EPA Releases Agency Plans for Adapting to a Changing Climate
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today
released its draft Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plans for
public review and comment. In support of President Obama’s Climate
Action Plan and Executive Order on Preparing the United States for the
Impacts of Climate Change announced today, the Implementation Plans
provide detailed information about the actions EPA plans to take across
the country to help communities adapt to a changing climate.
“To meet our mission of protecting public health and the environment,
EPA must help communities adapt to a changing climate,” said EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy. “These Implementation Plans offer a roadmap
for agency work to meet that responsibility, while carrying out
President Obama’s goal of preparing the country for climate-related
challenges.”
The impacts of a changing climate – including increased extreme weather,
floods, and droughts – affect EPA’s work to protect clean air and water.
The draft Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plans recognize that
EPA must integrate climate adaptation planning into its programs,
policies, rules, and operations to ensure that the agency’s work
continues to be effective even as the climate changes.
EPA released its draft agency Climate Change Adaptation Plan on February
9, 2013 for public review and comment, and expects to issue the final
version this Fall. In 2009, all federal agencies were required to
develop Climate Change Adaptation Plans by the federal Interagency
Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. Under Executive Order 13514, the
Task Force was charged with developing recommendations for the President
on how to increase the nation’s resilience to climate change. The new
Implementation Plans provide information about how EPA will meet the
agency-wide priorities identified in the draft Climate Adaptation Plan
released earlier this year.
The comment period on EPA’s draft Climate Change Adaptation
Implementation Plans closes on January 3, 2014.
More information on EPA’s Climate Change Adaptation Implementation
Plans:
http://epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/fed-programs/EPA-impl-plans.html
More information on EPA’s draft Climate Change Adaptation Plan:
http://epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/fed-programs.html
More information about EPA’s climate adaptation activities:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/adaptation.html
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