Wildfire smoke: West and East Coast lawmakers collaborate on changing policy
David Zimmermann
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Following the wildfire smoke that drifted down from Canada into the Northeastern United States last week, a group of U.S. lawmakers representing both the West and East Coast demographics is working together to introduce legislation that would address future wildfire crises.
Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) will soon propose a wildfire and forest management-related bill that would establish public clean air centers and distribute air filtration units to some households in wildfire-prone areas, according to an Axios report. The three lawmakers are leading the initiative, while several others from the Eastern Seaboard support the environmentally conscious push.
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“For the first time, non-Western members are proactively engaging us on wildfire policy,” Peters said.
Among the soon-to-be proposed legislation is the Cleaner Air Spaces Act, which would order the Environmental Protection Agency to provide grants of up to $3 million to air pollution agencies and community organizations for the purpose of creating clean air centers. These programs would then be required to provide educational materials and a minimum of 1,000 air filtration units to vulnerable residents living in low-income homes.
The legislation was co-sponsored by several Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Dean Phillips (D-MN), and Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
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If the proposed bill receives bipartisan support among state representatives, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) could soon decide to put it to a vote. McCarthy worked with Peters on similar legislation in the past.
“I think you will see a big push going forward on bills like this to deal with the consequences of fires and on commonsense bipartisan forest management solutions,” Peters said.