from wildland fires; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4924 IH (B) to develop and disseminate personal 1 and community-based interventions to reduce 2 exposure to and adverse health effects of smoke 3 emissions from wildland fires; 4 (C) to increase the quality of smoke moni- 5 toring and prediction tools and techniques; and 6 (D) to develop implementation and com- 7 munication strategies. 8 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 10 ministrator to carry out this subsection $20,000,000 11 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 12 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY SMOKE PLANNING. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es- 15 tablish a competitive grant program to assist eligible enti- 16 ties described in subsection (b) in developing and imple- 17 menting collaborative community plans for mitigating the 18 impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires. 19 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is eligible 20 to submit an application for a grant under subsection (a) 21 is— 22 (1) a State; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4924 IH (2) a unit of local government (including any 1 special district, such as an air quality management 2 district or a school district); or 3 (3) an Indian Tribe. 4 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 5 under subsection (a), an eligible entity described in sub- 6 section (b) shall submit to the Administrator an applica- 7 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 8 information as the Administrator may require. 9 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 10 may use amounts made available to carry out this section 11 to provide to eligible entities described in subsection (b) 12 technical assistance in— 13 (1) submitting grant applications under sub- 14 section (c); or 15 (2) carrying out projects using a grant under 16 this section. 17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 19 carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 20 and each fiscal year thereafter. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS