Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act
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Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act
This bill exempts certain post-wildfire communications infrastructure projects from specified federal environmental and historic preservation review requirements.
Specifically, the bill exempts from review projects that (1) are to be carried out within five years of the declaration of a wildfire-related major disaster or emergency in a given area; (2) are to be carried out entirely within the area for which the major disaster or emergency was declared; and (3) will replace a communications facility damaged by the major disaster or emergency, or make improvements to a communications facility that are necessary for recovery or to prevent or mitigate a future major disaster or emergency. To qualify under the bill, a major disaster or emergency must have been declared by the President, a state governor, or a tribal chief executive.
The bill specifies that these projects are not considered major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 or undertakings under the National Historic Preservation Act, thus exempting such projects from the review procedures required under those acts.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 27, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 10, 2025: Subcommittee Hearings Held
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Cliff Bentz (R-OR) introduced it on February 27, 2025. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 27, 2025, 560 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 457 days ago, on June 10, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers