Federal wildland fire workers get health and safety rules.
S. 5433 — Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act · Filed by Alex Padilla (D-CA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 17, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill sets up a new program to protect wildland fire workers' health. It requires the government to make rules about breathing gear and hazards. It pays fire workers for time spent cleaning up after fires. The bill funds research on breathing gear and better pay for hurt workers. The government will watch the program through 2032.
Who it affects
Wildland fire workers and support staff gain protections. They get breathing gear, health check-ups, cleaning areas, paid cleanup time, and better pay when hurt.
One thing to notice
The bill skips normal rule-making steps to issue breathing gear rules faster. It allows only 30 days for public comment instead of the usual process.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Sep 17, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 17, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- wildland fire workers — People who fight fires in forests and wild areas.
- breathing gear — Masks and equipment that keep smoke and ash out of lungs.
- cleaning up — Removing dirt, ash, and harmful stuff from skin and clothes.
- hazards — Things that can hurt or make people sick.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (47,792 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,163 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-26.
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