US Lawmakers Urge Senate to Pass 2 Wildfire Bills as Canadian Smoke Chokes Millions
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 24
US Lawmakers Urge Senate to Pass 2 Wildfire Bills as Canadian Smoke Chokes Millions
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 24
Summary
Millions of Americans faced air-quality alerts this week as smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires spread from the Atlantic seaboard to the Midwest, prompting lawmakers to press the Senate to pass the FIRE and FENCES Acts.
The FIRE Act would let states use prescribed burns without Clean Air Act penalties and would require the EPA to conduct regional analyses when one wildfire affects multiple states.
The FENCES Act would bar the EPA from counting foreign emissions against states' air-quality compliance, shielding states, manufacturers and energy producers from penalties tied to pollution originating in Canada.
Lawmakers argue the current system delays forest management through lengthy environmental reviews even as drought and overgrown forests raise wildfire risks and smoke-related health threats for seniors, children and people with respiratory conditions.
The push frames Canadian wildfire smoke as a recurring cross-border problem and casts the two bipartisan House-passed bills as a broader test of how the US handles prevention, regulation and accountability for foreign pollution.