Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act of 2023

Heat stress is a leading weather-related cause of death in the United States, with more than 600 people killed in the United States by extreme heat every year, and many more experiencing respiratory problems and heat-related illness.

Urban areas are likely to experience higher temperatures than surrounding areas due to design-related attributes of the built environment, including manmade factors such as low solar reflectance, low vegetation and tree cover, high building density, high impervious surface cover, and waste heat emissions.

Underserved communities are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat. In the United States, low-income census blocks have 15.2 percent less tree cover and an average land surface temperature that is 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than high-income blocks.

Studies show that in 97 percent of the largest urbanized areas in the United States, people of color live in census tracts with higher surface urban heat intensity than non-Hispanic Whites, indicating that heat exposure is unequally distributed by race.

Urban heat is not only a public health threat but also an economic one, as rising heat leads to increased roadway maintenance costs, higher residential and commercial summer energy costs, and lost labor productivity, as well as the cost to patients and health care infrastructure for heat-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

Excess urban heat causes increased energy consumption, elevated emission of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, and impaired water quality.

Heat waves are expected to not only occur more frequently in the United States but also be of longer duration, lasting 10 to 20 days longer by the end of the century.

Solutions exist that communities can implement now to mitigate the challenge of urban heat. One example is the planting of urban trees to offset or reverse the urban heat island effect. Studies in multiple cities in the United States have shown that urban trees can offset projected increases in heat-related mortality in 2050 by 40 to 99 percent.

Covered census tract— The term covered census tract means a census tract with a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent, as measured by the 5-year data series available from the American Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census for the period of 2014 through 2018, including such a census tract that includes an area that was designated as “hazardous” or “definitely declining” in maps drawn by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation.

Covered grant— The term covered grant means a grant awarded under section 4(a).

Eligible entity— The term eligible entity means—

Eligible project— The term eligible project—

Environmental justice— The term environmental justice means the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, culture, national origin, income, and educational levels with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of protective environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Excess urban heat effect— The term excess urban heat effect means the phenomenon of local urban warming, resulting from manmade factors such as low solar reflectance, low tree cover, high building density, high impervious surface cover, and waste heat emissions.

Extreme heat— The term extreme heat means a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, with temperatures well above climatological normals for a given location and season.

Nonprofit organization— The term nonprofit organization means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code.

Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Urban area— The term urban area has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code.

Urban forestry master plan— The term urban forestry master plan means a strategic plan that establishes the overall vision, goals, objectives, and implementation tools to evaluate, maintain and expand the urban tree canopy with the intention of building resilience to extreme weather events, reducing the urban heat island effect, mitigating stormwater runoff, reducing nutrient runoff, addressing air quality, and preserving biodiversity.

Urban tree canopy assessment— The term urban tree canopy assessment means a measure of a community’s tree canopy coverage as a percentage of the total land area that serves as a baseline for setting community tree canopy goals and measuring progress.

In general— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Office of Community Planning and Development, in coordination with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Director of the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish an urban heat mitigation and management grant program to award grants to eligible entities to implement eligible projects.

Set-Aside— Not less than 75 percent of the amounts of covered grants awarded for a fiscal year shall be awarded to eligible entities to implement projects in a covered census tract.

Priority— In awarding covered grants, the Secretary shall give priority to an eligible entity that serves—

Reporting requirement— The Secretary shall submit an annual report to Congress that identifies the recipients of covered grants and the geographic and economic distribution of those recipients.

Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2030.