[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3044 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3044
To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the handling of air quality
monitoring with respect to prescribed fires, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2025
Mr. Curtis (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the handling of air quality
monitoring with respect to prescribed fires, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. AIR QUALITY MONITORING DATA INFLUENCED BY EXCEPTIONAL EVENTS
AND PRESCRIBED FIRES.
(a) In General.--Section 319(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7619(b)) is amended--
(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and
Prescribed Fires'' after ``Events'';
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (ii), by inserting ``, unless
the purpose is to prevent more severe
emissions'' before the semicolon at the end;
(ii) by striking clauses (iii) and (iv) and
inserting the following:
``(iii) is a natural event, or an event
caused by human activity that is unlikely to
recur unless the event intended to mirror the
occurrence or reoccurrence of a natural event,
or a prescribed fire; and
``(iv) is determined to be an exceptional
event by the impacted State, unless the
Administrator, through the process established
in the regulations revised under paragraph (2),
subsequently determines that the event is not
an exceptional event.''; and
(iii) by redesignating clauses (i) through
(iv) as subclauses (I) through (IV),
respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by
striking ``In this subsection, the'' and
inserting ``The''; and
(ii) by redesignating each of clauses (i)
through (iii) as subclauses (I) through (III),
respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(C) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as
clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting
appropriately;
(D) by striking the paragraph designation and
heading and all that follows through ``this section:''
in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so redesignated)
and inserting the following:
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Exceptional event.--''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Prescribed fire.--The term `prescribed fire'
means a fire originating from a planned ignition in
accordance with applicable laws, policies, and
regulations to meet specific objectives.'';
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the
following:
``(A) Proposed revisions.--Not later than 270 days
after the date of enactment of the Wildfire Emissions
Prevention Act of 2025, the Administrator, after
consultation with Federal land managers, State air
pollution control agencies, State foresters, and State
fish and wildlife agencies, shall publish in the
Federal Register revisions to existing regulations
promulgated under this section to govern the review of
State determinations and handling of air quality
monitoring data influenced by exceptional events or
prescribed fires.''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the subparagraph heading, by
striking ``regulations'' and inserting
``revisions'';
(ii) by striking ``proposed regulations''
each place it appears and inserting ``proposed
revisions'';
(iii) by striking ``1 year'' and inserting
``180 days''; and
(iv) by striking ``promulgate final
regulations'' and all that follows through the
period at the end and inserting ``finalize the
revisions under subparagraph (A) to regulations
promulgated under this section to govern the
review of State determinations and handling of
air quality monitoring data influenced by
exceptional events or prescribed fires that are
consistent with paragraph (3).'';
(4) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ``manner,
an appropriate'' and inserting ``manner in an
appropriate''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ``or a
prescribed fire'' after ``an exceptional
event'';
(ii) in clause (ii)--
(I) by inserting ``or be reasonably
expected to exist'' after ``must
exist''; and
(II) by striking ``exceptional
event'' each place it appears and
inserting ``exceptional event or a
prescribed fire''; and
(iii) in clause (iv)--
(I) by striking ``Governor of a
State to petition the Administrator''
and inserting ``Administrator to review
State determinations'';
(II) by inserting ``or prescribed
fires'' after ``exceptional events'';
(III) by striking ``with respect to
exceedances'' and inserting the
following: ``with respect to--
``(I) exceedances'';
(IV) in subclause (I) (as so
designated), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(V) by adding at the end the
following:
``(II) the designation,
redesignation, classification, or
reclassification of an area, the
demonstration by a State of attainment
of a national ambient air quality
standard, or other determinations by
the Administrator for determining
compliance with this Act.''; and
(5) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
``(4) Regional, national, or international exceptional
events.--At the request of multiple State or local government
agencies or Tribal authorities, the Administrator shall conduct
analyses or otherwise collaborate with such agencies or
authorities to lead the development of regional, national, or
international exceptional event demonstrations when exceptional
events impact multijurisdictional areas.''.
(b) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by
this Act makes stationary source (as defined in section 51.491 of title
40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment
of this Act)) emissions that were not an exceptional event (as defined
in section 319(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7619(b)(1))) on
the day before the date of enactment of this Act an exceptional event
under that section after that date of enactment.
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