Senate Committee Advances Padilla Bill to Help Prevent Wildfires; Padilla Sounds Alarm on Protecting Public Lands from Environmental Disasters

Senate Committee Advances Padilla's bipartisan Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sounded the alarm on protecting communities and public lands from disaster, preventing wildfires, and providing resources to safeguard forests and lands from further destruction.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing on Padilla's bipartisan Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act (WEPA), a bipartisan bill to prevent wildfires and increase the use of prescribed fire. The bill advanced out of committee with a unanimous vote.

"Year after year, increasingly devastating wildfires ravage our public lands and communities, so it's critical we act with urgency," said Senator Padilla. "Today's unanimous Committee vote to advance WEPA will allow more prescribed fire to be deployed on the landscape and help prevent or mitigate wildfires. I am proud to see our bill advance as we work to be proactive in responding to the wildfire crisis instead of waiting to respond after disaster strikes."

WEPA provides certainty that states will not be penalized for taking action to prevent wildfires and authorizes a program to help communities plan and prepare for smoke events. Padilla underscored the urgent need to make it easier for communities to use prescribed fires to prevent wildfire emissions, protect ecosystems and wildlife habitats, and make American forests and communities safer, healthier, and cleaner.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Video of Padilla's EPW remarks is available here.

Padilla then delivered remarks at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee hearing, emphasizing the importance of passing legislation to prevent and respond to future wildfires that impact public lands and surrounding communities.

Padilla underscored the importance of his bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act, legislation to protect giant sequoias from the growing threat of wildfires, insects, and disease. This bill would help reverse the damage caused by catastrophic wildfires and restore the resilience of giant sequoias groves - which provide critical ecological, scientific, and cultural benefits.

"Giant sequoias are one of the most iconic species in the world and are only found in roughly 70 groves across California," said Senator Padilla. "However, due to dangerous fuel buildups and increasingly devastating wildfires, nearly 20% of these ancient trees have been lost over the past decade. This bill would accelerate forest restoration efforts and provide important resources to land managers to guard these groves from further destruction."

Padilla also highlighted his recent bipartisan bicameral letter urging the Department of the Interior (DOI) to abandon a proposed transfer of federally managed public land within Yosemite National Park that would facilitate private access to and development of an 83-acre parcel adjacent to the park, known as Hazel Green Ranch. Padilla urged DOI to back out of the land transfer and emphasized the bipartisan and bicameral opposition to the land transfer.

In the aftermath of the catastrophic Southern California fires, Padilla has introduced more than a dozen bills to help prevent and respond to future wildfires. Last year, he and Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced the Fix Our Forests Act, bipartisan legislation to combat catastrophic wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and make federal forest management more efficient and responsive. Last January, Padilla introduced a suite of bipartisan bills to strengthen wildfire recovery and resilience, including the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act, and the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act. On the one-year anniversary of the Los Angeles fires, Padilla and Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) announced bipartisan legislation to establish a new grant program to help local communities defend themselves from the growing danger of wildfires.

Video of Padilla's ENR remarks is available here.

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