Sec. 4. National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee
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There is established a committee, to be known as the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee (in this section referred to as the Committee ). The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall require the Committee to focus on research and actions for the reduction of health risks of heat over multiple time scales (including days, weeks, months, and years). In order to achieve and carry out the focus described in subsection (b), the Committee shall include not fewer than 1 representative from each of the following:
From the Department of Commerce, the following: The National Weather Service. The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, including the Climate Program Office. The National Institute of Standards and Technology. From the Department of Health and Human Services, the following: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Preparedness and Response.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The National Institutes of Health. From the Department of the Interior, the following: The Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Land Management. From the Environmental Protection Agency, the following: The Office of Environmental Justice. The Office of Air and Radiation, if the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines appropriate. The Office of Research and Development, if the Administrator determines appropriate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Department of Defense. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Department of Agriculture. The Department of Housing and Urban Development. Such other Federal agencies as the Director considers appropriate. The head of an agency specified in paragraph
(1)shall, in appointing representatives of the agency to the Committee, select representatives— from components of the agency that are most relevant to the responsibilities of the Committee; or who have expertise in areas relevant to such responsibilities, such as weather and climate prediction, health impacts, environmental justice, behavioral science, public health hazard preparedness and response, or mental health services. The members of the Committee shall select 2 members to serve as co-chairs of the Committee, subject to the approval of the Director. Each co-chair shall serve for a term of not more than 3 years. One co-chair shall be from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and one co-chair shall be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The co-chairs of the Committee shall— determine the agenda of the Committee, in consultation with other members of the Committee; direct the work of the Committee; convene meetings of the Committee not less frequently than once each fiscal quarter; and if necessary, establish a coordination office for the Committee within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall provide technical and administrative support to the Committee, using amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Administration before the date of the enactment of this Act and available for obligation as of such date. The Committee shall consult with relevant regional, State, Tribal, and local government agencies, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and medical experts with expertise in emergency response, environmental health, or community engagement. Such consultation may occur through an advisory council established by the Committee that convenes regularly. In carrying out the focus described in subsection (b), the Committee shall, in consultation with the entities described in subsection (e)(1), promote an integrated, Federal Government-wide approach to reducing health risks and impacts of heat, including by— identifying and harmonizing existing agency capabilities related to understanding heat risk, prediction, information, warnings, planning, preparedness, and response (including common communication mechanisms for coordinated Federal information needed to manage and reduce health risks from heat); building and sustaining networks across climate, health, medical, and related disciplines and decision makers— that support continuous engagement with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments to identify decision-maker and information needs, take action, and evaluate effectiveness; and that support engagement with international government and nongovernmental organizations and other partners to harmonize research and information and knowledge production and enhance effective action; enhancing actionable information to reduce health-related heat risks on multiple time scales by— enhancing heat-health risk management forecasts and information based on user needs and epidemiological requirements; providing seamless, integrated heat-health heat projections and predictions on all time scales; and building capacity across climate, public health, medical, and related communities to define and deliver research, observations, prediction, vulnerability assessments, health surveillance, and other information needed to support planning and preparedness on heat-health; enhancing understanding of heat-related health risks, vulnerabilities, and risk reduction through— supporting improved understanding of the role of drivers of climate variability and change in extreme heat; building mechanistic understanding of heat-health, from epidemiological, physiological, economical, and sociological disciplines; and enhancing understanding of the impacts of and risk management actions for extreme heat events across multiple time scales, including the modeling of future risk of extreme heat; developing timely, locally relevant, and accessible communication tools to inform preparedness and adaptation, including heat early-warning systems and heat-health action plans that include planning and preparedness on multiple time scales; providing a suite of decision support services for the reduction of heat-related illness and mitigation of other effects of extreme heat; identifying, coordinating, and disseminating Federal grants and other funding opportunities for non-Federal entities— to improve climate, weather, and health research and analytics to improve heat preparedness and response for vulnerable and disadvantaged communities; and to support longer-term sustained engagement of multisector and interdisciplinary networks to conduct research and co-produce knowledge and actionable information; promoting principles of environmental justice, including providing guidance for projects and programs that benefit historically disadvantaged communities or communities with significant heat disparities associated with race or income; and carrying out such other activities as the Committee considers appropriate. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall submit to Congress a 3-year integrated strategic plan that outlines the goals and projects of the Committee, including how the Committee will— improve and coordinate interagency Federal actions to address health risks of heat; conduct the study required by section 5(a)(1); and administer the grant program described in section 6. Not later than 3 years after the submission of the strategic plan required by paragraph (1), and every 3 years thereafter, the Committee shall submit to Congress an update of the plan, which shall include progress made toward goals in the plan and new priorities that emerge. The Committee shall make the strategic plan required by paragraph
(1)and updates to the plan required by paragraph
(2)available to the public on an internet website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with clear visuals indicating progress toward goals.