Official Summaries

Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins October 1, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035.

The bill also provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant).

The bill removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 956 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 956

  To amend the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to 
reauthorize the sale by the Department of Defense of aircraft and parts 
       for wildfire suppression purposes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2025

 Mr. Newhouse (for himself, Mr. Ellzey, Mr. Carbajal, and Mr. Vasquez) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on 
   Armed Services, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to 
reauthorize the sale by the Department of Defense of aircraft and parts 
       for wildfire suppression purposes, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF AUTHORITY FOR SALE BY 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OF AIRCRAFT AND PARTS FOR WILDFIRE 
              SUPPRESSION PURPOSES.

    Section 2 of the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 
(Public Law 104-307; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``a period'' and inserting ``the 
                period''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or water'' after ``fire 
                retardant'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``sold under subsection 
        (a)'' and all that follows through the period at the end and 
        inserting ``sold under subsection (a) may be used only for the 
        provision of aircraft services for wildfire suppression 
        purposes.'';
            (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ``or water'' after 
        ``fire retardant'';
            (4) in subsection (d)(1), in the second sentence, by 
        striking ``subsection (a)(1)'' and inserting ``subsection 
        (g)''; and
            (5) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following:
    ``(g) Period for Exercise of Authority.--The period specified in 
this subsection is the period beginning on October 1, 2025, and ending 
on October 1, 2035.''.
                                 <all>