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Creates a federal grant program at HUD to help cities reduce deadly urban heat by funding tree planting, urban forestry plans, and related projects in heat‑vulnerable neighborhoods. The program sets eligibility rules, prioritizes high‑need and environmental justice communities, requires applications and reporting, and authorizes $30 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2033.
Heat stress is a leading weather-related cause of death in the United States, with more than 600 people killed each year by extreme heat; many more experience respiratory problems and heat-related illness.
Urban areas tend to experience higher temperatures than surrounding areas because of design-related attributes of the built environment, including low solar reflectance, low vegetation and tree cover, high building density, high impervious surface cover, and waste heat emissions.
Underserved communities are disproportionately affected by extreme heat; low-income census blocks have 15.2 percent less tree cover and an average land surface temperature that is 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than high-income blocks.
Studies show that in 97 percent of the largest urbanized areas in the United States, people of color live in census tracts with higher surface urban heat intensity than non-Hispanic Whites, indicating unequal heat exposure by race.
Urban heat is both a public health and economic threat: rising heat increases roadway maintenance costs, raises residential and commercial summer energy costs, reduces labor productivity, and increases costs to patients and health care infrastructure for heat-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
Primary recipients will be local governments, nonprofits, and other eligible entities in urban areas that can implement tree‑planting, canopy expansion, and urban forestry planning projects. Residents in heat‑vulnerable neighborhoods—especially low‑income communities and communities of color—stand to gain health, cooling, air quality, and economic benefits from shaded streets and expanded tree canopy. HUD will incur administrative duties to design, award, and oversee grants and to report annually to Congress. Smaller local governments and community groups may face barriers to applying if they lack planning capacity or matching funds; technical assistance and any reduced match provisions will partially address that. The program is intended to reduce public health harms from extreme heat, improve environmental quality, and direct resources toward communities with disproportionate heat burdens. Actual deployment depends on future appropriations and recipients' capacity to meet application and program requirements.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress March 27, 2025
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced in Senate