On Oct. 31, as part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released plans for preparing for the effects of climate change, including flooding and seal level rise. The agency’s adaptation implementation plans coincide with the fifth anniversary of President Obama’s 2009 Executive Order on Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.

EPA also is releasing final Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plans from its National Environmental Program Offices and all 10 regional offices. The implementation plans provide more detail on how EPA programs and regions will carry out work called for in the agency-wide plan in partnership with states, tribes, and local governments.

Two EPA commitments, as they relate to stormwater, include integrating climate change considerations into the Clean Water State Revolving Funds process. EPA also is committed to continue working with states to ensure water infrastructure investments are resilient to changes in climate. The agency also is planning to provide communities with the tools they need to increase their resilience. For example, the Stormwater Calculator and Climate Adaptation Tool empowers community planners to estimate the amount of stormwater runoff they will have to manage today and in the future. Read more.

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On Nov. 2, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the concluding installment of the Fifth Assessment Report. This Synthesis Report distils and integrates the findings of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report produced by over 800 scientists and released over the past 13 months – the most comprehensive assessment of climate change ever undertaken.