Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696590610291.pdf (United States)
II 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3531 To require the Federal Government to produce a national climate adaptation and resilience strategy, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 20, 2022 Mr. COONS (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. ROSEN, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 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 Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1.

SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Climate Ad- aptation 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 con- dition, 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 poten- tially beneficial, opportunities; or (C) to cope with change.
(3) CASCADING CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term ‘‘cascading climate hazards’’ means a series of suc- cessive 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 Resil- ience 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 •S 3531 IS or longer and are natural or anthropogenic in origin, including— (A) both increases and decreases in tem- perature; (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 cli- mate hazards; and (E) changes to other features of the cli- mate system.
(6) CLIMATE INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘cli- mate 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 informa- tion; (D) data or information related to climate adaptation and mitigation; and (E) other best available climate science.
•S 3531 IS (7) COMPOUND CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term ‘‘compound climate hazards’’ means 2 or more envi- ronmental hazards driven or exacerbated by climate change that occur simultaneously or successively, such that the impacts to vulnerable systems are am- plified.
(8) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the Partners Council on Climate Adaptation and Resil- ience 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 •S 3531 IS (C) may have a reduced ability to adapt to climate change due to a lack of resources, polit- ical power, or adaptive capacity.
(11) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im- plementation 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).
5304).

(13) NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘National Climate Assessment’’ means the as- sessment delivered to Congress and the President pursuant to section 106 of the Global Change Re- search Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C.

2936).
(14) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘natural infrastructure’’ means infrastructure that— (A) uses, restores, or emulates natural eco- logical, geological, or physical processes; and (B)(i) is created through the action of nat- ural physical, geological, biological, and chem- ical processes over time; •S 3531 IS (ii) is created by human design, engineer- ing, and construction to emulate or act in con- cert 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 govern- ment 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 ‘‘Oper- ations Report’’ means the National Climate Adapta- tion and Resilience Operations Report jointly devel- oped by the Chief Resilience Officer and the Work- ing Groups under section 5.
(17) RAPID-ONSET CLIMATE HAZARD.—The term ‘‘rapid-onset climate hazard’’ means an abrupt •S 3531 IS environmental hazard driven or exacerbated by cli- mate change that occurs quickly or unexpectedly and triggers impacts that materialize rapidly and inter- act with conditions of exposure and vulnerability to result in a disaster.
(18) REPRESENTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rep- resented agency’’ means each Federal agency from which the Chief Resilience Officer appoints a mem- ber 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 re- organizing in ways that maintain, to the greatest ex- tent 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 cli- mate hazard, basic human needs are met, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation and trans- formation.
(20) RISK.— •S 3531 IS (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 sub- paragraph (A) that is evaluated as the product obtained by multiplying— (i) the probability of a hazard occur- ring; 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 haz- ard driven or exacerbated by climate change that evolves gradually through time due to in- cremental change or because of an increasing frequency or intensity of recurring climate im- pacts.
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘slow-onset climate hazard’’ includes hazards such as— (i) sea level rise; (ii) desertification; •S 3531 IS (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 ‘‘vulner- ability’’ means the propensity or predisposition of a human individual or community or physical, biologi- cal, 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 •S 3531 IS 10 Resilience Working Group established by the Chief Resilience Officer under section 3(b).

SEC.

3.
SEC.

3.

CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER AND NATIONAL CLI- MATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE WORK- ING GROUPS.

(a) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi- dent shall identify or appoint a Chief Resilience Offi- cer 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 accord- ance with subsection (b) to facilitate inter- agency coordination with respect to climate re- silience and adaptation.
•S 3531 IS 11 (b) WORKING GROUPS.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- graph (B), the Chief Resilience Officer shall es- tablish the minimum number of National Cli- mate 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 Resil- ience Officer, with respect to the focus of the Work- ing 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 •S 3531 IS (B) assist in the development of the appli- cable portions of— (i) the Operations Report; (ii) the Strategy; and (iii) the Implementation Plan.
(4) STRUCTURE.— (A) CHAIRPERSON.— (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resil- ience 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 tempo- rarily as the chairperson of that Working Group in the absence of the Chief Resil- ience 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 •S 3531 IS (ii) appoint 1 member of each Federal agency identified under clause (i) to rep- resent that Federal agency on the Working Group.
(C) REQUIREMENT.—In appointing a member of a Working Group under subpara- graph (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 Work- ing Group.

(D) DUTIES OF MEMBERS.—Each member of a Working Group— (i) shall attend meetings of the Work- ing 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.
•S 3531 IS (C) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member of a Working Group may participate in a meet- ing of that Working Group through teleconfer- ence or similar means.
(6) SUPPORT PERSONNEL.— (A) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.— (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resil- ience Officer shall appoint a permanent employee of a represented agency to serve as Executive Secretary of the Working Groups.

(ii) EMPLOYMENT.—The employee ap- pointed 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 de- scribed in paragraph (3), each represented agency with a member on the Working Group shall furnish necessary assistance to that Work- ing Group, such as— (i) the detail of employees to the Working Group to perform such functions, consistent with the purposes of the Work- •S 3531 IS 15 ing Group described in paragraph (3), as the Chief Resilience Officer may assign, in- cluding 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 coun- cil, to be known as the ‘‘Partners Council on Climate Ad- aptation and Resilience’’.
(b) MISSION AND FUNCTION.—The Council shall work to improve the climate adaptation and resilience op- erations of the Federal Government by providing rec- ommendations through the Chief Resilience Officer, in- cluding those recommendations contained in the report re- quired under subsection (c), that identify how the Federal Government can better support non-Federal partners with equitable resources, technical assistance, improved poli- cies, and other assistance to help frontline communities build resilience to climate change.
•S 3531 IS 16 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years there- after, the Council, acting through the Chief Resilience Of- ficer, 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 Govern- ment 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 Re- silience Officer, the Council shall consist of 20 non- •S 3531 IS 17 Federal partner members appointed by the Chief Re- silience Officer.
(2) APPOINTMENT.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resilience Officer shall appoint members of the Council who can support the Working Groups by articu- lating how the Federal Government can better support State, local, and territorial govern- ments, the governments of Indian Tribes, the governments of Freely Associated States, non- profit organizations, or private sector entities to build resilience to climate change.
(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In appointing mem- bers 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 gov- ernments of Freely Associated States, of which— (I) not fewer than 2 shall be em- ployees of a State government; (II) not fewer than 2 shall be employees of a unit of local govern- ment; •S 3531 IS (III) not fewer than 2 shall be employees of the government of an In- dian Tribe; and (IV) not fewer than 2 shall be employees of a territorial government or the government of a Freely Associ- ated State; and (ii) 8 members who represent non- governmental organizations and the private sector, of which— (I) 3 shall represent nongovern- mental 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 commu- nities; and (ii) represent a diversity of— •S 3531 IS (I) perspectives; (II) demographics; (III) geographies; (IV) political affiliations; and (V) institution sizes, including representatives of both small and large units of government and busi- nesses.
(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 Re- silience Officer determines it necessary to support the work of the Council.
(E) VACANCIES.— •S 3531 IS 20 (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 MEM- BERS.—After the expiration of the term for which a member of the Council is ap- pointed, 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 Coun- cil 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 Resil- ience Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly submit •S 3531 IS 21 to the President and Congress a National Climate Adapta- tion and Resilience Operations Report that includes— (1) a summary of the existing climate resilience operations of each represented agency that in- cludes— (A) the roles and responsibilities of each represented agency in building national resil- ience to the climate vulnerabilities described in the National Climate Assessment or other anal- yses relevant to each represented agency; (B) the major findings and conclusions from climate adaptation plans or risk or vulner- ability assessments prepared by each rep- resented agency; (C) the mechanisms by which each rep- resented 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 adapta- tion outcomes; and (2) a cross-agency analysis of the resilience op- erations identified under paragraph (1) that— (A) identifies— •S 3531 IS (i) the challenges, barriers, or dis- incentives for the Federal Government to build resilience to climate change in the United States; (ii) the inconsistencies in goals, prior- ities, or strategies underlying climate resil- ience operations and policy across rep- resented agencies that may inhibit effective interagency coordination to support na- tional climate
 resilience, including— (I) the areas of necessary dif- ferences 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 ad- dressed in the context of the Strategy; (v) opportunities for greater collabora- tion between or among represented agen- •S 3531 IS 23 cies to improve Federal Government resil- ience operations and policy; and (vi) opportunities for greater collabo- ration 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 di- rected to frontline communities with the greatest level of vulnerability.
SEC.

6.

NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE STRATEGY.
(a) STRATEGY.— •S 3531 IS 24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Resil- ience 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 para- graph (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 Govern- ment structure, congressional authorities, or ap- propriations; and (C) any other necessary improvements or changes identified by the Chief Resilience Offi- cer.
(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 •S 3531 IS 25 change described in the National Climate Assess- ment 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 resil- ience goals and guides national climate ad- aptation 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, sce- nario-based strategies to plan for and re- spond to current and future climate im- pacts to human communities, natural re- sources and public land, and infrastructure and other physical assets; (iv) emphasizes forward-thinking ad- aptation strategies that seek to overcome repeated climate impacts to vulnerable sys- tems and communities; (v) prioritizes climate resilience efforts to support the most vulnerable human •S 3531 IS 26 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 un- derscores the importance of promoting eco- system 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 prac- ticable; and (C) the adaptive capacity and resilience of State, local, and territorial governments, gov- ernments of Indian Tribes, and governments of Freely Associated States are maximized to the maximum extent practicable.
(4) COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS.—In devel- oping the Strategy, the Chief Resilience Officer and •S 3531 IS 27 Working Groups shall consider the recommendations of the Council.
(5) INCLUSIONS.—In addition to the over- arching strategies developed in accordance with paragraph (3), the Strategy shall include the fol- lowing: (A) DIRECT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RE- SPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— (i) Strategies to address the limita- tions, redundancies, and opportunities for improved resilience operations of the Fed- eral Government that are identified in the Operations Report.
(ii) Strategies to better prepare the United States for the adverse impacts ex- perienced 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 work- force of the represented agencies with re- •S 3531 IS 28 spect to topics related to climate change vulnerability and resilience to promote ef- fective Federal resilience operations.
(iv) An identification of opportunities and appropriate circumstances for rep- resented agencies to better utilize natural infrastructure as an adaptation strategy.
(B) SUPPORT OF NON-FEDERAL PART- NERS’ RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— (i) 1 or more strategies for rep- resented agencies to better collaborate and work directly with non-Federal partners to increase the resilience and adaptive capac- ity of State, local, and territorial govern- ments, 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 op- •S 3531 IS 29 portunities for the specific resilience needs of those non-Federal partners.
(iii) 1 or more strategies to clarify, simplify, and harmonize the planning re- quirements 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 adapta- tion and resilience efforts across rep- resented agencies.
(iv) 1 or more strategies to identify under-resourced communities and commu- nities with low adaptive capacity and resil- ience and to directly support those commu- nities in applying for Federal funds for cli- mate adaptation and resilience efforts.
(v) 1 or more strategies to support the retreat or relocation of human commu- nities in areas that are at increasing risk from climate change, in particular from slow-onset climate hazards, including strat- egies to better manage equitable property buyouts, managed retreat, or relocation op- tions for communities in those areas.
•S 3531 IS 30 (C) CLIMATE INFORMATION.— (i) 1 or more strategies to increase the accessibility and utility of climate in- formation that is produced, published, or hosted by the Federal Government, includ- ing strategies to better collaborate across the represented agencies and work with non-Federal partners— (I) to provide the high-quality, lo- cally relevant climate information and, where practicable and useful, trans- parent and replicable downscaled cli- mate projections that are necessary to support local-level adaptation efforts; (II) to establish improved meth- ods of communicating climate risk and other relevant climate informa- tion; (III) to better educate non-Fed- eral partners about the available re- sources for climate information; and (IV) to assist non-Federal part- ners in selecting and using appro- priate climate information or related tools.
•S 3531 IS 31 (ii) Standardized procedures to syn- thesize, align, and update climate informa- tion 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 nec- essary by the Chief Resilience Officer.
(D) RESILIENCE METRICS AND INDICA- TORS.—At the discretion of the Chief Resilience Officer, 1 or more strategies to develop or im- prove resilience metrics and indicators to assist the Federal Government and non-Federal part- ners— •S 3531 IS 32 (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 fi- nancial incentives for adaptation and resil- ience efforts.
(iii) A review of the cost-benefit anal- ysis methodologies and discount rates used by represented agencies for all Federal in- vestments, including a review of the impli- cations of those methodologies and dis- count rates for climate adaptation and re- silience.
•S 3531 IS 33 (iv) Recommendations to improve the methodologies described in clause (iii) to reflect— (I) the added value of resilience planning and construction methodolo- gies over the lifetime of a project or unit of infrastructure; (II) the benefits of natural infra- structure investments; (III) the potential value of re- treat and relocation as adaptation so- lutions; 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 alloca- tions, the methodologies for determining funding allocations, and existing and fu- ture policies, are equitably distributed among sectors of society, types of commu- nities, and geographies.
•S 3531 IS 34 (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 prac- ticable, 1 or more strategies to integrate social equity considerations across all as- pects of the Strategy.
(b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Concurrently with the Strategy and each update of the Strategy, the Chief Resil- ience 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 responsibil- ities of each represented agency in carrying out each element of the Strategy described in subsection (a); (2) a plan to enter into such interagency agree- ments 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 •S 3531 IS 35 may be necessary to facilitate a unified national plan to build resilience to climate change; and (3) the use of any relevant metrics and indica- tors 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 Imple- mentation 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 sub- section (a)(5)(D); (2) the effectiveness of the actions taken under the Strategy and Implementation Plan and the re- sulting outcomes of those actions in building na- tional 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, •S 3531 IS 36 including recommendations for additional steps nec- essary 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 para- graph (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 Presi- dent 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.
•S 3531 IS 37 (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).
•S 3531 IS