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Clean Air-Cool Planet is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated solely to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
Federal Resources President Obama issued an Executive Order on October 5, 2009 entitled Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, requiring all the federal agencies to plan for climate change adaptation/preparedness. Below is a preliminary listing of programs from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of the Interior that may be useful to community leaders as they prepare for climate impacts. CA-CP will be adding other agencies to this list in the near future. A number of these programs existed before the Executive Order, many are being implemented, and others await funding. We will be updating this list as information becomes available. |
| US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Programs | Program Description, Types of Assistance, and Links | For further information: |
| Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) program | EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) program provides resources for the water sector to develop and implement long-range plans that account for climate change impacts. Its working group, formed in 2009, is tasked with "developing attributes for climate ready water utilities; conducting a gap analysis on climate change-related tools, training, and resources to address utilities' short-and long-term needs; and identifying mechanisms that would facilitate the adoption of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies by the water sector". The Climate Resilience Evaluation and Assessment Tool (CREAT) software tool developed within this program is useful for drinking water and wastewater utility owners and operators in assessing climate change impacts and related risks to utilities. Another useful resource available from this program is the Climate Ready Water Utilities Toolbox which allows one to search through a variety of climate change science, mitigation and adaptation resources relavent to the water sector and various stages of the decision-making process of long-term planning. Also available upon request is EPA's Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems: Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Climate Resiliency (TTX Tool) that was developed for planning tabletop exercises on issues having to do with water. | Contact Web Form EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) |
| The Climate Ready Estuaries program | EPA's innovative Climate Ready Estuaries program supports the National Estuary Programs as they assess climate change vulnerabilities, develop and implement adaptation strategies, engage and educate stakeholders, and share the lessons learned with other coastal managers. The CRE program 2010 Progress Report describes NEP coastal adaptation achievements and lessons learned. The CRE Coastal Toolkit provides access to important resources related to understanding climate change impacts, climate adaptation/preparedness tools, and provides communication and finance options. Coastal resource managers can use these tools and case studies to assess risk and plan for the future. Every spring, CRE conducts solicitations for National Estuary Programs and their partners. | http://epa.gov/cre/contactus.html |
| EPA Regional Resources |
Reports, papers, and website links that cover climate change impacts and adaptation, sea level rise response strategies, storm damage reduction, and other topics are available at regional webpages:
EPA Region 1 (New England) |
EPA Region 1 (New England) EPA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Caribbean Territories) EPA Region 3(Mid-Atlantic) |
| EPA's Adaptation Summary | EPA's adaptation page summarizes the issues related to climate adaptation and touches on the key elements involved such as human health, coastal areas and sea level rise, agriculture and forestry, ecosystems and wildlife, water resources, and energy. | EPA's adaptation page |
| Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP) | EPA's Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP) provides water resource managers and decision makers with tools for adapting water resources and infrastructure in the face of future climate impacts and economic development. | EPA's Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP) |
| National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) Global Change Impacts and Adaptation program | National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) Global Change Impacts and Adaptation program, assesses the potential vulnerability to climate change of EPA's air, water, ecosystem, and human health protection efforts. It also assesses adaptation options. The program creates case-studies, develops decision support tools, and assists with impact planning. | Global Change Impacts and Adaptation program |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Programs | Program Description, Types of Assistance, and Links | For further information: |
| NOAA's Coastal Services Center |
The mission of the NOAA Coastal Services Center is to support the environmental, social, and economic well being of the coast by linking people, information, and technology. The Center, which was established in 1994 and is located in Charleston, South Carolina, provides a suite of Decision-Support Tools on its website, such as a hazard assessment tool, a risk and vulnerability assessment tool, a habitat priority planner, a legislative atlas, and a tool to track historical hurricanes. The Center provides data on land cover, elevation, mapping, and shorelines. The Center provides how-to guides and publications on coastal management issues.
Highlights: The Center's Digital Coast was created to address timely coastal issues, including coastal conservation, hazards such as storm surges, and climate change impacts such as sea level rise, and provides useful tools for coastal resource management professionals. The Digital Coast website summarizes an effort underway by NOAA to develop an enhanced visualization tool for emergency officials, first responders that will enable local officials to better predict and respond to coastal inundation and storm tides. The pilot sites are Scituate, Massachusetts, and Saco, Maine, but NOAA intends to make the tool available for all coastal regions. The Digital Coast website also contains a description of the Sea Level Rise Impacts Viewer tool which displays potential future sea levels. The Center's Coastal County Snapshots tool provides local officials information on each coastal county's demographics, infrastructure, and environment within the flood zone. |
NOAA Coastal Services Center 2234 South Hobson Avenue Charleston, SC 29405 843-740-1200 phone 843-740-1224 fax |
| NOAA Climate Services Portal (NCS Portal) | The NOAA Climate Services Portal provides NOAA's climate data, products, and services to all users. This includes fact sheets on Earth's climate system, interactive slides on climate impacts and adaptation strategies, and decision support tools. | NOAA Climate Services Portal |
| StormSmart Coasts | StormSmart Coasts provides information to coastal decision makers who aim to protect their communities from weather and climate hazards. This website helps coastal decision makers communicate and collaborate in Massachussetts, Missisippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Florida. The website will soon provide resources and communication tools for those in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Decision makers or the public can read about how best to prepare their communities before a storm, what to do during a storm, and after the storm, as well as where to find funding for their work. | StormSmart Coasts website |
| 2010 NOAA adaptation planning guide | In 2010, NOAA released Adapting to Climate Change: A Planning Guide for State Coastal Managers which was written to assist U.S. state and coastal managers develop and implement climate adaptation plans. | Josh Lott |
| NOAA's Coastal Climate Adaptation Website | NOAA's Coastal Climate Adaptation Website hosted by NOAA's Coastal Services Center contains adaptation plans, case studies and strategies, guidebooks, risk assessments, and training materials. | Coastal Climate Adaptation Website |
| NOAA's Climate Program Office | The SARP Climate and Coastal Resource Management (CCRM) project catalyzes and supports applications research that links climate science with practical challenges in coastal regions. | For additional information, contact Lisa Vaughan at 301-734-1266. |
| National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) | The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) provides drought information and supports drought research related to risk assessment, forecasting, and management. | NIDIS Contact Page |
| Northeast Regional Climate Center | The Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC), located at Cornell University, and funded mainly by NOAA, serves Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia. It acquires and disseminates accurate, up-to-date climate data and information. | Contact information: nrcc@cornell.edu 607-255-1751 |
| Department of Interior (DOI) Programs | Program Description, Types of Assistance, and Links | For further information: |
| Fish & Wildlife Service Strategic Plan | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has produced a climate change strategic plan, entitledRising to the Urgent Challenge: Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change. It lays out the framework within which the Service will work as part of the larger conservation community to help ensure the sustainability of fish, wildlife, plants and habitats in the face of accelerating climate change. The plan is implemented through a dynamic action plan that details specific steps the Service will take during the next five years to implement the Strategic Plan…The plan employs three key strategies to address climate change: Adaptation, Mitigation, and Engagement. |
Fish & Wildlife Service Strategic Plans
Kurt Johnson, |
| National Fish and Wildlife Climate Adaptation Strategy | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state wildlife agencies is developing a Fish and Wildlife Climate Adaptation Strategy which is a collaborative framework that defines principles and methods to maintain key terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and functions needed to sustain fish, wildlife and plant resources in the face of accelerating climate change. |
National Fish and Wildlife Climate Adaptation Strategy
Mark Shaffer, |
| Fish & Wildlife Climate Change Learning Center | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) has established a Climate Change Learning Center to provide climate science and climate change training opportunities to FWS staff in order for them to better understand how these topics relate to resource management, conservation and program operations. NCTC is partnering with other Federal agencies, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations to design and develop new training workshops, seminars and webinars for both distance learning and face-to-face training. |
Fish & Wildlife Climate Change Learning Center Donna C. Brewer |
| Fish & Wildlife Landscape Conservation Cooperatives | According to DOI's website: America's natural systems and landscapes are impacted by increasing land use pressures and widespread resource threats amplified by a rapidly changing climate. These changes are occurring at an unprecedented pace and scale. By leveraging resources and strategically targeting science to inform conservation decisions and actions, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are a network of partnerships working in unison to ensure the sustainability of America's land, water, wildlife and cultural resources. |
For more information visit: LCC Basics & LCC Information and Contacts.
For more information on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service landscape conservation work with partners, visit www.fws.gov/science/shc/index.html |
| Department of Interior's Climate Science Centers | Under Secretarial Order No. 3289, the Department of Interior is expanding the scope and geographic reach of its climate-science efforts by creating eight regional Climate Science Centers, one to be based in the Northeast. According to its website, the centers will provide scientific information, tools and techniques that land, water, wildlife and cultural resource managers and other interested parties can apply to anticipate, monitor and adapt to climate and ecologically-driven responses at regional-to-local scales. | For more information visit DOI's Climate Science Center website. |
Several useful large studies have been completed on federal climate adaptation/preparedness. They include:
The White House Council on Environmental Quality report:
Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: Recommended Actions in Support of a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
October 5, 2010
U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO):
Climate Change Adaptation: Strategic Federal Planning Could Help Government Officials Make More Informed Decisions
GAO-10-113 October 7, 2009
U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO):
Climate Change Adaptation: Information on Selected Federal Efforts To Adapt To a Changing Climate (GAO-10-114SP, October 7, 2009), an E-supplement to GAO-10-113
GAO-10-114SP October 7, 2009