States can now hide wildfire pollution from air-quality records

What it does

This bill amends the Clean Air Act to allow states to exclude air quality data from their pollution records when that data is influenced by wildfires or by prescribed burns undertaken to prevent wildfires. It expands the definition of 'exceptional events' to include deliberate wildfire-mitigation actions (like controlled burns), and requires the EPA to establish a public tracking system for these petitions and conduct regional analysis when multiple states claim the same air quality event.

Why we flagged it

The bill functionally creates an exemption from air-quality compliance reporting for pollution caused by wildfires and wildfire-mitigation activities, allowing states to exclude data from federal attainment determinations without reducing actual pollution exposure to citizens.

What the text implies

• States may petition to exclude wildfire-caused pollution from air-quality records without reducing actual public exposure to that pollution, potentially allowing areas to remain in 'attainment' despite high wildfire-smoke pollution.
• The bill defines 'action to mitigate wildfire risk' broadly as any 'prescribed fire or similar measure' undertaken per state-approved practices, giving states discretion to classify pollution-causing activities as mitigation rather than violations.
• Exclusion of wildfire-pollution data from compliance records may reduce EPA enforcement pressure on states and weaken the regulatory signal that air quality is degrading in wildfire-prone regions.
• The regional-analysis requirement may delay EPA determinations and create procedural complexity that favors states with resources to conduct modeling, potentially disadvantaging smaller or less-resourced jurisdictions.
• Communities downwind of wildfires or prescribed burns will experience the same air pollution but may see their state's compliance record improve, decoupling regulatory accountability from actual public-health outcomes.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill creates a legitimate pathway for states to account for pollution caused by wildfire-mitigation activities, which may reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on states conducting prescribed burns for public safety. However, it also allows states to exclude wildfire-caused pollution from their air-quality compliance records, potentially weakening the appearance of progress toward clean-air standards and obscuring the true public-health burden of wildfires on communities downwind.

Who stands to gain

• state environmental agencies (reduced compliance burden)
• forestry and land-management contractors (prescribed-burn work may increase)

Named in the bill

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), Clean Air Act, State governors, National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), Section 319 of the Clean Air Act, Section 165 (preconstruction demonstrations)

Where it stands

3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.

• Dec 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment”
• Dec 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jan 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 27 - 23”
• Apr 22, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 220 - 198 (Roll no. 136). (text: CR 4/21/2026 H3013)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

15 lobbying clients named this bill on 19 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $64,577,324 in lobbying spend. A filing names 29 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 95% of bills with at least one filing.

Gabe Evans, the sponsor, reported $1,523,467 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $2,500 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 on 3 filings
• American Petroleum Institute — $4,700,000 on 2 filings
• Nature Conservancy — $900,000 on 1 filing
• National Mining Association — $820,000 on 1 filing
• American Forest & Paper Association — $710,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.