H.R. 5481 — Wildfire Smoke Relief Act

This section directs the President, in carrying out the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program (TSA) of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under Section 403 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b), to address wildfire smoke risks by (1) providing assistance to qualified entities (i.e., states, units of local government, local public health authorities, or coordinated care organizations) to purchase and supply smoke-inhalation prevention equipment—such as portable air filtration units, N95 or P100 respirators, weather stripping, or portable air-conditioning units—to individuals at risk of wildfire smoke-related illness (i.e., low-income individuals whose family taxable income did not exceed 200% of the poverty level, parents or guardians of children under 19 years of age, pregnant women, individuals 65 years of age or older, or those with chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, or smoke-exacerbated illnesses living in areas with unhealthy air quality index levels for at least 3 consecutive days due to a wildfire); and (2) providing cost-efficient transitional shelter assistance to such individuals when equipment is insufficient. (As background, TSA provides temporary sheltering and related aid to disaster victims; thus, this expands the program to wildfire smoke events.)