WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) introduced the Wildfire Response Aviation Modernization and Safety Act which would eliminate pointless regulations and allow wildfire response aircraft, like planes and helicopters leased by the state of Wyoming or federal agencies, to transport wildland firefighters. Wyoming communities are unnecessarily exposed to the threat of wildfires because of current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations allowing leased aircraft to be used for fire suppression operations, such as water drops, but not to transport fire crews.
“When wildfires break out in Wyoming, it is essential that personnel are deployed as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Wildfire Response Aviation Modernization and Safety Act just makes sense. It will allow us to use every safe aircraft at our disposal to get firefighters to wildfire areas to save lives, homes and property. I am grateful to Senator Kelly for his work on this important legislation,” said Senator Lummis.
This legislation is part of Senator Lummis’ continuing effort to ensure that burdensome government regulations do not get in the way of protecting Wyoming from the deadly threat of wildfires. In March, Senator Lummis introduced the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023 which seeks to protect firefighters, communities and property in Wyoming from the devastating impacts of wildfires by creating a Clean Water Act exemption for federal, state, local and tribal firefighting agencies to use fire retardant on fires.
The Wildfire Response Aviation Modernization and Safety Act is supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Click here to read the full bill text.
###