SEATTLE — Environmental, health and labor groups are asking FEMA to fund efforts addressing wildfire smoke and severe heat impacts to "address climate emergency."
Labor groups are part of the petition because of the disproportionate impacts these events have on people who are working.
"Up until now, FEMA has never granted a disaster request for extreme heat or wildfire smoke," said Center for Biological Diversity Energy Justice Director Jean Su. "We've talked to many state and local governments that are really desperate for federal funding to actually tackle these huge issues that require tons of infrastructure and deployment."
With much of the country currently facing a heat dome and the impacts of wildfire smoke already evident in parts of the US, supporters say more work is needed to prevent illnesses and fatalities. The National Weather Services says heat is the number one health-related killer in the United States.
FEMA has not responded directly to the petition, but in statements circulated online, has said that current law already allows for states and local governments to request help if they are not able to handle the volume of need in a weather-related situation, according to Su.
"They've also pointed to a procedural issue that states and local governments have to make the ask," Su said. "I think what we are asking is for them to be proactive about it as well. One of the specific ways they could do it, is how they treated COVID."
Though most disaster relief funding focuses on building things back up to their prior conditions, the idea here would be to invest funding in infrastructure - components like air conditioning, cooling centers, power grid upgrades and home improvements to prevent letting wildfire smoke in.
"If a hurricane rips off your roof, they'll say, great, I'm going to repair your roof and make you whole and that's the quantification of money I know how to resolve this issue with," Su said. "Extreme heat is an entirely different and more tragic ballgame because of how fatal it is."
Next steps include states and municipalities going forward with requests for funding. It comes as FEMA is already grappling with rising costs related to weather disasters.