Frank Pallone: “The EPA promulgated an exceptional events rule in 2016 to allow States and Tribes to use prescribed burns for fire…”

“The EPA promulgated an exceptional events rule in 2016 to allow States and Tribes to use prescribed burns for fire management and exempt emissions from wildfire from regulatory requirements. This was reinforced by a 2025 EPA memo titled 'EPA Policy on Provisions to Allow Wildland Prescribed Fire in Clean Air Act State Implementation Plans.' This bill is unnecessary, and I am going to repeat that. Republicans are claiming that the process is so burdensome and that very few determinations are made by the EPA. That is misleading. The value of prescribed burns is to mitigate wildfire and to minimize air quality impacts on communities. That is why forest managers conduct prescribed burns under particular weather conditions. Under these conditions, prescribed burns do not contribute significantly to the area's ambient air quality, which means an exceptional event demonstration may not be necessary in the first place. Proponents of this bill have lots of complaints about the current program. However, the FIRE Act does nothing to reform the exceptional event demonstration process for States or the EPA. Instead, it just provides broad exemptions, which is not what should be done.”