S. 4732

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4732 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4732

To authorize the President to declare a smoke emergency, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 10, 2026

Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. Padilla) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the President to declare a smoke emergency, 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 Smoke Emergency Declaration 
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR SMOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION.

(a) In General.--The President may declare a smoke emergency in any 
State in which the President determines there is, or anticipates there 
will be, a significant decrease in air quality due to wildland fire 
smoke in one or more States.
(b) Request From Governor.--The Governor, or other appropriate 
agency, of a State that is or will be affected by a significant 
decrease in air quality due to wildland fire smoke may request a 
declaration under subsection (a).
(c) Assistance.--If the President declares a smoke emergency under 
subsection (a), the President, acting through the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency and other appropriate Federal agencies, may provide 
smoke emergency assistance to States and local communities that are or 
will be affected by the smoke emergency, including grants, equipment, 
supplies, and personnel and resources for establishing smoke shelters, 
air purifiers, and additional air monitoring sites.
(d) SBA Grants.--The Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration may provide grants to any small business concern, as 
defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), that 
loses a significant amount of revenue due to wildland fire smoke in an 
area in which the President has declared a smoke emergency under 
subsection (a).
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

SEC. 3. BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR SMOKE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.

Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
``(H) Smoke emergency assistance.--
``(i) If, for any fiscal year, 
appropriations for discretionary accounts are 
enacted that Congress designates as being for 
smoke emergency assistance in statute, the 
adjustment for a fiscal year shall be the total 
of such appropriations for the fiscal year in 
discretionary accounts designated as being for 
smoke emergency assistance.
``(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, 
the term `smoke emergency assistance' means 
assistance provided under a determination under 
section 2 of the Wildfire Smoke Emergency 
Declaration Act of 2026.
``(iii) Appropriations considered smoke 
emergency assistance under this subparagraph in 
a fiscal year shall not be eligible for 
adjustments under subparagraph (A) for the 
fiscal year.''.
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