Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens national coordination, data, forecasts, and funding to reduce heat-related harm—especially for vulnerable groups—but requires modest federal spending and new administrative work, with risks of uneven implementation, privacy challenges, and potential exclusions from technical definitions.
People most vulnerable to extreme heat (seniors, children, low-income individuals, people with disabilities) will receive better forecasts, warnings, and coordinated responses, reducing heat-related illness and deaths.
NOAA, state and local public health agencies get dedicated funding ($5M/year, 2025–2029), giving the National Integrated Heat Health Information System predictable resources to sustain operations and improve heat warnings.
State, local, Tribal, and federal agencies will have a coordinated 5-year strategic plan and improved data-sharing to guide evidence-based heat-health actions and resource targeting.
Taxpayers and federal budgets will bear added costs (about $25 million over five years plus ongoing NOAA program expenses) to implement and operate NIHHIS and related activities.
State, local, and Tribal partners may face new administrative burdens and short-term costs (updating guidance, training, consultations) to comply with definitions and interagency coordination requirements.
If agencies fail to prioritize or adequately fund implementation—or if funds are consumed by administration—the anticipated improvements in on-the-ground heat-relief services may not materialize.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a NOAA-based National Integrated Heat Health Information System and an interagency committee, requires a 5-year plan and open data, and authorizes $5M/year for FY2025–2029.
Official title: Reduce health risks of heat by establishing the National Integrated Heat Health Information System within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee to improve extreme heat preparedness, planning, and response, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 29, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress January 29, 2025
Creates a coordinated federal program inside NOAA to reduce health harms from extreme heat by establishing a National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and an interagency coordinating committee to align data, research, forecasting, warnings, and decision-support. It requires a 5-year strategic plan, regular congressional briefings, open data stewardship, stakeholder consultation, and designates NOAA offices and staff to support the system. Provides dedicated funding authority of $5 million per year for fiscal years 2025–2029 to carry out the committee and NIHHIS activities, and requires agencies to appoint experts to the committee and to cooperate on implementation of plan elements where relevant.