I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2323 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a national 
strategic action plan to assist health professionals in preparing for and 
responding to the public health effects of climate change, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2009 
Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Ms. MATSUI, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
develop a national strategic action plan to assist health 
professionals in preparing for and responding to the pub-
lic health effects of climate change, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Climate Change Health 
Protection and Promotion Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLI-
MATE CHANGE. 
It is the sense of the Congress that the Federal Gov-
ernment, in cooperation with international, State, tribal, 
and local governments, concerned public and private orga-
nizations, and citizens, should use all practicable means 
and measures— 
(1) to assist the efforts of public health and 
health care professionals, first responders, States, 
tribes, municipalities, and local communities to in-
corporate measures to prepare health systems to re-
spond to the impacts of climate change; 
(2) to ensure— 
(A) that the Nation’s health professionals 
have sufficient information to prepare for and 
respond to the adverse health impacts of cli-
mate change; 
(B) the utility and value of scientific re-
search in advancing understanding of— 
(i) the health impacts of climate 
change; and 
(ii) strategies to prepare for and re-
spond to the health impacts of climate 
change; 
(C) the identification of communities vul-
nerable to the health effects of climate change 
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and the development of strategic response plans 
to be carried out by health professionals for 
those communities; 
(D) the improvement of health status and 
health equity through efforts to prepare for and 
respond to climate change; and 
(E) the inclusion of health policy in the de-
velopment of climate change responses; 
(3) to encourage further research, interdiscipli-
nary partnership, and collaboration among stake-
holders in order to— 
(A) understand and monitor the health im-
pacts of climate change; and 
(B) improve public health knowledge and 
response strategies to climate change; 
(4) to enhance preparedness activities, and pub-
lic health infrastructure, relating to climate change 
and health; 
(5) to encourage each and every American to 
learn about the impacts of climate change on health; 
and 
(6) to assist the efforts of developing nations to 
incorporate measures to prepare health systems to 
respond to the impacts of climate change. 
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SEC. 3. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 
Nothing in this Act in any manner limits the author-
ity provided to or responsibility conferred on any Federal 
department or agency by any provision of any law (includ-
ing regulations) or authorizes any violation of any provi-
sion of any law (including regulations), including any 
health, energy, environmental, transportation, or any 
other law or regulation. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, within 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, on the basis of the best avail-
able science, and in consultation pursuant to para-
graph (2), shall publish a strategic action plan to as-
sist health professionals in preparing for and re-
sponding to the impacts of climate change on public 
health in the United States and other nations, par-
ticularly developing nations. 
(2) CONSULTATION.—In developing or making 
any revision to the national strategic action plan, the 
Secretary shall— 
(A) consult with the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the Director of the National Institutes 
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of Health, the Secretary of Energy, other ap-
propriate Federal agencies, Indian tribes, State 
and local governments, public health organiza-
tions, scientists, and other interested stake-
holders; and 
(B) provide opportunity for public input. 
(b) CONTENTS.— 
(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
Secretary, 
acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall assist health profes-
sionals in preparing for and responding effectively 
and efficiently to the health effects of climate change 
through measures including— 
(A) developing, improving, integrating, and 
maintaining domestic and international disease 
surveillance systems and monitoring capacity to 
respond to health-related effects of climate 
change, including on topics addressing— 
(i) water, food, and vector borne infec-
tious diseases and climate change; 
(ii) pulmonary effects, including re-
sponses to aeroallergens; 
(iii) cardiovascular effects, including 
impacts of temperature extremes; 
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(iv) air pollution health effects, includ-
ing heightened sensitivity to air pollution; 
(v) hazardous algal blooms; 
(vi) mental and behavioral health im-
pacts of climate change; 
(vii) the health of refugees, displaced 
persons, and vulnerable communities; 
(viii) the implications for communities 
vulnerable to health effects of climate 
change, as well as strategies for responding 
to climate change within these commu-
nities; and 
(ix) local and community-based health 
interventions for climate-related health im-
pacts; 
(B) creating tools for predicting and moni-
toring the public health effects of climate 
change on the international, national, regional, 
State, and local levels, and providing technical 
support to assist in their implementation; 
(C) developing public health communica-
tions strategies and interventions for extreme 
weather events and disaster response situations; 
(D) identifying and prioritizing commu-
nities and populations vulnerable to the health 
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effects of climate change, and determining ac-
tions and communication strategies that should 
be taken to inform and protect these commu-
nities and populations from the health effects of 
climate change; 
(E) developing health communication, pub-
lic education, and outreach programs aimed at 
public health and health care professionals, as 
well as the general public, to promote prepared-
ness and response strategies relating to climate 
change and public health, including the identi-
fication of greenhouse gas reduction behaviors 
that are health-promoting; and 
(F) developing academic and regional cen-
ters of excellence devoted to— 
(i) researching relationships between 
climate change and health; 
(ii) expanding and training the public 
health workforce to strengthen the capacity 
of such workforce to respond to and pre-
pare for the health effects of climate 
change; 
(iii) creating and supporting academic 
fellowships focusing on the health effects 
of climate change; and 
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(iv) training senior health ministry of-
ficials from developing nations to strength-
en the capacity of such nations to— 
(I) prepare for and respond to 
the health effects of climate change; 
and 
(II) build an international net-
work of public health professionals 
with the necessary climate change 
knowledge base; 
(G) using techniques, including health im-
pact assessments, to assess various climate 
change public health preparedness and response 
strategies on international, national, State, re-
gional, tribal, and local levels, and make rec-
ommendations as to those strategies that best 
protect the public health; 
(H)(i) assisting in the development, imple-
mentation, and support of State, regional, trib-
al, and local preparedness, communication, and 
response plans (including with respect to the 
health departments of such entities) to antici-
pate and reduce the health threats of climate 
change; and 
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(ii) acting through the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention or an 
appropriate Federal agency, pursuing collabo-
rative efforts to develop, integrate, and imple-
ment such plans; 
(I) acting through the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention or an 
appropriate Federal agency, creating a program 
to advance research as it relates to the effects 
of climate change on public health across Fed-
eral agencies, including research to— 
(i) identify and assess climate change 
health effects preparedness and response 
strategies; 
(ii) prioritize critical public health in-
frastructure projects related to potential 
climate change impacts that affect public 
health; and 
(iii) coordinate preparedness for cli-
mate change health impacts, including the 
development of modeling and forecasting 
tools; 
(J) providing technical assistance for the 
development, implementation, and support of 
preparedness and response plans to anticipate 
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and reduce the health threats of climate change 
in developing nations; and 
(K) carrying out other activities deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary to plan for 
and respond to the impacts of climate change 
on public health. 
(c) REVISION.—The Secretary shall revise the na-
tional strategic action plan not later than July 1, 2014, 
and every 4 years thereafter, to reflect new information 
collected pursuant to implementation of the national stra-
tegic action plan and otherwise, including information 
on— 
(1) the status of critical environmental health 
parameters and related human health impacts; 
(2) the impacts of climate change on public 
health; and 
(3) advances in the development of strategies 
for preparing for and responding to the impacts of 
climate change on public health. 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) IMPLEMENTATION
THROUGH
HHS.—The 
Secretary shall exercise the Secretary’s authority 
under this Act and other Federal statutes to achieve 
the goals and measures of the national strategic ac-
tion plan. 
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(2) OTHER
PUBLIC
HEALTH
PROGRAMS
AND 
INITIATIVES.—The Secretary and Federal officials of 
other relevant Federal agencies shall administer 
public health programs and initiatives authorized by 
statutes other than this Act, subject to the require-
ments of such statutes, in a manner designed to 
achieve the goals of the national strategic action 
plan. 
(3) CDC.—In furtherance of the national stra-
tegic action plan, the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention shall— 
(A) conduct scientific research to assist 
health professionals in preparing for and re-
sponding to the impacts of climate change on 
public health; and 
(B) provide funding for— 
(i) research on the health effects of 
climate change; and 
(ii) preparedness planning on the 
international, national, State, regional, and 
local levels to respond to or reduce the bur-
den of health effects of climate change; 
and 
(C) carry out other activities determined 
appropriate by the Director to prepare for and 
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respond to the impacts of climate change on 
public health. 
SEC. 5. ADVISORY BOARD. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 
a permanent science advisory board comprised of not less 
than 10 and not more than 20 members. 
(b) APPOINTMENT
OF MEMBERS.—The Secretary 
shall appoint the members of the science advisory board 
from among individuals who— 
(1) are recommended by the President of the 
National Academy of Sciences; and 
(2) have expertise in public health and human 
services, climate change, and other relevant dis-
ciplines. 
(c) FUNCTIONS.—The science advisory board shall— 
(1) provide scientific and technical advice and 
recommendations to the Secretary on the domestic 
and international impacts of climate change on pub-
lic health, populations and regions particularly vul-
nerable to the effects of climate change, and strate-
gies and mechanisms to prepare for and respond to 
the impacts of climate change on public health; and 
(2) advise the Secretary regarding the best 
science available for purposes of issuing the national 
strategic action plan. 
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SEC. 6. REPORTS. 
(a) NEEDS ASSESSMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 
enter into, by not later than 6 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, an agreement with the 
National Research Council and the Institute of Med-
icine to complete a report that— 
(A) assesses the needs for health profes-
sionals to prepare for and respond to climate 
change impacts on public health; and 
(B) recommends programs to meet those 
needs. 
(2) SUBMISSION.—The agreement under para-
graph (1) shall require the completed report to be 
submitted to the Congress and the Secretary and 
made publicly available not later than 1 year after 
the date of the agreement. 
(b) CLIMATE CHANGE HEALTH PROTECTION AND 
PROMOTION REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall offer to 
enter into, not later than 6 months after the submis-
sion of the report under subsection (a)(2), an agree-
ment with the National Research Council and the 
Institute of Medicine, under which the National Re-
search Council and the Institute of Medicine will 
prepare periodic reports to aid health professionals 
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in preparing for and responding to the adverse 
health effects of climate change that— 
(A) review scientific developments on 
health impacts of climate change; and 
(B) recommend changes to the national 
strategic action plan. 
(2) SUBMISSION.—The agreement under para-
graph (1) shall require a report to be submitted to 
the Congress and the Secretary and made publicly 
available not later than July 1, 2013, and every 4 
years thereafter. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT.—The term 
‘‘health impact assessment’’ means a combination of 
procedures, methods, and tools by which a policy, 
program, or project may be judged as to its potential 
effects on the health of a population, and the dis-
tribution of those effects within the population. 
(2) NATIONAL STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN.—The 
term ‘‘national strategic action plan’’ means the 
plan issued and revised under section 4. 
(3) SECRETARY.—Unless otherwise specified, 
the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services. 
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SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
Act. 
(b) APPROPRIATIONS TO HHS.—All funds appro-
priated to carry out this Act shall be appropriated to the 
Secretary. 
(c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS BY HHS.—In carrying 
out this Act, the Secretary may make funds appropriated 
pursuant to this section available to— 
(1) other departments, agencies, and offices of 
the Federal Government; 
(2) foreign, State, tribal, and local govern-
ments; and 
(3) such other entities as the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
(d) SUPPLEMENT, NOT REPLACE.—It is the intent 
of the Congress that funds appropriated to carry out this 
Act should be used to supplement, and not replace, exist-
ing sources of funding for public health. 
Æ 
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