Recognizing that climate change poses a growing threat to public health and necessitates coordinated action to mitigate its impacts and safeguard the health and well-being of all people in the United States.
H. Res. 568 is a non-binding sense-of-the-House resolution introduced in the 119th Congress. It acknowledges climate change as a major threat to public health and directs various federal actions—primarily led by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)—to improve the health sector’s readiness and resilience to climate-related health impacts. The resolution calls for reinstitution and coordination of key DHHS offices, expanded funding and technical assistance for underserved communities, enhanced data sharing and communication about climate-health risks, stronger protections and training for workers, and annual reporting to Congress on progress. It also urges the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish a robust worker heat protection standard. While aspirational and prescriptive in tone, it does not itself create binding obligations or authorize new spending; rather, it expresses the intent of the House to guide agency actions and priorities.
Key Points
- 1Recognizes climate change as the leading health threat of the 21st century and outlines specific health risks (air pollution, heat, vector-borne and water-borne diseases, mental health impacts, pregnancy complications, displacement, etc.) that disproportionately affect vulnerable communities.
- 2Calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to lead a coordinated federal response that increases health sector climate readiness, strengthens health infrastructure and supply chains, and reduces the sector’s environmental footprint; emphasizes equitable, nationwide impact.
- 3Requires urgent funding and quick distribution of energy efficiency retrofits, clean energy/onsite storage, and climate-resilience planning for health care organizations and community-based groups, with a focus on historically underserved communities.
- 4Mandates prioritized technical assistance and capacity-building for Tribal health systems, rural hospitals, and underresourced providers to support climate adaptation, with an emphasis on equitable access.
- 5Instructs federal agencies to close health-climate information gaps, synthesize data on health impacts and adaptation strategies, and develop accessible, evidence-based education tools for the public.
- 6Reinstates the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity and the Office of Environmental Justice within DHHS (with adequate staffing and resources) to lead and coordinate federal climate-health efforts and equity.
- 7Specifies that key agencies and programs (including ACF, ASPR, AHRQ, IHS, CDC components, and NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative) should be fully funded and supported to carry out climate-health work.
- 8Includes provisions to support workforce development (training, job quality, public health career pathways), emergency preparedness, and community-led mental wellness and mutual aid networks, with a focus on workers from underserved communities.
- 9Ensures meaningful engagement of community-based organizations, Tribal governments, and environmental-justice groups in climate-health decision-making, with resources and authority to lead local resilience efforts.
- 10Directs OSHA to promulgate a worker heat protection standard that sets the maximum protective measures for heat exposure to prevent heat-related illness and injury.
- 11Requires annual progress reports to Congress and the public on climate-resilience investments, health outcomes, and equitable distribution of resources.