For the first time, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is asking agencies to submit budget plans that consider the effects of climate change on construction and maintenance of federal facilities.
The OMB revises instructions for budgeting each year, and wants the impact of severe weather brought on by changing climatic conditions to be factored into requests for construction and maintenance funding. This requirement applies to the fiscal 2017 budget request, which President Obama will submit to Congress next winter.
“Specifically, OMB is asking all Federal agencies to consider climate preparedness and resiliency objectives as part of their Fiscal Year 2017 budget requests for construction and maintenance of Federal facilities,” Ali Zaidi, associate director for natural resources, energy and science at the OMB, wrote in a blog post.
The National Park Service recently identified more than $40 billion in national park infrastructure and historic and cultural resources put at risk by sea level rise, OMB says.
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