The House approved legislation Tuesday allowing the Department of Defense to sell aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression, sending the bill on to President Donald Trump for signature.
The “Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act,” S. 160, would reauthorize a program letting the Pentagon sell the items to companies that contract with the government for aerial firefighting. It passed the House on a voice vote, having already passed the Senate in April.
Chief sponsors included Sens. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Calif.) and Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.).
In a news release, Newhouse called the bill a “huge step” in mitigating wildfires and added, “Utilizing the Department of Defense’s excess aircraft gives aerial firefighters an upper hand while leveraging the assets we already have at our disposal.”
