Sec. 612. Study on extreme heat information and response
401 words·~2 min read·
/bill/118/s/1229/is/section-612·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in consultation with representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services as the Secretary of Health and Human Services considers appropriate, shall seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on extreme heat information and response, to be completed not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The study described in paragraph
(1)shall— identify the policy, research, operations, communications, and data gaps affecting heat-health planning, preparedness, response, resilience, and adaptation, and impacts to vulnerable populations; provide recommendations for addressing gaps identified under subparagraph (A); provide recommendations, in addition to the recommendations provided under subparagraph (B), which may include strategies for— communicating warnings to and promoting resilience of populations vulnerable to extreme heat; distributing extreme heat warnings, including to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals who may have other established barriers to such information; designing warnings described in clause
(ii)to convey the urgency and severity of heat events and achieve behavior changes that reduce the mortality and morbidity of extreme heat effects; understanding compound and cascading risks to inform development and implementation of heat-health risk reduction interventions; and promoting community resilience and addressing specific decision support service needs of vulnerable populations; and consider the effectiveness of country- or local-level heat awareness and communication tools, preparedness plans, or mitigation. In conducting the study described in paragraph (1), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shall work with heat and health experts to identify consistent and agreed-upon definitions for heat events, heat waves, and other relevant terms. Not later than 90 days after completion of the study described in subsection (a)(1), the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall— make available to the public on an internet website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a report on the findings and conclusions of the study; and submit the report to— the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives.