PHOENIX, AZ — The nation’s top public health leader was in Phoenix on Wednesday to discuss extreme heat, saying that it has become a public health crisis.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra met with Governor Katie Hobbs privately on Wednesday in Phoenix before speaking before reporters about how the federal government is taking on the issue of extreme heat at the federal level.
“We are going to try to start working in partnership with states like Arizona to help move forward an agenda that includes everyone as partners because we know that's the only way we'll make it happen,” Becerra said.
Becerra added that he would categorize extreme heat as a public health crisis, “I don't think there's any doubt that the climate change that we are experiencing, you cannot deny it today it has created, has led to a public health crisis.”
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
The department wants to make sure that the federal government has resources to help states like Arizona address extreme heat.
“We're doing everything we can to start collecting the data, helping establish the pools of data that states can turn to to know when they're in the path of the next heat wave, and making sure that employers can inform their workers when they're going to be in a zone of danger because of upcoming heat,” Becerra said.
Extreme heat is not recognized as a weather-related disaster under the Stafford Act like tornadoes or hurricanes — the disaster declaration allows states to get federal help for costs associated with weather emergencies.
Attorney General Kris Mayes called on FEMA to recognize extreme heat as eligible for major disaster declarations in July.
According to the National Weather Service, heat is the top cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide.
"Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA," said AG Mayes in an online release from her office. "Updating FEMA's regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents."
Becerra was asked if the Stafford Act should include extreme heat.
“We're going to go through all of those really critical issues that have to be explored about when we have an emergency, and under what circumstances the federal government comes in and says, We're going to now assist the state. And I think most people recognize that what we're facing with extreme heat today wasn't what we were experiencing 30 years ago, 40 years ago.”
It would be up to Congress to add extreme heat to the list of declarations.
