I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5204 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a grant program to facilitate the development of climate adaptation 

plans by certain entities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 15, 2023 

Ms. ESCOBAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to establish a grant program to facilitate the 

development of climate adaptation plans by certain entities, 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 ‘‘Climate Adaptation 

5 Plan Act’’ or the ‘‘CAP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

8 date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator 


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1 shall establish a grant program to award amounts, on a 

2 competitive basis, to eligible entities to facilitate the devel3 opment of a climate adaptation plan by such eligible enti4 ties. 

5 (b) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall issue guid6 ance regarding the implementation of the grant program 

7 established under subsection (a) in consultation with 

8 stakeholders, including representatives of youth, farmers, 

9 nongovernmental organizations, the scientific and techno10 logical community, trade unions, the business and indus11 trial community, Indigenous communities, and local gov12 ernments. 

13 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

14 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Adminis15 trator an application in such form, at such time, and con16 taining such information as the Administrator determines 

17 appropriate, including the following: 

18 (1) Information demonstrating that a low-in19 come community is included within the population 

20 represented by the eligible entity. 

21 (2) Information demonstrating that the eligible 

22 entity either has experience with, or plans to con23 tract the services of an individual or entity who has 

24 experience with— 


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1 (A) conducting risk assessments with re2 gard to climate change; 

3 (B) hazard mitigation; 

4 (C) program and project finance; and 

5 (D) Federal grant applications. 

6 (3) Demographic information of the population 

7 represented by the eligible entity, including— 

8 (A) population size; 

9 (B) average household income; 

10 (C) race; 

11 (D) education level; and 

12 (E) primary sectors of employment. 

13 (4) A statement describing why the eligible en14 tity wants to develop a climate adaptation plan. 

15 (5) Information regarding the negative effects 

16 of climate change the eligible entity is, or is at risk 

17 of, experiencing. 

18 (6) Information regarding the strategy the eligi19 ble entity will use in the development of the climate 

20 adaptation plan to engage stakeholders, which shall 

21 include, as applicable to the eligible entity, rep22 resentatives of youth, farmers, nongovernmental or23 ganizations, the scientific and technological commu24 nity, trade unions, the business and industrial com25 munity, Indigenous communities that will be affected 


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1 by the climate adaptation plan of the eligible entity, 

2 and neighboring jurisdictions. 

3 (7) The identity of the person who will lead the 

4 development of the climate adaptation plan. 

5 (8) A statement regarding whether the eligible 

6 entity will hire a third party to facilitate the develop7 ment of the climate adaptation plan. 

8 (9) The expected timeline for development of 

9 the climate adaptation plan. 

10 (10) Actions the eligible entity plans to take to 

11 ensure that environmental justice communities with12 in the population represented by the eligible entity 

13 are informed of the process for developing the cli14 mate adaptation plan. 

15 (d) INTEGRATION.—In developing a climate adapta16 tion plan using amounts awarded under this section, an 

17 eligible entity shall, to the extent practicable, integrate 

18 such plan with other relevant existing plans, including any 

19 applicable— 

20 (1) hazard mitigation plan developed pursuant 

21 to section 322(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

22 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 5165(a)); 

24 (2) land use plan; 

25 (3) economic development plan; 


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1 (4) capital improvement plan; 

2 (5) community comprehensive plan; and 

3 (6) emergency management plan. 

4 (e) CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 An eligible entity that develops a climate adaptation plan 

6 using amounts awarded under this section shall include 

7 in such climate adaptation plan the following: 

8 (1) An assessment of the risks posed by climate 

9 change to the population represented by the eligible 

10 entity, which shall take into consideration demo11 graphic and social factors of such population, includ12 ing— 

13 (A) geographic distribution; 

14 (B) race; 

15 (C) ethnicity; 

16 (D) socioeconomic status; 

17 (E) health; and 

18 (F) historic and ongoing systemic racism. 

19 (2) An assessment of the risks posed by climate 

20 change to the natural ecosystems within the jurisdic21 tion of the eligible entity, which shall take into con22 sideration factors including— 

23 (A) geography; and 

24 (B) species present in such ecosystems. 


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1 (3) An assessment of the risks posed by climate 

2 change to housing, infrastructure, and public build3 ings within the jurisdiction of the eligible entity. 

4 (4) A description of the actions the eligible enti5 ty plans to take to address risks identified under 

6 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), including— 

7 (A) changes in land use, zoning, or build8 ing codes and standards; and 

9 (B) restoration and protection of areas 

10 within the jurisdiction of the eligible entity and 

11 the development of strategies to achieve such 

12 restoration and protection. 

13 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding amounts under this sec14 tion, the Administrator shall give priority to applications 

15 from eligible entities that include an environmental justice 

16 community within the population represented by the eligi17 ble entity. 

18 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—There shall be no 

19 matching requirement for amounts awarded under this 

20 section. 

21 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ24 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN.—The term 

2 ‘‘climate adaptation plan’’ means a framework for— 

3 (A) measuring, tracking, and reducing 

4 greenhouse gas emissions; and 

5 (B) adopting climate change adaptation 

6 measures. 

7 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means— 

9 (A) a local government; 

10 (B) an agency or instrumentality of a local 

11 government; 

12 (C) the governing body of a federally rec13 ognized Indian Tribe; or 

14 (D) a federally recognized Indian Tribe or 

15 authorized Tribal organization or Alaska Native 

16 village or organization that is not a Tribal gov17 ernment or the governing body of a federally 

18 recognized Indian Tribe. 

19 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

20 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 

21 a community that, as determined by the Adminis22 trator— 

23 (A) has significant representation of— 

24 (i) communities of color; 

25 (ii) low-income communities; or 


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1 (iii) Tribal or Indigenous commu2 nities; and 

3 (B) experiences or is at risk of experi4 encing greater or more frequent adverse envi5 ronmental or health effects as a result of cli6 mate change. 

7 (5) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local 

8 government’’ means a county, municipality, city, 

9 town, township, local public authority, school dis10 trict, special district, intrastate district, council of 

11 governments (regardless of whether the council of 

12 governments is incorporated as a nonprofit corpora13 tion under State law), or regional or interstate gov14 ernmental entity. 

15 (6) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low16 income community’’ means a census block group 

17 within which 30 percent or more of the population 

18 are individuals with an annual household income 

19 equal to, or less than, the greater of— 

20 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

21 median income of the area in which the house22 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

23 of Housing and Urban Development; and 


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1 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

2 line. 

Æ 


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