Sponsors (10)
The bill significantly expands federal coordination, data systems, research, and targeted grants to reduce heat‑related harms—especially for low‑income and EJ communities—but relies on future appropriations, increases federal spending and administrative requirements, and creates tradeoffs in who receives limited funding and how quickly new protections are implemented.
Communities nationwide (urban, rural, seniors, low-income, and people with chronic conditions) will benefit from a coordinated federal heat‑health strategy and interagency data-sharing that improves planning, early warnings, and emergency response to reduce heat‑related illness and deaths.
Low‑income and environmentally burdened communities (including Tribal and other EJ‑designated areas) will receive prioritized grant funding and set‑asides (at least 40% annually) for local cooling projects and resilience measures, increasing direct investments where heat risk and vulnerability are highest.
NOAA funding and a national Heat‑Health Information System will provide sustained, improved forecasts, warnings, and open data that help communities, emergency managers, and public health systems anticipate and respond to extreme heat.
Authorized programs and funding do not guarantee appropriations—local governments, hospitals, and community groups may face uncertainty about whether promised funds will actually be provided when they need them.
The bill increases federal spending (NOAA programs, grants, studies, administrative costs) which may raise taxpayer costs or contribute to higher deficits unless offsets are identified.
New interagency committees, monitoring, reporting, and program administration will create administrative burdens and compliance costs for federal, state, tribal, and local partners and could slow urgent local responses while agencies align.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates a NOAA-led national heat-health system, funds a National Academies study, and establishes grants to improve forecasting, warnings, data, and community heat resilience.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress August 1, 2025
Creates a NOAA-led national heat-health program to improve forecasting, warnings, data, research, and community resilience to extreme heat. It sets up an interagency committee, a director-led operational system, a National Academies study on heat information and response, and a Community Heat Resilience grant program that prioritizes low-income and environmental-justice communities, and authorizes multi-year funding for those activities.