The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a set of plans to address how climate change effects communities across the country and ways to pursue environmental equity, the agency announced recently.
The EPA's Climate Adaptation Implementation Plans (CAIPs) present specifics steps the agency's offices will take to safeguard human health and the environment and to strengthen the nation's resiliency to the damages of climate change, according to the EPA's Oct. 6 announcement. The 20 plans were developed by the EPA's principal offices, national program offices and all 10 regional offices, the announcement reports.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is confronting the climate crisis through a whole-of-government approach," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in the announcement. "The release of the Implementation Plans today marks significant progress in EPA’s efforts to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect human health and the environment.”
The CAIPs support the EPA's implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which the EPA calls "the largest investment in the nation’s history to tackle the climate crisis." The laws allow the EPA to make "historic investments to strengthen our nation’s resilience to climate change, while reducing harmful air pollution, rebuilding critical community infrastructure, advancing environmental justice, and saving families money on their energy bills," the announcement states.
"President Biden has set the most ambitious climate change mitigation and adaptation goals in U.S. history," the agency states, "and EPA plays a central role in delivering on those commitments. With the 20 new Implementation Plans, EPA will continue to use its authorities and resources to help communities prepare for the serious climate impacts that are already underway."
The 20 CAIPs include more than 400 pledges to protect communities, the environment, economic growth and national security, as well as strategies the EPA will execute in participation with state, local and regional leaders, to achieve these goals, the agency states.
The CAIPs also address the disproportionate effects of climate disruption on historically underserved and vulnerable communities, and will work with those communities "to ensure actions taken follow the principles of environmental justice and equity," the report states.
“Traveling across the country, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impacts that climate change is having on millions of Americans," Regan said in the report. "We need to take actions to ensure a safe, resilient, and equitable future."
