“To protect Moms and babies against climate change, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines 11 terms used in the Act: (1) adverse maternal and infant health outcomes (i.e., preterm birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, infant or maternal mortality, and severe maternal morbidity); (2) institution of higher education; (3) maternal mortality (i.e., death during or within one year after pregnancy due to pregnancy-related or childbirth complications, including suicide, overdose, or other deaths from mental health or substance use disorders attributed to or aggravated by such complications); (4) minority-serving institution; (5) perinatal health worker (e.g., doula, community health worker, peer supporter, lactation educator or counselor, nutritionist or dietitian, childbirth educator, social worker, home visitor, patient navigator or coordinator, or language interpreter); (6) racial and ethnic minority group; (7) risks associated with climate change (e.g., extreme heat, air pollution, extreme weather events, and other environmental issues that can result in adverse maternal and infant health outcomes); (8) Secretary (i.e., Secretary of Health and Human Services); (9) severe maternal morbidity (i.e., health condition, including mental health conditions and substance use disorders, attributed to or aggravated by pregnancy or childbirth resulting in significant short-term or long-term consequences); (10) stakeholder organization (e.g., community-based organizations with expertise in assisting vulnerable individuals; nonprofit organizations with expertise in maternal or infant health or environmental or climate justice; and patient advocacy organizations representing vulnerable individuals); and (11) vulnerable individual (i.e., pregnant individuals, individuals pregnant during any portion of the preceding one-year period, and individuals under three years of age).
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish, within 180 days of enactment, a competitive grant program to protect vulnerable individuals (i.e., mothers and babies) from climate change risks by awarding grants to 10 covered entities. In selecting recipients within 270 days of enactment—after consulting representatives of stakeholder organizations; the EPA and NOAA Administrators; and specified HHS officials including the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health—the Secretary must prioritize entities serving counties or localities with elevated risks such as Clean Air Act nonattainment areas, moderate-to-high social vulnerability per CDC's index, extreme temperatures, high maternal mortality, or high natural hazard risk per FEMA's index, while prohibiting overlapping service areas. Grant recipients may use funds only for (1) initiatives to identify climate risks and provide related services and support—such as training health care providers, hiring perinatal health workers, enhancing data monitoring, and distributing air conditioning units, financial assistance, or evacuation aid—and (2) initiatives to mitigate levels of and exposure to such risks for vulnerable individuals.
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, not later than one year after enactment, to establish a competitive grant program for health profession schools (i.e., accredited medical schools, schools of nursing, midwifery programs, physician assistant education programs, teaching hospitals, residency or fellowship programs, or other programs determined appropriate by the Secretary) to develop and integrate into curricula and continuing education programs addressing climate change risks for vulnerable individuals, including those intending to become pregnant. Grant applications must describe engagement with vulnerable individuals and stakeholder organizations and efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities in climate change exposure and effects; grantees must use funds for training on identifying such risks and effects, disparities, patient counseling and mitigation strategies, relevant services and access thereto, implicit and explicit bias and discrimination, and related topics identified through stakeholder engagement. Grantees may partner with state or local public health departments, health care professional organizations, stakeholder organizations, other health profession schools, or institutions of higher education and must submit annual and final reports to the Secretary, who must report to Congress six years after program establishment. The section authorizes $5 million for FY2027 through FY2030.
This section directs the NIH Director to establish, not later than one year after enactment, the Consortium on Birth and Climate Change Research to coordinate research across NIH institutes, centers, and offices on climate change risks to vulnerable individuals, with a focus on disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups and other underserved populations. The Consortium must (1) establish related research priorities and strategies to reduce such risks; (2) identify gaps in data, research collaborations, and funding opportunities for community-based organizations and diverse researchers; (3) identify public awareness opportunities; and (4) publish annual reports on a public NIH website. Membership includes representatives from at least the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, and Office of Research on Women's Health; and the Consortium must consult with specified federal agencies (e.g., EPA, NOAA) and stakeholders (e.g., maternal health providers, state health departments, minority-serving institutions).
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to develop a strategy for designating areas at high risk of adverse maternal and infant health outcomes among vulnerable individuals due to climate change risks in conjunction with other factors, including air pollution-related diseases, extreme heat, availability of maternal and infant health care, English-language proficiency and health insurance status among women of reproductive age, prevalence of such women from racial or ethnic groups with high adverse outcome rates, their socioeconomic status (i.e., poverty, unemployment, household income, educational attainment), and access to housing, transportation, and nutrition. In developing the strategy, the Secretary must identify and describe existing mapping tools and federal programs, relevant environmental/health/socioeconomic/demographic data, monitoring networks and gaps (including at subcounty and census tract levels), responsible stakeholders and coordination needs, required network enhancements and funding, potential data uses (e.g., for grants under section 3), and other relevant information. The Secretary must coordinate with the EPA and NOAA Administrators; consult stakeholder organizations, maternal health and environmental justice experts, public health departments, prenatal providers, and higher education institutions (including minority-serving institutions); provide notice on an HHS website at least 240 days before publication with at least 90 days for public comment; and publish the strategy, comments received, and agency responses on an HHS website not later than 18 months after enactment.