Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act of 2025
H.R. 4515, the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act of 2025, would create a new Office of Climate Change and Health Equity within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Office would lead federal efforts to protect health from climate change, improve the health care system’s readiness, and advance equity for communities most affected by climate risks. The bill requires the Secretary to develop and implement a National Strategic Action Plan within one year, coordinating across multiple federal agencies and engaging affected communities, particularly environmental justice and medically underserved populations. It also establishes a permanent science advisory board, authorizes funding for the Office and related activities, and tasks federal agencies with assessing how existing laws and programs influence health protections against climate threats. In short, the bill aims to bolster climate resilience in health care and public health, prioritize vulnerable communities, and reduce the climate-related health burden through planning, data, and coordinated action.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity within HHS, led by a Director, to coordinate federal action on climate-related health impacts and the health care system’s resilience.
- 2National Strategic Action Plan: Within one year, the Secretary must publish a plan to coordinate federal efforts to prepare for and respond to climate-related health threats, with extensive consultation (federal agencies, Tribal and state/local governments, and public stakeholders) and a focus on equity, preparedness, infrastructure, data, modeling, and health sector decarbonization.
- 3Advisory and reporting framework: Create a permanent Science Advisory Board (10–20 members) to advise on health impacts of climate change, best science for the Office’s work, and annual congressional reporting. The National Academies may prepare periodic health-outcome reports to aid planning, with a public, Congress, and Secretary submission every four years.
- 4Health impact assessment and planning: Within 180 days, the Secretary must identify laws/policies relevant to climate-health impacts; within two years, each relevant agency head must assess those laws’ health impacts and assist subnational governments in doing the same.
- 5Periodic updates and implementation: The National Strategic Action Plan would be assessed and revised at least annually to reflect new data, trends, and the plan’s effectiveness. The Secretary would implement the plan through HHS and collaborate with other federal programs where appropriate, including capacity-building and preparedness for extreme events, disease outbreaks, and ongoing climate-health monitoring.
- 6Funding authorizations: Specific funding is authorized for the Office ($10 million per year 2026–2031), the National Strategic Action Plan ($2 million in FY2026), and the Advisory Board ($0.5 million in FY2026).