Federal Update: Senate Advances Wildfire Bill, Unveils Broad Permitting Reform Package 

The Senate wrapped up its final work period before the November elections with unanimous passage of the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act (WEPA; S. 5045). The bipartisan legislation, spearheaded by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), is aimed at removing a federal air-quality barrier that can complicate prescribed burns and other wildfire mitigation work. 

If approved by the House, the bill could give counties and land managers more flexibility to carry out proactive fuels management, particularly in high-risk communities where prescribed fire is an important tool for reducing hazardous vegetation and improving forest resilience. The goal is to better account for the temporary smoke associated with prescribed fire in order to help communities reduce the risk of much more severe wildfire smoke, damage, and public safety impacts later. 

The Senate adjourned on Wednesday, and lawmakers are not scheduled to return until after the November elections. The House is already in recess and likewise will not return until November. 

Before leaving town, however, a bipartisan group of Senate leaders also unveiled a sweeping permitting reform package – the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 – aimed at speeding up federal reviews and approvals for energy, transmission, infrastructure, and other major projects. 

The legislation would make a number of significant changes to the federal permitting process. Among other provisions, it would establish a two-year deadline for environmental impact statements and a one-year deadline for environmental assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), shorten the window for certain legal challenges, and place new limits on when projects can be temporarily halted by courts. It would also modify reviews under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act and create a new process intended to better coordinate historic preservation reviews with NEPA. 

The package also includes major changes to electricity transmission policy, including a stronger federal role in approving certain interstate transmission lines, additional regional and interregional transmission planning, and measures intended to increase the capacity of the existing grid. The bill would also require data centers to bear certain transmission costs associated with serving their facilities rather than shifting those costs to ratepayers. 

For counties, the proposal could affect the timelines and requirements associated with a wide range of locally supported projects that require federal permits or approvals. At the same time, some environmental organizations and other stakeholders have raised concerns about potential impacts on environmental protections and public participation. 

Looking ahead, the path through Congress remains uncertain. Senate sponsors have said they hope to advance the package after the November elections, but the results could significantly shape the prospects for a lame-duck deal. For his part, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) has already raised concerns with several provisions and suggested that Democrats may prefer to continue negotiations into the next Congress if the election results improve their negotiating position. 

CSAC will continue reviewing the proposal for impacts on counties and local infrastructure and will engage with California’s congressional delegation as permitting reform discussions move forward. 

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Extend Secure Rural Schools Program

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation this week to extend the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program through fiscal year 2029, providing greater funding certainty for rural counties with significant National Forest lands. 

The Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S. 5608), introduced by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ron Wyden (D-OR), James Risch (R-ID), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), comes as the program’s authorization expired on September 30. The bill would provide a clean three-year extension without changing the existing SRS program or payment formula. 

SRS is particularly important to California’s rural and forested counties. Because federal lands are exempt from local property taxes, counties with large amounts of National Forest land have fewer opportunities to generate revenue to support services for residents and visitors. SRS helps offset that impact by providing payments that support roads, schools, emergency response, wildfire preparedness, and other essential services. 

Earlier this year, 28 California counties received nearly $28.9 million in FY 2025 SRS funding for roads, schools, and county projects, along with another $2.6 million for projects on federal lands. For many of California’s smaller mountain and forest counties, these payments remain an important part of local budgets and help support services across communities surrounded by federally managed lands. 

Without another reauthorization, counties will receive their final program payment next spring. S. 5608 would extend payments through FY 2029, with the final payment expected in early 2030. It would also extend deadlines for counties to initiate and obligate projects funded through the program. 

CSAC will continue working with the California’s congressional delegation to support continued SRS funding and provide greater long-term certainty for California’s federal lands counties. 

Rep. Dave Min Introduces Community Disaster Protection Act

Earlier today, Representative Dave Min (D-CA) introduced the Community Disaster Protection Act, new legislation aimed at helping communities explore innovative approaches to addressing the growing affordability and availability challenges in the property insurance market. 

Min serves as co-chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition’s (SEEC) Building Resilient Housing Task Force. The task force has been examining the growing intersection between housing affordability, disaster risk, and rising insurance costs, and the Community Disaster Protection Act reflects one of the policy ideas that has emerged from those discussions. SEEC has specifically highlighted rising home insurance costs as part of the broader housing affordability and resilience challenge. 

The bill would establish a five-year pilot program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide grants to local governments and community organizations interested in developing community-based catastrophe insurance programs. Rather than creating a new federal insurance program, the legislation would provide communities with resources to evaluate and design locally tailored approaches to catastrophe coverage. Grants could support activities such as risk modeling, program design, community outreach, and development of sustainable funding strategies. 

CSAC has endorsed the legislation as California counties continue to experience significant changes in the homeowners insurance market, particularly in communities facing elevated wildfire and other disaster risks. Counties are increasingly seeing residents struggle with rising insurance costs, reduced availability of traditional coverage, and growing reliance on the FAIR Plan. 

The Community Disaster Protection Act would give counties another tool to explore potential solutions while preserving local flexibility. Participation would be voluntary, allowing individual communities to determine whether a community-based insurance model makes sense for their residents. 

CSAC has been working directly with Rep. Min and his staff on the proposal and will continue that engagement as the legislation moves forward. Among CSAC’s priorities will be ensuring the program is accessible to counties of all sizes, particularly smaller and rural jurisdictions that may have limited capacity to navigate complex federal grant programs, and that counties are able to participate without taking on inappropriate financial or insurance risk. 

U.S. Census Bureau Proposes Major Changes to 2030 Census

The U.S. Census Bureau recently proposed significant changes to how the 2030 Census would be conducted, including changes to who would be counted and how a person’s residence would be determined. 

Most notably, the proposal would generally limit the population used for apportionment to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, excluding people with other immigration statuses, including certain visa holders, DACA recipients, individuals with Temporary Protected Status, and some asylum applicants. It would also redefine a person’s “usual residence” as the place where they lawfully spent the greatest number of days between January 3 and April 1 of the census year, with greater reliance on tax records and other federal administrative data. 

The proposal would also prohibit questions on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from appearing on the decennial census questionnaire and seeks public input on whether a citizenship or legal-status question should be added. 

The changes could have significant implications for counties. Census data are used for congressional apportionment and redistricting and also help inform the distribution of federal funding, local planning, and service delivery. Changes that result in lower population counts in some communities could therefore affect federal funding formulas and other programs tied to population data. 

Comments on the proposed rule are currently due on October 13. NACo will host a webinar on Friday, October 2, at 1 p.m. PT to walk counties through the proposed rule, its potential impacts, and the public comment process. CSAC is reviewing the proposal and will continue coordinating with NACo and California counties as the Census Bureau considers public feedback.