Position on S.1166, The Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act
The Federation of American Scientists supports S.1166, The Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act.
The Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act would establish a $30 million dollar grant program at Housing and Urban Development to support efforts to address urban heat via cooling infrastructure, such as green and cool roofs, reflective pavements, shade infrastructure, and tree planting and maintenance, and community resilience actions, such as cooling centers and heat mitigation education. These efforts align with key recommendations from the FAS 2025 Heat Policy Agenda to transform the built and landscaped environment to make it more resilient to the impacts of extreme heat.
“Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of injury and death and innovations in the built environment can save money and lives,” said Grace Wickerson, Senior Manager for Climate and Health at the Federation of American Scientists. “With temperatures already nearing 100°F in parts of the country, we must act now to protect our nation’s people, infrastructure, and economy.”
“One in three Americans report being personally affected by extreme weather in just the past two years – illustrating that extreme weather has become extremely common,” said Dr. Hannah Safford.
“FAS is very pleased to see the Fix Our Forests Act, S. 1426, advance out of Committee. We urge the Senate to act quickly to pass this legislation and to ensure that federal agencies have the capacity and resourcing they need to carry out its provisions.”
With summer 2025 in the rearview mirror, we’re taking a look back to see how federal actions impacted heat preparedness and response on the ground, what’s still changing, and what the road ahead looks like for heat resilience.
Extreme heat poses serious and growing risks to children’s health, safety, and education. Yet, schools and childcare facilities are unprepared to handle rising temperatures.