Trump exempts federal wildfire retardant drops from water pollution rules for a year

President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday exempted federal wildfire suppression, including aerial drops of fire retardant, from federal, state, interstate and local water pollution requirements for one year. The exemption covers the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, other federal agencies and their contractors. It runs through Nov. 10, 2027.

In the memorandum, Trump wrote that exempting firefighting activities, including the aerial use of fire retardants, is "in the paramount interest of the United States."

The order reaches the agencies that fight fire on federal land in Alaska. It comes amid a federal lawsuit in Montana over the drops, which the memorandum cites as ongoing litigation.

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics brought the case against the Forest Service. A prior Forest Service guideline had prohibited chemical fire retardant application within 300 feet of waterways. The litigation record alleges at least 459 aerial retardant discharges into navigable waters between 2012 and 2019, totaling about 761,000 gallons. The Forest Service disputed that tally and told the court its records show 213 drops into navigable waters.

A federal judge found in a May 2023 order that unpermitted aerial retardant discharges into navigable waters in several states, including Alaska, violated the Clean Water Act. A May 2025 order required the Forest Service to obtain a federal discharge permit for retardant deployed into navigable waters and to file periodic status reports.

Neither order stopped the drops. The court declined to bar retardant use in 2023 and denied a permanent injunction in 2025.

The White House said in a fact sheet that the Forest Service has been unable to obtain the permit because of regulatory hurdles, and it framed the exemption around the 2027 fire season. "This Memorandum fulfills the permitting requirements for a year, ensuring the judicious use of aerial fire retardant will protect lives, livelihoods, communities, infrastructure and resources," the fact sheet said.

The exemption has limits. It does not cover the Clean Water Act's national standards for new sources of water pollution or its toxic and pretreatment effluent standards. It does not limit other laws that apply to the agencies' firefighting.

The memorandum also says it should not be read to mean the Clean Water Act or any other law would otherwise require the Forest Service or other agencies to obtain permits for these operations.

Trump directed the Secretary of Agriculture to publish the determination in the Federal Register.