[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S2895]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Crapo, 
        Mr. Kelly, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. Sheehy):
  S. 4812. A bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency to modify regulations with respect to drinking water 
State revolving funds, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the FIRE SMART Act. 
This legislation would expand eligibility for Drinking Water State 
Revolving Funds to allow for funding of certain water infrastructure 
needed for fighting wildfires in rural communities at high risk of 
wildfire.
  There is a growing need for improving infrastructure to ensure 
adequate water storage and flow for fire suppression. Federal 
assistance is critical because many smaller rural communities in the 
wildland-urban interface that are at increased risk of wildfire lack 
the ratepayer bases to upgrade their firefighting infrastructure on 
their own.
  The importance of water infrastructure investments to protect 
communities in the wildland-urban interface was demonstrated during the 
Caldor Fire in the Lake Tahoe area in 2021. Firefighters were able to 
successfully defend the Christmas Valley neighborhood in South Lake 
Tahoe from the Caldor Fire due to the combination of one, investments 
in modernized watermains sized for fire suppression flows and a 
sufficient network of fire hydrants, water tanks, and water sources, 
and two, thinning of forests and the creation of defensible space 
around homes. This combination of thinned forests to slow the fire and 
improves water infrastructure to prepare homes is particularly 
effective.
  The FIRE SMART Act would expand eligibility for the Drinking Water 
State Revolving Fund to allow States to include water infrastructure 
projects with both drinking water and fire suppression benefits in 
rural areas to address gaps in Federal assistance programs. This 
eligibility expansion would help rural communities invest in projects 
to improve water system transmission, distribution capacity, and 
storage.
  I would like to thank Senators Curtis, Kelly, Sheehy, Merkley, 
Boozman, Schiff, and Crapo for coleading this bill, and I urge my 
colleagues to work with us to pass it as swiftly as possible.

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