S160-119

Enrolled (Passed Congress)

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.

119th Congress Introduced Jan 21, 2025

Legislative Progress

Enrolled (Passed Congress)
Introduced Committee Passed
Jan 21, 2025

Mr. Sheehy (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following …

Jan 21, 2025 (inferred)

Passed Senate (inferred from es version)

Jan 21, 2025 (inferred)

Passed House (inferred from enr version)

Jan 21, 2025 (inferred)

Enrolled Bill (inferred from enr version)

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell surplus military aircraft to entities for wildfire suppression purposes through October 2035, expanding use to include water delivery in addition to fire retardant.

Who Benefits and How

  • Wildfire firefighting agencies gain access to surplus military aircraft
  • States and contractors can acquire aircraft for aerial firefighting
  • Communities at wildfire risk benefit from enhanced suppression capabilities

Who Bears the Burden and How

  • DOD manages aircraft sales program
  • No new regulatory burdens

Key Provisions

  • Extends authority through October 1, 2035
  • Adds water delivery to permitted uses (previously only fire retardant)
  • Aircraft can only be used for wildfire suppression
Model: claude-opus-4
Generated: Jan 8, 2026 04:58

Evidence Chain:

This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

Primary Purpose

Reauthorizes DOD sale of surplus aircraft for wildfire suppression through October 2035.

Policy Domains

Wildfire Defense Emergency Management

Legislative Strategy

"Extend military aircraft availability for wildfire suppression"

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Wildfire Defense

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology