Department of Homeland Security Climate Change Research Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4737 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4737.RFS H4737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4737 RFS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home- 4 land Security Climate Change Research Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING, RESEARCH AND DE- 6 VELOPMENT, AND PROTECTION AND PRE- 7 PAREDNESS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu- 9 rity Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing new section: 11 ‘‘SEC. 321. CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP- 12 MENT. 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 14 and Technology— 15 ‘‘(1) shall evaluate existing Federal research re- 16 garding approaches to mitigate the consequence of 17 climate change on homeland security to identify 18 areas for additional research and development pur- 19 suant to paragraph (2) with respect to— 20 ‘‘(A) any connection between climate 21 change and homeland security, including how 22 the resulting competition for resources, eco- 23 nomic distress, and social discontent has con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.RFS H4737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4737 RFS tributed to, among other outcomes, acts of ter- 1 rorism; 2 ‘‘(B) the degree to which climate change is 3 reflected in terrorism preparedness and emer- 4 gency planning and policies, including with re- 5 spect to preparedness, response to, and recovery 6 from natural disasters; and 7 ‘‘(C) the degree to which the Federal fund- 8 ing structure to respond to major disaster dec- 9 larations and emergency declarations is ade- 10 quately structured to meet the demands of re- 11 sponding to and recovering from acts of ter- 12 rorism and natural disasters that are aggra- 13 vated by climate change; and 14 ‘‘(2) shall, to the extent practicable, conduct re- 15 search and development on approaches to mitigate 16 the consequences of climate change on homeland se- 17 curity in response to finding pursuant to paragraph 18 (1). 19 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop- 20 ment under subsection (a)(2) shall include the following: 21 ‘‘(1) Any connection between climate change 22 and homeland security, including how the resulting 23 competition for resources, economic distress, and so- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.RFS H4737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4737 RFS cial discontent can contribute to, among other out- 1 comes, acts of terrorism. 2 ‘‘(2) The degree to which climate change is re- 3 flected in terrorism preparedness and emergency 4 planning and policies, including with respect to pre- 5 paredness, response to, and recovery from natural 6 disasters. 7 ‘‘(3) The degree to which the Federal funding 8 structure to respond to major disaster declarations 9 and emergency declarations is adequately structured 10 to meet the demands of responding to and recov- 11 ering from acts of terrorism and natural disasters 12 that are aggravated by climate change. 13 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, 14 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall con- 15 sult with the heads of other relevant agencies and depart- 16 ments of the Federal Government, first responders, and 17 relevant owners and operators of critical infrastructure. 18 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED.—The term ‘cli- 19 mate change’ refers to detectable changes in one or more 20 climate system components that is directly or indirectly 21 attributed to— 22 ‘‘(1) human activity; and 23 ‘‘(2) altering the composition of the global at- 24 mosphere.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.RFS H4737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4737 RFS (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 2 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 3 320 the following new item: 4 ‘‘Sec. 321. Climate change research and development.’’. SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 5 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 6 of this Act and annually thereafter for 3 years, the Under 7 Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department 8 of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on 9 Homeland Security and the Committee on Science, Space, 10 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 11 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 12 fairs of the Senate a report on any research and develop- 13 ment activities carried out pursuant to section 321 of the 14 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by this Act. 15 Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. By ROBERT F. REEVES, Deputy Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4737.RFS H4737 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS