Wyden, Neguse, Dexter Introduce Legislation to Protect Western Communities from Wildfire Smoke

Wyden, Neguse, Dexter Introduce Legislation to Protect Western Communities from Wildfire Smoke

Bill follows five-year anniversary of Oregon's Catastrophic Labor Day Fires

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Representatives Joe Neguse D-Colo., and Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., today reintroduced legislation to provide federal emergency assistance to people in Oregon and nationwide who are harmed by unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

The Wildfire Smoke Relief Act would protect people lacking air filtration at home or with chronic health conditions by authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide at-risk people with low-cost home improvements and smoke inhalation prevention equipment, like masks and air filters, when wildfire smoke causes unhealthy air quality levels for three consecutive days. In extreme circumstances, when preventative measures are inadequate for health and safety, the legislation would authorize FEMA to provide transitional sheltering assistance for at-risk people, including children, elderly people, pregnant women, and low-income families.

"The smoke from wildfires that fills the lungs of Oregonians is a health hazard-plain and simple," Wyden said. "As these fires become bigger, more dangerous, and more destructive each year, it's critical that we ensure communities getting crushed by worsening air quality get the same treatment as other disaster victims. We must ensure underserved communities have clean air to breathe and other vital resources to be prepared for next season's infernos across the West."

"I'm proud to join my colleagues to reintroduce the Wildfire Smoke Relief Act, which ensures that folks most at risk from wildfire smoke are sufficiently prepared," Neguse said. "Now that there are fires raging almost year-round, this bill will go a long way towards preparing our communities for the health impacts of toxic wildfire smoke."

"Oregonians know all too well how wildfires wreak havoc on our communities," Dexter said. "Wildfire doesn't just make us cough-it causes lung and heart disease, cancer, and shortens lives. As a pulmonologist, I know we need to provide better protection for those most susceptible to climate change. This bill is a much needed and long-overdue step in the right direction."

"When the devastating Labor Day fires broke out five years ago, I drove over 600 miles across Oregon and never once broke out of the thick layer of smoke that had blanketed the state," Merkley said. "When wildfire smoke envelops our communities, it's dangerous for public health and dampens everyday life for those under the hazardous plumes. I'm fully committed to securing the resources we need to address the root causes of megafires, and also to helping Oregonians cope with -- and recover from -- increasingly extreme hot weather conditions and the dangerous smoke that many of these wildfires produce."

The Wildfire Smoke Relief Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

Wyden has been a longtime advocate of protecting underserved communities in Oregon and nationwide from the devastating impacts of wildfires. In June 2025, he unveiled bipartisan legislation to minimize the impacts of wildfires by supporting prescribed burns as an essential cost-effective tool backed by science. In June 2019, Wyden and Merkley introduced a package of bills that would assist communities harmed by wildfire smoke.

The text of the bill is here.

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