FIRE Act

This bill would modify the Clean Air Act to expand the definition of "exceptional events" that allow the Environmental Protection Agency to exclude certain air pollution data when determining if a state has met national air quality standards. It proposes to include human-led activities intended to mimic natural events, such as wildfire mitigation efforts, and removes current exclusions for high temperatures, lack of precipitation, and unusual air stagnation. Additionally, the bill would require the EPA to conduct regional modeling when multiple states submit petitions regarding the same event or wildfire risk mitigation action.

This bill primarily affects the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which must revise its regulations regarding air quality monitoring and exceptional event determinations. State governments are also affected, as the bill modifies the criteria they use to demonstrate that natural events or wildfire mitigation actions caused air pollution concentrations. Additionally, the bill impacts regional groups of states that submit joint petitions regarding the same exceptional events for EPA modeling and analysis.

• Expansion of exceptional event definitions. The bill amends the Clean Air Act to include human activities intended to mirror natural events as exceptional events. It also removes exclusions for meteorological events involving high temperatures, lack of precipitation, or unusual air mass stagnation.
• Exclusion of air quality data from compliance determinations. The EPA must exclude specific air pollution concentration data from national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) violation determinations if a state proves the data was caused by an exceptional event.
• Revision of wildfire mitigation regulations. The EPA is required to update its regulations concerning the review and handling of air quality monitoring data that is influenced by efforts to mitigate wildfire risks.
• Regional modeling for multi-state events. The bill mandates that the EPA perform regional modeling and analysis when several states submit petitions related to the same exceptional event or wildfire mitigation action.

This bill modifies the definition of exceptional events under the Clean Air Act and requires the Environmental Protection Agency to revise existing regulations regarding air quality monitoring data influenced by wildfire mitigation efforts.

The bill aims to reform how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) handles air quality data by expanding the definition of 'exceptional events' to include certain human-caused activities and specific meteorological conditions. It intends to ensure that air pollution concentrations caused by these events or wildfire mitigation efforts are excluded when determining violations of national ambient air quality standards.