H.R. 1393: Wildfire Response Improvement Act
Sponsor
Greg Stanton
Democrat · AZ-4
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Feb 14, 2025
Assigned to Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. for review
Wildfire bills don't stop when the fire's out
Why it matters
Right now, FEMA's fire grants generally only reimburse costs run up while the fire is actually burning. But the most dangerous work — testing toxic drinking water, clearing debris, stabilizing scorched hillsides — comes after the flames are gone. H.R. 1393 would force FEMA to cover that after-the-fire work and gives the agency 1 year to rewrite the rules.
FEMA's Fire Management Assistance Grant program helps state and local governments pay to fight wildfires. The catch: in general, the costs only qualify if they're run up during the "incident period" — the official window when the fire is burning.
That leaves a hole. A lot of the urgent safety work happens after the fire is declared over: assessing damage and stabilizing the ground to protect people. H.R. 1393 tells FEMA to make those assessments and emergency stabilization measures eligible for fire grants regardless of when the incident period starts or ends, as long as they protect public safety.
The bill also targets a problem that surfaced after recent fires: poisoned tap water. FEMA would have to rewrite its Public Assistance guide to spell out how it handles wildfire recovery, specifically debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the toxicity of drinking water resources after a fire.
Finally, the bill goes after prevention. FEMA would have to review how it decides whether a wildfire mitigation project is worth the money, and update the rules to give more credit to things like defensible space around homes, nature-based infrastructure, vegetation clearing, smoke-reduction work, and projects that protect water systems.
Every major deadline in the bill lands at the same place: no later than 1 year after it becomes law.
H.R. 1393 Bill Summary
What H.R. 1393 actually does.
Fire aid would cover work done after the fire's out
FEMA would have to recommend rules making damage assessments and emergency stabilization eligible for fire management assistance when they protect public safety, regardless of the incident period for a declared fire. The recommendation is due within 1 year of enactment.
FEMA must spell out how it handles toxic water and debris
Within 1 year, FEMA would have to amend its Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide to cover wildfire-specific recovery challenges, naming debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the toxicity of drinking water resources after a fire.
A fresh look at what prevention is 'worth'
FEMA would have to review how it scores the cost-effectiveness of wildfire mitigation projects under its two main mitigation grant programs, then update the criteria and re-rank projects based on the results.
Defensible space could get easier to fund
One required piece of the review is setting up a pre-calculated benefits standard for common defensible space projects — the buffer zones cleared around homes — which could let applicants prove a project pays off without building a custom cost analysis from scratch.
Smoke, vegetation, and water systems get weighed too
The review must also consider nature-based infrastructure, vegetation management, reducing the public-health harms of wildfire smoke, and lessening wildfire damage to water infrastructure — areas that have historically been hard to fund.
Who benefits from H.R. 1393?
Towns rebuilding after a major fire
Cities, counties, and special districts could get federal help for the after-the-fire work — debris removal, stabilization, water testing — that today's incident-period rules often leave them paying for alone.
Communities with fire-damaged drinking water
After recent wildfires, melted plumbing and burned infrastructure have leached toxic chemicals into tap water. The bill specifically directs FEMA to address the toxicity of drinking water resources in its recovery guidance.
Homeowners and groups doing defensible space work
Homeowner associations, tribes, and local governments proposing buffer zones and vegetation clearing could find it easier to qualify for funding if FEMA sets up pre-calculated benefits for common defensible space projects.
Public health and emergency response agencies
Health departments and emergency managers could find smoke-reduction projects easier to justify, since FEMA's cost-effectiveness review must weigh reducing the harms of wildfire smoke on public health.
Who is affected by H.R. 1393?
FEMA
The agency carries the entire load. The bill hands FEMA three separate jobs — recommend new fire-grant rules, rewrite the Public Assistance guide, and review and update mitigation criteria — all due within 1 year of enactment.
State emergency management agencies
States that administer Stafford Act aid with FEMA would have to adjust to revised fire-grant eligibility and new mitigation project rankings once the guidance is rewritten.
Water utility and infrastructure operators
Operators of drinking water systems are squarely in the bill's sights: it names the toxicity of drinking water resources and directs FEMA to weight projects that protect water infrastructure from wildfire.
Applicants for mitigation grants
Anyone seeking wildfire prevention funding would face a changed review system, since FEMA must update its cost-effectiveness criteria and re-prioritize projects based on the new rules.
HR1393 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Feb 14, 2025
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
About the Sponsor
Greg Stanton
Democrat, Arizona's 4th congressional district · 7 years in Congress
Committees: House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Foreign Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure
View full profile →
Cosponsors (2)
This bill has 2 cosponsors: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican, reflecting bipartisan support. Cosponsors represent 1 state: California.
Committee Sponsors
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
1 of 66 committee members cosponsored
30 Democrats across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
H.R. 1393 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Transportation and Infrastructure
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Emergency Management
- Introduced
- Feb 14, 2025
Assigned to Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. for review
Feb 14, 2025
Official Sources
Official bill page with text, actions, sponsors, and status for the Wildfire Response Improvement Act.
This FEMA program page is directly relevant to Section 2, which updates eligibility and guidance for fire management assistance.
This FEMA page covers the benefit-cost framework that underlies project cost-effectiveness reviews, including the kind of criteria HR 1393 would require FEMA to revisit.
Official FEMA overview of mitigation grant programs connected to Stafford Act sections 203 and 404, which the bill targets for updated wildfire criteria.
Official U.S. Code entry for Stafford Act section 420, the statutory authority for the Fire Management Assistance Grant Program referenced in Section 2.
Official U.S. Code entry for Stafford Act section 203, one of the two mitigation authorities whose cost-effectiveness criteria the bill orders FEMA to review.
Official U.S. Code entry for Stafford Act section 404, the other mitigation authority specifically named in Section 4 of the bill.
Home of the Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide that Section 3 orders FEMA to amend to address debris removal and drinking-water toxicity after wildfires.
H.R. 1393 Common Questions
What does H.R. 1393 actually do?
The Wildfire Response Improvement Act tells FEMA to cover wildfire safety work done after a fire is officially out, spell out how it handles toxic drinking water and debris in recovery, and rethink how it funds wildfire prevention projects.
Can FEMA wildfire aid cover work done after the fire is out?
That's the core of the bill. Today, fire grant costs generally only qualify during the fire's official incident period. H.R. 1393 would make damage assessments and emergency stabilization eligible regardless of the incident period, as long as they protect public safety.
Does H.R. 1393 address toxic drinking water after wildfires?
Yes. The bill directs FEMA to rewrite its Public Assistance guide to address wildfire recovery challenges, naming debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the toxicity of drinking water resources — a problem that surfaced after recent fires melted plumbing and contaminated tap water.
What is defensible space, and how would the bill help fund it?
Defensible space is the cleared buffer zone around a home that slows an advancing fire. H.R. 1393 would have FEMA set up a pre-calculated benefits standard for common defensible space projects, so applicants could prove a project pays off without building a custom cost analysis each time.
How would H.R. 1393 change the way FEMA funds wildfire prevention?
FEMA would have to review how it scores the cost-effectiveness of wildfire mitigation projects — weighing nature-based infrastructure, vegetation management, smoke reduction, and water-system protection — then update the criteria and re-rank projects based on what it finds.
How long would FEMA have to make these changes?
One year. Every major deadline in H.R. 1393 lands at the same spot: no later than 1 year after the bill becomes law, FEMA must recommend the fire-grant rules, amend the Public Assistance guide, and issue updated mitigation criteria.
Does H.R. 1393 come with any new money?
No. The bill attaches no funding, grant cap, or appropriation. It changes which costs and projects qualify for FEMA aid and how the agency ranks them — reshaping the rules around existing programs rather than adding a new pot of money.
Who introduced H.R. 1393 and does it have bipartisan support?
Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona, a Democrat, introduced it in February 2025. Its two cosponsors are California's Doug LaMalfa, a Republican, and Jared Huffman, a Democrat — a bipartisan group from fire-prone districts. The bill is still in subcommittee.
Based on H.R. 1393 bill text
H.R. 1393 Bill Text
“To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct a review of the criteria for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of certain mitigation projects, and for other purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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