II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5531 

Authorizing grants to support long-term climate resiliency for archival institutions, libraries, and museums in order to provide continuity and access 

to covered records. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

Authorizing grants to support long-term climate resiliency 

for archival institutions, libraries, and museums in order 

to provide continuity and access to covered records. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Archives Resil5 iency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Climate change affects temperature, 

9 changes precipitation, increases sea levels, and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jan 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5531.IS S5531

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1 creases the frequency and intensity of extreme 

2 weather events. 

3 (2) According to a 2018 study from Climate 

4 Risk Management— 

5 (A) more than 20 percent of archival re6 positories are likely to be affected by storm 

7 surges; 

8 (B) more than 90 percent of archives are 

9 estimated to have a temperature change greater 

10 than 1 °C, with 7.5 percent of sites likely to 

11 change by 10 °C by 2070; and 

12 (C) 69.5 percent of archives are likely to 

13 receive at least 6 inches more rainfall by 2100 

14 over current annual averages. 

15 (3) Extreme weather affects infrastructure and 

16 critical systems, such as heating, ventilation, air con17 ditioning systems, and mechanical systems. 

18 (4) Climate change increasingly poses a risk for 

19 degradation and loss of cultural heritage and ar20 chives. 

21 (5) There is an urgent need to protect vital 

22 records, like birth certificates, death certificates, and 

23 marriage licenses, in preparation for or following ex24 treme weather events. 


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1 (6) Funding for the National Archives and 

2 Records Administration, an independent agency that 

3 provides public access to high-value Federal Govern4 ment records, has not meaningfully increased in the 

5 last 30 years, despite an exponential growth in elec6 tronic records. 

7 (7) Recent events demonstrate the importance 

8 of investment in public record-keeping systems and 

9 institutions. For instance— 

10 (A) during the COVID–19 pandemic, 

11 many veterans were unable to secure adequate 

12 documentation to obtain veterans’ benefits and 

13 military burials because of insufficient staffing 

14 levels at the National Archives Personnel 

15 Records Center; and 

16 (B) in 2023, 8 of the Lahaina Restoration 

17 Foundation’s historic sites burned down or were 

18 critically damaged, leading to the loss of tens of 

19 thousands of artifacts and records in Hawaii 

20 due to the Lahaina fires, although the Founda21 tion was able to digitize certain collections be22 fore the fires destroyed these artifacts. 

23 (8) In the most recent census taken of archi24 vists in the United States, 20 percent indicated that 

25 they planned to leave the profession within the next 


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1 5 years, with burnout being cited as a leading cause. 

2 Robust investments in sustainable staffing in addi3 tion to resilient infrastructure is critical to the oper4 ation and maintenance of these record-keeping insti5 tutions. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZING GRANTS TO PROMOTE PRESERVA7 TION, CLIMATE RESILIENCE, AND ADAPTION 

8 FOR LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES, AND MUSEUMS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

10 (1) COVERED RECORDS.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 records’’ means— 

12 (A) vital records, as defined in part 1223.2 

13 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

14 similar successor regulations; 

15 (B) essential and vital records, as defined 

16 by State, local, Tribal, or territorial law (includ17 ing regulations); and 

18 (C) any other records of historical or cul19 tural significance, as determined by the Archi20 vist of the United States and the Director of 

21 the Institute of Museum and Library Services 

22 in consultation with— 

23 (i) the head of the agency in each 

24 State that is responsible for the State ar25 chives; and 


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1 (ii) the State historical records advi2 sory board in each State, as defined in sec3 tion 1206.41 of title 36, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations, or similar successor regula5 tions. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means any of the following entities that main8 tain covered records: 

9 (A) State, local, Tribal, and territorial gov10 ernments. 

11 (B) Public archives, libraries, and muse12 ums. 

13 (C) Institutions of higher education, as de14 fined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

15 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

16 (D) Nonprofit community-based organiza17 tions. 

18 (b) IN GENERAL.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist of the United 

20 States, acting jointly with the Director of the Insti21 tute of Museum and Library Services, shall award 

22 grants through the National Historical Publications 

23 and Records Commission and the Institute of Mu24 seum and Library Services, on a competitive basis, 

25 to eligible entities for the purpose of supporting 


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1 long-term climate resiliency in order to provide con2 tinuity and access to covered records, as described in 

3 subsection (d). 

4 (2) VITAL RECORDS.—From the amounts made 

5 available to carry out this section, not less than 50 

6 percent shall be for grants to eligible entities that in7 tend to use the grant funds to support activities de8 scribed in subsection (d) with respect to vital 

9 records, as described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

10 subsection (a)(1). 

11 (3) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the 

12 amounts made available to carry out this section, 

13 not less than 3 percent shall be reserved for Indian 

14 Tribes (as defined in section 2 of the Tribally Con15 trolled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 

16 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801)) and non-profit organiza17 tions that primarily serve and represent Native Ha18 waiians. 

19 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires a 

20 grant under this section shall submit an application at 

21 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa22 tion as the National Historical Publications and Records 

23 Commission and the Institute of Museum and Library 

24 Services may require. 


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1 (d) ELIGIBLE USES OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible 

2 entity receiving a grant under this section shall use grant 

3 funds to support one or more of the following: 

4 (1) Staffing necessary to— 

5 (A) support continuity of covered records, 

6 including the digitization or digital cloud stor7 age of covered records; and 

8 (B) mitigate the possibility of disruptions 

9 to accessing covered records. 

10 (2) Facility infrastructure upgrades to— 

11 (A) protect facilities that house covered 

12 records from extreme temperatures, humidity, 

13 storms, winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy 

14 snow, blizzards, flooding, erosion, wildfires, and 

15 sea level rise; and 

16 (B) prevent water damage caused by heavy 

17 rain, poor grading, snow melt, ice melt, water 

18 pipes, drain pipes, and undersized stormwater 

19 controls. 

20 (3) Relocating covered records and infrastruc21 ture outside of hazardous areas, where necessary. 

22 (4) The provision of internet and broadband 

23 connectivity equipment, as well as other techno24 logical equipment and resources necessary to digitize 

25 and store multiple distributed copies of covered 


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1 records that are at risk of damage or loss due to ex2 treme weather or other conditions, and to provide 

3 online training and materials related to conservation 

4 planning and education. 

5 (5) Language preservation, including through 

6 direct outreach, digital and physical record-keeping, 

7 and other activities. 

8 (6) Developing and implementing a climate 

9 adaption plan. 

10 (7) Developing an emergency preparedness and 

11 disaster response plan coordination network. 

12 (8) Accessing conservation and climate risk 

13 training and education materials. 

14 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION AND OVERSIGHT. 

15 (a) NO PROHIBITION AGAINST CONSTRUCTION.— 

16 Funds awarded under this Act may be used for construc17 tion expenses. 

18 (b) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT OR NON-FEDERAL

19 SHARE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 

20 eligible entity that receives funds under this Act shall not 

21 be required to provide matching funds or a non-Federal 

22 share toward the cost of the activities carried out with 

23 funds under this Act. 

24 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—From the amount ap25 propriated to carry out this Act, the Archivist of the 


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1 United States and the Director of the Institute of Museum 

2 and Library Services may allocate not more than 3 percent 

3 of such amount for program administration, oversight ac4 tivities, research, analysis, and data collection. 

5 SEC. 5. STUDY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

7 conduct a study— 

8 (1) of covered records to identify eligible enti9 ties and covered records vulnerable to sea level rise, 

10 surface water flooding, increased rainfall, extreme 

11 temperature, fire risks, natural disasters (including 

12 tornados, blizzards, and ice storms), grid resilience, 

13 or labor shortages that could cause a disruption in 

14 the continuity of covered records; and 

15 (2) to identify potential safe harbor institutions 

16 that may be designated as receiving repositories for 

17 covered records that may need to be relocated, and 

18 any potential legal barriers to such relocation. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

21 submit a report to Congress containing the results of the 

22 study carried out under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

Æ 


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