II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1379 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 

an excess urban heat mitigation grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to establish an excess urban heat mitigation grant program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Excess Urban Heat 

5 Mitigation Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Heat stress is a leading weather-related 

9 cause of death in the United States, with more than 

10 600 people killed in the United States by extreme 


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1 heat every year, and many more experiencing res2 piratory problems and heat-related illness. 

3 (2) Urban areas are likely to experience higher 

4 temperatures than surrounding areas due to design5 related attributes of the built environment, including 

6 manmade factors such as low solar reflectance, low 

7 vegetation and tree cover, high building density, high 

8 impervious surface cover, and waste heat emissions. 

9 (3) Underserved communities are disproportion10 ately impacted by extreme heat. In the United 

11 States, low-income census blocks have 15.2 percent 

12 less tree cover and an average land surface tempera13 ture that is 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than high-in14 come blocks. 

15 (4) Studies show that in 97 percent of the larg16 est urbanized areas in the United States, people of 

17 color live in census tracts with higher surface urban 

18 heat intensity than non-Hispanic Whites, indicating 

19 that heat exposure is unequally distributed by race. 

20 (5) Urban heat is not only a public health 

21 threat but also an economic one, as rising heat leads 

22 to increased roadway maintenance costs, higher resi23 dential and commercial summer energy costs, and 

24 lost labor productivity, as well as the cost to patients 


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1 and health care infrastructure for heat-related hos2 pitalizations and emergency department visits. 

3 (6) Excess urban heat causes increased energy 

4 consumption, elevated emission of air pollutants and 

5 greenhouse gases, and impaired water quality. 

6 (7) Heat waves are expected to not only occur 

7 more frequently in the United States but also be of 

8 longer duration, lasting 10 to 20 days longer by the 

9 end of the century. 

10 (8) Solutions exist that communities can imple11 ment now to mitigate the challenge of urban heat. 

12 One example is the planting of urban trees to offset 

13 or reverse the urban heat island effect. Studies in 

14 multiple cities in the United States have shown that 

15 urban trees can offset projected increases in heat-re16 lated mortality in 2050 by 40 to 99 percent. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) COVERED CENSUS TRACT.—The term ‘‘cov20 ered census tract’’ means a census tract with a pov21 erty rate of not less than 20 percent, as measured 

22 by the 5-year data series available from the Amer23 ican Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census 

24 for the period of 2014 through 2018, including such 

25 a census tract that includes an area that was desVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379

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1 ignated as ‘‘hazardous’’ or ‘‘definitely declining’’ in 

2 maps drawn by the Home Owners’ Loan Corpora3 tion. 

4 (2) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 

5 grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 4(a). 

6 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means— 

8 (A) a State (as defined in section 102 of 

9 the Housing and Community Development Act 

10 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)); 

11 (B) a metropolitan planning organization; 

12 (C) a unit of general local government (as 

13 defined in section 102 of the Housing and Com14 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

15 5302)); 

16 (D) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

17 102 of the Housing and Community Develop18 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)); 

19 (E) a territorial government; 

20 (F) a nonprofit organization working in co21 ordination with an entity described in subpara22 graphs (A) through (E); and 

23 (G) a consortium of nonprofit organiza24 tions. 


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1 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 project’’— 

3 (A) means a project designed to mitigate 

4 or manage heat in an urban area by— 

5 (i) working to mitigate the causes of 

6 higher temperatures; or 

7 (ii) managing the impacts of higher 

8 temperatures or other extreme weather 

9 events; and 

10 (B) includes the implementation, construc11 tion, or maintenance of— 

12 (i) tree planting and maintenance 

13 with, wherever possible, preference for— 

14 (I) native tree species; 

15 (II) tree species with high shade 

16 production and carbon sequestration; 

17 and 

18 (III) tree species that are valu19 able for food production; 

20 (ii) cool pavements; 

21 (iii) cool roofs; 

22 (iv) green roofs; 

23 (v) bus and other transit stop shel24 ters; 

25 (vi) shade structures; 


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1 (vii) cooling centers with, wherever 

2 possible, preference for— 

3 (I) cooling centers that collabo4 rate with existing community centers 

5 and spaces; 

6 (II) cooling centers with year7 round accessibility, and 

8 (III) cooling centers that utilize 

9 renewable energy; 

10 (viii) community gardens, including 

11 agroforestry practices; 

12 (ix) outreach to communities about re13 sources available under this section; 

14 (x) local heat mitigation and manage15 ment education efforts; 

16 (xi) urban forestry master plans; 

17 (xii) urban tree canopy assessments; 

18 (xiii) arboriculture training; 

19 (xiv) maintenance of existing urban 

20 trees; or 

21 (xv) other actions the Secretary deter22 mines appropriate to mitigate or manage 

23 excess urban heat. 

24 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘en25 vironmental justice’’ means the fair treatment and 


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1 meaningful involvement of all people regardless of 

2 race, color, culture, national origin, income, and edu3 cational levels with respect to the development, im4 plementation, and enforcement of protective environ5 mental laws, regulations, and policies. 

6 (6) EXCESS URBAN HEAT EFFECT.—The term 

7 ‘‘excess urban heat effect’’ means the phenomenon 

8 of local urban warming, resulting from manmade 

9 factors such as low solar reflectance, low tree cover, 

10 high building density, high impervious surface cover, 

11 and waste heat emissions. 

12 (7) EXTREME HEAT.—The term ‘‘extreme 

13 heat’’ means a prolonged period of excessively hot 

14 weather, with temperatures well above climatological 

15 normals for a given location and season. 

16 (8) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

17 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de18 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec20 tion 501(a) of such Code. 

21 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

23 (10) URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 

24 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

25 title 23, United States Code. 


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1 (11) URBAN FORESTRY MASTER PLAN.—The 

2 term ‘‘urban forestry master plan’’ means a stra3 tegic plan that establishes the overall vision, goals, 

4 objectives, and implementation tools to evaluate, 

5 maintain and expand the urban tree canopy with the 

6 intention of building resilience to extreme weather 

7 events, reducing the urban heat island effect, miti8 gating stormwater runoff, reducing nutrient runoff, 

9 addressing air quality, and preserving biodiversity. 

10 (12) URBAN TREE CANOPY ASSESSMENT.—The 

11 term ‘‘urban tree canopy assessment’’ means a 

12 measure of a community’s tree canopy coverage as 

13 a percentage of the total land area that serves as a 

14 baseline for setting community tree canopy goals 

15 and measuring progress. 

16 SEC. 4. URBAN HEAT MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT 

17 GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting 

20 through the Office of Community Planning and Develop21 ment, in coordination with the Administrator of the Envi22 ronmental Protection Agency, the Chief of the Forest 

23 Service, and the Director of the Climate Program Office 

24 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

25 shall establish an urban heat mitigation and management 


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1 grant program to award grants to eligible entities to im2 plement eligible projects. 

3 (b) SET-ASIDE.—Not less than 75 percent of the 

4 amounts of covered grants awarded for a fiscal year shall 

5 be awarded to eligible entities to implement projects in a 

6 covered census tract. 

7 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 3 percent of 

9 amounts appropriated to carry out this section may 

10 be used to provide technical assistance to eligible en11 tities applying for or implementing a covered grant. 

12 (2) PREFERENCE.—In providing technical as13 sistance under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

14 give preference to eligible entities that intend to 

15 serve communities— 

16 (A) located in a covered census tract; or 

17 (B) with lower-tree canopy and higher 

18 maximum daytime summer temperatures com19 pared to surrounding communities, as deter20 mined by the Secretary, based on publicly avail21 able information. 

22 (3) INCLUSIONS.—Technical assistance pro23 vided under paragraph (1) may include— 

24 (A) assistance developing a complete appli25 cation; 


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1 (B) financial analysis and budget develop2 ment; 

3 (C) support for project integration; 

4 (D) assessment of project readiness; and 

5 (E) technical assistance implementing ac6 tivities once a covered grant is received. 

7 (d) APPLICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

9 covered grant shall submit to the Secretary an appli10 cation, at such time and in such manner as required 

11 by the Secretary in guidance, that includes, at a 

12 minimum— 

13 (A) how the eligible entity will use the cov14 ered grant; 

15 (B) how the eligible projects funded will 

16 combat extreme heat or excess urban heat ef17 fects and improve quality of life for impacted 

18 communities; 

19 (C) a robust engagement plan that— 

20 (i) outlines how the eligible entity will 

21 meaningfully and inclusively engage with 

22 the communities in which the eligible 

23 projects take place throughout project im24 plementation; and 


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1 (ii) demonstrates how the eligible enti2 ty plans to— 

3 (I) foster meaningful, reciprocal 

4 relationships with community-based 

5 organizations; 

6 (II) engage in respectful, good7 faith consultation with diverse com8 munity stakeholders; and 

9 (III) empower members of the 

10 community to participate in decision 

11 making; and 

12 (D) how the eligible entity will address the 

13 intersection between human health, environ14 ment, and built environment. 

15 (2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

17 shall issue the guidance described in paragraph (1). 

18 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of an eligi21 ble project carried out with amounts from a covered 

22 grant shall be not more than 80 percent. 

23 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may increase the 

24 maximum Federal share described in paragraph (1) 

25 from 80 percent to 100 percent for an eligible 


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1 project carried out by an eligible entity that dem2 onstrates economic hardship, as determined by the 

3 Secretary. 

4 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding covered grants, the Sec5 retary shall give priority to an eligible entity that serves— 

6 (1) a community located in a covered census 

7 tract; or 

8 (2) a community with lower tree canopy and 

9 higher maximum daytime summer temperatures 

10 compared to surrounding communities, as deter11 mined by the Secretary, based on publicly available 

12 information. 

13 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall 

14 submit an annual report to Congress that identifies the 

15 recipients of covered grants and the geographic and eco16 nomic distribution of those recipients. 

17 (h) OVERSIGHT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure the effec19 tiveness of projects that are carried out using cov20 ered grants, the Secretary shall use not more than 

21 5 percent of any amounts appropriated to carry out 

22 this section to establish an oversight board to help— 

23 (A) select recipients of covered grants; and 

24 (B) review the progress made by recipients 

25 of covered grants on a yearly basis. 


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1 (2) EVALUATION.—The board established under 

2 paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) develop and apply a rubric to evaluate 

4 the success of projects carried out using covered 

5 grants in reaching their objective to combat the 

6 causes and effects of excess urban heat; and 

7 (B) serve the Secretary in an advisory ca8 pacity. 

9 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the board 

11 established under paragraph (1) may include— 

12 (i) representatives from the Environ13 mental Protection Agency, particularly 

14 from the Heat Island Reduction Program; 

15 (ii) representatives from the Depart16 ment of Health and Human Services, par17 ticularly from the Office of Climate 

18 Change and Health Equity; 

19 (iii) representatives from the Depart20 ment of Energy, particularly from the Of21 fice of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

22 Energy; 

23 (iv) representatives from the Depart24 ment of Agriculture, particularly from the 

25 Urban and Community Forestry Program; 


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1 (v) subject to subparagraph (B), rep2 resentatives from nonprofit organizations 

3 with proven leadership in urban heat miti4 gation or environmental justice, as deter5 mined by the Secretary; and 

6 (vi) subject to subparagraph (B), rep7 resentatives from academia and research 

8 studying the effects of and mitigation of 

9 excess urban heat, environmental justice, 

10 or related areas. 

11 (B) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 

12 to be a member of the board established under 

13 paragraph (1), a representative described in 

14 clause (v) or (vi) of subparagraph (A) of this 

15 paragraph shall certify that the representative 

16 does not possess any conflict of interest with re17 spect to projects being considered for a covered 

18 grant or being carried out using a covered 

19 grant. 

20 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2030. 

Æ 


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