I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4823 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to revise the policy of the Agency to address the threats of climate 
change, to include considerations of climate change in the strategic 
plan of the Agency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 23, 2019 
Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 
DINGELL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 
CASE, Mr. SOTO, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. MOORE, 
Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, 
Mrs. 
KIRKPATRICK, 
Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CLEAVER, 
Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency to revise the policy of the Agency to 
address the threats of climate change, to include consid-
erations of climate change in the strategic plan of the 
Agency, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FEMA Climate 
Change Preparedness Act’’. 
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(C) as a direct result of climate change, 
sea levels are rising and extreme weather events 
are becoming more commonplace and severe. 
(4) The last 5 years have been the warmest 
years on record since the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration began recording global air 
temperatures in 1895. 
(5) 2017, one of the three warmest years on 
record, was also the most expensive year on record 
for emergency disaster costs in the United States 
due to 16 weather and climate disasters. 
(6) It is the mission of FEMA to reduce the 
loss of life and property and protect our institutions 
from all hazards by leading and supporting the Na-
tion in a comprehensive, risk-based emergency man-
agement program of mitigation, preparedness, re-
sponse, and recovery. 
(7) It is detrimental to the mission of FEMA, 
and the Agency’s ability to follow its mandate, to ex-
plicitly or implicitly deny or ignore the existence of 
climate change or the implications of such on na-
tional security and national emergency management. 
(8) To fully and effectively carry out its man-
date, FEMA must comprehensively assess and incor-
porate the current and future natural disaster risks 
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and impacts posed by climate change throughout the 
Agency’s policies, plans, programs, strategies, and 
operations. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENTS OF INTENT AND POLICY. 
Section 101 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (6) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) integrating, to the greatest extent prac-
ticable, climate change adaptation planning and ac-
tions into the programs, policies, and operations of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and 
‘‘(8) assisting State, local, volunteer, and pri-
vate partners in preparing for and mitigating the 
risks posed by climate change as listed in subsection 
(c)(2), as well as any other climate change risks.’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) CLIMATE CHANGE.—It is the policy of the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency to recognize that— 
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‘‘(1) climate change is— 
‘‘(A) an irrefutable, multidimensional, and 
significant near and long-term threat to United 
States— 
‘‘(i) homeland security; 
‘‘(ii) national security; and 
‘‘(iii) national disaster risk; and 
‘‘(B) primarily caused by anthropogenic 
greenhouse gas emissions; and 
‘‘(2) as a direct result of climate change, the 
United States faces the increased threat of— 
‘‘(A) changing, more frequent, and more 
severe extreme weather events; 
‘‘(B) rising natural hazard risk; 
‘‘(C) disruptions to or failure of critical in-
frastructure; 
‘‘(D) sea-level rise; 
‘‘(E) internal population displacement; 
‘‘(F) the spread of life-threatening dis-
eases; 
‘‘(G) rising annual disaster costs; and 
‘‘(H) disproportionately high risks and im-
pacts to low-income communities, communities 
of color, Tribal communities, and other front-
line communities.’’. 
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SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(13) CLIMATE
CHANGE.—The term ‘climate 
change’ means the long-term shifts in global and re-
gional climate patterns, and associated phenomena, 
that are occurring primarily as a result of anthropo-
genic greenhouse gas emissions. 
‘‘(14) SEA-LEVEL
RISE.—The term ‘sea-level 
rise’ means the local, regional, and global long-term 
trends in rising average sea levels that are occurring 
as a direct result of climate change and additional 
local factors such as land subsidence. 
‘‘(15) EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS.—The term 
‘extreme weather events’ means historically rare or 
severe natural disasters such as heat waves, 
droughts, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. 
‘‘(16) FRONTLINE
COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘frontline community’ means a low-income commu-
nity, community of color, or Tribal community that 
is disproportionately impacted or burdened by cli-
mate change and associated phenomena.’’. 
SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN STRATEGIC 
PLAN. 
(a) CURRENT STRATEGIC PLAN.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator shall revise the 2018–2022 Strategic Plan 
to— 
(A) ensure the text of such plan explicitly 
mentions climate change, in accordance with 
the policy of FEMA in section 101 of the Rob-
ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121), as amended 
by section 3; and 
(B) address the implications of climate 
change on homeland security and near- and 
long-term national disaster risk, including 
emergency preparedness, response, recovery, 
and mitigation. 
(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, appropriate per-
sonnel of FEMA shall brief the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate on the process and 
rationale that resulted in the exclusion of references 
to climate change from the originally published 
2018–2022 Strategic Plan, and if requested by the 
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