FEMA gets new wildfire rules—but no new money to enforce them
H.R. 1393 — Wildfire Response Improvement Act · Filed by Greg Stanton (D-AZ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs FEMA to review and update how it evaluates whether wildfire mitigation and emergency response projects are cost-effective enough to fund. It requires FEMA to make wildfire assessments and emergency stabilization eligible for federal disaster assistance regardless of when the fire occurred, to update its guidance on wildfire recovery challenges (debris, water contamination, protective measures), and to establish new cost-effectiveness criteria that account for defensible space, nature-based solutions, vegetation management, smoke health impacts, and water infrastructure protection.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is expanding FEMA's eligibility criteria and cost-effectiveness standards for wildfire mitigation and emergency response projects, making federal disaster aid more accessible to affected communities by removing temporal restrictions and broadening what counts as a justified public investment.
What the text implies
- Removing the 'incident period' restriction for fire management assistance may allow FEMA to fund mitigation work on older fires or in areas with chronic wildfire exposure, potentially shifting federal spending toward prevention in high-risk regions.
- Requiring FEMA to account for smoke health impacts and water infrastructure damage in cost-effectiveness calculations may increase the number of projects that qualify for federal funding by capturing indirect public health and utility costs previously ignored.
- The bill does not appropriate funds or mandate spending levels, so its effect depends on FEMA's budget and discretionary prioritization — guidance changes alone do not guarantee increased assistance without appropriations.
- Establishing 'pre-calculated benefits' for defensible space projects may streamline approval but could also create a one-size-fits-all standard that does not account for regional variation in fire risk or mitigation effectiveness.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands FEMA's authority to fund wildfire mitigation and emergency response by removing timing restrictions and updating cost-effectiveness standards to capture public health and environmental benefits previously excluded from the calculation. This makes federal disaster aid more accessible to communities facing wildfire risk and recovery, lowering barriers to federal assistance for a growing public safety threat.
Who stands to gain
- state and local governments (wildfire mitigation funding eligibility)
- disaster recovery contractors (debris removal, emergency stabilization work)
- water utilities (infrastructure protection funding)
Named in the bill
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, section 203 and 404 (Stafford Act mitigation programs)
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Feb 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $810,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 42 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Greg Stanton, the sponsor, reported $696,299 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Liberty Mutual Group — $740,000 on 1 filing
- International Association of Fire Chiefs — $70,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,369 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“FEMA gets new wildfire rules—but no new money to enforce them” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1393 Report an error
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