Sponsors (3)
The bill creates a modestly funded, coordinated national heat-health system that should improve warnings, planning, and protections for vulnerable Americans but increases federal spending, adds administrative burdens, risks uneven local implementation, and raises privacy and definitional-exclusion concerns.
Seniors, low-income people, people with disabilities, tribal communities, and other residents in hot regions will receive earlier, clearer, and better-coordinated heat warnings and preparedness (standard definitions, a federal 5-year plan, and a funded national system), reducing heat-related illnesses and deaths.
State, local, and Tribal governments will get clearer definitions, shared data, and federal guidance to plan and allocate resources for heat preparedness and response.
Hospitals and health systems will have improved real-time and archived heat data and federal guidance to anticipate patient surges and coordinate clinical responses during extreme-heat events.
State, local, and Tribal public-health offices and agencies will likely face extra administrative planning, reporting, and implementation burdens that require staff time and resources.
Taxpayers would bear new authorized federal spending (about $25M over five years) and potential additional program costs to stand up and operate NIHHIS and related activities.
Communities with limited local public-health capacity or few resources (often rural or underfunded localities) may still struggle to act on improved information without further implementation funding, producing uneven benefits.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates a NOAA-led national heat-health information system and interagency committee, requires open data and a five-year strategic plan, and authorizes $5M/year for 2025–2029.
Introduced January 29, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress January 29, 2025
Creates a NOAA-led national system and an interagency committee to coordinate federal efforts to reduce heat-related health risks. It directs agencies to share data and tools, produce a five-year strategic plan, consult stakeholders, and makes data openly available, while authorizing $5 million per year for NOAA from 2025–2029 to stand up and run the program.