Federal government must protect wildland fire workers from smoke.
S. 5439 — A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to improve safety standards for wildland firefighters. · Filed by Adam Schiff (D-CA) · Introduced Sep 17, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill tells two federal leaders to make new safety rules. The rules cover wildland fire workers and smoke they breathe. Within one year, the leaders must plan how to give workers masks when smoke gets too thick. They must also set up a group to write new smoke rules. The group must use the latest mask safety rules (NFPA 1984) in federal rules.
Who it affects
Wildland fire workers gain new safety rules and masks. The Forest Service and Interior Department must carry out the new rules.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say how much money the leaders get to buy masks or run the group.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 17, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 17, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
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.
- masks — Gear that protects lungs from smoke and bad air.
- smoke — Air from fires that is bad to breathe.
- NFPA 1984 — A set of safety rules for masks used by fire workers.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,725 characters) on Oct 3, 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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