The Climate Playbook—Replay contains information on recent climate action in Congress, including bill updates, Committee and House votes, and new bills reflected in The Climate Playbook.

With the end of the year just around the corner, we wanted to review the progress made since establishing the Climate Playbook this past April.

This year, 17 of the bills included in the Climate Playbook passed their respective committees of jurisdiction. Twelve bills passed the full House of Representatives.

Here's a recap of action on Playbook bills since our last newsletter:

H.R. 1921 - Ocean Acidification Innovation Act

• H.R. 1921 was passed by the House in June. The bill amends the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to authorize a federal agency with a representative serving on the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification to carry out a program that awards prizes competitively under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. The prizes encourage innovation to advance the nation's ability to understand, research, or monitor ocean acidification or its impacts or to develop management or adaptation options for responding to ocean acidification. Priority must be given to establishing programs that address communities, environments, or industries that are in distress due to the impacts of ocean acidification.

H.R. 1237 - COAST Research Act

• H.R.1237 was passed by the House in June. The bill will strengthen federal investments in research and monitoring of changing ocean conditions. The COAST Research Act reauthorizes the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through 2023. The legislation would: strengthen investment in research and monitoring of acidification in oceans and estuaries; increase our understanding of the economic effects of ocean acidification and coastal acidification in estuaries; engage stakeholders, including the commercial fishing industry, researchers, and community leaders through an Advisory Board; provide for the long-term stewardship and standardization of data on ocean acidification from different sources, including the National Centers for Environmental Information and the Integrated Ocean Observing System; and recognize the effects of ocean acidification on estuaries as well as oceans.

H.R. 34 - Energy and Water Research Integration Act

• H.R. 34 was passed by the House in July. The bill requires the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with other relevant agencies, to create an Energy-Water Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board to help guarantee efficient, reliable, and sustainable delivery of energy and clean water resources. It also requires the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board to oversee these activities with other agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and state and local governments to develop and regularly update a strategic plan which includes technical milestones for achieving and assessing progress toward these objectives.

The Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act and the Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act, within H.R. 729 - Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act

• The Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act and the Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act both passed the House in December as part of a package of 10 climate bills known as H.R. 729 Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act.
• The original Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, which later became the foundation of the ten bill package, would expand the Coastal Zone Management Act to provide necessary tools to tribes by expanding grants to protect their people and landmarks from changing landscapes and weather events.
• H.R. 3541 amends the Coastal Zone Management Act to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a climate change adaptation planning and response grant program for coastal states. This program would provide grants to coastal states to modify their current coastal management plans to address climate change impacts. Additionally, states could use this grant funding to implement climate change adaptation strategies, such as identifying areas of greatest risk and developing performance measures for protecting infrastructure and coastal ecosystems.
• Other bills in the Coastal and great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act climate package include H.R. 3115 - Living Shorelines Act, H.R. 3596 - Keep America's Waterfronts Working Act, H.R. 1747 - National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act, H.R. 1023 - Great Lakes Fishery Research Authorization Act, H.R. 2189 - Digital Coast Act, H.R. 1314 - Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act Amendments, and H.R.2405 - National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act.

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