Climate Adaptation-Related Laws: 115th-117th Congress (January 2017-December 2022)

The report provides a comprehensive list of public laws from 2017 to 2022 that address climate adaptation, focusing heavily on national security, disaster relief, and infrastructure resilience. Key legislative trends include the integration of climate risk into Department of Defense (DoD) planning, the expansion of pre-disaster mitigation funding through the Disaster Recovery Reform Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and targeted conservation efforts for forests, wetlands, and the Arctic. The document details specific mandates for flood mapping, sea-level rise projections for military installations, and the creation of specialized funds for community resilience and drought management.

• The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has increasingly integrated climate change into its strategic planning, explicitly recognizing it as a "direct threat to the national security of the United States". Legislation has mandated the identification of vulnerable bases, the creation of a Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Tool, and the requirement that military installation master plans include energy and climate considerations.
• Federal legislation has shifted toward pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) to reduce long-term disaster costs. The Disaster Recovery Reform Act is described as "transformational" for its focus on PDM grants for elevating structures and implementing modern building codes, while the STORM Act allows FEMA to help states and tribal governments establish revolving loan funds for mitigation of shoreline erosion and flooding.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provided substantial funding for resilience across multiple sectors, including over $16 billion for transportation resiliency, over $12 billion for flood mitigation, and over $8 billion for wildfire management activities.
• The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated significant resources for nature-based solutions and agricultural resilience, including $2.15 billion for National Forest System land restoration and fuel reduction, and over $20 billion to help farmers implement conservation practices that sequester carbon or reduce emissions.
• Legislative efforts have targeted specific high-risk geographic and environmental zones, such as the Arctic, where the DoD is assessing structures in permafrost regions, and the Great Lakes, where the GLRI Act of 2019 addresses threats from "extremes in water levels, intense storms, erosion, and habitat destruction".
• New frameworks have been established to support vulnerable communities, such as the Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022, which identifies areas with high hazard ratings and low community resources to provide additional technical and financial assistance.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (n.d.). Climate Adaptation-Related Laws: 115th-117th Congress (January 2017-December 2022). https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Related_Laws_EESI.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Climate Adaptation-Related Laws: 115th-117th Congress (January 2017-December 2022). n.d. https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Related_Laws_EESI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Climate Adaptation-Related Laws: 115th-117th Congress (January 2017-December 2022) |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Related_Laws_EESI.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitutendclimate, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Climate Adaptation-Related Laws: 115th-117th Congress (January 2017-December 2022)}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Related_Laws_EESI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }