National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act
This bill requires the President to identify or appoint a Chief Resilience Officer that must (1) direct a government-wide effort to build resilience to climate change vulnerabilities in the United States in collaboration with existing federal initiatives and interagency adaptation efforts, and (2) create working groups. The officer and the working groups must jointly submit to the President and Congress a strategy for the government to address such vulnerabilities in partnership with nonfederal partners, a plan to implement the strategy, and updates by specified deadlines.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6461 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6461
To require the Federal Government to produce a national climate
adaptation and resilience strategy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 20, 2022
Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Curtis, and Ms. Blunt
Rochester) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Federal Government to produce a national climate
adaptation and resilience strategy, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Climate Adaptation and
Resilience Strategy Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Adaptation.--The term ``adaptation'' means an
adjustment in a natural or human system in response to a new or
changing environmental condition, including such an adjustment
associated with climate change, that exploits beneficial
opportunities or moderates negative effects.
(2) Adaptive capacity.--The term ``adaptive capacity''
means the ability of a system--
(A) to adjust to climate vulnerabilities to
moderate potential damage or harm;
(B) to take advantage of new, and potentially
beneficial, opportunities; or
(C) to cope with change.
(3) Cascading climate hazards.--The term ``cascading
climate hazards'' means a series of successive environmental
hazards triggered by an initial hazard that is driven or
exacerbated by climate change, such that the impacts to
vulnerable systems are amplified.
(4) Chief resilience officer.--The term ``Chief Resilience
Officer'' means the Chief Resilience Officer of the United
States appointed by the President under section 3(a)(1).
(5) Climate change.--The term ``climate change'' means
changes in average atmospheric and oceanic conditions that
persist over multiple decades or longer and are natural or
anthropogenic in origin, including--
(A) both increases and decreases in temperature;
(B) shifts in precipitation;
(C) shifts in ecoregion or biome geography and
phenology, as applicable;
(D) changing risk from certain types of rapid-onset
climate hazards and slow-onset climate hazards; and
(E) changes to other features of the climate
system.
(6) Climate information.--The term ``climate information''
means information, data, or products that enhance knowledge and
understanding of climate science, risk, conditions,
vulnerability, or impact, including--
(A) climate data products;
(B) historic or future climate projections or
scenarios;
(C) climate risk or vulnerability information;
(D) data or information related to climate
adaptation and mitigation; and
(E) other best available climate science.
(7) Compound climate hazards.--The term ``compound climate
hazards'' means 2 or more environmental hazards driven or
exacerbated by climate change that occur simultaneously or
successively, such that the impacts to vulnerable systems are
amplified.
(8) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Partners
Council on Climate Adaptation and Resilience established by
section 4(a).
(9) Freely associated state.--The term ``Freely Associated
State'' means--
(A) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands;
(B) the Federated States of Micronesia;
(C) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
(D) the Republic of Palau; and
(E) the United States Virgin Islands.
(10) Frontline communities.--The term ``frontline
communities'' means human communities that--
(A) are highly vulnerable to climate change or
exposed to climate risk;
(B) experience the earliest, most adverse impacts
of climate change; and
(C) may have a reduced ability to adapt to climate
change due to a lack of resources, political power, or
adaptive capacity.
(11) Implementation plan.--The term ``Implementation Plan''
means the Implementation Plan jointly developed by the Chief
Resilience Officer and the Working Groups under section 6(b).
(12) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(13) National climate assessment.--The term ``National
Climate Assessment'' means the assessment delivered to Congress
and the President pursuant to section 106 of the Global Change
Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2936).
(14) Natural infrastructure.--The term ``natural
infrastructure'' means infrastructure that--
(A) uses, restores, or emulates natural ecological,
geological, or physical processes; and
(B)(i) is created through the action of natural
physical, geological, biological, and chemical
processes over time;
(ii) is created by human design, engineering, and
construction to emulate or act in concert with natural
processes; or
(iii) involves the use of plants, soils, and other
natural features, including through the creation,
restoration, or preservation of natural areas using
materials appropriate to the region to manage
stormwater and runoff, to attenuate flooding and storm
surges, to manage erosion and saltwater intrusion, and
for other related purposes.
(15) Non-federal partner.--The term ``non-Federal partner''
means a member of a unit of State, local, or territorial
government, the government of an Indian Tribe, the government
of a Freely Associated State, a private sector entity, or
another individual or organization not affiliated with the
Federal Government.
(16) Operations report.--The term ``Operations Report''
means the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Operations
Report jointly developed by the Chief Resilience Officer and
the Working Groups under section 5.
(17) Rapid-onset climate hazard.--The term ``rapid-onset
climate hazard'' means an abrupt environmental hazard driven or
exacerbated by climate change that occurs quickly or
unexpectedly and triggers impacts that materialize rapidly and
interact with conditions of exposure and vulnerability to
result in a disaster.
(18) Represented agency.--The term ``represented agency''
means each Federal agency from which the Chief Resilience
Officer appoints a member to a Working Group under section
3(b)(4)(B)(ii).
(19) Resilience.--The term ``resilience'' means the
capacity of a social, physical, economic, or environmental
system to cope with an environmental hazard event, trend, or
disturbance that is driven or exacerbated by climate change by
responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain, to the
greatest extent practicable, the essential function, identity,
and structure of the system and ensure that, in the event of a
rapid-onset climate hazard or a slow-onset climate hazard,
basic human needs are met, while also maintaining the capacity
for adaptation and transformation.
(20) Risk.--
(A) In general.--The term ``risk'' means the
potential for consequences in a situation in which--
(i) something of value is at stake; and
(ii) the outcome is uncertain.
(B) Inclusion.--The term ``risk'' includes the
potential for consequences described in subparagraph
(A) that is evaluated as the product obtained by
multiplying--
(i) the probability of a hazard occurring;
by
(ii) the consequence that would result if
the hazard occurred.
(21) Slow-onset climate hazard.--
(A) In general.--The term ``slow-onset climate
hazard'' means an environmental hazard driven or
exacerbated by climate change that evolves gradually
through time due to incremental change or because of an
increasing frequency or intensity of recurring climate
impacts.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``slow-onset climate
hazard'' includes hazards such as--
(i) sea level rise;
(ii) desertification;
(iii) biodiversity loss or the alteration
of or shift in habitat range of individual
species or entire biomes;
(iv) increasing temperatures;
(v) ocean acidification;
(vi) saltwater intrusion;
(vii) soil salinization;
(viii) drought and water scarcity;
(ix) reduced snow pack;
(x) sea ice retreat;
(xi) glacial ice treat;
(xii) permafrost thaw; and
(xiii) coastal and river bank erosion.
(22) Strategy.--The term ``Strategy'' means the National
Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy required to be
developed jointly by the Chief Resilience Officer and the
Working Groups under section 6(a).
(23) Vulnerability.--The term ``vulnerability'' means the
propensity or predisposition of a human individual or community
or physical, biological, or socioeconomic system to be
susceptible to and adversely affected by the impacts of climate
change.
(24) Working group.--The term ``Working Group'' means a
National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Working Group
established by the Chief Resilience Officer under section 3(b).
SEC. 3. CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER AND NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND
RESILIENCE WORKING GROUPS.
(a) Chief Resilience Officer.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President shall identify or appoint
a Chief Resilience Officer of the United States to serve in the
Executive Office of the President.
(2) Duties.--The Chief Resilience Officer shall--
(A) serve the President by directing a whole-of-
government effort to build resilience to climate change
vulnerabilities in the United States (as described in
the National Climate Assessment or other relevant
analyses identified by the Chief Resilience Officer) in
collaboration with existing Federal initiatives and
interagency adaptation efforts; and
(B) establish Working Groups in accordance with
subsection (b) to facilitate interagency coordination
with respect to climate resilience and adaptation.
(b) Working Groups.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
Chief Resilience Officer shall establish the minimum
number of National Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Working Groups that is necessary to carry out the
duties and purposes described in paragraph (3).
(B) Limitation.--The Chief Resilience Officer shall
not establish more than 5 Working Groups.
(2) Focus.--Each Working Group shall focus on a topic or
series of related topics with respect to climate adaptation and
resilience, as determined by the Chief Resilience Officer.
(3) Duties and purpose.--Each Working Group shall, under
the leadership of the Chief Resilience Officer, with respect to
the focus of the Working Group--
(A) coordinate a whole-of-government plan to build
resilience to the applicable climate change
vulnerabilities described in the National Climate
Assessment or other relevant analyses identified by the
Chief Resilience Officer; and
(B) assist in the development of the applicable
portions of--
(i) the Operations Report;
(ii) the Strategy; and
(iii) the Implementation Plan.
(4) Structure.--
(A) Chairperson.--
(i) In general.--The Chief Resilience
Officer shall serve as chairperson of each
Working Group.
(ii) Temporary chairperson.--The President
or the Chief Resilience Officer may designate
another staff member or member of a Working
Group to act temporarily as the chairperson of
that Working Group in the absence of the Chief
Resilience Officer.
(B) Membership.--In establishing a Working Group,
the Chief Resilience Officer shall--
(i) identify each Federal agency with
operations or organizational units that are
relevant to the focus of the Working Group; and
(ii) appoint 1 member of each Federal
agency identified under clause (i) to represent
that Federal agency on the Working Group.
(C) Requirement.--In appointing a member of a
Working Group under subparagraph (B)(ii), the Chief
Resilience Officer shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, appoint the head of the portion of the
represented agency that is most relevant to the focus
of the Working Group.
(D) Duties of members.--Each member of a Working
Group--
(i) shall attend meetings of the Working
Group; and
(ii) work to support the duties of the
Working Group.
(5) Meetings.--
(A) In general.--Each Working Group shall meet not
less frequently than once every 180 days.
(B) Quorum.--\3/4\ of the members of a Working
Group shall constitute a quorum of the Working Group.
(C) Remote participation.--A member of a Working
Group may participate in a meeting of that Working
Group through teleconference or similar means.
(6) Support personnel.--
(A) Executive secretary.--
(i) In general.--The Chief Resilience
Officer shall appoint a permanent employee of a
represented agency to serve as Executive
Secretary of the Working Groups.
(ii) Employment.--The employee appointed as
Executive Secretary under clause (i) shall
remain an employee of the agency, department,
or program from which the employee was
appointed.
(B) Necessary assistance.--To carry out the
purposes of each Working Group, as described in
paragraph (3), each represented agency with a member on
the Working Group shall furnish necessary assistance to
that Working Group, such as--
(i) the detail of employees to the Working
Group to perform such functions, consistent
with the purposes of the Working Group
described in paragraph (3), as the Chief
Resilience Officer may assign, including
support staff for the Executive Secretary
appointed under subparagraph (A)(i); and
(ii) on request of the Chief Resilience
Officer, undertaking special studies for the
Working Group as may be appropriate to carry
out the functions of the Working Group.
SEC. 4. PARTNERS COUNCIL ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a council, to be known as
the ``Partners Council on Climate Adaptation and Resilience''.
(b) Mission and Function.--The Council shall work to improve the
climate adaptation and resilience operations of the Federal Government
by providing recommendations through the Chief Resilience Officer,
including those recommendations contained in the report required under
subsection (c), that identify how the Federal Government can better
support non-Federal partners with equitable resources, technical
assistance, improved policies, and other assistance to help frontline
communities build resilience to climate change.
(c) Report.--Not later than 16 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Council, acting through
the Chief Resilience Officer, shall submit to the President and the
Working Groups a report that includes--
(1) an analysis of the deficiencies or gaps in the climate
resilience operations of the Federal Government that reduce or
fail to increase the capacity of non-Federal partners to adapt
to climate change;
(2) an identification of the resources, including Federal
funding, necessary for non-Federal partners to adequately adapt
to climate change; and
(3) recommendations with respect to how the Federal
Government could better support efforts by non-Federal partners
to expeditiously address vulnerabilities associated with
climate change and build climate resilience.
(d) Chair and Vice-Chair.--The Chief Resilience Officer shall serve
as chairperson of the Council and shall appoint a vice-chairperson from
among the members of the Council appointed pursuant to subsection (e).
(e) Membership.--
(1) In general.--In addition to the Chief Resilience
Officer, the Council shall consist of 20 non-Federal partner
members appointed by the Chief Resilience Officer.
(2) Appointment.--
(A) In general.--The Chief Resilience Officer shall
appoint members of the Council who can support the
Working Groups by articulating how the Federal
Government can better support State, local, and
territorial governments, the governments of Indian
Tribes, the governments of Freely Associated States,
nonprofit organizations, or private sector entities to
build resilience to climate change.
(B) Requirements.--In appointing members of the
Council, the Chief Resilience Officer shall appoint--
(i) 12 members who are employees of State,
local, or territorial governments, the
governments of Indian Tribes, or the
governments of Freely Associated States, of
which--
(I) not fewer than 2 shall be
employees of a State government;
(II) not fewer than 2 shall be
employees of a unit of local
government;
(III) not fewer than 2 shall be
employees of the government of an
Indian Tribe; and
(IV) not fewer than 2 shall be
employees of a territorial government
or the government of a Freely
Associated State; and
(ii) 8 members who represent
nongovernmental organizations and the private
sector, of which--
(I) 3 shall represent
nongovernmental organizations;
(II) 3 shall represent the private
sector; and
(III) 2 shall represent academic
institutions.
(C) Selection.--To the maximum extent practicable,
the Chief Resilience Officer shall seek to select
members of the Council who--
(i) possess firsthand, lived experience of
climate vulnerability in the United States,
including direct experience working with, or as
members of, frontline communities; and
(ii) represent a diversity of--
(I) perspectives;
(II) demographics;
(III) geographies;
(IV) political affiliations; and
(V) institution sizes, including
representatives of both small and large
units of government and businesses.
(D) Term.--Members appointed to the Council shall
serve a single term of not more than 3 years, except
that--
(i) of the initial members appointed to the
Council, the Chief Resilience Officer shall
appoint--
(I) \1/2\ of the members to serve
for a term of 18 months; and
(II) \1/2\ of the members to serve
a term of 3 years; and
(ii) the Chief Resilience Officer may
extend the term of any member of the Council by
a period of not more than 1 year on a one-time
basis, if the Chief Resilience Officer
determines it necessary to support the work of
the Council.
(E) Vacancies.--
(i) In general.--A vacancy in the Council
shall be filled in the same manner in which the
original selection was made.
(ii) Appointment of new members.--After the
expiration of the term for which a member of
the Council is appointed, the member may
continue to serve until a successor is
appointed.
(f) Meetings.--
(1) In general.--The Council shall meet not less frequently
than once every 180 days.
(2) Quorum.--\3/4\ of the members of the Council shall
constitute a quorum of the Council.
(3) Remote participation.--A member of the Council may
participate in a meeting of the Council through teleconference
or similar means.
(g) Applicability of FACA.--Section 14 of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Council.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE OPERATIONS REPORT.
Not later than 16 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
and every 3 years thereafter, the Chief Resilience Officer and the
Working Groups shall jointly submit to the President and Congress a
National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Operations Report that
includes--
(1) a summary of the existing climate resilience operations
of each represented agency that includes--
(A) the roles and responsibilities of each
represented agency in building national resilience to
the climate vulnerabilities described in the National
Climate Assessment or other analyses relevant to each
represented agency;
(B) the major findings and conclusions from climate
adaptation plans or risk or vulnerability assessments
prepared by each represented agency;
(C) the mechanisms by which each represented agency
supports the resilience efforts of non-Federal
partners, such as by providing funding, resources, and
technical assistance; and
(D) an assessment of how each represented agency is
working to ensure equitable adaptation outcomes; and
(2) a cross-agency analysis of the resilience operations
identified under paragraph (1) that--
(A) identifies--
(i) the challenges, barriers, or
disincentives for the Federal Government to
build resilience to climate change in the
United States;
(ii) the inconsistencies in goals,
priorities, or strategies underlying climate
resilience operations and policy across
represented agencies that may inhibit effective
interagency coordination to support national
climate resilience, including--
(I) the areas of necessary
differences in those goals, priorities,
or strategies; and
(II) the justifications for those
inconsistencies;
(iii) areas of overlap or redundant use of
resources between or among represented
agencies, including recommendations to
eliminate any unnecessary or unintentional
redundancy;
(iv) gaps or deficiencies in resilience
operations and policy that need to be addressed
in the context of the Strategy;
(v) opportunities for greater collaboration
between or among represented agencies to
improve Federal Government resilience
operations and policy; and
(vi) opportunities for greater
collaboration between the Federal Government
and non-Federal partners to build local-level
adaptive capacity and resilience; and
(B) includes a review and summary of all available
Federal funding from represented agencies that is
specifically allocated for climate adaptation
activities to be undertaken by non-Federal partners,
including--
(i) a summary of Federal funding available
in appropriations accounts and subaccounts;
(ii) disparities between the supply and
demand for adaptation funding available to non-
Federal partners; and
(iii) existing mechanisms to ensure Federal
funding allocations are being directed to
frontline communities with the greatest level
of vulnerability.
SEC. 6. NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE STRATEGY.
(a) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chief Resilience Officer and the
Working Groups shall jointly submit to the President and
Congress a National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy.
(2) Updates.--Not later than the date that is 3 years after
the date on which the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working
Groups jointly submit the Strategy to the President and
Congress under paragraph (1), and every 3 years thereafter, the
Chief Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly
submit an updated version of the Strategy to the President and
Congress to account for--
(A) new science related to climate change,
resilience, and adaptation;
(B) relevant changes in Federal Government
structure, congressional authorities, or
appropriations; and
(C) any other necessary improvements or changes
identified by the Chief Resilience Officer.
(3) Purpose and scope.--The Strategy shall describe
strategies for the Federal Government, in partnership with non-
Federal partners, to address the vulnerabilities of the United
States to climate change described in the National Climate
Assessment or other relevant analyses identified by the Chief
Resilience Officer to ensure that--
(A) the United States has an overarching strategic
vision to respond to climate change that--
(i) identifies national climate resilience
goals and guides national climate adaptation
efforts;
(ii) facilitates the incorporation of the
climate resilience goals identified under
clause (i) into relevant national programs,
operations, and strategies;
(iii) develops proactive, long-term,
scenario-based strategies to plan for and
respond to current and future climate impacts
to human communities, natural resources and
public land, and infrastructure and other
physical assets;
(iv) emphasizes forward-thinking adaptation
strategies that seek to overcome repeated
climate impacts to vulnerable systems and
communities;
(v) prioritizes climate resilience efforts
to support the most vulnerable human
communities and the most urgent national
resilience challenges, as determined by the
Chief Resilience Officer in consultation with
the Working Groups;
(vi) avoids unnecessary redundancies and
inefficiencies in the national planning for and
response to climate change; and
(vii) recognizes the vulnerability of
natural systems to climate change and
underscores the importance of promoting
ecosystem resilience to preserve the intrinsic
value of nature and support ecosystem services
relied on by human beings;
(B) Federal investments in Federal and non-Federal
infrastructure and assets promote climate resilience to
the maximum extent practicable; and
(C) the adaptive capacity and resilience of State,
local, and territorial governments, governments of
Indian Tribes, and governments of Freely Associated
States are maximized to the maximum extent practicable.
(4) Council recommendations.--In developing the Strategy,
the Chief Resilience Officer and Working Groups shall consider
the recommendations of the Council.
(5) Inclusions.--In addition to the overarching strategies
developed in accordance with paragraph (3), the Strategy shall
include the following:
(A) Direct federal government response to climate
change.--
(i) Strategies to address the limitations,
redundancies, and opportunities for improved
resilience operations of the Federal Government
that are identified in the Operations Report.
(ii) Strategies to better prepare the
United States for the adverse impacts
experienced or anticipated to be experienced as
a result of--
(I) rapid-onset climate hazards;
(II) slow-onset climate hazards;
(III) compound climate hazards; and
(IV) cascading climate hazards.
(iii) 1 or more strategies to educate,
engage, or develop the skills of the workforce
of the represented agencies with respect to
topics related to climate change vulnerability
and resilience to promote effective Federal
resilience operations.
(iv) An identification of opportunities and
appropriate circumstances for represented
agencies to better utilize natural
infrastructure as an adaptation strategy.
(B) Support of non-federal partners' response to
climate change.--
(i) 1 or more strategies for represented
agencies to better collaborate and work
directly with non-Federal partners to increase
the resilience and adaptive capacity of State,
local, and territorial governments, the
governments of Indian Tribes, the governments
of Freely Associated States, and other non-
Federal partners.
(ii) 1 or more strategies to educate non-
Federal partners about the availability of
Federal funding opportunities identified in the
Operations Report under section 5(2)(B),
including the development of a centralized,
cross-agency portal that allows non-Federal
partners to easily identify and apply for
appropriate Federal funding opportunities for
the specific resilience needs of those non-
Federal partners.
(iii) 1 or more strategies to clarify,
simplify, and harmonize the planning
requirements and application processes for
State, local, and territorial governments, the
governments of Indian Tribes, and the
governments of Freely Associated States to
access Federal funds for climate adaptation and
resilience efforts across represented agencies.
(iv) 1 or more strategies to identify
under-resourced communities and communities
with low adaptive capacity and resilience and
to directly support those communities in
applying for Federal funds for climate
adaptation and resilience efforts.
(v) 1 or more strategies to support the
retreat or relocation of human communities in
areas that are at increasing risk from climate
change, in particular from slow-onset climate
hazards, including strategies to better manage
equitable property buyouts, managed retreat, or
relocation options for communities in those
areas.
(C) Climate information.--
(i) 1 or more strategies to increase the
accessibility and utility of climate
information that is produced, published, or
hosted by the Federal Government, including
strategies to better collaborate across the
represented agencies and work with non-Federal
partners--
(I) to provide the high-quality,
locally relevant climate information
and, where practicable and useful,
transparent and replicable downscaled
climate projections that are necessary
to support local-level adaptation
efforts;
(II) to establish improved methods
of communicating climate risk and other
relevant climate information;
(III) to better educate non-Federal
partners about the available resources
for climate information; and
(IV) to assist non-Federal partners
in selecting and using appropriate
climate information or related tools.
(ii) Standardized procedures to synthesize,
align, and update climate information produced,
published, or hosted by the Federal Government
to create arrays of standardized national,
regional, and, where applicable, local climate
information for adaptation planning.
(iii) An assessment of the necessity and
utility of developing or improving a
centralized clearinghouse and dedicated Federal
program for climate information to better
provide climate information to end users.
(iv) 1 or more strategies to develop the
centralized clearinghouse or dedicated Federal
program described in clause (iii), if such an
effort is determined to be necessary by the
Chief Resilience Officer.
(D) Resilience metrics and indicators.--At the
discretion of the Chief Resilience Officer, 1 or more
strategies to develop or improve resilience metrics and
indicators to assist the Federal Government and non-
Federal partners--
(i) to the maximum extent practicable, to
consistently measure the resilience of human
communities, natural systems, and physical
assets to climate change;
(ii) to set baselines and targets to
measurably increase climate resilience over
time; and
(iii) to better monitor and assess the
effectiveness of various resilience-building
activities after implementation.
(E) Funding climate adaptation.--
(i) 1 or more strategies to help prioritize
Federal funding expenditures for adaptation and
resilience in consideration of the greatest
vulnerabilities.
(ii) 1 or more strategies to create
financial incentives for adaptation and
resilience efforts.
(iii) A review of the cost-benefit analysis
methodologies and discount rates used by
represented agencies for all Federal
investments, including a review of the
implications of those methodologies and
discount rates for climate adaptation and
resilience.
(iv) Recommendations to improve the
methodologies described in clause (iii) to
reflect--
(I) the added value of resilience
planning and construction methodologies
over the lifetime of a project or unit
of infrastructure;
(II) the benefits of natural
infrastructure investments;
(III) the potential value of
retreat and relocation as adaptation
solutions; and
(IV) to what extent existing cost-
benefit analysis methodologies lead to
inequitable outcomes or outcomes that
increase climate vulnerability.
(F) Social equity.--
(i) Strategies to ensure that the costs,
benefits, and risks resulting from climate
resilience efforts, including funding
allocations, the methodologies for determining
funding allocations, and existing and future
policies, are equitably distributed among
sectors of society, types of communities, and
geographies.
(ii) Strategies to ensure that federally
supported climate resilience efforts are--
(I) designed in consultation with
the communities that will be affected
by those efforts; and
(II) centered on the needs of those
communities.
(iii) To the greatest extent practicable, 1
or more strategies to integrate social equity
considerations across all aspects of the
Strategy.
(b) Implementation Plan.--Concurrently with the Strategy and each
update of the Strategy, the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working
Groups shall jointly submit to the President and Congress an
Implementation Plan that describes how represented agencies intend to
carry out the Strategy, which shall include--
(1) a description of the roles and responsibilities of each
represented agency in carrying out each element of the Strategy
described in subsection (a);
(2) a plan to enter into such interagency agreements
between and among represented agencies, partnerships with non-
Federal entities, and other agreements for coordination between
and among the Federal Government and non-Federal partners as
may be necessary to facilitate a unified national plan to build
resilience to climate change; and
(3) the use of any relevant metrics and indicators
described in subsection (a)(5)(D).
(c) Assessment.--Not later than 2 years following the completion of
each Strategy under subsection (a)(1) and each Implementation Plan, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the President
and Congress a report that assesses--
(1) the extent to which the Strategy and Implementation
Plan have been carried out by the Federal Government, which
shall be judged, as appropriate, based on any metrics and
indicators developed to track progress in increasing resilience
under subsection (a)(5)(D);
(2) the effectiveness of the actions taken under the
Strategy and Implementation Plan and the resulting outcomes of
those actions in building national resilience to climate
change; and
(3) the progress made towards the development of an
effective whole-of-government effort to build resilience to the
climate vulnerabilities described in the National Climate
Assessment or other relevant analyses identified by the Chief
Resilience Officer, including recommendations for additional
steps necessary to reach this goal.
(d) Public Comment.--The Chief Resilience Officer shall--
(1) publish draft and final versions of the Strategy and
Implementation Plan, and each update to the Strategy and
Implementation Plan; and
(2) through publication in the Federal Register, solicit
comments from the public on the draft versions of the documents
published under paragraph (1) for a period of 60 days, which
the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall
consider before submitting final versions of the Strategy and
Implementation Plan, and updates to the Strategy and
Implementation Plan, to the President and Congress.
SEC. 7. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
(a) Sunset.--This Act ceases to be effective on the date that is
the earlier of--
(1) the date on which the Comptroller General of the United
States submits to the President and Congress the third
assessment report under section 6(c); and
(2) the date that is the last day of fiscal year 2032.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Executive Office of the President to carry out this
Act $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through the fiscal year in
which this Act ceases to be effective under subsection (a).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
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