[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2996 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2996
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to
establish a grant program to facilitate the development of climate
adaptation plans by certain entities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2025
Ms. Escobar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to
establish a grant program to facilitate the development of climate
adaptation plans by certain entities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Climate Adaptation Plan Act of
2025'' or the ``CAP Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish a grant
program to award amounts, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities
to facilitate the development of a climate adaptation plan by such
eligible entities.
(b) Guidance.--The Administrator shall issue guidance regarding the
implementation of the grant program established under subsection (a) in
consultation with stakeholders, including representatives of youth,
farmers, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific and
technological community, trade unions, the business and industrial
community, Indigenous communities, and local governments.
(c) Applications.--To be eligible for a grant under this section,
an eligible entity shall submit to the Administrator an application in
such form, at such time, and containing such information as the
Administrator determines appropriate, including the following:
(1) Information demonstrating that a low-income community
is included within the population represented by the eligible
entity.
(2) Information demonstrating that the eligible entity
either has experience with, or plans to contract the services
of an individual or entity who has experience with--
(A) conducting risk assessments with regard to
climate change;
(B) hazard mitigation;
(C) program and project finance; and
(D) Federal grant applications.
(3) Demographic information of the population represented
by the eligible entity, including--
(A) population size;
(B) average household income;
(C) race;
(D) education level; and
(E) primary sectors of employment.
(4) A statement describing why the eligible entity wants to
develop a climate adaptation plan.
(5) Information regarding the negative effects of climate
change the eligible entity is, or is at risk of, experiencing.
(6) Information regarding the strategy the eligible entity
will use in the development of the climate adaptation plan to
engage stakeholders, which shall include, as applicable to the
eligible entity, representatives of youth, farmers,
nongovernmental organizations, the scientific and technological
community, trade unions, the business and industrial community,
Indigenous communities that will be affected by the climate
adaptation plan of the eligible entity, and neighboring
jurisdictions.
(7) The identity of the person who will lead the
development of the climate adaptation plan.
(8) A statement regarding whether the eligible entity will
hire a third party to facilitate the development of the climate
adaptation plan.
(9) The expected timeline for development of the climate
adaptation plan.
(10) Actions the eligible entity plans to take to ensure
that environmental justice communities within the population
represented by the eligible entity are informed of the process
for developing the climate adaptation plan.
(d) Integration.--In developing a climate adaptation plan using
amounts awarded under this section, an eligible entity shall, to the
extent practicable, integrate such plan with other relevant existing
plans, including any applicable--
(1) hazard mitigation plan developed pursuant to section
322(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5165(a));
(2) land use plan;
(3) economic development plan;
(4) capital improvement plan;
(5) community comprehensive plan; and
(6) emergency management plan.
(e) Climate Adaptation Plan Requirements.--An eligible entity that
develops a climate adaptation plan using amounts awarded under this
section shall include in such climate adaptation plan the following:
(1) An assessment of the risks posed by climate change to
the population represented by the eligible entity, which shall
take into consideration demographic and social factors of such
population, including--
(A) geographic distribution;
(B) race;
(C) ethnicity;
(D) socioeconomic status;
(E) health; and
(F) historic and ongoing systemic racism.
(2) An assessment of the risks posed by climate change to
the natural ecosystems within the jurisdiction of the eligible
entity, which shall take into consideration factors including--
(A) geography; and
(B) species present in such ecosystems.
(3) An assessment of the risks posed by climate change to
housing, infrastructure, and public buildings within the
jurisdiction of the eligible entity.
(4) A description of the actions the eligible entity plans
to take to address risks identified under paragraphs (1), (2),
and (3), including--
(A) changes in land use, zoning, or building codes
and standards; and
(B) restoration and protection of areas within the
jurisdiction of the eligible entity and the development
of strategies to achieve such restoration and
protection.
(f) Priority.--In awarding amounts under this section, the
Administrator shall give priority to applications from eligible
entities that include an environmental justice community within the
population represented by the eligible entity.
(g) Matching Requirement.--There shall be no matching requirement
for amounts awarded under this section.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Climate adaptation plan.--The term ``climate adaptation
plan'' means a framework for--
(A) measuring, tracking, and reducing greenhouse
gas emissions; and
(B) adopting climate change adaptation measures.
(3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a local government;
(B) an agency or instrumentality of a local
government;
(C) the governing body of a federally recognized
Indian Tribe; or
(D) a federally recognized Indian Tribe or
authorized Tribal organization or Alaska Native village
or organization that is not a Tribal government or the
governing body of a federally recognized Indian Tribe.
(4) Environmental justice community.--The term
``environmental justice community'' means a community that, as
determined by the Administrator--
(A) has significant representation of--
(i) communities of color;
(ii) low-income communities; or
(iii) Tribal or Indigenous communities; and
(B) experiences or is at risk of experiencing
greater or more frequent adverse environmental or
health effects as a result of climate change.
(5) Local government.--The term ``local government'' means
a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public
authority, school district, special district, intrastate
district, council of governments (regardless of whether the
council of governments is incorporated as a nonprofit
corporation under State law), or regional or interstate
governmental entity.
(6) Low-income community.--The term ``low-income
community'' means a census block group within which 30 percent
or more of the population are individuals with an annual
household income equal to, or less than, the greater of--
(A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the median
income of the area in which the household is located,
as reported by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development; and
(B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty line.
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