Reps. Evans’, Gray’s bipartisan FIRE Act passes through E&C’s Environment Subcommittee.

WASHINGTON - Today, Reps Gabe Evans' (CO-08) and Adam Gray's (CA-13) bipartisan Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act, H.R. 6387 passed through the Energy and Commerce, Environment subcommittee. The newly introduced legislation will ensure that states are not punished for the smoke and emissions they cannot control, while still maintaining strong environmental protections.

The bill works to provide clarity and predictability for air quality planning, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on manufacturers and communities, and reward proactive wildfire mitigation that protects public health and improves air quality for future generations.

The bill works to provide clarity and predictability for air quality planning, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on manufacturers and communities, and reward proactive wildfire mitigation that protects public health and improves air quality for future generations.

"A leading reason for the affordability crisis facing Coloradans is red tape around air quality permitting. When the economy is strangled under the weight of costly, poorly designed ozone attainment standards, jobs are lost, prices spike, and financial stress increases negative health outcomes. Clean air is important to everyone, but Colorado jobs should not be penalized for emissions outside of their control - whether it's Canadian wildfires or Chinese pollution.

My bill, the FIRE Act, is a common-sense solution that will drive down costs for working families in Colorado by clarifying that Clean Air Act benchmarks should not be used to punish jobs and hamstring the economy for things like prescribed burns or out-of-state wildfire smoke." - Congressman Gabe Evans

Background:

For years, areas along the Front Range of Colorado have consistently struggled to meet ozone attainment levels set by the federal Clean Air Act.

The resulting red tape around air quality permitting and the regulations that Colorado's ruling Democrats slap onto the industry, the economy and consumers, are a leading cause of the affordability crisis that working families in Colorado District 8 are facing. When the economy is strangled under the weight of costly and poorly designed ozone attainment standards, jobs are lost, prices spike, and financial stress increases negative mental and physical health outcomes.

When families and jobs are penalized for emissions outside of their control, it leads to unemployment, higher costs which both fail to promote healthy living standards and instead promotes poverty.

Regulation under the Clean Air Act has resulted in Colorado imposing reformulated gasoline mandates on drivers. In the summertime, commuters across the state are forced to buy reformulated gas that's typically 40 cents more expensive per gallon, despite the so-called "mitigation effort" producing negligible results - less than 1 part-per-billion in actually reducing ozone levels.

In fact, the Democrat appointed chair of the Denver regional air quality council admitted that we could, "ban oil and gas in Colorado and still not meet summertime ozone standards."

In Colorado only 29% of the ozone and air pollution along the Front Range is human caused. The other 71% percent of the air pollution is from sources like wildfires, pollution from communist China, and naturally occurring atmospheric events.

The FIRE Act has received widespread support from stakeholder organizations;

"We appreciate the efforts and leadership of Congressman Evans to propose this legislation. We all support clean air, but we need to modernize air quality regulations that do nothing more than to add burden to businesses, add cost and do not result in environmental improvements. Thank you, Congressman Gabe Evans!!" - Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association

"Colorado has long failed to meet the federal air quality standards, with an approach that is costly to consumers, over-regulates businesses of all sizes, and fails to target a primary source of the problem: emissions from wildfires and out-of-state emissions transport. Due to costly and burdensome state air quality regulations, Colorado businesses face significantly higher operating costs than out-of-state competitors, increasing costs for everyone. The FIRE Act is a reasonable approach that will lower costs for Coloradans by clarifying how emissions from wildfires, prescribed burns, and other exceptional events are considered in federal air quality standards. We need more tools to manage air quality, not bureaucratic obstacles." - Colorado Petroleum Association

"Colorado fuel marketers and station owners as well as our customers hope that Colorado pays attention to this much needed and important effort to reduce costs on the Colorado economy and working families. For too long Colorado families have taken more out of limited family budgets, to throw money endlessly to solve an ozone problem the majority of which is out of our control and a lot of which is simply naturally occurring and would be here even if no people lived in Colorado.. Expensive and unnecessary mandates like Reformulated Gasoline, which even our Governor tried his best to oppose, are the result of inaction for years by people and groups who use this archaic law as a way to justify and enhance the economic pain families are feeling. Congressman Evans just provided hope with this legislation, and it can and should avoid further cost increases, in this policy area, on Colorado families. We hope this takes away the need for costly mandates like the proposed indirect source rule proposal which will increase the cost of groceries. Colorado businesses are facing 10's of millions of dollars right now in increases all of which get passed down like an avalanche bury Colorado families. Air quality will continue to improve without further cost burdens. This is simply transformative." - Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association

"Manufacturers support Clean Air Act reforms as part of critically needed comprehensive permitting reform. CAMA appreciates your actions to address the mounting permitting challenges facing Colorado manufacturers under increasingly stringent air quality standards. Unless addressed, these challenges will essentially block permitting approvals for projects critical to economic growth, manufacturing infrastructure, and jobs. Your efforts will foster our industry's ongoing efforts to improve air quality while preventing unnecessary burdens that reduce economic growth and tax revenues vital to local communities." - Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Association

"Club 20 supports the FIRE Act as a practical solution that protects rural communities from being unfairly penalized for wildfire smoke, while encouraging proactive forest management. This bill helps safeguard Western Colorado's economy, regulatory certainty, and commonsense wildfire mitigation efforts." - Club 20

"Western Governors thank Representatives Evans and Gray for their bipartisan legislation that removes regulatory barriers to wildfire risk reduction. In recent years, Western Governors have developed and advocated for a range of policy recommendations to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration via broader deployment of prescribed fire. The Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act streamlines the exceptional events process, minimizing its regulatory burden and promoting the safe use of prescribed fire. Western Governors are eager to continue to work with the Energy and Commerce Committee to support important forest management reforms such as the FIRE Act." -Jack Waldorf, Executive Director of Western Governors Association.

"Congress needs to take action to ensure that, codified within the CAA, states are not unfairly penalized for prescribed burns. Disincentivizing their use can undermine forest management. And ironically, penalizing the use of prescribed burns can hurt air quality, which undermines the purpose of the CAA." - Daren Bakst, Competitive Enterprise Institute's Director of the Center for Energy and Environment

"The below legislation, introduced in this Congress … will balance the need to continue improving air quality while fostering economic growth and innovation." - The American Cement Association

"The Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association wants to thank Representative Gabe Evans for his efforts and fully supports the Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act. This bill will help modernize the Clean Air Act and is a step in the right direction for Colorado." - Colorado Ready Mix Concrete Association

"The Colorado Oil & Gas Association strongly endorses Congressman Evans' Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act. This Act will make key updates to Section 319(b) of the Clean Air Act to ensure that states are not penalized in ozone attainment determinations for clearly defined exceptional events like wildfires and prescribed burns. By clarifying how these events and state-approved wildfire mitigation activities are treated in federal air quality reviews, the FIRE Act will provide much-needed clarity to EPA in assessing these events, and in turn, greater regulatory certainty for industries affected by Colorado's ozone nonattainment status in the Front Range. The Colorado Regional Air Quality Council's (RAQC) most recent modeling shows the Front Range's ozone challenge is significantly driven by exceptional events as well as natural sources and international transport of ozone rather than by Colorado businesses. COGA appreciates Congressman Evans' leadership on this issue and looks forward to working with him as this important legislation advances." - Lynn Granger, The Colorado Oil and Gas Association

"Across the country, overreaching regulations have slowed projects that could deliver significant benefits to our economy and environment. By modernizing permitting and clarifying regulatory requirements, Congress can unlock private investment, accelerate job creation, and enhance national security. Importantly, these reforms will allow us to build the modern infrastructure needed to compete in the global race for innovation-supporting advancements in artificial intelligence, strengthening transportation networks, expanding affordable and reliable energy, and ensuring America remains a leader in technology and economic growth." - U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Additional support has been received from:

Colorado Motor Carriers Association

Action Colorado

National Association of Manufacturers

Click here to watch Congressman Evans speech in The Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee.