Request for Information to Advance Arizona’s Extreme Heat Preparedness
During a record breaking summer, on August 11, 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs declared a State of Emergency to support local heat relief efforts. In addition to the declaration, Governor Hobbs signed an executive order to better coordinate future government heat responses statewide and announced state-run cooling centers.
The emergency declaration and executive order build on the State of Arizona’s holistic heat response approach. The Governor’s Executive Order 2023-16 directs state agencies to build a comprehensive plan to approach extreme heat in future years. It directs the Office of Resiliency to coordinate and lead an interagency effort to develop this Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan. It also directs the office to create and lead an Interagency Resiliency Forum comprised of state agency representatives to support this effort.
On October 4, a letter from the Director of the Office of the Governor’s Office of Resiliency requested Arizona State University’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) to initiate, operate, and execute a Request for Information (RFI) process on behalf of the Governor's lnteragency Resiliency Forum. This RFI process will inform the Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, due March 1, 2024, as directed by Governor Katie Hobbs' Executive Order 2023-16.
In response, this RFI form has been prepared in order to collect at-large recommendations and “innovative solutions to address extreme heat and provide cooling relief to Arizonans.” Responses will be gathered through November 16, 2023 and included in a report produced by KER to be submitted to the Office of Resiliency by December 2023. Any responses received after that date will inform future activities.
Please support this effort to innovate the way that Arizona responds to extreme heat by filling in your recommendations for action in the short, medium, or longer-term, as well as spotlighting innovative solutions that could be adopted broadly in Arizona.
Submit a Response
In addition to public responses collected through this RFI, KER will include information from the research community, state and local agencies and external partners in the report that will inform the development of an Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan for the State of Arizona. KER is collaborating with the Decision Theater and consulting with Walton Sustainability Solutions Services, the Cooling Center Workgroup, Arizona Heat Resilience Workgroup, Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Health Solutions, University of Arizona, and many others.
For further information:
LETTER TO ISSUE A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Additional questions may be directed to Dr. Patricia Solís, Executive Director, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, patricia.solis@asu.edu.