As climate-related challenges unfold with increasing speed and impact, the Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) are hard at work delivering science to help our nation’s fish, wildlife, water, land and people adapt to the changing climate. A new bill – the Climate Adaptation Science Centers Act – seeks to establish the CASCs into law, which would create consistency, continuity and growth of the program for the long term.
Why is legislation needed?
The Climate Adaptation Science Center network is housed within the U.S. Geological Survey and is made up of the National CASC and nine Regional CASCs that serve every state, territory and U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands. Established under a Secretarial Order in 2009, the CASCs were developed to link decision-relevant science with the practical needs of managers and policymakers tasked with helping our natural and cultural resources adapt to climate change. However, Secretarial orders are not law and can be rescinded by any following Secretary of the Interior. As a result, the Northwest CASC and our counterparts around the country face uncertainty about the program’s duration, funding processes and priorities.
Recognizing these challenges, Congressman Grijalva of Arizona, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, recently introduced the Climate Adaptation Science Centers Act. If passed, this new legislation will help ensure that the Northwest region, and the nation, have the knowledge and capacity to meet increasing challenges brought by climate change.
What is the Climate Adaptation Science Centers Act?
The most important function of this bill (H.R.6654) is to establish the CASCs in law, codifying the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers within the USGS. With authorization in place, future Administrations could not change or remove the regional CASCs and what they do.
What would it mean for the CASCs?
The stability provided by the CASC Act would ensure that the NW CASC can sustain trusting relationships with our partners over time, and continue to fund science on climate change impacts and adaptation actions that meets real-world needs. Specifically, the Act would:
- Reinstate the Federal Advisory Committee to better coordinate and inform science across the regional CASCs, ensuring the agency is forward-looking, strategic and informed by important perspectives.
- Authorize appropriations, which could help provide long-term stability of funding for the CASC network.
- Increase flexibility to conduct new research, provide education, mentor students and work with other agencies and institutions.
- Create consistent and timely grant processing.
By formalizing and building on the existing CASC program, the CASC Act will improve the consistency, continuity and growth of the NW CASC for the long term, maximizing the federal-university partnership essential for meeting the growing needs for high-quality, actionable science and training the next generation of climate adaptation scientists and resource managers.
What’s next for this bill?
Chair Grijalva held a hearing to introduce the bill within the committee on February 17, 2022. The bill must first be passed by both the House and Senate before it is considered by the President. Though the bill still has a long way to go, we are hopeful that increasing recognition of the pressing need for climate adaptation and the CASCs’ impressive work over the last 13 years will carry this bill forward.