H.R. 3704 — Coordinated Federal Response to Extreme Heat Act of 2025

This section defines the following terms for purposes of the Act: (1) *extreme heat*, meaning heat that substantially exceeds local temperature norms in terms of any combination of duration, intensity, season length, or frequency; (2) *heat*, meaning any combination of atmospheric parameters associated with modulating human thermoregulation, such as air temperature, humidity, solar exposure, and wind speed; (3) *heat event*, meaning an occurrence of extreme heat of 2 days or more that may have heat-health implications; (4) *heat-health*, meaning health effects to humans from heat, during or outside of heat events, including from vulnerability and exposure, or the risk of such effects; (5) *planning*, meaning activities performed across timescales (including days, weeks, months, years, and decades) with scenario-based, probabilistic, or deterministic information to identify and take actions to proactively mitigate heat-health risks; (6) *preparedness*, meaning activities performed across timescales with decision support tools to manage risk in advance of a heat event and increased ambient temperature; and (7) *Tribal government*, meaning the recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list published most recently as of the date of enactment pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).

This section establishes within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee to coordinate a federal government-wide approach to reducing health risks from heat. The Committee includes the Director of the National Integrated Heat Health Information System and at least one representative from 16 specified federal departments and agencies (e.g., NOAA components, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Environmental Protection Agency), plus others as appropriate; three co-chairs (initially one each from NOAA, Department of Health and Human Services, and FEMA) serve terms of up to five years and convene meetings at least quarterly. The Committee must (1) develop and submit to Congress a 5-year strategic plan within two years of enactment (with updates every five years) to improve federal data sharing, research, user needs assessment, and heat planning financing; (2) coordinate agency activities on heat-health communication, research, service delivery, and workforce development; and (3) build capacity and partnerships with federal and non-federal entities.

This section establishes within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) to reduce heat-related impacts by (1) improving delivery of data, information, forecasts, warnings, predictions, and projections on temperature, extreme heat, and related impacts; (2) developing, through NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, science-based solutions and tools to improve impact-based decision support services for heat effects on human life, property, and the economy; and (3) supporting a coordinated heat health research program with agencies on the NIHHIS Interagency Committee. It further requires NIHHIS data and metadata to be fully and openly available consistent with the Federal Records Act and Federal Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018; directs NOAA to manage and steward archival NIHHIS data and metadata at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI); and requires designation of at least one warning coordination meteorologist (i.e., as described in 15 U.S.C. 8545 to liaise with National Weather Service product users, collaborate on tailored products and services, and support severe weather planning and response) at NCEI.

This section authorizes appropriations of $5 million annually to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for FY2025 through FY2029 to carry out sections 3 and 4, including administrative costs for the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee and the National Integrated Heat Health Information System.