[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 109 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. 
        Wyden):
  S. 2135. A bill to require the Agricultural Research Service to 
conduct research relating to wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure 
Research Act of 2023. This legislation will bolster research at land-
grant universities along the west coast to better understand the 
impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes.
  Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, 
Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of 
important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the 
communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires 
that can not only destroy vineyards but even those vineyards that 
escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke 
exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste 
known as smoke taint.
  The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 
wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant 
property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke-
exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost 
wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire-
caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested 
grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.
  Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify 
compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the 
mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these 
impacts.
  Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for 
the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify 
the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation 
methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.
  This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill 
would do.
  The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023 would provide $32.5 million 
over 5 years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the 
face of climate crisis.
  Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land-
grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology 
expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; 
establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in 
vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, 
mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers.
  As researchers from the University of California Davis, Washington 
State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent 
research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable.
  We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage 
based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor 
of fresh grapes. ``Freshness of the smoke, number of times exposed, 
variety of grape--the list goes on. There's so much we don't know.''
  That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to 
ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and 
mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry.
  I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, for 
his leadership bolstering California winegrowing communities and 
championing this bill in the House.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke 
Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible.
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