Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1379 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish an excess urban heat mitigation grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish an excess urban heat mitigation grant pro- gram, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Excess Urban Heat 4 Mitigation Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Heat stress is a leading weather-related 8 cause of death in the United States, with more than 9 600 people killed in the United States by extreme 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1379 IS heat every year, and many more experiencing res- 1 piratory problems and heat-related illness. 2 (2) Urban areas are likely to experience higher 3 temperatures than surrounding areas due to design- 4 related attributes of the built environment, including 5 manmade factors such as low solar reflectance, low 6 vegetation and tree cover, high building density, high 7 impervious surface cover, and waste heat emissions. 8 (3) Underserved communities are disproportion- 9 ately impacted by extreme heat. In the United 10 States, low-income census blocks have 15.2 percent 11 less tree cover and an average land surface tempera- 12 ture that is 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than high-in- 13 come blocks. 14 (4) Studies show that in 97 percent of the larg- 15 est urbanized areas in the United States, people of 16 color live in census tracts with higher surface urban 17 heat intensity than non-Hispanic Whites, indicating 18 that heat exposure is unequally distributed by race. 19 (5) Urban heat is not only a public health 20 threat but also an economic one, as rising heat leads 21 to increased roadway maintenance costs, higher resi- 22 dential and commercial summer energy costs, and 23 lost labor productivity, as well as the cost to patients 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1379 IS and health care infrastructure for heat-related hos- 1 pitalizations and emergency department visits. 2 (6) Excess urban heat causes increased energy 3 consumption, elevated emission of air pollutants and 4 greenhouse gases, and impaired water quality. 5 (7) Heat waves are expected to not only occur 6 more frequently in the United States but also be of 7 longer duration, lasting 10 to 20 days longer by the 8 end of the century. 9 (8) Solutions exist that communities can imple- 10 ment now to mitigate the challenge of urban heat. 11 One example is the planting of urban trees to offset 12 or reverse the urban heat island effect. Studies in 13 multiple cities in the United States have shown that 14 urban trees can offset projected increases in heat-re- 15 lated mortality in 2050 by 40 to 99 percent. 16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) COVERED CENSUS TRACT.—The term ‘‘cov- 19 ered census tract’’ means a census tract with a pov- 20 erty rate of not less than 20 percent, as measured 21 by the 5-year data series available from the Amer- 22 ican Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census 23 for the period of 2014 through 2018, including such 24 a census tract that includes an area that was des- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1379 IS ignated as ‘‘hazardous’’ or ‘‘definitely declining’’ in 1 maps drawn by the Home Owners’ Loan Corpora- 2 tion. 3 (2) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 4 grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 4(a). 5 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 6 ty’’ means— 7 (A) a State (as defined in section 102 of 8 the Housing and Community Development Act 9 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)); 10 (B) a metropolitan planning organization; 11 (C) a unit of general local government (as 12 defined in section 102 of the Housing and Com- 13 munity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 14 5302)); 15 (D) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 16 102 of the Housing and Community Develop- 17 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)); 18 (E) a territorial government; 19 (F) a nonprofit organization working in co- 20 ordination with an entity described in subpara- 21 graphs (A) through (E); and 22 (G) a consortium of nonprofit organiza- 23 tions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1379 IS (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 project’’— 2 (A) means a project designed to mitigate 3 or manage heat in an urban area by— 4 (i) working to mitigate the causes of 5 higher temperatures; or 6 (ii) managing the impacts of higher 7 temperatures or other extreme weather 8 events; and 9 (B) includes the implementation, construc- 10 tion, or maintenance of— 11 (i) tree planting and maintenance 12 with, wherever possible, preference for— 13 (I) native tree species; 14 (II) tree species with high shade 15 production and carbon sequestration; 16 and 17 (III) tree species that are valu- 18 able for food production; 19 (ii) cool pavements; 20 (iii) cool roofs; 21 (iv) green roofs; 22 (v) bus and other transit stop shel- 23 ters; 24 (vi) shade structures; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1379 IS (vii) cooling centers with, wherever 1 possible, preference for— 2 (I) cooling centers that collabo- 3 rate with existing community centers 4 and spaces; 5 (II) cooling centers with year- 6 round accessibility, and 7 (III) cooling centers that utilize 8 renewable energy; 9 (viii) community gardens, including 10 agroforestry practices; 11 (ix) outreach to communities about re- 12 sources available under this section; 13 (x) local heat mitigation and manage- 14 ment education efforts; 15 (xi) urban forestry master plans; 16 (xii) urban tree canopy assessments; 17 (xiii) arboriculture training; 18 (xiv) maintenance of existing urban 19 trees; or 20 (xv) other actions the Secretary deter- 21 mines appropriate to mitigate or manage 22 excess urban heat. 23 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘en- 24 vironmental justice’’ means the fair treatment and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1379 IS meaningful involvement of all people regardless of 1 race, color, culture, national origin, income, and edu- 2 cational levels with respect to the development, im- 3 plementation, and enforcement of protective environ- 4 mental laws, regulations, and policies. 5 (6) EXCESS URBAN HEAT EFFECT.—The term 6 ‘‘excess urban heat effect’’ means the phenomenon 7 of local urban warming, resulting from manmade 8 factors such as low solar reflectance, low tree cover, 9 high building density, high impervious surface cover, 10 and waste heat emissions. 11 (7) EXTREME HEAT.—The term ‘‘extreme 12 heat’’ means a prolonged period of excessively hot 13 weather, with temperatures well above climatological 14 normals for a given location and season. 15 (8) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 16 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 17 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 18 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec- 19 tion 501(a) of such Code. 20 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 22 (10) URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 23 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 24 title 23, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1379 IS (11) URBAN FORESTRY MASTER PLAN.—The 1 term ‘‘urban forestry master plan’’ means a stra- 2 tegic plan that establishes the overall vision, goals, 3 objectives, and implementation tools to evaluate, 4 maintain and expand the urban tree canopy with the 5 intention of building resilience to extreme weather 6 events, reducing the urban heat island effect, miti- 7 gating stormwater runoff, reducing nutrient runoff, 8 addressing air quality, and preserving biodiversity. 9 (12) URBAN TREE CANOPY ASSESSMENT.—The 10 term ‘‘urban tree canopy assessment’’ means a 11 measure of a community’s tree canopy coverage as 12 a percentage of the total land area that serves as a 13 baseline for setting community tree canopy goals 14 and measuring progress. 15 SEC. 4. URBAN HEAT MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT 16 GRANT PROGRAM. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting 19 through the Office of Community Planning and Develop- 20 ment, in coordination with the Administrator of the Envi- 21 ronmental Protection Agency, the Chief of the Forest 22 Service, and the Director of the Climate Program Office 23 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 24 shall establish an urban heat mitigation and management 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1379 IS grant program to award grants to eligible entities to im- 1 plement eligible projects. 2 (b) SET-ASIDE.—Not less than 75 percent of the 3 amounts of covered grants awarded for a fiscal year shall 4 be awarded to eligible entities to implement projects in a 5 covered census tract. 6 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 3 percent of 8 amounts appropriated to carry out this section may 9 be used to provide technical assistance to eligible en- 10 tities applying for or implementing a covered grant. 11 (2) PREFERENCE.—In providing technical as- 12 sistance under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 13 give preference to eligible entities that intend to 14 serve communities— 15 (A) located in a covered census tract; or 16 (B) with lower-tree canopy and higher 17 maximum daytime summer temperatures com- 18 pared to surrounding communities, as deter- 19 mined by the Secretary, based on publicly avail- 20 able information. 21 (3) INCLUSIONS.—Technical assistance pro- 22 vided under paragraph (1) may include— 23 (A) assistance developing a complete appli- 24 cation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1379 IS (B) financial analysis and budget develop- 1 ment; 2 (C) support for project integration; 3 (D) assessment of project readiness; and 4 (E) technical assistance implementing ac- 5 tivities once a covered grant is received. 6 (d) APPLICATION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 8 covered grant shall submit to the Secretary an appli- 9 cation, at such time and in such manner as required 10 by the Secretary in guidance, that includes, at a 11 minimum— 12 (A) how the eligible entity will use the cov- 13 ered grant; 14 (B) how the eligible projects funded will 15 combat extreme heat or excess urban heat ef- 16 fects and improve quality of life for impacted 17 communities; 18 (C) a robust engagement plan that— 19 (i) outlines how the eligible entity will 20 meaningfully and inclusively engage with 21 the communities in which the eligible 22 projects take place throughout project im- 23 plementation; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1379 IS (ii) demonstrates how the eligible enti- 1 ty plans to— 2 (I) foster meaningful, reciprocal 3 relationships with community-based 4 organizations; 5 (II) engage in respectful, good- 6 faith consultation with diverse com- 7 munity stakeholders; and 8 (III) empower members of the 9 community to participate in decision 10 making; and 11 (D) how the eligible entity will address the 12 intersection between human health, environ- 13 ment, and built environment. 14 (2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after 15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 16 shall issue the guidance described in paragraph (1). 17 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 19 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of an eligi- 20 ble project carried out with amounts from a covered 21 grant shall be not more than 80 percent. 22 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may increase the 23 maximum Federal share described in paragraph (1) 24 from 80 percent to 100 percent for an eligible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1379 IS project carried out by an eligible entity that dem- 1 onstrates economic hardship, as determined by the 2 Secretary. 3 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding covered grants, the Sec- 4 retary shall give priority to an eligible entity that serves— 5 (1) a community located in a covered census 6 tract; or 7 (2) a community with lower tree canopy and 8 higher maximum daytime summer temperatures 9 compared to surrounding communities, as deter- 10 mined by the Secretary, based on publicly available 11 information. 12 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall 13 submit an annual report to Congress that identifies the 14 recipients of covered grants and the geographic and eco- 15 nomic distribution of those recipients. 16 (h) OVERSIGHT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure the effec- 18 tiveness of projects that are carried out using cov- 19 ered grants, the Secretary shall use not more than 20 5 percent of any amounts appropriated to carry out 21 this section to establish an oversight board to help— 22 (A) select recipients of covered grants; and 23 (B) review the progress made by recipients 24 of covered grants on a yearly basis. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1379 IS (2) EVALUATION.—The board established under 1 paragraph (1) shall— 2 (A) develop and apply a rubric to evaluate 3 the success of projects carried out using covered 4 grants in reaching [Text truncated for display. 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