House and Senate Differ on Legislation to Keep Open the Federal Government
On Friday, September 19, the House of Representative passed the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 (H.R. 5371) by a vote of 217-212. However, the Senate only was able to produce 44 votes for the bill (60 votes were needed.)
On Tuesday, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) introduced H.R. 5371. The bill is a continuing resolution (CR) that largely maintains the overall government funding through November 21, 2025. The CR includes an extension of the Ground Ambulance Medicare Add-on payments through November 21, 2025. The IAFC continues to advocate for a further extension of the add-on payments.
FEMA Announces Intention to Release Grants
On September 18, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced its intent to award its grant programs throughout September, such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program; Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER); and other non-disaster grants. FEMA has begun to issue some grant funds such as the funds supporting the National Urban Search and Rescue System.
According to FEMA, its next steps will be to “issue award notifications using FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO). Awards will be issued with funding holds, as is standard practice, until individual projects are approved. Once awards are issued, FEMA will work with grantees thereafter to help ensure that approved projects appropriately reflect activities that align with the funding notice’s goals and objectives.”
House Energy and Commerce Advances AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act
On September 17, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a markup. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025 (H.R. 979) was approved and advanced by a vote of 50-1. This legislation would require auto manufacturers to include AM radio in all newly made vehicles as a free and standard service.
Ultimately, a compromise was reached in order to advance this act out of committee. This bipartisan compromise amendment included the following additional provisions:
- An 8-year sunset provision instead of 10 years (the sunset was originally intended to quell concerns from auto manufacturers);
- Stricter compliance regulations for auto manufactures;
- A required public report made available to Congress on the impacts on safety and innovation from requiring AM radios in autonomous vehicles (AVs).
H.R. 979 now awaits a vote by the full House. S. 315, the Senate companion legislation, is in a similar position, waiting to be considered and voted upon by the full Senate.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Advances PHMSA Reauthorization Act
On September 17, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure marked up and voted to advance the PIPES Act of 2025 (H.R. 5301). The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)’s pipeline safety programs for another four years.
This bill would
- Authorize $ 776 million over four years for pipeline safety programs administered by PHMSA and authorize PHMSA to collect up to 1 percent of that amount from fees paid by pipeline operators and owners of underground natural gas storage facilities;
- Authorize $ 123 million over four years from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for safety programs; and
- Authorize $ 131 million over four years for PHMSA’s operating expenses.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee may have to consider the bill before the full House considers it. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is in the process of drafting their own PHMSA reauthorization legislation.
The U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture Announce Plans to Reform Federal Wildland Firefighting
On September 15, both the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture released documents to improve and harmonize wildland fire operations.
The DOI order consolidates all of the agency’s wildland fire and aviation efforts, including those at the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, into one U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS). A plan for the consolidation of programs into a new agency would have to be submitted to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Interior by October 31. Once approved by the Secretary, the plan would be implemented on January 12, 2026.
The USWFS would be led by a USWFS Fire Chief with “appropriate wildland fire experience commensurate with the position.” The position would be a Senior Executive Service position.
Both the DOI order and a memorandum by the Secretary of Agriculture take steps to unify efforts between the two departments. Both agencies agree to:
- Within 30 days, collaborate to modernize federal wildland fire aviation policies and procedures;
- Within 120 days, evaluate and restructure existing coordination and governance bodies or establish new governance structures with clear authority, accountability, and annual performance standards;
- Within 180 days, improve interagency interoperability through qualification and training standardization and skills crosswalks with the Department of Homeland Security;
- Within 120 days, revise the Master Interagency Agreement for Wildland Fire Management;
- Within 30 days, consolidate wildland fire predictive services into a centralized fire intelligence function;
- Within 180 days, standardize wildland fire position descriptions and establish a hiring program and pay plan;
- Within 120 days, complete a revision of the Master Cooperative Wildland Fire Management and Stafford Act Response Agreement template to simplify structure, streamline billing and reimbursement, and expedite review of new wildfire coordinating agreements;
- Within 30 days, initiate a timeline to modernize, consolidate, and simplify the processes for grants, agreements, reimbursement, assistance to increase accessibility, accelerate reimbursement, and eliminate administrative delays;
- Establish a joint governance structure to coordinate wildfire-research and technology deployment;
- Identify and promptly remedy any backlog of reimbursement for states, tribes, or local governments related to past wildland fire-related activities;
- Within 270 days, assess and make recommendations to modernize standards for personal protective equipment;
- Within 60 days, initiate design on a unified Wildfire Enterprise IT architecture with secure, interoperable systems for federal, tribal, state, and academic partners;
- Within 30 days, utilize a unified risk mapping tool to plan mitigation activities and demonstrate wildland fire risk reduction accomplishments across federal, tribal, state, local, and private lands; and
- Within 270 days, work with the U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate regulatory barriers for prescribed fire and the use of fire retardant.
The IAFC will work with the USDA and DOI to ensure that the needs of local fire departments are met during this unification of DOI and USDA wildland firefighting efforts. In addition, the IAFC is working with a coalition to urge Congress to pass the Fix Our Forests Act (S. 1462).