Climate Adaptation: A Review of Federal Legislation Enacted Since 2017 | Article

In 2022 alone, 18 disasters causing $1 billion or more in losses hit the United States. These disasters—including drought, flooding, wildfire, and storms—affected states across the country and cost Florida the most, followed by Texas and Minnesota.

From 1980 to 2022, there have been an average of eight billion-dollar disasters per year. But, if you look back at just 2018 to 2022, that number jumps to eighteen billion-dollar events per year. The costs to the federal government, states, and communities are mounting as these climate-related extreme weather events disrupt more and more people’s lives.

To understand how Congress is looking to address these increasingly costly and frequent disasters, EESI looked at the climate adaptation-related legislation enacted over the past six years—from the 115^th through the 117^th Congress. The past three Congresses have made bipartisan advancements on climate adaptation under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Indeed, we identified 41 laws that could, if implemented effectively, encourage climate adaptation and resilience. These laws, listed in this table, range from the wide-reaching Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) to climate impact-specific laws like the National Landslide Preparedness Act (P.L. 116-323). They also include must-pass legislation like the 2018 Farm Bill and the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

A look at the climate adaptation laws table. Click the image to view the full table.

There are more than 16 different climate impacts specifically referenced through these laws, though the ways in which they are addressed vary from a focus on collecting more data and creating contingency plans to establishing financing tools and bolstering the workforce. While acute events like floods, hurricanes, and wildfires often get the most attention, the laws also address slow-onset events such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, and thawing permafrost. There are also impacts specific to certain geographies, including both low- and high-water levels in the Great Lakes and the urban heat island effect in cities.

These laws illuminate that much of the federal government’s work on adaptation exists within the paradigm of disaster response and recovery. At least five of the laws are amending the 1998 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 100-707). Post-disaster recovery does provide an opportunity to build back more resilient to the next impacts. For example, the Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act (P.L. 117-249) is designed to help the Small Business Administration quickly respond to and support rural communities recovering from disaster while considering future climate impacts.

However, to reduce the need for disaster response, adaptation measures need to be implemented in anticipation of climate impacts. Laws like the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, passed as a part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-254), have started to shift the focus to pre-disaster mitigation by creating funding opportunities like the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants.

In addition to the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, which integrates resilience into various transportation, energy, natural resource, and water resource programs, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provides the most comprehensive approach to integrating climate adaptation across its programs and priorities. According to the Center for Climate and Security, the 2021 NDAA, for example, requires the Department of Defense to analyze climate risks before deploying forces, research how to make equipment resilient to future climate conditions, work with local communities around military installations to coordinate on addressing extreme weather events, and update facilities to meet established resilience standards. All six reauthorizations of the NDAA included in this review create adaptation policy that builds on the policies of previous years.

The table of climate adaptation-related legislation also includes multiple laws from each of the past three Congresses that primarily deal with conservation. Nature-based solutions that provide both climate mitigation and adaptation benefits are closely linked to conservation. For example, the Tropical Forest Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-440) creates mechanisms to protect coral reefs. Reefs can help communities adapt to climate change by reducing the intensity of storm surges during hurricanes and other severe storms. The conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill, including the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, encourage farmers and ranchers to use practices such as cover crops and agroforestry, which help address climate impacts including flooding, drought, extreme heat, and erosion.

Despite the progress made, the challenge continues, as underscored by the enormous cost of climate impacts in 2022. Significant federal policy opportunities remain untapped that could help communities across the United States more successfully live with these climate impacts. In particular, federal-level coordination and a cohesive strategy on adaptation across agencies, sectors, and other levels of government that takes into account the full scope of climate threats would build upon and enhance the effective implementation of this set of laws. With the basis of these laws in place, the 118^th Congress can continue to build on bipartisan efforts to increase U.S. resilience to climate disasters.

Click here to view the full table of climate adaptation-related legislation from the 115^th to the 117^th Congress.

Author: Anna McGinn