Department of Homeland Security Climate Change Research Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3756 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security to research and evaluate existing Federal research regarding approaches to mitigate climate change on homeland security to identify areas for further research within the Department, research and develop approaches to mitigate the consequences of climate change on homeland security, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2021 Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security to research and evalu- ate existing Federal research regarding approaches to mitigate climate change on homeland security to identify areas for further research within the Department, re- search and develop approaches to mitigate the con- sequences of climate change on homeland security, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3756.IH H3756 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3756 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home- 2 land Security Climate Change Research Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING, RESEARCH AND DE- 4 VELOPMENT, AND PROTECTION AND PRE- 5 PAREDNESS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu- 7 rity Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing new section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 322. CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP- 10 MENT. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 12 and Technology— 13 ‘‘(1) shall evaluate existing Federal research re- 14 garding approaches to mitigate the consequence of 15 climate change on homeland security to identify 16 areas for additional research and development pur- 17 suant to paragraph (2) with respect to— 18 ‘‘(A) any connection between climate 19 change and homeland security, including how 20 the resulting competition for resources, eco- 21 nomic distress, and social discontent has con- 22 tributed to, among other outcomes, acts of ter- 23 rorism; 24 ‘‘(B) the degree to which climate change is 25 reflected in terrorism preparedness and emer- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3756.IH H3756 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3756 IH gency planning and policies, including with re- 1 spect to preparedness, response to, and recovery 2 from natural disasters; and 3 ‘‘(C) the degree to which the Federal fund- 4 ing structure to respond to major disaster dec- 5 larations and emergency declarations is ade- 6 quately structured to meet the demands of re- 7 sponding to and recovering from acts of ter- 8 rorism and natural disasters that are aggra- 9 vated by climate change; and 10 ‘‘(2) shall, to the extent practicable, conduct re- 11 search and development on approaches to mitigate 12 the consequences of climate change on homeland se- 13 curity in response to finding pursuant to paragraph 14 (1). 15 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop- 16 ment under subsection (a)(2) shall include the following: 17 ‘‘(1) Any connection between climate change 18 and homeland security, including how the resulting 19 competition for resources, economic distress, and so- 20 cial discontent can contribute to, among other out- 21 comes, acts of terrorism. 22 ‘‘(2) The degree to which climate change is re- 23 flected in terrorism preparedness and emergency 24 planning and policies, including with respect to pre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3756.IH H3756 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3756 IH paredness, response to, and recovery from natural 1 disasters. 2 ‘‘(3) The degree to which the Federal funding 3 structure to respond to major disaster declarations 4 and emergency declarations is adequately structured 5 to meet the demands of responding to and recov- 6 ering from acts of terrorism and natural disasters 7 that are aggravated by climate change. 8 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, 9 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall con- 10 sult with the heads of other relevant agencies and depart- 11 ments of the Federal Government, first responders, and 12 relevant owners and operators of critical infrastructure. 13 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED.—The term ‘cli- 14 mate change’ refers to detectable changes in one or more 15 climate system components that is directly or indirectly 16 attributed to— 17 ‘‘(1) human activity; and 18 ‘‘(2) altering the composition of the global at- 19 mosphere.’’. 20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 21 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 22 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 23 321 the following new item: 24 ‘‘Sec. 322. Climate change research and development.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3756.IH H3756 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3756 IH SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 2 of this Act and annually thereafter for 3 years, the Under 3 Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department 4 of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on 5 Homeland Security and the Committee on Science, Space, 6 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 7 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 8 fairs of the Senate a report on any research and develop- 9 ment activities carried out pursuant to section 322 of the 10 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by this Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3756.IH H3756 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS