I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7534 
To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
an excess urban heat mitigation grant program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 18, 2022 
Mr. GALLEGO (for himself and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
to establish an excess urban heat mitigation grant pro-
gram, 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 ‘‘Excess Urban Heat 
Mitigation Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Heat stress is a leading weather-related 
cause of death in the United States, with over 600 
people killed in the United States by extreme heat 
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every year, and many more experiencing respiratory 
problems and heat-related illness. 
(2) Urban areas are likely to experience higher 
temperatures than surrounding areas due to man-
made factors such as low solar reflectance, low tree 
cover, high building density, high impervious surface 
cover, and waste heat emissions. 
(3) Underserved communities are disproportion-
ately impacted by extreme heat. In the United 
States, low-income census blocks have 15.2 percent 
less tree cover and an average land surface tempera-
ture that is 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than high-in-
come blocks. 
(4) Studies show that in 97 percent of the larg-
est urbanized areas in the United States, people of 
color live in census tracts with higher surface urban 
heat island intensity than non-Hispanic Whites, indi-
cating that heat exposure is unequally distributed by 
race. 
(5) Urban heat is not only a public health 
threat but an economic one, as rising heat leads to 
increased roadway maintenance costs, higher resi-
dential and commercial summer energy costs, and 
lost labor productivity, as well as the cost to patients 
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and health care infrastructure for heat-related hos-
pitalizations and emergency department visits. 
(6) Excess urban heat causes increased energy 
consumption, elevated emission of air pollutants and 
greenhouse gasses, and impaired water quality. 
(7) Heat waves are expected not only to occur 
more frequently in the United States but will also be 
of longer duration, lasting 10 to 20 days longer by 
the end of the century. 
(8) Solutions exist that communities can imple-
ment now to mitigate the challenge of urban heat. 
One example is the planting of urban trees to offset 
or reverse the urban heat island effect. Studies in 
multiple United States cities have shown that urban 
trees can offset projected increases in heat-related 
mortality in 2050 by 40 to 99 percent. 
SEC. 3. URBAN HEAT MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development, in coordination with the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall, not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, establish an urban heat mitigation grant program to 
provide amounts to eligible entities for use in association 
with eligible projects. 
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(b) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—Eligible projects in this 
grant program are those designed to mitigate heat in 
urban areas, either by working to combat the causes of 
higher temperatures, or mitigating the impacts thereof. 
These may include— 
(1) cool pavements; 
(2) cool roofs; 
(3) tree planting and maintenance with, wher-
ever possible, preference for— 
(A) native tree species; and 
(B) tree species with high shade produc-
tion and carbon sequestration; 
(4) green roofs; 
(5) bus stop shelters; 
(6) shade structures; 
(7) cooling centers with, wherever possible, 
preference for— 
(A) cooling centers that collaborate with 
existing community centers and spaces; 
(B) cooling centers with year-round acces-
sibility, and 
(C) cooling centers that incorporate holistic 
resilience hubs and community efforts; 
(8) outreach to communities about resources 
available under this section; and 
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(9) local heat mitigation education efforts. 
(c) SET-ASIDE.—Not less than 50 percent of the 
amount of financial assistance provided under this Act in 
any fiscal year shall be provided to eligible entities to im-
plement projects in low-income communities and Environ-
mental Justice communities as defined in this Act. 
(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 3 percent of 
any amounts appropriated under this Act may be 
used to provide technical assistance to eligible enti-
ties applying for assistance under this Act. 
(2) PREFERENCE.—Technical assistance shall 
be provided with a preference for eligible entities ap-
plying with an intent to serve Environmental Justice 
communities. 
(3) INCLUSIONS.—Technical assistance may in-
clude— 
(A) assistance developing a complete appli-
cation; 
(B) financial analysis and budget develop-
ment; 
(C) support for project integration; 
(D) assessment of project readiness; and 
(E) implementation of technical assistance 
activities once a grant is received. 
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(e) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a grant 
under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an applica-
tion at such time and in such manner as required by the 
Secretary in guidance issued not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act and including— 
(1) how the entity will use grant funds; 
(2) how the eligible projects funded would com-
bat extreme heat or excess urban heat effects and 
improve quality of life for impacted communities; 
(3) a robust engagement plan that outlines how 
the entity will meaningfully engage with the commu-
nities in which their eligible projects take place 
throughout project implementation. Such plan 
should demonstrate how the entity plans to— 
(A) foster meaningful, reciprocal relation-
ships with community-based organizations; 
(B) engage in respectful, good-faith con-
sultation with diverse community stakeholders; 
and 
(C) empower members of the community to 
participate in decision making; and 
(4) how the entity will address the intersection 
between human health, environment, and built envi-
ronment. 
(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 
paragraph (2), the Federal share of the cost of an 
eligible project carried out with amounts from the 
urban heat mitigation grant program shall be 80 
percent. 
(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may increase the 
Federal share requirement described in paragraph 
(1) from 80 percent to 100 percent for projects car-
ried out by an eligible entity that demonstrates eco-
nomic hardship, as determined by the Secretary. 
(g) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that 
are low-income communities and Environmental Justice 
communities. 
(h) REPORTING
REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 
shall, each year, submit a report to the Congress that 
identifies what eligible entities have received grants under 
this Act and the geographic and economic distribution of 
such entities. 
(i) OVERSIGHT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure the effec-
tiveness of projects that receive grants under this 
Act, the Secretary shall use not more than 5 percent 
of any amounts appropriated under this Act to es-
tablish an oversight board to help select grant recipi-
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ents and review the progress made by grantees on 
a yearly basis. 
(2) EVALUATION.—The board established pur-
suant to paragraph (1) shall develop and apply a ru-
bric to evaluate how well grant projects are doing in 
reaching their objective to combat the causes and ef-
fects of excess urban heat, and will serve in an advi-
sory capacity to the Secretary. 
(3) MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the board es-
tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) may include the 
following: 
(A) Representatives from the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, particularly from the 
Heat Island Reduction Program. 
(B) Representatives from the Department 
of Health and Human Services, particularly 
from the Office of Climate Change and Health 
Equity. 
(C) Representatives from the Department 
of Energy, particularly from the Office of En-
ergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 
(D) Representatives from nonprofits with 
proven leadership in urban heat mitigation or 
environmental justice, as determined by the 
Secretary. Such representatives will have to cer-
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tify that they do not have a direct or financial 
stake in any projects being considered that are 
administered under this grant program. 
(E) Representatives from academia and re-
search studying the effects of and mitigation of 
excess urban heat, environmental justice, or re-
lated areas. Such representatives will have to 
certify that they do not have a direct or finan-
cial stake in any projects being considered that 
are administered under this grant program. 
(j) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 
$30,000,000 in fiscal years 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 
2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) a State; 
(B) a metropolitan planning organization; 
(C) a unit of local government; 
(D) a Tribal government; 
(E) a nonprofit organization working in co-
ordination with an entity in this list; and 
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(F) a consortium of nonprofit organiza-
tions. 
(2) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘en-
vironmental justice’’ means the fair treatment and 
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of 
race, color, culture, national origin, income, and edu-
cational levels with respect to the development, im-
plementation, and enforcement of protective environ-
mental laws, regulations, and policies. 
(3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES.— 
The term ‘‘environmental justice communities’’ 
means minority, low-income, tribal, or indigenous 
populations or geographic locations in the United 
States that potentially experience disproportionate 
environmental 
harms 
and 
risks. 
This 
disproportionality can be as a result of greater vul-
nerability to environmental hazards, lack of oppor-
tunity for public participation, or other factors. In-
creased vulnerability may be attributable to an accu-
mulation of negative or lack of positive environ-
mental, health, economic, or social conditions within 
these populations or places. The term describes situ-
ations where multiple factors, including both envi-
ronmental and socio-economic stressors, may act cu-
mulatively to affect health and the environment and 
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contribute to persistent environmental health dis-
parities. 
(4) EXCESS URBAN HEAT EFFECT.—The term 
‘‘excess urban heat effect’’ refers to the phenomenon 
of local urban warming, resulting from manmade 
factors such as low solar reflectance, low tree cover, 
high building density, high impervious surface cover, 
and waste heat emissions. 
(5) EXTREME
HEAT.—The term ‘‘extreme 
heat’’ means a prolonged period of excessively hot 
weather, with temperatures well above climatological 
normals for a given location and season. 
(6) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘nonprofit organization’’ has the meaning given in 
section 501(c)(3) of title 26, United States Code, 
and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 
such title. 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 101(a) of title 23, 
United States Code. 
(9) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 
government’’ means the recognized governing body 
of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 
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