Wildfire Emergency Act of 2025
Senate Bill Would Fund Large-Scale Forest Restoration and Community Fire Resilience Under Wildfire Emergency Act
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- Creates a Forest Service pilot to fund large forest restoration projects (often 100,000 acres or more) using deals that bring in private and local money.
- Caps the pilot at 20 projects and up to $250 million total over 10 years, with no more than $50 million tied to any single project.
- Sets up a Energy Department program with $100 million to help critical places (like hospitals, schools, fire stations, and water systems) keep power during disasters using microgrids and backup energy.
- Expands home weatherization rules so fire- and heat-resistant materials can be included, and raises the typical per-home cost limit to $13,000 (inflation-adjusted).
- Pushes faster rollout of wildfire detection tools (like cameras and sensors), plus training centers and workforce grants to grow the prescribed-fire and forest-restoration workforce.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
How this policy affects specific groups of people
Milestones
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
2 articlesSenator Padilla Introduces Bipartisan Bills to Improve Fire Mitigation and Resiliency
Senator Alex Padilla introduced the Wildfire Emergency Act of 2025 to support forest restoration and energy resilience. The bill provides the Forest Service with pilot authority for 20 conservation finance projects and authorizes $100 million for DOE microgrids at critical facilities.
WATCH: LA leaders, lawmakers discuss wildfire legislation
Local and federal leaders discussed a package of bills designed to address the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton fires. The legislation includes the Wildfire Emergency Act, which focuses on landscape-scale forest restoration and critical infrastructure power backups.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Wildfire Emergency Act of 2025
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(2)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.