risk in advance of a heat event and increased ambi-
ent temperature. 
(8) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 
government’’ means the recognized governing body 
of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 
pueblo, village, community, component band, or com-
ponent reservation, individually identified (including 
parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 
of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec-
tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 
List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 
(9) URBAN HEAT ISLAND.—The term ‘‘urban 
heat island’’ means the phenomenon observed in ur-
banized areas in which heat is more extreme than in 
the surrounding exurban areas and heat is hetero-
geneously distributed within urbanized areas, due to 
factors including— 
(A) low albedo and impervious surfaces; 
(B) low vegetation coverage; and 
(C) waste heat produced in urban areas. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Extreme heat events have been the leading 
cause of weather-related death in the United States 
over the last 30 years, according to the Centers for 
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Disease Control and Prevention and the National 
Weather Service. 
(2) The fourth National Climate Assessment, 
mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 
1990 (15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.), finds that during the 
next few decades, annual average temperature over 
the contiguous United States is projected to increase 
by a further 2.2°F relative to current temperatures, 
regardless of future scenarios. The National Climate 
Assessment projects that the frequency and intensity 
of extreme heat events will increase in the future as 
global temperature increases. 
(3) Exposure to extreme heat can cause acute 
heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke, which al-
ready result in more than 65,000 emergency room 
visits each year and exacerbate respiratory and car-
diovascular illnesses. 
(4) Heat poses the greatest health risks for 
adults older than 65 years of age, pregnant people, 
young children, low-income communities, urban com-
munities, communities with low air conditioning 
prevalence, socially isolated individuals, people with 
mental or physical disabilities, people with under-
lying medical conditions, agricultural or other out-
door workers, workers without sufficient access to 
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cooling, athletes, incarcerated individuals, people ex-
periencing homelessness, and military personnel. 
(5) Extreme heat is significantly associated 
with serious adverse pregnancy outcomes across the 
United States. Those adverse pregnancy outcomes 
disproportionately impact Black mothers. 
(6) Heat exposure is an issue of environmental 
justice, as people living in low-income communities, 
communities of color, and Tribal nations face a 
number of interacting factors that render them more 
vulnerable to extreme heat. 
(7) The impacts of heat on human health are 
more severe in urban areas where land surface prop-
erties create an urban heat island, particularly in 
neighborhoods with limited availability of or access 
to green spaces, shade, and tree cover, due to higher 
density of building structures and more vehicular 
traffic. 
(8) Limited availability of tree cover and higher 
temperatures are correlated with low-income neigh-
borhoods in urban areas. In Richmond, Virginia, 
Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC, re-
searchers found that risk of exposure to extreme 
heat is disproportionately distributed to communities 
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of color in patterns associated with segregation and 
redlining. 
(9) Researchers have found that few commu-
nities in the United States have sufficient climate 
and health information, guidance, and resources for 
heat planning, preparedness, and response. 
(10) The risks associated with extreme heat 
have complex interactions and impacts, and the 
management 
of 
those 
risks 
requires 
a 
transdisciplinary approach. 
(11) Regions, communities, and populations 
that face the greatest health consequences of ex-
treme heat often may experience the lowest heat risk 
perceptions, have limited incentives, or have access 
to the fewest resources for responding to extreme 
heat, and as such, may be less likely to take pre-
cautions. 
(12) Research on the impacts of extreme heat 
on human health and the effectiveness of solutions 
under varying climate, social, and other contexts is 
stymied by a lack of access to reliable, timely health 
observations and surveillance due to proprietary data 
rights, expense, privacy and security concerns, incon-
sistent reporting of health outcomes and contribu-
tory factors, poor data integration and interoper-
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ability, few incentives and little systematic coordina-
tion to address those problems, and a lack of ade-
quate climate observation, modeling, and assessment 
in rural, urban, indoor, and occupational settings. 
(13) Integrated climate and health research and 
information, when developed in a collaborative, 
transdisciplinary manner, can inform long- and me-
dium-range scenario-based planning and decision 
making to protect vulnerable communities and popu-
lations from extreme heat, reduce exposure to ex-
treme heat, and address factors that increase vulner-
ability. 
(14) Increased heat can have cascading and 
compounding impacts across and among sectors in-
cluding energy, food supply and quality, transpor-
tation, 
housing, 
infrastructure, 
hospital 
and 
healthcare delivery, and education, all of which af-
fect health and well-being. 
(15) Heat action plans and early warning sys-
tems can reduce heat-related morbidity and mor-
tality by clearly identifying roles and responsibilities 
as well as evidence-based actions and thresholds to 
enhance preparedness, and by promoting behavior 
changes and actions taken by local governments, 
communities, and individuals through awareness and 
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increased risk perception among those most vulner-
able to the health impacts of heat. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL INTEGRATED HEAT HEALTH INFORMA-
TION SYSTEM INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE.—There is es-
tablished within the Office of Science and Technology Pol-
icy an interagency committee, to be known as the ‘‘Na-
tional Integrated Heat Health Information System Inter-
agency Committee’’ (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Committee’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The Committee shall coordinate, 
plan, and direct agencies represented on the Committee 
to execute, as appropriate, activities across such agencies 
to ensure a united Federal approach to reducing health 
risks from heat across timescales (including days, weeks, 
months, years, and decades). 
(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out and 
achieve the purpose described in subsection (b), the 
Committee shall include the following: 
(A) The Director of the National Inte-
grated Heat Health Information System. 
(B) Not fewer than 1 representative from 
each of the following: 
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(i) From the Department of Com-
merce, the following: 
(I) From the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, the 
following: 
(aa) The National Weather 
Service. 
(bb) The Office of Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Research. 
(cc) The National Environ-
mental Satellite, Data, and Infor-
mation Service. 
(II) The National Institute of 
Standards and Technology. 
(III) The Bureau of the Census. 
(ii) From the Department of Health 
and Human Services, the following: 
(I) The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, including the Na-
tional Institute for Occupational Safe-
ty and Health. 
(II) The Office of the Assistant 
Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices for Preparedness and Response. 
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(III) The Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administra-
tion. 
(IV) The National Institutes of 
Health. 
(V) The Indian Health Service. 
(iii) From the Department of the In-
terior, the following: 
(I) The Bureau of Indian Affairs. 
(II) The Bureau of Land Man-
agement. 
(III) The National Park Service. 
(iv) From the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, the following: 
(I) The Office of Environmental 
Justice. 
(II) The Office of Air and Radi-
ation, if the Administrator of the En-
vironmental Protection Agency deter-
mines appropriate. 
(III) The Office of Research and 
Development, if the Administrator de-
termines appropriate. 
(IV) The Office of International 
and Tribal Affairs. 
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(v) The Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency. 
(vi) The Department of Defense. 
(vii) The Department of Agriculture. 
(viii) The Department of Housing and 
Urban Development. 
(ix) The Department of Transpor-
tation. 
(x) The Department of Energy. 
(xi) The Department of Labor, includ-
ing the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration. 
(xii) The Department of Veteran Af-
fairs. 
(xiii) Such other Federal agencies as 
the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy considers appropriate. 
(2) SELECTION
OF
REPRESENTATIVES.—The 
head of an agency specified in paragraph (1)(B) 
shall, in appointing representatives of the agency to 
the Committee, select representatives who have ex-
pertise in areas relevant to the responsibilities of the 
Committee, such as weather and climate prediction, 
health impacts, environmental justice, behavioral 
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science, public health hazard preparedness and re-
sponse, or mental health services. 
(3) CO-CHAIRS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The members of the 
Committee shall select 2 individuals from 
among such members to serve as co-chairs of 
the Committee, subject to the approval of the 
Director of the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy. 
(B) SELECTION.— 
(i) INITIAL
SELECTION.—Of the co- 
chairs first selected, one co-chair shall be 
from the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, and one co-chair 
shall be from the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention. 
(ii) SUBSEQUENT
SELECTION.—Sub-
sequent co-chairs shall be selected from 
among the members of the Committee. 
(C) TERMS.—Each co-chair shall serve for 
a term of not more than 5 years. 
(D) RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
CO-CHAIRS.— 
The co-chairs of the Committee shall work with 
the Director of the National Integrated Heat 
Health Information System— 
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