Wildfire Smoke: Opportunities to Strengthen Federal Efforts to Manage Growing Risks
Fast Facts
Smoke from increasingly frequent catastrophic wildfires has created unhealthy air quality for tens of millions of Americans.
The EPA has partnered with other federal agencies to help communities deal with the smoke. One effort with the Forest Service produced an online map showing air quality, fire locations, and smoke direction.
But, EPA's actions have been ad hoc and spread across program and regional offices. Better coordination could help target resources. EPA could also improve its work with other agencies on using land management tools, like "prescribed burns," that could ultimately reduce smoke. Our recommendations address these issues.
Smoke from the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, CO on December 30, 2021
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has partnered with other agencies to provide a range of information and tools to help communities prepare for and respond to wildfire smoke events. For example, EPA partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Forest Service to develop an online map that shows near real-time air quality data, along with the locations of wildfires and where smoke is traveling.
Fire and Smoke Map, Showing Air Quality Information, Fire Locations, and Smoke Coverage
GAO identified opportunities for EPA to better manage the growing risks from wildfire smoke by building on its actions to help communities prepare for and respond to wildfire smoke events. In particular, EPA could take a more coordinated approach to its actions that aligns with leading practices for collaboration. EPA's actions are spread across program and regional offices and conducted in an ad hoc manner with no dedicated program or budget. By developing a coordinated approach to guide these actions, EPA could better ensure that the agency directs limited resources toward its highest priorities.
EPA also has opportunities to enhance its role in supporting hazard mitigation through methods to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires and resulting smoke events. For example, EPA could work with federal land management agencies—the Forest Service and agencies within the Department of the Interior—to strengthen federal coordination. EPA and the land management agencies have identified areas where their respective agency missions and goals for wildfire risk mitigation are not aligned. For example, land management agency officials said that EPA's air quality requirements can limit the use of certain land-management methods, such as prescribed burns, that have the potential to reduce smoke from future wildfires. By better aligning their goals for wildfire risk mitigation, the federal agencies can more effectively reduce risks to air quality and public health from wildfire smoke over the long term.
Why GAO Did This Study
The U.S. has recently experienced some of its worst wildfire seasons on record, creating unhealthy smoke that affected tens of millions of Americans. The 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment projects that climate change will likely increase the frequency of large wildfires and worsen health effects from smoke.
EPA's mission is to protect human health and the environment. Managing risks to air quality and public health from wildfire smoke includes (1) ensuring communities can prepare for and respond to the risks, and (2) hazard mitigation to potentially reduce smoke risks from future fires.
GAO was asked to review issues related to the effects of wildfires on air quality and public health. This report examines, among other things, (1) EPA actions to manage risks to air quality and public health from wildfire smoke and to coordinate with other federal agencies, and (2) how EPA could better manage these risks.
GAO reviewed laws, regulations, and other documents; interviewed federal officials and 15 stakeholder entities, including tribal, state, and local agencies; and analyzed actions to reduce risks using criteria, including GAO's Disaster Resilience Framework.
Recommendations
GAO is making six recommendations, including that (1) EPA develop a coordinated approach for its actions to manage wildfire smoke risks; and (2) EPA, USDA, and Interior align air quality and land management goals for wildfire risk mitigation. EPA, USDA, and Interior generally agreed with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator of EPA should develop and document a coordinated approach for EPA's actions to help communities prepare for and respond to the air quality and public health risks of wildfire smoke. The approach should align with leading practices for collaboration, including establishing goals, identifying and leveraging resources, and clarifying key stakeholder roles and responsibilities. (Recommendation 1) |
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. In September 2023, EPA officials stated that the agency continues to collaborate with other federal, tribal, state, and local agencies on initiatives to help communities prepare for and respond to wildfire smoke. They also stated that EPA has been collaborating internally to help improve communications and actions relating to wildland fire smoke. We will further review EPA's response to this recommendation once the agency provides a documented approach for its actions.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator of EPA should work with the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to better align air quality and land management goals for wildfire risk mitigation and establish joint strategies for achieving those goals. (Recommendation 2) |
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. In September 2023, EPA officials stated that the agency engages other federal stakeholders through the interagency groups we identified in our report. They said that EPA plans to conduct joint workshops with the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to improve interagency engagement, increase information sharing, and clarify roles and responsibilities. The officials also said that, in 2023, EPA, USDA, and Interior are planning to update the 2021 Wildland Fire and Air Quality Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and associated workplan. We will follow up on the results of the planned workshops and MOU update, once they become available.
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| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should work with the Administrator of EPA and Secretary of the Interior to better align air quality and land management goals for wildfire risk mitigation and establish joint strategies for achieving those goals. (Recommendation 3) |
Open
The Department of Agriculture agreed with this recommendation. In September 2023, USDA officials stated that the agency will work with EPA and Interior to seek further opportunities to improve agency collaboration to better align public health, air quality, and land management goals through existing interagency groups. We will continue to track the progress of these efforts toward establishing joint strategies with EPA and Interior to align and achieve their goals.
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| Department of the Interior | The Secretary of the Interior should work with the Administrator of EPA and Secretary of Agriculture to better align air quality and land management goals for wildfire risk mitigation and establish joint strategies for achieving those goals. (Recommendation 4) |
Open
Interior agreed with this recommendation. In September 2023, Interior officials stated that the department will increase staffing to plan for and manage smoke emissions at the department and bureau levels and to work across agencies. The officials also said that the department plans to initiate a variety of efforts related to areas such as communications, data management, and fuels management implementation. According to the officials, these efforts will help enable and help further develop coordination with EPA and USDA to manage air quality and wildfire risk mitigation goals. We will continue to track the progress of Interior's efforts toward establishing joint strategies with EPA and USDA to align and achieve these goals.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator of EPA should, in consultation with federal land management agencies, identify and develop additional information on reducing risks from wildfire smoke to air quality and public health through wildfire risk mitigation. (Recommendation 5) |
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. In September 2023, EPA officials highlighted the agency's ongoing efforts to collaborate with other agencies and provide information about smoke emissions and preparing for and responding to wildfire smoke events. We will further review EPA's response to this recommendation once the agency identifies and develops additional information on reducing risks from wildfire smoke to air quality and public health through wildfire risk mitigation.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Director of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation should work with EPA's tribal, state, and local partners to evaluate options for providing incentives for and supporting wildfire risk mitigation and establish a plan for implementing appropriate options, seeking additional authority from Congress if needed. (Recommendation 6) |
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation and asked for clarification, which we provided in the report. In September 2023, EPA officials stated that its revised regulations and guidance on implementation of particulate matter and ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards address issues related to smoke; that the agency plans to continue collaborating with federal, tribal, state, and local partners on a strategic prescribed burn program to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires; and that the agency continues to explore possible approaches to improve the efficiency of the exceptional events process, specifically with regard to wildfire and prescribed burn events that influence air quality data. We will continue to track the results of these and other related EPA efforts and provide update information, as appropriate.
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