Public Health Laws and Policies
This tab includes strategies for how to avoid or reduce climate change impacts in the public health sector. It also includes any laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to public health.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow by resource type, state, region, impact, or jurisdictional focus.
23 results are shown below.
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May 22, 2025
Following back-to-back record breaking heat in 2023 and 2024, the Executive Department of Arizona under Governor Katie Hobbs issued Executive Order 2025-09 to address extreme heat as a recognized occupational hazard and require stronger workplace protections.
Related Organizations: State of Arizona
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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March 1, 2024
Published in 2024, the Extreme Heat Social and Behavioral Science Research study was developed for the National Weather Service (NWS) to inform how the agency messages to the public, particularly at-risk populations, about heat impacts on human health.
Related Organizations: National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) , Abt Associates
Authors or Affiliated Users: Joyce Coffee , Alexis St. Juliana
Resource Category: Education and Outreach
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2020
The 2020 report “Climate Change and Health in Oregon,” issued by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), describes the many health risks caused or exacerbated by climate change impacts that can harm the health of Oregon’s population, with special attention given to frontline populations. The report discusses risks to physical and mental health and covers cross-cutting risks such as economic impacts and displacement, as well as climate hazards such as heat, floods, fire, and disease. It also summarizes state policy actions on climate and health risks.
Related Organizations: Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division
Resource Category: Assessments
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Miami-Dade County, Florida’s Million Trees Miami initiative aims to plant 1 million trees in lower-income communities with insufficient tree canopy in order to alleviate heat stress in the county. This initiative stems from the County’s 2006 Street Tree Master Plan, which set a goal to achieve 30% tree canopy in Miami-Dade by 2020. Neat Streets Miami, a multi-jurisdictional County Board, is working to implement this goal through the Million Trees Miami initiative. Through a 2016 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, the County determined that lower-income areas, including predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, had significantly less tree canopy than their wealthier counterparts. As a result, the County is prioritizing tree planting in its most impoverished and low-canopy areas through initiatives such as the Street Tree Matching Grant. Increased tree canopy cover in communities provides many important adaptation benefits, including protection from flooding, urban heat island mitigation, and improved water and air quality.
Related Organizations: Miami-Dade County, Florida
Resource Category: Solutions
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2019
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services created the Climate and Health Toolkits to offer guidance on health-related climate change preparedness and response to local governments, health departments, and the public. Nine toolkits focused on Extreme Heat, Flood, Winter Weather, Wildfire, Chemical Release, Harmful Algal Blooms, Drought, Thunderstorms and Tornadoes, and Vectorborne Disease are provided, each accompanied by a one-page fact sheet for general audiences. Each toolkit offers background information, climate trends, and health impacts associated with the topic, as well as preparedness strategies and guidance, best practice tips, communication tools for outreach, and additional resources.
Related Organizations: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Resource Category: Solutions
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June 2019
The City of Seattle, Washington is establishing five new facilities that will provide clean air for its most at-risk residents during hazardous conditions brought on by wildfires. As the climate warms, Seattle is experiencing a major uptick in the number of wildfires, and consequently more days with unhealthy air quality from particulate matter. This issue is especially significant for Seattle, as the majority of the city’s residents do not have air conditioning, and mostly open windows to circulate air from outside to cool homes.
Related Organizations: City of Seattle, Washington
Resource Category: Solutions
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July 10, 2018
The Green Infrastructure and Health Guide was designed to help local governments, communities, and health care organizations connect green infrastructure (GI) and public health in new ways to promote better health equity and adapt to climate change. This report provides general GI principles and best practices as well as tools, resources, and evidence for connections between green infrastructure and human health. The Willamette Partnership and the Oregon Public Health Institute developed this guide in collaboration with the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange practitioner network.
Related Organizations: Willamette Partnership, Oregon Public Health Institute
Authors or Affiliated Users: Bobby Cochran, Barton Robison, Emily Henke
Resource Category: Solutions
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The California Climate Change and Health Equity Program (CCHEP) - of the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health - “embeds health and equity in California climate change planning, and embeds climate change and equity in public health planning. ” The CCHEP is working to increase climate resilience by improving the public health and living conditions of vulnerable populations. The CCHEP also provides public health and social equity input into state agency plans and programs that affect climate vulnerability, such as transportation and land use planning.
Related Organizations: California Department of Public Health
Resource Category: Solutions
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January 2017
Climate-smart health care as described in this report addresses how hospitals and health systems can prepare for climate change and its implications for public health, with a focus on extreme weather events. The costs for hospitals and care facilities associated with lack of preparation for these events - including severe storms, flooding, extreme temperatures, wildfires - are discussed in detail. The report also describes the benefits of preparedness, how “smart executives can take action,” and provides case studies of adaptation to extreme events in the health sector.
Related Organizations: Health Care Without Harm
Resource Category: Solutions
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April, 2016
In April 2016, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a groundbreaking ordinance to address environmental justice concerns within three distinct neighborhoods: Boyle Heights, Pacoima-Sun Valley, and Wilmington. For decades, these three communities – comprised primarily of low-income, Latinx individuals and families – suffered a wide range of health effects, due mostly to the high concentration of polluting industrial sites within their neighborhoods. To address these inequalities, LA City Council passed and implemented the Clean Up Green Up Ordinance with a three-pronged goal in mind: (1) to reduce pollution in the most toxic, hotspot areas; (2) to prevent additional pollution; and (3) to revitalize these neighborhoods through supporting local businesses and economic development.
Related Organizations: Los Angeles City Council
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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