Findings

Congress finds that— (1) wildfire smoke contains air pollutants that have been associated with a range of negative health outcomes, from upper respiratory tract irritation to the exacerbation of cardiac, respiratory, and other chronic conditions; (2) the negative health outcomes described in paragraph (1) can— (A) lead to increased morbidity and mortality; and (B) present an additional economic burden for affected populations; (3) standard public health strategies for mitigating negative health outcomes from wildfire smoke largely focus on risk assessment and communication that is informed by available air quality data; (4) wildfires tend to occur in rural areas where— (A) air quality monitoring may be absent or scarce; and (B) access to the internet and traditional media may be limited, which curtails the reach of risk communication and educational outreach; (5) given the limitations described in paragraph (4) and other possible limitations, there is a critical need to understand how rural communities can increase wildfire smoke risk mitigation as wildfire activity continues to grow, particularly in the western United States; and (6) air sensors are— (A) an important tool in providing relatively quick or instant concentrations of air pollutants for air quality monitoring purposes; and (B) often lower in cost, more portable, and generally easier to operate than air monitors.