S. 2675 — Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act of 2025

This section defines 11 terms for purposes of the Act: (1) community with environmental justice concerns (i.e., a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities that experiences, or is at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects than other communities); (2) extreme heat (i.e., heat substantially exceeding local climatological norms in duration, intensity, season length, or frequency); (3) heat (i.e., atmospheric parameters affecting human thermoregulation, such as air temperature, humidity, solar exposure, and wind speed); (4) heat event (i.e., extreme heat lasting 2 days or more with potential heat-health implications); (5) heat-health (i.e., health effects from heat, including vulnerability and exposure risks); (6) Indian Tribe (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304); (7) Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7517); (8) planning (i.e., scenario-based activities across timescales to mitigate heat-health risks); (9) preparedness (i.e., decision-support activities across timescales to manage heat risks before events); (10) response (i.e., activities during and after heat events to address impacts and improve planning and preparedness); and (11) urban heat island (i.e., elevated heat in urbanized areas due to low albedo/impervious surfaces, low vegetation, and waste heat).

This section states 16 congressional findings concerning the public health risks of extreme heat events (i.e., the leading cause of U.S. weather-related deaths over the last 30 years), projected increases in heat frequency and intensity, vulnerabilities of certain populations (e.g., adults over 65, pregnant people, low-income and urban communities, outdoor workers), environmental justice concerns, urban heat islands, data and research gaps, the value of federal heat-health tools (e.g., CDC Heat and Health Tracker), cascading sectoral impacts, and the benefits of heat action plans and early warning systems.

This section establishes within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee (Committee) to coordinate a united federal approach to reducing health risks from heat across timescales (days, weeks, months, years, and decades). The Committee comprises the Director of the National Integrated Heat Health Information System and at least one representative from each of 16 specified federal entities—including NOAA components (National Weather Service, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Bureau of the Census, multiple Department of Health and Human Services components (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, others), Department of the Interior bureaus (Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Office of Hawaiian Relations), Environmental Protection Agency offices, Department of Homeland Security (including Federal Emergency Management Agency), and Departments of Defense, Agriculture (including Forest Service), Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Labor (including Occupational Safety and Health Administration), Veterans Affairs, Education, State, and Small Business Administration—plus other agencies as determined by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Three co-chairs (initially one each from NOAA, HHS, and FEMA; subsequent selections with NOAA retaining a position) serve terms of up to five years, determine the agenda in consultation with members, direct Committee work, and convene meetings at least quarterly. The Committee must (1) develop a five-year strategic plan and implementation plans, due to Congress and a public website within two years of enactment, to improve interagency coordination on heat-health risks; (2) coordinate federal activities on heat-health communication, engagement, research, service delivery, financial assistance, contracting, and workforce development; and (3) build capacity and partnerships with federal and non-federal entities.

This section establishes within NOAA the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS), headed by a Director, to reduce heat-related impacts by improving delivery of temperature and extreme heat data, forecasts, warnings, and projections (especially for disproportionately affected communities); developing science-based tools for heat resilience through NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; and providing grants to centers of excellence for technical assistance. The Director must (1) build relationships with diverse federal, state, local, tribal, and private partners (e.g., emergency managers, health professionals, environmental justice communities) to deliver actionable weather and climate information; (2) coordinate internationally on heat impacts research; (3) enhance related observations and monitoring; and (4) communicate heat risks to stakeholders. This section further requires NOAA to (1) ensure NIHHIS data and metadata are openly available and managed per FAIR and CARE principles and relevant laws, with archiving at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI); and (2) designate at least one warning coordination meteorologist with heat warnings expertise at NCEI (in addition to the existing requirement for at least one at each NWS weather forecast office under 15 U.S.C. 8545). (Thus, these meteorologists will support impact-based decision services for heat events, including liaising with users and maintaining severe weather procedures.) The Director must also implement a climate and health research grant program, coordinated with other federal programs.

This section directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in consultation with the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee and specified individuals and entities, to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine within 120 days of enactment for a study on extreme heat information and response, to be completed not later than three years after enactment. The study must (1) identify policy and research gaps, including regional disparities in awareness and capacity, heat-related data shortcomings (e.g., air conditioning in public facilities, demographic impacts, discontinued federal tools such as the CDC Heat and Health Tracker), and state-level policies increasing vulnerabilities; (2) recommend ways to address gaps in policy, research, operations, communications, data, heat-health planning, resilience, adaptation, and environmental justice; (3) incorporate recommendations from the National Integrated Heat Health Information System director on communicating warnings to at-risk populations, managing compound risks, promoting community resilience and equity, addressing energy affordability and infrastructure impacts, and protecting workers from indoor and outdoor heat; and (4) consider additional topics such as standardizing nationwide heat illness data collection, financing heat preparedness, and evaluating local heat response approaches. Following the study, the Committee must develop consistent definitions for heat events, heat waves, and related terms with heat experts; within 90 days of study completion, the Committee must publish a report on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website and submit it to the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Workforce.

This section directs the Director of the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, in coordination with the system's Interagency Committee, to establish a community heat resilience program not later than one year after enactment of this Act to provide financial assistance—through prizes, contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements—to eligible entities for projects ameliorating human health impacts of extreme heat events. Eligible entities include nonprofits, states, Indian Tribes, local governments, local workforce development boards, academic institutions, and designated centers of excellence; eligible projects encompass (1) sustainable heat mitigation such as cool roofs, urban forestry, cooling centers, and power grid resilience; (2) training on climate risks for vulnerable individuals; (3) enhancements to heat risk mitigation, research, and resource access in rural and urban communities; (4) community-responsive initiatives including public awareness, research on heat gaps, worker protections, and local heat planning; and (5) other projects achieving significant heat risk reductions. The Director must prioritize historically disadvantaged communities and those with heat disparities by race, ethnicity, or income; allocate at least 40% of annual assistance to communities with environmental justice concerns or low-income communities; and ensure equitable distribution by geography or other factors.

This section authorizes appropriations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as follows: (1) $20 million annually for FY2026 through FY2030 for the National Integrated Heat Health Information System Interagency Committee and System (sections 4 and 5), including administrative costs; (2) $500,000 annually for FY2026 through FY2028 to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for the study on extreme heat information and response (section 6); and (3) $10 million for FY2026 and FY2027, $20 million for FY2028, and $30 million for FY2029 and FY2030 for financial assistance for resilience in addressing extreme heat and health risks (section 7).