Climate Health Emergency Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Climate Health Emergency Act requires HHS to declare a public health emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act for health risks associated with climate change. The findings frame climate change as a driver or exacerbating factor for extreme weather and infectious disease and note that, over the past decade, HHS declared or renewed public health emergencies 120 times, including 66 related to extreme weather, 14 to COVID-19, 2 to earthquakes, 2 to Mpox, 32 to the opioid crisis, and 4 to Zika. The bill does not design a new grant program in the statutory text; its legal mechanism is requiring the Secretary to activate existing public health emergency authority for climate-related health risks, which can support federal resource mobilization, data sharing, emergency authorities, and interagency coordination.
Who Benefits and How
Communities facing climate-related health risks benefit from required use of federal public health emergency authority. People vulnerable to extreme weather benefit if HHS mobilizes resources for heat, storms, smoke, floods, or other climate-linked health threats. Public health agencies benefit from a federal declaration that can support coordination, data sharing, and emergency response. Climate health researchers benefit from federal recognition of climate change as a public health emergency driver.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The HHS Secretary must declare the public health emergency under section 319. HHS emergency-response offices must administer any authorities and coordination flowing from the declaration. Federal agencies may need to coordinate resources and data around climate-related health risks. Opponents of climate-emergency authority may face a mandatory declaration rather than discretionary agency action.
Key Provisions
- Requires HHS to declare a section 319 public health emergency for climate-change health risks.
- Finds that 66 of 120 public health emergency declarations or renewals over the past decade related to extreme weather.
- Links climate change to extreme weather, infectious disease transmission, and increased public health infrastructure demand.
- Uses existing Public Health Service Act emergency authority rather than creating a new grant program.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires the HHS Secretary to declare a Public Health Service Act section 319 public health emergency for health risks associated with climate change.
Key Policy Areas
Public Health, Climate Change, Emergency Authority
Primary Purpose
Requires the HHS Secretary to declare a Public Health Service Act section 319 public health emergency for health risks associated with climate change.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Communities facing climate-related health risks
- People vulnerable to extreme weather
- Public health agencies
- Climate health researchers
Identified Costs
- HHS Secretary
- HHS emergency-response offices
- Federal agencies
- Opponents of climate-emergency authority
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeSponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H3548-3549)
Ms. Dexter (for herself, Ms. Velázquez, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ansari, …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
HHS Secretary, HHS emergency-response offices, Public health agencies
Communities facing climate-related health risks, People vulnerable to extreme weather
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology