II 

Calendar No. 615 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3531 

[Report No. 117–237] 

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, Mr. 

CASSIDY, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. BENNET, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. KAINE, and 

Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 12, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Government to produce a national 

climate adaptation and resilience strategy, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Climate Ad3 aptation and Resilience Strategy Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADAPTATION.—The term ‘‘adaptation’’ 

7 means an adjustment in a natural or human system 

8 in response to a new or changing environmental con9 dition, including such an adjustment associated with 

10 climate change, that exploits beneficial opportunities 

11 or moderates negative effects. 

12 (2) ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.—The term ‘‘adaptive 

13 capacity’’ means the ability of a system— 

14 (A) to adjust to climate vulnerabilities to 

15 moderate potential damage or harm; 

16 (B) to take advantage of new, and poten17 tially beneficial, opportunities; or 

18 (C) to cope with change. 

19 (3) CASCADING CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term 

20 ‘‘cascading climate hazards’’ means a series of suc21 cessive environmental hazards triggered by an initial 

22 hazard that is driven or exacerbated by climate 

23 change, such that the impacts to vulnerable systems 

24 are amplified. 

25 (4) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER.—The term 

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1 ience Officer of the United States appointed by the 

2 President under section 3(a)(1). 

3 (5) CLIMATE CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 

4 change’’ means changes in average atmospheric and 

5 oceanic conditions that persist over multiple decades 

6 or longer and are natural or anthropogenic in origin, 

7 including— 

8 (A) both increases and decreases in tem9 perature; 

10 (B) shifts in precipitation; 

11 (C) shifts in ecoregion or biome geography 

12 and phenology, as applicable; 

13 (D) changing risk from certain types of 

14 rapid-onset climate hazards and slow-onset cli15 mate hazards; and 

16 (E) changes to other features of the cli17 mate system. 

18 (6) CLIMATE INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘cli19 mate information’’ means information, data, or 

20 products that enhance knowledge and understanding 

21 of climate science, risk, conditions, vulnerability, or 

22 impact, including— 

23 (A) climate data products; 

24 (B) historic or future climate projections 

25 or scenarios; 


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1 (C) climate risk or vulnerability informa2 tion; 

3 (D) data or information related to climate 

4 adaptation and mitigation; and 

5 (E) other best available climate science. 

6 (7) COMPOUND CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term 

7 ‘‘compound climate hazards’’ means 2 or more envi8 ronmental hazards driven or exacerbated by climate 

9 change that occur simultaneously or successively, 

10 such that the impacts to vulnerable systems are am11 plified. 

12 (8) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

13 Partners Council on Climate Adaptation and Resil14 ience established by section 4(a). 

15 (9) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATE.—The term 

16 ‘‘Freely Associated State’’ means— 

17 (A) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

18 Mariana Islands; 

19 (B) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

20 (C) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

21 (D) the Republic of Palau; and 

22 (E) the United States Virgin Islands. 

23 (10) FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES.—The term 

24 ‘‘frontline communities’’ means human communities 

25 that— 


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1 (A) are highly vulnerable to climate change 

2 or exposed to climate risk; 

3 (B) experience the earliest, most adverse 

4 impacts of climate change; and 

5 (C) may have a reduced ability to adapt to 

6 climate change due to a lack of resources, polit7 ical power, or adaptive capacity. 

8 (11) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im9 plementation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan 

10 jointly developed by the Chief Resilience Officer and 

11 the Working Groups under section 6(b). 

12 (12) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

13 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

14 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

15 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 (13) NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT.—The 

17 term ‘‘National Climate Assessment’’ means the as18 sessment delivered to Congress and the President 

19 pursuant to section 106 of the Global Change Re20 search Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2936). 

21 (14) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

22 ‘‘natural infrastructure’’ means infrastructure 

23 that— 

24 (A) uses, restores, or emulates natural eco25 logical, geological, or physical processes; and 


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1 (B)(i) is created through the action of nat2 ural physical, geological, biological, and chem3 ical processes over time; 

4 (ii) is created by human design, engineer5 ing, and construction to emulate or act in con6 cert with natural processes; or 

7 (iii) involves the use of plants, soils, and 

8 other natural features, including through the 

9 creation, restoration, or preservation of natural 

10 areas using materials appropriate to the region 

11 to manage stormwater and runoff, to attenuate 

12 flooding and storm surges, to manage erosion 

13 and saltwater intrusion, and for other related 

14 purposes. 

15 (15) NON-FEDERAL PARTNER.—The term 

16 ‘‘non-Federal partner’’ means a member of a unit of 

17 State, local, or territorial government, the govern18 ment of an Indian Tribe, the government of a Freely 

19 Associated State, a private sector entity, or another 

20 individual or organization not affiliated with the 

21 Federal Government. 

22 (16) OPERATIONS REPORT.—The term ‘‘Oper23 ations Report’’ means the National Climate Adapta24 tion and Resilience Operations Report jointly develVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Dec 12, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3531.RS S3531

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1 oped by the Chief Resilience Officer and the Work2 ing Groups under section 5. 

3 (17) RAPID-ONSET CLIMATE HAZARD.—The 

4 term ‘‘rapid-onset climate hazard’’ means an abrupt 

5 environmental hazard driven or exacerbated by cli6 mate change that occurs quickly or unexpectedly and 

7 triggers impacts that materialize rapidly and inter8 act with conditions of exposure and vulnerability to 

9 result in a disaster. 

10 (18) REPRESENTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rep11 resented agency’’ means each Federal agency from 

12 which the Chief Resilience Officer appoints a mem13 ber to a Working Group under section 

14 3(b)(4)(B)(ii). 

15 (19) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ 

16 means the capacity of a social, physical, economic, or 

17 environmental system to cope with an environmental 

18 hazard event, trend, or disturbance that is driven or 

19 exacerbated by climate change by responding or re20 organizing in ways that maintain, to the greatest ex21 tent practicable, the essential function, identity, and 

22 structure of the system and ensure that, in the event 

23 of a rapid-onset climate hazard or a slow-onset cli24 mate hazard, basic human needs are met, while also 


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1 maintaining the capacity for adaptation and trans2 formation. 

3 (20) RISK.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘risk’’ means 

5 the potential for consequences in a situation in 

6 which— 

7 (i) something of value is at stake; and 

8 (ii) the outcome is uncertain. 

9 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘risk’’ includes 

10 the potential for consequences described in sub11 paragraph (A) that is evaluated as the product 

12 obtained by multiplying— 

13 (i) the probability of a hazard occur14 ring; by 

15 (ii) the consequence that would result 

16 if the hazard occurred. 

17 (21) SLOW-ONSET CLIMATE HAZARD.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘slow-onset 

19 climate hazard’’ means an environmental haz20 ard driven or exacerbated by climate change 

21 that evolves gradually through time due to in22 cremental change or because of an increasing 

23 frequency or intensity of recurring climate im24 pacts. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘slow-onset 

2 climate hazard’’ includes hazards such as— 

3 (i) sea level rise; 

4 (ii) desertification; 

5 (iii) biodiversity loss or the alteration 

6 of or shift in habitat range of individual 

7 species or entire biomes; 

8 (iv) increasing temperatures; 

9 (v) ocean acidification; 

10 (vi) saltwater intrusion; 

11 (vii) soil salinization; 

12 (viii) drought and water scarcity; 

13 (ix) reduced snow pack; 

14 (x) sea ice retreat; 

15 (xi) glacial ice treat; 

16 (xii) permafrost thaw; and 

17 (xiii) coastal and river bank erosion. 

18 (22) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 

19 the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience 

20 Strategy required to be developed jointly by the 

21 Chief Resilience Officer and the Working Groups 

22 under section 6(a). 

23 (23) VULNERABILITY.—The term ‘‘vulner24 ability’’ means the propensity or predisposition of a 

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1 cal, or socioeconomic system to be susceptible to and 

2 adversely affected by the impacts of climate change. 

3 (24) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘Working 

4 Group’’ means a National Climate Adaptation and 

5 Resilience Working Group established by the Chief 

6 Resilience Officer under section 3(b). 

7 SEC. 3. CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER AND NATIONAL CLI8 MATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE WORK9 ING GROUPS. 

10 (a) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi13 dent shall identify or appoint a Chief Resilience Offi14 cer of the United States to serve in the Executive 

15 Office of the President. 

16 (2) DUTIES.—The Chief Resilience Officer 

17 shall— 

18 (A) serve the President by directing a 

19 whole-of-government effort to build resilience to 

20 climate change vulnerabilities in the United 

21 States (as described in the National Climate 

22 Assessment or other relevant analyses identified 

23 by the Chief Resilience Officer) in collaboration 

24 with existing Federal initiatives and interagency 

25 adaptation efforts; and 


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1 (B) establish Working Groups in accord2 ance with subsection (b) to facilitate inter3 agency coordination with respect to climate re4 silience and adaptation. 

5 (b) WORKING GROUPS.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), the Chief Resilience Officer shall es9 tablish the minimum number of National Cli10 mate Adaptation and Resilience Working 

11 Groups that is necessary to carry out the duties 

12 and purposes described in paragraph (3). 

13 (B) LIMITATION.—The Chief Resilience 

14 Officer shall not establish more than 5 Working 

15 Groups. 

16 (2) FOCUS.—Each Working Group shall focus 

17 on a topic or series of related topics with respect to 

18 climate adaptation and resilience, as determined by 

19 the Chief Resilience Officer. 

20 (3) DUTIES AND PURPOSE.—Each Working 

21 Group shall, under the leadership of the Chief Resil22 ience Officer, with respect to the focus of the Work23 ing Group— 

24 (A) coordinate a whole-of-government plan 

25 to build resilience to the applicable climate 


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1 change vulnerabilities described in the National 

2 Climate Assessment or other relevant analyses 

3 identified by the Chief Resilience Officer; and 

4 (B) assist in the development of the appli5 cable portions of— 

6 (i) the Operations Report; 

7 (ii) the Strategy; and 

8 (iii) the Implementation Plan. 

9 (4) STRUCTURE.— 

10 (A) CHAIRPERSON.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resil12 ience Officer shall serve as chairperson of 

13 each Working Group. 

14 (ii) TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON.—The 

15 President or the Chief Resilience Officer 

16 may designate another staff member or 

17 member of a Working Group to act tempo18 rarily as the chairperson of that Working 

19 Group in the absence of the Chief Resil20 ience Officer. 

21 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—In establishing a 

22 Working Group, the Chief Resilience Officer 

23 shall— 

24 (i) identify each Federal agency with 

25 operations or organizational units that are 


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1 relevant to the focus of the Working 

2 Group; and 

3 (ii) appoint 1 member of each Federal 

4 agency identified under clause (i) to rep5 resent that Federal agency on the Working 

6 Group. 

7 (C) REQUIREMENT.—In appointing a 

8 member of a Working Group under subpara9 graph (B)(ii), the Chief Resilience Officer shall, 

10 to the maximum extent practicable, appoint the 

11 head of the portion of the represented agency 

12 that is most relevant to the focus of the Work13 ing Group. 

14 (D) DUTIES OF MEMBERS.—Each member 

15 of a Working Group— 

16 (i) shall attend meetings of the Work17 ing Group; and 

18 (ii) work to support the duties of the 

19 Working Group. 

20 (5) MEETINGS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each Working Group 

22 shall meet not less frequently than once every 

23 180 days. 


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(B) QUORUM.—3 1 ⁄4 of the members of a 

2 Working Group shall constitute a quorum of 

3 the Working Group. 

4 (C) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member 

5 of a Working Group may participate in a meet6 ing of that Working Group through teleconfer7 ence or similar means. 

8 (6) SUPPORT PERSONNEL.— 

9 (A) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resil11 ience Officer shall appoint a permanent 

12 employee of a represented agency to serve 

13 as Executive Secretary of the Working 

14 Groups. 

15 (ii) EMPLOYMENT.—The employee ap16 pointed as Executive Secretary under 

17 clause (i) shall remain an employee of the 

18 agency, department, or program from 

19 which the employee was appointed. 

20 (B) NECESSARY ASSISTANCE.—To carry 

21 out the purposes of each Working Group, as de22 scribed in paragraph (3), each represented 

23 agency with a member on the Working Group 

24 shall furnish necessary assistance to that Work25 ing Group, such as— 


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1 (i) the detail of employees to the 

2 Working Group to perform such functions, 

3 consistent with the purposes of the Work4 ing Group described in paragraph (3), as 

5 the Chief Resilience Officer may assign, in6 cluding support staff for the Executive 

7 Secretary appointed under subparagraph 

8 (A)(i); and 

9 (ii) on request of the Chief Resilience 

10 Officer, undertaking special studies for the 

11 Working Group as may be appropriate to 

12 carry out the functions of the Working 

13 Group. 

14 SEC. 4. PARTNERS COUNCIL ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION 

15 AND RESILIENCE. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a coun17 cil, to be known as the ‘‘Partners Council on Climate Ad18 aptation and Resilience’’. 

19 (b) MISSION AND FUNCTION.—The Council shall 

20 work to improve the climate adaptation and resilience op21 erations of the Federal Government by providing rec22 ommendations through the Chief Resilience Officer, in23 cluding those recommendations contained in the report re24 quired under subsection (c), that identify how the Federal 

25 Government can better support non-Federal partners with 


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1 equitable resources, technical assistance, improved poli2 cies, and other assistance to help frontline communities 

3 build resilience to climate change. 

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years there6 after, the Council, acting through the Chief Resilience Of7 ficer, shall submit to the President and the Working 

8 Groups a report that includes— 

9 (1) an analysis of the deficiencies or gaps in the 

10 climate resilience operations of the Federal Govern11 ment that reduce or fail to increase the capacity of 

12 non-Federal partners to adapt to climate change; 

13 (2) an identification of the resources, including 

14 Federal funding, necessary for non-Federal partners 

15 to adequately adapt to climate change; and 

16 (3) recommendations with respect to how the 

17 Federal Government could better support efforts by 

18 non-Federal partners to expeditiously address 

19 vulnerabilities associated with climate change and 

20 build climate resilience. 

21 (d) CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR.—The Chief Resilience 

22 Officer shall serve as chairperson of the Council and shall 

23 appoint a vice-chairperson from among the members of 

24 the Council appointed pursuant to subsection (e). 

25 (e) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the Chief Re2 silience Officer, the Council shall consist of 20 non3 Federal partner members appointed by the Chief Re4 silience Officer. 

5 (2) APPOINTMENT.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resilience 

7 Officer shall appoint members of the Council 

8 who can support the Working Groups by articu9 lating how the Federal Government can better 

10 support State, local, and territorial govern11 ments, the governments of Indian Tribes, the 

12 governments of Freely Associated States, non13 profit organizations, or private sector entities to 

14 build resilience to climate change. 

15 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In appointing mem16 bers of the Council, the Chief Resilience Officer 

17 shall appoint— 

18 (i) 12 members who are employees of 

19 State, local, or territorial governments, the 

20 governments of Indian Tribes, or the gov21 ernments of Freely Associated States, of 

22 which— 

23 (I) not fewer than 2 shall be em24 ployees of a State government; 


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1 (II) not fewer than 2 shall be 

2 employees of a unit of local govern3 ment; 

4 (III) not fewer than 2 shall be 

5 employees of the government of an In6 dian Tribe; and 

7 (IV) not fewer than 2 shall be 

8 employees of a territorial government 

9 or the government of a Freely Associ10 ated State; and 

11 (ii) 8 members who represent non12 governmental organizations and the private 

13 sector, of which— 

14 (I) 3 shall represent nongovern15 mental organizations; 

16 (II) 3 shall represent the private 

17 sector; and 

18 (III) 2 shall represent academic 

19 institutions. 

20 (C) SELECTION.—To the maximum extent 

21 practicable, the Chief Resilience Officer shall 

22 seek to select members of the Council who— 

23 (i) possess firsthand, lived experience 

24 of climate vulnerability in the United 

25 States, including direct experience working 


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1 with, or as members of, frontline commu2 nities; and 

3 (ii) represent a diversity of— 

4 (I) perspectives; 

5 (II) demographics; 

6 (III) geographies; 

7 (IV) political affiliations; and 

8 (V) institution sizes, including 

9 representatives of both small and 

10 large units of government and busi11 nesses. 

12 (D) TERM.—Members appointed to the 

13 Council shall serve a single term of not more 

14 than 3 years, except that— 

15 (i) of the initial members appointed to 

16 the Council, the Chief Resilience Officer 

17 shall appoint— 

(I) 1 18 ⁄2 of the members to serve 

19 for a term of 18 months; and 

(II) 1 20 ⁄2 of the members to serve 

21 a term of 3 years; and 

22 (ii) the Chief Resilience Officer may 

23 extend the term of any member of the 

24 Council by a period of not more than 1 

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1 silience Officer determines it necessary to 

2 support the work of the Council. 

3 (E) VACANCIES.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy in the 

5 Council shall be filled in the same manner 

6 in which the original selection was made. 

7 (ii) APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEM8 BERS.—After the expiration of the term 

9 for which a member of the Council is ap10 pointed, the member may continue to serve 

11 until a successor is appointed. 

12 (f) MEETINGS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall meet not 

14 less frequently than once every 180 days. 

(2) QUORUM.—3 15 ⁄4 of the members of the Coun16 cil shall constitute a quorum of the Council. 

17 (3) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member of the 

18 Council may participate in a meeting of the Council 

19 through teleconference or similar means. 

20 (g) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Section 14 of the 

21 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

22 apply to the Council. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE 

2 OPERATIONS REPORT. 

3 Not later than 16 months after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Chief Resil5 ience Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly submit 

6 to the President and Congress a National Climate Adapta7 tion and Resilience Operations Report that includes— 

8 (1) a summary of the existing climate resilience 

9 operations of each represented agency that in10 cludes— 

11 (A) the roles and responsibilities of each 

12 represented agency in building national resil13 ience to the climate vulnerabilities described in 

14 the National Climate Assessment or other anal15 yses relevant to each represented agency; 

16 (B) the major findings and conclusions 

17 from climate adaptation plans or risk or vulner18 ability assessments prepared by each rep19 resented agency; 

20 (C) the mechanisms by which each rep21 resented agency supports the resilience efforts 

22 of non-Federal partners, such as by providing 

23 funding, resources, and technical assistance; 

24 and 


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1 (D) an assessment of how each represented 

2 agency is working to ensure equitable adapta3 tion outcomes; and 

4 (2) a cross-agency analysis of the resilience op5 erations identified under paragraph (1) that— 

6 (A) identifies— 

7 (i) the challenges, barriers, or dis8 incentives for the Federal Government to 

9 build resilience to climate change in the 

10 United States; 

11 (ii) the inconsistencies in goals, prior12 ities, or strategies underlying climate resil13 ience operations and policy across rep14 resented agencies that may inhibit effective 

15 interagency coordination to support na16 tional climate resilience, including— 

17 (I) the areas of necessary dif18 ferences in those goals, priorities, or 

19 strategies; and 

20 (II) the justifications for those 

21 inconsistencies; 

22 (iii) areas of overlap or redundant use 

23 of resources between or among represented 

24 agencies, including recommendations to 


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1 eliminate any unnecessary or unintentional 

2 redundancy; 

3 (iv) gaps or deficiencies in resilience 

4 operations and policy that need to be ad5 dressed in the context of the Strategy; 

6 (v) opportunities for greater collabora7 tion between or among represented agen8 cies to improve Federal Government resil9 ience operations and policy; and 

10 (vi) opportunities for greater collabo11 ration between the Federal Government 

12 and non-Federal partners to build local13 level adaptive capacity and resilience; and 

14 (B) includes a review and summary of all 

15 available Federal funding from represented 

16 agencies that is specifically allocated for climate 

17 adaptation activities to be undertaken by non18 Federal partners, including— 

19 (i) a summary of Federal funding 

20 available in appropriations accounts and 

21 subaccounts; 

22 (ii) disparities between the supply and 

23 demand for adaptation funding available to 

24 non-Federal partners; and 


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1 (iii) existing mechanisms to ensure 

2 Federal funding allocations are being di3 rected to frontline communities with the 

4 greatest level of vulnerability. 

5 SEC. 6. NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE 

6 STRATEGY. 

7 (a) STRATEGY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Resil10 ience Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly 

11 submit to the President and Congress a National 

12 Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy. 

13 (2) UPDATES.—Not later than the date that is 

14 3 years after the date on which the Chief Resilience 

15 Officer and the Working Groups jointly submit the 

16 Strategy to the President and Congress under para17 graph (1), and every 3 years thereafter, the Chief 

18 Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall 

19 jointly submit an updated version of the Strategy to 

20 the President and Congress to account for— 

21 (A) new science related to climate change, 

22 resilience, and adaptation; 

23 (B) relevant changes in Federal Govern24 ment structure, congressional authorities, or ap25 propriations; and 


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1 (C) any other necessary improvements or 

2 changes identified by the Chief Resilience Offi3 cer. 

4 (3) PURPOSE AND SCOPE.—The Strategy shall 

5 describe strategies for the Federal Government, in 

6 partnership with non-Federal partners, to address 

7 the vulnerabilities of the United States to climate 

8 change described in the National Climate Assess9 ment or other relevant analyses identified by the 

10 Chief Resilience Officer to ensure that— 

11 (A) the United States has an overarching 

12 strategic vision to respond to climate change 

13 that— 

14 (i) identifies national climate resil15 ience goals and guides national climate ad16 aptation efforts; 

17 (ii) facilitates the incorporation of the 

18 climate resilience goals identified under 

19 clause (i) into relevant national programs, 

20 operations, and strategies; 

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1 sources and public land, and infrastructure 

2 and other physical assets; 

3 (iv) emphasizes forward-thinking ad4 aptation strategies that seek to overcome 

5 repeated climate impacts to vulnerable sys6 tems and communities; 

7 (v) prioritizes climate resilience efforts 

8 to support the most vulnerable human 

9 communities and the most urgent national 

10 resilience challenges, as determined by the 

11 Chief Resilience Officer in consultation 

12 with the Working Groups; 

13 (vi) avoids unnecessary redundancies 

14 and inefficiencies in the national planning 

15 for and response to climate change; and 

16 (vii) recognizes the vulnerability of 

17 natural systems to climate change and un18 derscores the importance of promoting eco19 system resilience to preserve the intrinsic 

20 value of nature and support ecosystem 

21 services relied on by human beings; 

22 (B) Federal investments in Federal and 

23 non-Federal infrastructure and assets promote 

24 climate resilience to the maximum extent prac25 ticable; and 


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1 (C) the adaptive capacity and resilience of 

2 State, local, and territorial governments, gov3 ernments of Indian Tribes, and governments of 

4 Freely Associated States are maximized to the 

5 maximum extent practicable. 

6 (4) COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS.—In devel7 oping the Strategy, the Chief Resilience Officer and 

8 Working Groups shall consider the recommendations 

9 of the Council. 

10 (5) INCLUSIONS.—In addition to the over11 arching strategies developed in accordance with 

12 paragraph (3), the Strategy shall include the fol13 lowing: 

14 (A) DIRECT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RE15 SPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

16 (i) Strategies to address the limita17 tions, redundancies, and opportunities for 

18 improved resilience operations of the Fed19 eral Government that are identified in the 

20 Operations Report. 

21 (ii) Strategies to better prepare the 

22 United States for the adverse impacts ex23 perienced or anticipated to be experienced 

24 as a result of— 

25 (I) rapid-onset climate hazards; 


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1 (II) slow-onset climate hazards; 

2 (III) compound climate hazards; 

3 and 

4 (IV) cascading climate hazards. 

5 (iii) 1 or more strategies to educate, 

6 engage, or develop the skills of the work7 force of the represented agencies with re8 spect to topics related to climate change 

9 vulnerability and resilience to promote ef10 fective Federal resilience operations. 

11 (iv) An identification of opportunities 

12 and appropriate circumstances for rep13 resented agencies to better utilize natural 

14 infrastructure as an adaptation strategy. 

15 (B) SUPPORT OF NON-FEDERAL PART16 NERS’ RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

17 (i) 1 or more strategies for rep18 resented agencies to better collaborate and 

19 work directly with non-Federal partners to 

20 increase the resilience and adaptive capac21 ity of State, local, and territorial govern22 ments, the governments of Indian Tribes, 

23 the governments of Freely Associated 

24 States, and other non-Federal partners. 


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1 (ii) 1 or more strategies to educate 

2 non-Federal partners about the availability 

3 of Federal funding opportunities identified 

4 in the Operations Report under section 

5 5(2)(B), including the development of a 

6 centralized, cross-agency portal that allows 

7 non-Federal partners to easily identify and 

8 apply for appropriate Federal funding op9 portunities for the specific resilience needs 

10 of those non-Federal partners. 

11 (iii) 1 or more strategies to clarify, 

12 simplify, and harmonize the planning re13 quirements and application processes for 

14 State, local, and territorial governments, 

15 the governments of Indian Tribes, and the 

16 governments of Freely Associated States to 

17 access Federal funds for climate adapta18 tion and resilience efforts across rep19 resented agencies. 

20 (iv) 1 or more strategies to identify 

21 under-resourced communities and commu22 nities with low adaptive capacity and resil23 ience and to directly support those commu24 nities in applying for Federal funds for cli25 mate adaptation and resilience efforts. 


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1 (v) 1 or more strategies to support 

2 the retreat or relocation of human commu3 nities in areas that are at increasing risk 

4 from climate change, in particular from 

5 slow-onset climate hazards, including strat6 egies to better manage equitable property 

7 buyouts, managed retreat, or relocation op8 tions for communities in those areas. 

9 (C) CLIMATE INFORMATION.— 

10 (i) 1 or more strategies to increase 

11 the accessibility and utility of climate in12 formation that is produced, published, or 

13 hosted by the Federal Government, includ14 ing strategies to better collaborate across 

15 the represented agencies and work with 

16 non-Federal partners— 

17 (I) to provide the high-quality, lo18 cally relevant climate information and, 

19 where practicable and useful, trans20 parent and replicable downscaled cli21 mate projections that are necessary to 

22 support local-level adaptation efforts; 

23 (II) to establish improved meth24 ods of communicating climate risk 


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1 and other relevant climate informa2 tion; 

3 (III) to better educate non-Fed4 eral partners about the available re5 sources for climate information; and 

6 (IV) to assist non-Federal part7 ners in selecting and using appro8 priate climate information or related 

9 tools. 

10 (ii) Standardized procedures to syn11 thesize, align, and update climate informa12 tion produced, published, or hosted by the 

13 Federal Government to create arrays of 

14 standardized national, regional, and, where 

15 applicable, local climate information for 

16 adaptation planning. 

17 (iii) An assessment of the necessity 

18 and utility of developing or improving a 

19 centralized clearinghouse and dedicated 

20 Federal program for climate information to 

21 better provide climate information to end 

22 users. 

23 (iv) 1 or more strategies to develop 

24 the centralized clearinghouse or dedicated 

25 Federal program described in clause (iii), 


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1 if such an effort is determined to be nec2 essary by the Chief Resilience Officer. 

3 (D) RESILIENCE METRICS AND INDICA4 TORS.—At the discretion of the Chief Resilience 

5 Officer, 1 or more strategies to develop or im6 prove resilience metrics and indicators to assist 

7 the Federal Government and non-Federal part8 ners— 

9 (i) to the maximum extent practicable, 

10 to consistently measure the resilience of 

11 human communities, natural systems, and 

12 physical assets to climate change; 

13 (ii) to set baselines and targets to 

14 measurably increase climate resilience over 

15 time; and 

16 (iii) to better monitor and assess the 

17 effectiveness of various resilience-building 

18 activities after implementation. 

19 (E) FUNDING CLIMATE ADAPTATION.— 

20 (i) 1 or more strategies to help 

21 prioritize Federal funding expenditures for 

22 adaptation and resilience in consideration 

23 of the greatest vulnerabilities. 


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1 (ii) 1 or more strategies to create fi2 nancial incentives for adaptation and resil3 ience efforts. 

4 (iii) A review of the cost-benefit anal5 ysis methodologies and discount rates used 

6 by represented agencies for all Federal in7 vestments, including a review of the impli8 cations of those methodologies and dis9 count rates for climate adaptation and re10 silience. 

11 (iv) Recommendations to improve the 

12 methodologies described in clause (iii) to 

13 reflect— 

14 (I) the added value of resilience 

15 planning and construction methodolo16 gies over the lifetime of a project or 

17 unit of infrastructure; 

18 (II) the benefits of natural infra19 structure investments; 

20 (III) the potential value of re21 treat and relocation as adaptation so22 lutions; and 

23 (IV) to what extent existing cost24 benefit analysis methodologies lead to 


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1 inequitable outcomes or outcomes that 

2 increase climate vulnerability. 

3 (F) SOCIAL EQUITY.— 

4 (i) Strategies to ensure that the costs, 

5 benefits, and risks resulting from climate 

6 resilience efforts, including funding alloca7 tions, the methodologies for determining 

8 funding allocations, and existing and fu9 ture policies, are equitably distributed 

10 among sectors of society, types of commu11 nities, and geographies. 

12 (ii) Strategies to ensure that federally 

13 supported climate resilience efforts are— 

14 (I) designed in consultation with 

15 the communities that will be affected 

16 by those efforts; and 

17 (II) centered on the needs of 

18 those communities. 

19 (iii) To the greatest extent prac20 ticable, 1 or more strategies to integrate 

21 social equity considerations across all as22 pects of the Strategy. 

23 (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Concurrently with the 

24 Strategy and each update of the Strategy, the Chief Resil25 ience Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly submit 


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1 to the President and Congress an Implementation Plan 

2 that describes how represented agencies intend to carry 

3 out the Strategy, which shall include— 

4 (1) a description of the roles and responsibil5 ities of each represented agency in carrying out each 

6 element of the Strategy described in subsection (a); 

7 (2) a plan to enter into such interagency agree8 ments between and among represented agencies, 

9 partnerships with non-Federal entities, and other 

10 agreements for coordination between and among the 

11 Federal Government and non-Federal partners as 

12 may be necessary to facilitate a unified national plan 

13 to build resilience to climate change; and 

14 (3) the use of any relevant metrics and indica15 tors described in subsection (a)(5)(D). 

16 (c) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years following 

17 the completion of each Strategy under subsection (a)(1) 

18 and each Implementation Plan, the Comptroller General 

19 of the United States shall submit to the President and 

20 Congress a report that assesses— 

21 (1) the extent to which the Strategy and Imple22 mentation Plan have been carried out by the Federal 

23 Government, which shall be judged, as appropriate, 

24 based on any metrics and indicators developed to 


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1 track progress in increasing resilience under sub2 section (a)(5)(D); 

3 (2) the effectiveness of the actions taken under 

4 the Strategy and Implementation Plan and the re5 sulting outcomes of those actions in building na6 tional resilience to climate change; and 

7 (3) the progress made towards the development 

8 of an effective whole-of-government effort to build 

9 resilience to the climate vulnerabilities described in 

10 the National Climate Assessment or other relevant 

11 analyses identified by the Chief Resilience Officer, 

12 including recommendations for additional steps nec13 essary to reach this goal. 

14 (d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Chief Resilience Officer 

15 shall— 

16 (1) publish draft and final versions of the 

17 Strategy and Implementation Plan, and each update 

18 to the Strategy and Implementation Plan; and 

19 (2) through publication in the Federal Register, 

20 solicit comments from the public on the draft 

21 versions of the documents published under para22 graph (1) for a period of 60 days, which the Chief 

23 Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall 

24 consider before submitting final versions of the 

25 Strategy and Implementation Plan, and updates to 


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1 the Strategy and Implementation Plan, to the Presi2 dent and Congress. 

3 SEC. 7. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) SUNSET.—This Act ceases to be effective on the 

5 date that is the earlier of— 

6 (1) the date on which the Comptroller General 

7 of the United States submits to the President and 

8 Congress the third assessment report under section 

9 6(c); and 

10 (2) the date that is the last day of fiscal year 

11 2032. 

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the Executive Office of 

14 the President to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for each 

15 of fiscal years 2022 through the fiscal year in which this 

16 Act ceases to be effective under subsection (a). 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Climate Adap19 tation and Resilience Strategy Act of 2022’’. 

20 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE 

21 STRATEGY. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) ADAPTATION.—The term ‘‘adaptation’’ 

24 means an adjustment in a natural or human system 

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1 dition, including such an adjustment associated with 

2 climate change, that exploits beneficial opportunities 

3 or moderates negative effects. 

4 (2) ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.—The term ‘‘adaptive 

5 capacity’’ means the ability of a system— 

6 (A) to adjust to climate vulnerabilities to 

7 moderate potential damage or harm; 

8 (B) to take advantage of new, and poten9 tially beneficial, opportunities; or 

10 (C) to cope with change. 

11 (3) CASCADING CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term 

12 ‘‘cascading climate hazards’’ means a series of succes13 sive environmental hazards triggered by an initial 

14 hazard that is driven or exacerbated by climate 

15 change, such that the impacts to vulnerable systems 

16 are amplified. 

17 (4) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER.—The term 

18 ‘‘Chief Resilience Officer’’ means the Chief Resilience 

19 Officer of the United States appointed by the Presi20 dent under subsection (b)(1)(A). 

21 (5) CLIMATE CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 

22 change’’ means changes in average atmospheric and 

23 oceanic conditions that persist over multiple decades 

24 or longer and are natural or anthropogenic in origin, 

25 including— 


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1 (A) both increases and decreases in tem2 perature; 

3 (B) shifts in precipitation; 

4 (C) shifts in ecoregion or biome geography 

5 and phenology, as applicable; 

6 (D) changing risk from certain types of 

7 rapid-onset climate hazards and slow-onset cli8 mate hazards; and 

9 (E) changes to other features of the climate 

10 system. 

11 (6) CLIMATE INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘climate 

12 information’’ means information, data, or products 

13 that enhance knowledge and understanding of climate 

14 science, risk, conditions, vulnerability, or impact, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) climate data products; 

17 (B) historic or future climate projections or 

18 scenarios; 

19 (C) climate risk or vulnerability informa20 tion; 

21 (D) data or information related to climate 

22 adaptation and mitigation; and 

23 (E) other best available climate science. 

24 (7) COMPOUND CLIMATE HAZARDS.—The term 

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1 ronmental hazards driven or exacerbated by climate 

2 change that occur simultaneously or successively, such 

3 that the impacts to vulnerable systems are amplified. 

4 (8) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

5 Partners Council on Climate Adaptation and Resil6 ience established by subsection (c)(1). 

7 (9) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agen8 cy’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agen9 cy’’ in section 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

10 (10) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATE.—The term 

11 ‘‘Freely Associated State’’ means— 

12 (A) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

13 (B) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

14 and 

15 (C) the Republic of Palau. 

16 (11) FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES.—The term 

17 ‘‘frontline communities’’ means human communities 

18 that— 

19 (A) are highly vulnerable to climate change 

20 or exposed to climate risk; 

21 (B) experience the earliest, most adverse im22 pacts of climate change; and 

23 (C) may have a reduced ability to adapt to 

24 climate change due to a lack of resources, polit25 ical power, or adaptive capacity. 


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1 (12) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Imple2 mentation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan 

3 jointly developed by the Chief Resilience Officer and 

4 the Working Groups under subsection (e)(2). 

5 (13) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

6 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In7 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

8 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

9 (14) NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT.—The 

10 term ‘‘National Climate Assessment’’ means the as11 sessment delivered to Congress and the President pur12 suant to section 106 of the Global Change Research 

13 Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2936). 

14 (15) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

15 ‘‘natural infrastructure’’ means infrastructure that— 

16 (A) uses, restores, or emulates natural eco17 logical, geological, or physical processes; and 

18 (B)(i) is created through the action of nat19 ural physical, geological, biological, and chem20 ical processes over time; 

21 (ii) is created by human design, engineer22 ing, and construction to emulate or act in con23 cert with natural processes; or 

24 (iii) involves the use of plants, soils, and 

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1 ation, restoration, or preservation of natural 

2 areas using materials appropriate to the region 

3 to manage stormwater and runoff, to attenuate 

4 flooding and storm surges, to manage erosion 

5 and saltwater intrusion, and for other related 

6 purposes. 

7 (16) NON-FEDERAL PARTNER.—The term ‘‘non8 Federal partner’’ means a member of a unit of State, 

9 local, or territorial government, the government of an 

10 Indian Tribe, the government of a Freely Associated 

11 State, a private sector entity, or another individual 

12 or organization not affiliated with the Federal Gov13 ernment. 

14 (17) OPERATIONS REPORT.—The term ‘‘Oper15 ations Report’’ means the National Climate Adapta16 tion and Resilience Operations Report jointly devel17 oped by the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working 

18 Groups under subsection (d). 

19 (18) RAPID-ONSET CLIMATE HAZARD.—The term 

20 ‘‘rapid-onset climate hazard’’ means an abrupt envi21 ronmental hazard driven or exacerbated by climate 

22 change that occurs quickly or unexpectedly and trig23 gers impacts that materialize rapidly and interact 

24 with conditions of exposure and vulnerability to re25 sult in a disaster. 


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1 (19) REPRESENTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rep2 resented agency’’ means each Federal agency from 

3 which the Chief Resilience Officer appoints a member 

4 to a Working Group under subsection 

5 (b)(2)(D)(ii)(II). 

6 (20) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ means 

7 the capacity of a social, physical, economic, or envi8 ronmental system to cope with an environmental haz9 ard event, trend, or disturbance that is driven or ex10 acerbated by climate change by responding or reorga11 nizing in ways that maintain, to the greatest extent 

12 practicable, the essential function, identity, and struc13 ture of the system and ensure that, in the event of a 

14 rapid-onset climate hazard or a slow-onset climate 

15 hazard, basic human needs are met, while also main16 taining the capacity for adaptation and trans17 formation. 

18 (21) RISK.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘risk’’ means 

20 the potential for consequences in a situation in 

21 which— 

22 (i) something of value is at stake; and 

23 (ii) the outcome is uncertain. 

24 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘risk’’ includes 

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1 paragraph (A) that is evaluated as the product 

2 obtained by multiplying— 

3 (i) the probability of a hazard occur4 ring; by 

5 (ii) the consequence that would result 

6 if the hazard occurred. 

7 (22) SLOW-ONSET CLIMATE HAZARD.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘slow-onset cli9 mate hazard’’ means an environmental hazard 

10 driven or exacerbated by climate change that 

11 evolves gradually through time due to incre12 mental change or because of an increasing fre13 quency or intensity of recurring climate impacts. 

14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘slow-onset cli15 mate hazard’’ includes hazards such as— 

16 (i) sea level rise; 

17 (ii) desertification; 

18 (iii) biodiversity loss or the alteration 

19 of or shift in habitat range of individual 

20 species or entire biomes; 

21 (iv) increasing temperatures; 

22 (v) ocean acidification; 

23 (vi) saltwater intrusion; 

24 (vii) soil salinization; 

25 (viii) drought and water scarcity; 


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1 (ix) reduced snow pack; 

2 (x) sea ice retreat; 

3 (xi) glacial ice retreat; 

4 (xii) permafrost thaw; and 

5 (xiii) coastal and river bank erosion. 

6 (23) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 

7 the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience 

8 Strategy required to be developed jointly by the Chief 

9 Resilience Officer and the Working Groups under sub10 section (e)(1). 

11 (24) TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

12 ‘‘territorial government’’ means the government of a 

13 territory (as defined in section 602(g) of the Social 

14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 802(g))). 

15 (25) VULNERABILITY.—The term ‘‘vulnerability’’ 

16 means the propensity or predisposition of a human 

17 individual or community or physical, biological, or 

18 socioeconomic system to be susceptible to and ad19 versely affected by the impacts of climate change. 

20 (26) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘Working 

21 Group’’ means a National Climate Adaptation and 

22 Resilience Working Group established by the Chief 

23 Resilience Officer under subsection (b)(2). 

24 (b) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER AND NATIONAL CLI25 MATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE WORKING GROUPS.— 


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1 (1) CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi4 dent shall identify or appoint a Chief Resilience 

5 Officer of the United States to serve in the Exec6 utive Office of the President. 

7 (B) DUTIES.—The Chief Resilience Officer 

8 shall— 

9 (i) serve the President by directing a 

10 whole-of-government effort to build resilience 

11 to climate change vulnerabilities in the 

12 United States (as described in the National 

13 Climate Assessment or other relevant anal14 yses identified by the Chief Resilience Offi15 cer) in collaboration with existing Federal 

16 initiatives and interagency adaptation ef17 forts; 

18 (ii) establish Working Groups in ac19 cordance with paragraph (2) to facilitate 

20 interagency coordination with respect to cli21 mate resilience and adaptation; and 

22 (iii) at the end of a presidential ad23 ministration, delegate the duties of the Chief 

24 Resilience Officer to the Executive Secretary 

25 of the Working Groups designated under 


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1 paragraph (2)(F)(i)(I) until a new Chief 

2 Resilience Officer is appointed. 

3 (C) COMPENSATION.—The Chief Resilience 

4 Officer shall be compensated by the Federal Gov5 ernment at level III of the Executive Schedule in 

6 subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (2) WORKING GROUPS.— 

9 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

11 (ii), the Chief Resilience Officer shall estab12 lish the minimum number of National Cli13 mate Adaptation and Resilience Working 

14 Groups that is necessary to carry out the 

15 duties and purposes described in subpara16 graph (C). 

17 (ii) LIMITATION.—The Chief Resilience 

18 Officer shall not establish more than 5 

19 Working Groups. 

20 (B) FOCUS.—Each Working Group shall 

21 focus on a topic or series of related topics with 

22 respect to climate adaptation and resilience, as 

23 determined by the Chief Resilience Officer. 

24 (C) DUTIES AND PURPOSE.—Each Working 

25 Group shall, under the leadership of the Chief 


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1 Resilience Officer, with respect to the focus of the 

2 Working Group— 

3 (i) coordinate a whole-of-government 

4 plan to build resilience to the applicable cli5 mate change vulnerabilities described in the 

6 National Climate Assessment or other rel7 evant analyses identified by the Chief Resil8 ience Officer; 

9 (ii) assist in the development of the ap10 plicable portions of— 

11 (I) the Operations Report; 

12 (II) the Strategy; and 

13 (III) the Implementation Plan; 

14 and 

15 (iii) assist in the standardization 

16 across represented agencies of, with respect 

17 to climate change, the term ‘‘resilience’’ to 

18 promote greater consistency in Federal re19 silience leadership. 

20 (D) STRUCTURE.— 

21 (i) CHAIRPERSON.— 

22 (I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to a 

23 designation under subclause (III), the 

24 Chief Resilience Officer shall serve as 

25 chairperson of each Working Group. 


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1 (II) TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON.— 

2 The President or the Chief Resilience 

3 Officer may designate another staff 

4 member or member of a Working 

5 Group to act temporarily as the chair6 person of that Working Group in the 

7 absence of the Chief Resilience Officer. 

8 (III) DESIGNATED AGENCY CHAIR9 PERSON.—The Chief Resilience Officer 

10 may designate as chairperson of a 

11 Working Group the head of a rep12 resented agency that serves on that 

13 Working Group. 

14 (ii) MEMBERSHIP.—In establishing a 

15 Working Group, the Chief Resilience Officer 

16 shall— 

17 (I) identify each Federal agency 

18 with operations or organizational 

19 units that are relevant to the focus of 

20 the Working Group; and 

21 (II) appoint 1 member of each 

22 Federal agency identified under sub23 clause (I) to represent that Federal 

24 agency on the Working Group. 


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1 (iii) REQUIREMENT.—In appointing a 

2 member of a Working Group under clause 

3 (ii)(II), the Chief Resilience Officer shall, to 

4 the maximum extent practicable, appoint 

5 the head of the portion of the represented 

6 agency that is most relevant to the focus of 

7 the Working Group. 

8 (iv) DUTIES OF MEMBERS.—Each 

9 member of a Working Group— 

10 (I) shall attend meetings of the 

11 Working Group; and 

12 (II) work to support the duties of 

13 the Working Group. 

14 (E) MEETINGS.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each Working 

16 Group shall meet not less frequently than 

17 once every 180 days. 

(ii) QUORUM.—3 18 ⁄4 of the members of a 

19 Working Group shall constitute a quorum of 

20 the Working Group. 

21 (iii) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A 

22 member of a Working Group may partici23 pate in a meeting of that Working Group 

24 through teleconference or similar means. 

25 (F) SUPPORT PERSONNEL.— 


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1 (i) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.— 

2 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Re3 silience Officer shall designate a per4 manent employee of a represented 

5 agency to serve as Executive Secretary 

6 of the Working Groups. 

7 (II) EMPLOYMENT.—The employee 

8 designated as Executive Secretary 

9 under subclause (I) shall remain an 

10 employee of the agency, department, or 

11 program from which the employee was 

12 appointed. 

13 (ii) NECESSARY ASSISTANCE.—To 

14 carry out the purposes of each Working 

15 Group, as described in subparagraph (C), 

16 each represented agency with a member on 

17 the Working Group shall furnish necessary 

18 assistance to that Working Group, such 

19 as— 

20 (I) a detail of employees to the 

21 Working Group to perform such func22 tions, consistent with the purposes of 

23 the Working Group described in sub24 paragraph (C), as the Chief Resilience 

25 Officer may assign, including support 


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1 staff for the Executive Secretary ap2 pointed under clause (i)(I); and 

3 (II) on request of the Chief Resil4 ience Officer, undertaking special stud5 ies for the Working Group as may be 

6 appropriate to carry out the functions 

7 of the Working Group. 

8 (c) PARTNERS COUNCIL ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND

9 RESILIENCE.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

11 council, to be known as the ‘‘Partners Council on Cli12 mate Adaptation and Resilience’’. 

13 (2) MISSION AND FUNCTION.—The Council shall 

14 work to improve the climate adaptation and resilience 

15 operations of the Federal Government by providing 

16 recommendations through the Chief Resilience Officer, 

17 including those recommendations contained in the re18 port required under paragraph (3), that identify how 

19 the Federal Government can better support non-Fed20 eral partners with equitable resources, technical as21 sistance, improved policies, and other assistance to 

22 help frontline communities build resilience to climate 

23 change. 

24 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after the 

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1 after, the Council, acting through the Chief Resilience 

2 Officer, shall submit to the President and the Working 

3 Groups a report that includes— 

4 (A) an analysis of the deficiencies or gaps 

5 in the climate resilience operations of the Federal 

6 Government that reduce or fail to increase the 

7 capacity of non-Federal partners to adapt to cli8 mate change; 

9 (B) an identification of the resources, in10 cluding Federal funding, necessary for non-Fed11 eral partners to adequately adapt to climate 

12 change; and 

13 (C) recommendations with respect to how 

14 the Federal Government could better support ef15 forts by non-Federal partners to expeditiously 

16 address vulnerabilities associated with climate 

17 change and build climate resilience. 

18 (4) CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR.—The Chief Resil19 ience Officer shall serve as chairperson of the Council 

20 and shall appoint a vice-chairperson from among the 

21 members of the Council appointed pursuant to para22 graph (5). 

23 (5) MEMBERSHIP.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the Chief 

25 Resilience Officer, the Council shall consist of not 


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1 more than 23 members appointed by the Chief 

2 Resilience Officer. 

3 (B) APPOINTMENT.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Resilience 

5 Officer shall appoint members of the Coun6 cil who can support the Working Groups by 

7 articulating how the Federal Government 

8 can better support State governments, local 

9 governments, territorial governments, the 

10 governments of Indian Tribes, the govern11 ments of Freely Associated States, nonprofit 

12 organizations, or private sector entities to 

13 build resilience to climate change. 

14 (ii) NON-FEDERAL PARTNER MEM15 BERS.—The Chief Resilience Officer shall 

16 appoint 20 non-Federal partner members of 

17 the Council as follows: 

18 (I) 12 members who are employees 

19 of State governments, local govern20 ments, territorial governments, the gov21 ernments of Indian Tribes, or the gov22 ernments of Freely Associated States, 

23 of which— 


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1 (aa) not fewer than 2 shall 

2 be employees of a State govern3 ment; 

4 (bb) not fewer than 2 shall be 

5 employees of a unit of local gov6 ernment; 

7 (cc) not fewer than 2 shall be 

8 employees of the government of an 

9 Indian Tribe; and 

10 (dd) not fewer than 2 shall 

11 be employees of a territorial gov12 ernment or the government of a 

13 Freely Associated State; and 

14 (II) 8 members who represent 

15 nongovernmental organizations and the 

16 private sector, of which— 

17 (aa) 3 shall represent non18 governmental organizations; 

19 (bb) 3 shall represent the pri20 vate sector; and 

21 (cc) 2 shall represent aca22 demic institutions. 

23 (iii) REPRESENTED AGENCY MEM24 BERS.—The Chief Resilience Officer may, 

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1 point not more than 3 representatives of 

2 represented agencies to the Council that the 

3 Chief Resilience Officer determines would 

4 promote dialogue useful for implementation 

5 of the duties of the Council while keeping 

6 the size of the Council manageable. 

7 (iv) SELECTION.—To the maximum 

8 extent practicable, the Chief Resilience Offi9 cer shall seek to select members of the Coun10 cil who— 

11 (I) possess first-hand, lived experi12 ence of climate vulnerability in the 

13 United States, including direct experi14 ence working with, or as members of, 

15 frontline communities; and 

16 (II) represent a diversity of— 

17 (aa) perspectives; 

18 (bb) demographics; 

19 (cc) geographies; 

20 (dd) political affiliations; 

21 and 

22 (ee) institution sizes, includ23 ing representatives of both small 

24 and large units of government 

25 and businesses. 


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1 (v) TERM.—Members appointed to the 

2 Council shall serve a single term of not 

3 more than 3 years, except that— 

4 (I) of the initial members ap5 pointed to the Council, the Chief Resil6 ience Officer shall appoint— 

(aa) 1 7 ⁄2 of the members to 

8 serve for a term of 18 months; and 

(bb) 1 9 ⁄2 of the members to 

10 serve a term of 3 years; and 

11 (II) the Chief Resilience Officer 

12 may extend the term of any member of 

13 the Council by a period of not more 

14 than 1 year on a one-time basis, if the 

15 Chief Resilience Officer determines it 

16 necessary to support the work of the 

17 Council. 

18 (vi) VACANCIES.— 

19 (I) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy in 

20 the Council shall be filled in the same 

21 manner in which the original selection 

22 was made. 

23 (II) APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEM24 BERS.—After the expiration of the 

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1 cil is appointed, the member may con2 tinue to serve until a successor is ap3 pointed. 

4 (6) MEETINGS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall meet 

6 not less frequently than once every 180 days. 

(B) QUORUM.—3 7 ⁄4 of the members of the 

8 Council shall constitute a quorum of the Council. 

9 (C) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member of 

10 the Council may participate in a meeting of the 

11 Council through teleconference or similar means. 

12 (7) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Section 14 of the 

13 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

14 shall not apply to the Council. 

15 (d) NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE

16 OPERATIONS REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, 

18 the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall 

19 jointly and simultaneously submit to the President and 

20 Congress a National Climate Adaptation and Resilience 

21 Operations Report that includes— 

22 (1) a summary of the existing climate resilience 

23 operations of each represented agency that includes— 

24 (A) the roles and responsibilities of each 

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1 ience to the climate vulnerabilities described in 

2 the National Climate Assessment or other anal3 yses relevant to each represented agency; 

4 (B) the major findings and conclusions 

5 from climate adaptation plans or risk or vulner6 ability assessments prepared by each represented 

7 agency; 

8 (C) the mechanisms by which each rep9 resented agency supports the resilience efforts of 

10 non-Federal partners, such as by providing 

11 funding, resources, and technical assistance; and 

12 (D) an assessment of how each represented 

13 agency is working to ensure equitable adaptation 

14 outcomes; and 

15 (2) a cross-agency analysis of the resilience oper16 ations identified under paragraph (1) that— 

17 (A) identifies— 

18 (i) the challenges, barriers, or disincen19 tives for the Federal Government to build 

20 resilience to climate change in the United 

21 States; 

22 (ii) the inconsistencies in goals, prior23 ities, or strategies underlying climate resil24 ience operations and policy across rep25 resented agencies that may inhibit effective 


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1 interagency coordination to support na2 tional climate resilience, including— 

3 (I) the areas of necessary dif4 ferences in those goals, priorities, or 

5 strategies; and 

6 (II) the justifications for those in7 consistencies; 

8 (iii) areas of overlap or redundant use 

9 of resources between or among represented 

10 agencies, including recommendations to 

11 eliminate any unnecessary or unintentional 

12 redundancy; 

13 (iv) gaps or deficiencies in resilience 

14 operations and policy that need to be ad15 dressed in the context of the Strategy; 

16 (v) opportunities for greater collabora17 tion between or among represented agencies 

18 to improve Federal Government resilience 

19 operations and policy; and 

20 (vi) opportunities for greater collabora21 tion between the Federal Government and 

22 non-Federal partners to build local-level 

23 adaptive capacity and resilience; and 

24 (B) includes a review and summary of all 

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1 cies that is specifically allocated for climate ad2 aptation activities to be undertaken by non-Fed3 eral partners, including— 

4 (i) a summary of Federal funding 

5 available in appropriations accounts and 

6 subaccounts; 

7 (ii) disparities between the supply and 

8 demand for adaptation funding available to 

9 non-Federal partners; and 

10 (iii) existing mechanisms to ensure 

11 Federal funding allocations are being di12 rected to frontline communities with the 

13 greatest level of vulnerability. 

14 (e) NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE

15 STRATEGY.— 

16 (1) STRATEGY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief 

19 Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall 

20 jointly submit and simultaneously to the Presi21 dent and Congress a National Climate Adapta22 tion and Resilience Strategy. 

23 (B) UPDATES.—Not later than the date that 

24 is 3 years after the date on which the Chief Re25 silience Officer and the Working Groups jointly 


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1 and simultaneously submit the Strategy to the 

2 President and Congress under subparagraph (A), 

3 and every 3 years thereafter, the Chief Resilience 

4 Officer and the Working Groups shall jointly 

5 submit an updated version of the Strategy to the 

6 President and Congress to account for— 

7 (i) new science related to climate 

8 change, resilience, and adaptation; 

9 (ii) relevant changes in Federal Gov10 ernment structure, congressional authorities, 

11 or appropriations; and 

12 (iii) any other necessary improvements 

13 or changes identified by the Chief Resilience 

14 Officer. 

15 (C) PURPOSE AND SCOPE.—The Strategy 

16 shall describe strategies for the Federal Govern17 ment, in partnership with non-Federal partners, 

18 to address the vulnerabilities of the United States 

19 to climate change described in the National Cli20 mate Assessment or other relevant analyses iden21 tified by the Chief Resilience Officer to ensure 

22 that— 

23 (i) the United States has an over24 arching strategic vision to respond to cli25 mate change that— 


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1 (I) identifies national climate re2 silience goals and guides national cli3 mate adaptation efforts; 

4 (II) facilitates the incorporation 

5 of the climate resilience goals identified 

6 under subclause (I) into relevant na7 tional programs, operations, and strat8 egies; 

9 (III) develops proactive, long10 term, scenario-based strategies to plan 

11 for and respond to current and future 

12 climate impacts to human commu13 nities, natural resources and public 

14 land, and infrastructure and other 

15 physical assets; 

16 (IV) emphasizes forward-thinking 

17 adaptation strategies, including 

18 predisaster mitigation, that seek to 

19 overcome repeated climate impacts to 

20 vulnerable systems and communities; 

21 (V) prioritizes climate resilience 

22 efforts to support the most vulnerable 

23 human communities and the most ur24 gent national resilience challenges, as 

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1 ficer in consultation with the Working 

2 Groups; 

3 (VI) avoids unnecessary 

4 redundancies and inefficiencies in the 

5 national planning for and response to 

6 climate change; and 

7 (VII) recognizes the vulnerability 

8 of natural systems to climate change 

9 and underscores the importance of pro10 moting ecosystem resilience to preserve 

11 the intrinsic value of nature and sup12 port ecosystem services relied on by 

13 human beings; 

14 (ii) Federal investments in Federal 

15 and non-Federal infrastructure and assets 

16 promote climate resilience to the maximum 

17 extent practicable; and 

18 (iii) the adaptive capacity and resil19 ience of State governments, local govern20 ments, territorial governments, the govern21 ments of Indian Tribes, and governments of 

22 Freely Associated States are maximized to 

23 the maximum extent practicable. 

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1 cer and Working Groups shall consider the rec2 ommendations of the Council. 

3 (E) INCLUSIONS.—In addition to the over4 arching strategies developed in accordance with 

5 subparagraph (C), the Strategy shall include in6 formation with respect to the following: 

7 (i) DIRECT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RE8 SPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

9 (I) Addressing the limitations, 

10 redundancies, and opportunities for 

11 improved resilience operations of the 

12 Federal Government that are identified 

13 in the Operations Report. 

14 (II) Better preparing the United 

15 States for the adverse impacts experi16 enced or anticipated to be experienced 

17 as a result of— 

18 (aa) rapid-onset climate haz19 ards; 

20 (bb) slow-onset climate haz21 ards; 

22 (cc) compound climate haz23 ards; and 

24 (dd) cascading climate haz25 ards. 


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1 (III) Educating, engaging, or de2 veloping the skills of the workforce of 

3 the represented agencies with respect to 

4 topics related to climate change vulner5 ability and resilience to promote effec6 tive Federal resilience operations. 

7 (IV) An identification of opportu8 nities and appropriate circumstances 

9 for represented agencies to better utilize 

10 natural infrastructure as an adapta11 tion strategy. 

12 (ii) SUPPORT OF NON-FEDERAL PART13 NERS’ RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

14 (I) Methods for represented agen15 cies to better collaborate and work di16 rectly with non-Federal partners to in17 crease the resilience and adaptive ca18 pacity of State governments, local gov19 ernments, territorial governments, the 

20 governments of Indian Tribes, the gov21 ernments of Freely Associated States, 

22 and other non-Federal partners. 

23 (II) Educating non-Federal part24 ners about the availability of Federal 

25 funding opportunities identified in the 


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1 Operations Report under subsection 

2 (d)(2)(B), including the development of 

3 a centralized, cross-agency portal that 

4 allows non-Federal partners to easily 

5 identify and apply for appropriate 

6 Federal funding opportunities for the 

7 specific resilience needs of those non8 Federal partners. 

9 (III) Clarifying, simplifying, and 

10 harmonizing the planning require11 ments and application processes for 

12 State governments, local governments, 

13 territorial governments, the govern14 ments of Indian Tribes, and the gov15 ernments of Freely Associated States to 

16 access Federal funds for climate adap17 tation and resilience efforts across rep18 resented agencies. 

19 (IV) Identifying under-resourced 

20 communities and communities with 

21 low adaptive capacity and resilience 

22 and to directly support those commu23 nities in applying for Federal funds 

24 for climate adaptation and resilience 

25 efforts. 


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1 (V) Supporting the retreat or relo2 cation of human communities in areas 

3 that are at increasing risk from cli4 mate change, in particular from slow5 onset climate hazards, including strate6 gies to better manage equitable prop7 erty buyouts, managed retreat, or relo8 cation options for communities in 

9 those areas. 

10 (iii) CLIMATE INFORMATION.— 

11 (I) Increasing the accessibility 

12 and utility of climate information that 

13 is produced, published, or hosted by the 

14 Federal Government, including strate15 gies to better collaborate across the rep16 resented agencies and work with non17 Federal partners— 

18 (aa) to provide the high-qual19 ity, locally relevant climate infor20 mation and, where practicable 

21 and useful, transparent and 

22 replicable downscaled climate pro23 jections that are necessary to sup24 port local-level adaptation efforts; 


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1 (bb) to establish improved 

2 methods of communicating cli3 mate risk and other relevant cli4 mate information; 

5 (cc) to better educate non6 Federal partners about the avail7 able resources for climate infor8 mation; and 

9 (dd) to assist non-Federal 

10 partners in selecting and using 

11 appropriate climate information 

12 or related tools. 

13 (II) Standardized procedures to 

14 synthesize, align, and update climate 

15 information produced, published, or 

16 hosted by the Federal Government to 

17 create arrays of standardized national, 

18 regional, and, where applicable, local 

19 climate information for adaptation 

20 planning. 

21 (III) An assessment of the neces22 sity and utility of developing or im23 proving a centralized clearinghouse 

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1 mate information to better provide cli2 mate information to end users. 

3 (IV) Developing the centralized 

4 clearinghouse or dedicated Federal pro5 gram described in subclause (III), if 

6 such an effort is determined to be nec7 essary by the Chief Resilience Officer. 

8 (iv) RESILIENCE METRICS AND INDICA9 TORS.—At the discretion of the Chief Resil10 ience Officer, developing or improving resil11 ience metrics and indicators to assist the 

12 Federal Government and non-Federal part13 ners— 

14 (I) to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, to consistently measure the re16 silience of human communities, nat17 ural systems, and physical assets to 

18 climate change; 

19 (II) to set baselines and targets to 

20 measurably increase climate resilience 

21 over time; and 

22 (III) to better monitor and assess 

23 the effectiveness of various resilience24 building activities after implementa25 tion. 


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1 (v) FUNDING CLIMATE ADAPTATION.— 

2 (I) Helping to prioritize Federal 

3 funding expenditures for adaptation 

4 and resilience in consideration of the 

5 greatest vulnerabilities. 

6 (II) Creating financial incentives 

7 for adaptation and resilience efforts. 

8 (III) A review of the cost-benefit 

9 analysis methodologies and discount 

10 rates used by represented agencies for 

11 all Federal investments, including a 

12 review of the implications of those 

13 methodologies and discount rates for 

14 climate adaptation and resilience. 

15 (IV) Recommendations to improve 

16 the methodologies described in sub17 clause (III) to reflect— 

18 (aa) the added value of resil19 ience planning and construction 

20 methodologies over the lifetime of 

21 a project or unit of infrastructure; 

22 (bb) the benefits of natural 

23 infrastructure investments; 


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1 (cc) the potential value of re2 treat and relocation as adaptation 

3 solutions; and 

4 (dd) to what extent existing 

5 cost-benefit analysis methodologies 

6 lead to inequitable outcomes or 

7 outcomes that increase climate 

8 vulnerability. 

9 (vi) SOCIAL EQUITY.— 

10 (I) Ensuring that the costs, bene11 fits, and risks resulting from climate 

12 resilience efforts, including funding al13 locations, the methodologies for deter14 mining funding allocations, and exist15 ing and future policies, are equitably 

16 distributed among sectors of society, 

17 types of communities, and geographies. 

18 (II) Ensuring that federally sup19 ported climate resilience efforts are— 

20 (aa) designed in consultation 

21 with the communities that will be 

22 affected by those efforts; and 

23 (bb) centered on the needs of 

24 those communities. 


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1 (III) To the greatest extent prac2 ticable, integrating social equity con3 siderations across all aspects of the 

4 Strategy. 

5 (2) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Concurrently with 

6 the Strategy and each update of the Strategy, the 

7 Chief Resilience Officer and the Working Groups shall 

8 jointly and simultaneously submit to the President 

9 and Congress an Implementation Plan that describes 

10 how represented agencies intend to carry out the 

11 Strategy, which shall include— 

12 (A) a description of the roles and respon13 sibilities of each represented agency in carrying 

14 out each element of the Strategy described in 

15 paragraph (1); 

16 (B) a plan to enter into such interagency 

17 agreements between and among represented agen18 cies, partnerships with non-Federal entities, and 

19 other agreements for coordination between and 

20 among the Federal Government and non-Federal 

21 partners as may be necessary to facilitate a uni22 fied national plan to build resilience to climate 

23 change; and 

24 (C) the use of any relevant metrics and in25 dicators described in paragraph (1)(E)(iv). 


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1 (3) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years fol2 lowing the completion of each Strategy under para3 graph (1)(A) and each Implementation Plan, the 

4 Comptroller General of the United States shall simul5 taneously submit to the President and Congress a re6 port that assesses— 

7 (A) the extent to which the Strategy and 

8 Implementation Plan have been carried out by 

9 the Federal Government, which shall be judged, 

10 as appropriate, based on any metrics and indi11 cators developed to track progress in increasing 

12 resilience under paragraph (1)(E)(iv); 

13 (B) the effectiveness of the actions taken 

14 under the Strategy and Implementation Plan 

15 and the resulting outcomes of those actions in 

16 building national resilience to climate change; 

17 and 

18 (C) the progress made towards the develop19 ment of an effective whole-of-government effort to 

20 build resilience to the climate vulnerabilities de21 scribed in the National Climate Assessment or 

22 other relevant analyses identified by the Chief 

23 Resilience Officer, including recommendations 

24 for additional steps necessary to reach this goal. 


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1 (4) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Chief Resilience Of2 ficer shall— 

3 (A) publish draft and final versions of the 

4 Strategy and Implementation Plan, and each 

5 update to the Strategy and Implementation 

6 Plan; and 

7 (B) through publication in the Federal Reg8 ister, solicit comments from the public on the 

9 draft versions of the documents published under 

10 subparagraph (A) for a period of 60 days, which 

11 the Chief Resilience Officer and the Working 

12 Groups shall consider before submitting final 

13 versions of the Strategy and Implementation 

14 Plan, and updates to the Strategy and Imple15 mentation Plan, to the President and Congress. 

16 (f) SUNSET.—This section ceases to be effective on the 

17 date that is the earlier of— 

18 (1) the date on which the Comptroller General of 

19 the United States submits to the President and Con20 gress the third assessment report under subsection 

21 (e)(3); and 

22 (2) the date that is the last day of fiscal year 

23 2033. 


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Calendar No. 615 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3531 

[Report No. 117–237] 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Government to produce a 

egy, and for other purposes. national climate adaptation and resilience stratDECEMBER 12, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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