Memorandum
Donald TrumpMemorandum · Signed November 10, 2026Exempts wildfire fighting by the Forest Service, Interior Department, other federal agencies and their contractors, including aerial fire retardant drops, from federal, state and local water pollution rules for one year.
What The White House SaysThe exemption is in the paramount interest of the United States and offers no further explanation.
Contractors fighting wildfires for federal agencies would be exempt from water pollution rules through November 2027, except two federal pollutant discharge standards. State, interstate and local pollution regulators would lose authority to apply their requirements and sanctions to federal wildfire fighting for one year.
President Trump used a rarely invoked section of the Clean Water Act that lets a president exempt federal activities from water pollution rules. The memo covers firefighting by the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, any other federal agency, and their private contractors. It specifically includes dropping fire retardant from aircraft. During the exemption, these activities do not have to follow federal, state, interstate or local water pollution requirements, permits or penalties. Two parts of the Clean Water Act still apply: national performance standards for new pollution sources and the law's limits on toxic pollutants. The exemption runs from November 10, 2026, to November 10, 2027.
The memo names a federal lawsuit in Montana, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. U.S. Forest Service. In that case, an environmental group argued that the Forest Service needed a Clean Water Act permit when retardant dropped from planes lands in rivers and streams. Fire retardant can contain chemicals that harm fish and other aquatic life. Federal agencies have said aerial retardant is an important tool for slowing large wildfires. The memo says it does not mean firefighters would need water pollution permits without the exemption. It also says other laws that apply to federal firefighting are not affected.
The Secretary of Agriculture must publish the determination in the Federal Register. Because the exemption lasts one year, it ends in November 2027 unless a president issues a new one. The memo could also affect how the pending Montana case moves forward.
Official Memorandum Textas signed · whitehouse.gov MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
SUBJECT: Presidential Determination Concerning Wildfire Suppression Activities in the United States
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1323), I determine that it is in the paramount interest of the United States to exempt firefighting activities, including the aerial use, deployment, and discharge of fire retardants, conducted by the United States Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, and any other executive departments and agencies (agencies) and their contractors (aspects of which are the subject of litigation in Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. U.S. Forest Service, No. CV-22-168-M-DLC (D. Mont.)) from Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements, administrative authority, and process and sanctions respecting the control and abatement of water pollution.
Therefore, pursuant to subsection (a) of section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1323(a)), I hereby exempt firefighting activities conducted by the United States Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, and any other agencies and their contractors, including the aerial use, deployment, and discharge of fire retardants, from Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements, administrative authority, and process and sanctions respecting the control and abatement of water pollution; except that no exemption is hereby granted from the requirements of 33 U.S.C. 1316 and 1317.
The exemption granted by this memorandum shall be for the 1-year period beginning November 10, 2026, and ending November 10, 2027.
Nothing herein is intended to: (a) imply that in the absence of such a Presidential exemption, the Clean Water Act or any other provision of law would require the United States Forest Service or other agencies to obtain permits pertaining to the control and abatement of water pollution for the exempted operations; or (b) limit the applicability or enforcement of any other requirement of law applicable to the United States Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, or any other agencies and their contractors regarding such agencies’ firefighting activities.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
DONALD J. TRUMP
