“A bill 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, including (1) adverse maternal and infant health outcomes (i.e., preterm birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, infant or maternal mortality, and severe maternal morbidity); (2) 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); (3) perinatal health worker (e.g., doula, community health worker, lactation counselor); (4) risks associated with climate change (e.g., extreme heat, air pollution, extreme weather events); (5) severe maternal morbidity (i.e., health conditions, including mental health and substance use disorders, attributed to or aggravated by pregnancy or childbirth resulting in significant short- or long-term consequences); (6) stakeholder organization (e.g., community-based organizations, nonprofits focused on maternal or infant health or environmental justice, patient advocacy groups); and (7) vulnerable individual (i.e., pregnant individuals, those pregnant within the preceding year, and children under age 3).
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—primarily pregnant women, mothers, and infants—from climate change risks by awarding grants to 10 covered entities. The Secretary must select grant recipients within 270 days, after consulting representatives of stakeholder organizations; the EPA and NOAA Administrators; and specified HHS officials (i.e., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, CMS and HRSA Administrators, NIH Director, and CDC Director). In selecting recipients, the Secretary must prioritize covered entities serving counties or localities with (1) Clean Air Act nonattainment status; (2) moderate-to-high or higher social vulnerability per the CDC Social Vulnerability Index; (3) temperatures posing health risks; (4) elevated maternal mortality, morbidity, or perinatal outcomes; (5) very high or relatively high risk per the FEMA National Risk Index; or (6) other climate-sensitive hazards linked to adverse maternal or infant health; and must ensure no overlap in service areas. Grant applications must describe plans developed with patient and stakeholder input; targeting of high-risk geographic areas and racial/ethnic disparities in maternal/infant outcomes and climate exposure; and strategies to avoid adverse environmental impacts, displacement, housing cost increases, or disproportionate effects on minorities and underserved groups. Grant funds may be used only for (1) initiatives to identify climate risks and provide related services and support—such as provider training, perinatal health worker hiring, risk monitoring and data sharing, and direct assistance including air conditioning units, weatherization, financial aid, housing/evacuation/transportation support, cooling shelter access, and mental health counseling for extreme weather events (e.g., floods, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts); and (2) initiatives to mitigate climate risk levels and exposure.
This section establishes a competitive grant program, to be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and initiated not later than one year after enactment, authorizing $5 million for FY2027 through 2030 to accredited health profession schools (i.e., 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) for developing and integrating into curricula and continuing education programs on identifying and addressing climate change risks for vulnerable individuals and individuals intending to become pregnant. Grant applications must describe engagement with vulnerable individuals and stakeholder organizations and efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities in exposure and effects; funds must support training on (1) identifying and describing such risks and effects, (2) disparities, (3) patient counseling and mitigation strategies, (4) relevant services and access strategies, (5) implicit/explicit bias, racism, and discrimination, and (6) related topics identified through stakeholder engagement. Grantees may partner with public health departments, professional organizations, stakeholders, other health profession schools, or institutions of higher education and must submit annual and final reports to the Secretary, who must submit a summary and recommendations to Congress six years after program establishment.
This section establishes the Consortium on Birth and Climate Change Research within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be created by the NIH Director not later than one year after enactment. The Consortium coordinates NIH research on climate change risks to vulnerable individuals—including by establishing research priorities focused on disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups and other underserved populations, identifying data and collaboration gaps, identifying funding opportunities for diverse community-based organizations and researchers, increasing public awareness, and publishing annual reports—and includes representatives from specified NIH institutes, centers, and offices (i.e., at a minimum, 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). The Consortium must consult with specified federal agencies (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and stakeholders (e.g., maternal health providers, minority-serving institutions).
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 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 factors including air pollution- and extreme heat-related diseases, maternal and infant healthcare access, English-language proficiency and health insurance status among women of reproductive age, prevalence of such women in racial or ethnic groups with high adverse outcome rates, their socioeconomic status (i.e., poverty, unemployment, household income, educational attainment), and access to quality housing, transportation, and nutrition. In developing the strategy, the Secretary must identify and describe (1) existing mapping tools or federal programs, relevant environmental/health/socioeconomic/demographic data, and monitoring networks (including gaps, stakeholders, and needed enhancements at subcounty and census tract levels); (2) funding required for additional networks and coordination recommendations; and (3) potential data uses, such as for grants under section 3. The Secretary must coordinate with the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, consult specified stakeholders (e.g., healthcare providers, public health departments, minority-serving institutions), provide notice on an HHS website at least 240 days before publication with a 90-day public comment period, and publish the strategy, comments received, and agency responses on an HHS website not later than 18 months after enactment.