Extreme heat poses mounting risks to human health, infrastructure and economic stability throughout the United States—and state legislatures in the Southeast are beginning to take heed. Yet policies in the region remain fragmented, inconsistent across jurisdictions and skewed toward infrastructure fixes rather than systemic protections, according to a report published today by Duke University researchers.
The report from Duke’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub provides the first multistate review of heat-related legislation in 11 states, offering a comprehensive view of both policy activity and inaction in the Southeast. The report catalogs more than 200 relevant bills considered between 2014 and 2024 and provides sector-by-sector and state-by-state breakdowns of policy gaps, innovations and opportunities.
“While we have clear evidence that heat policy is gaining traction in the Southeast, protections are still uneven, and the most heat-exposed communities and workers are being left behind,” said Ashley Ward, director of the hub, which is part of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability. “Our research shows where states are making progress and where urgent gaps remain in housing, labor and health.”
The Southeast is a region that is uniquely vulnerable to extreme heat due to factors such as high humidity, persistent energy poverty and an extensive outdoor labor force.
Over the 11 years analyzed in the report, Southeastern legislatures collectively passed 38% of the heat-related bills that were introduced. While wide variation exists from state to state in both passage rates and the scale of their ambitions, some trends emerged across the region:
- Worker protections are weak. Despite well-documented risks to outdoor laborers in agriculture, construction and logistics, no Southeastern state has passed enforceable heat protections for workers.
- Cooling is not guaranteed. More than half of passed bills reference air conditioning, but few require universal access. In rental housing, tenant protections are often conditional, only requiring maintenance of existing A/C units.
- Public health and emergency systems are lagging. Few states have integrated heat into emergency preparedness, Medicaid planning or public health alerts. Despite rising hospitalizations, the Southeast lacks coordinated response plans.
- Children and schools receive the most attention. Student-athlete safety laws and HVAC upgrades in schools are among the most common interventions. This reflects the political viability of child-centered policies but also highlights where broader protections are being left behind—such as in low-income rental housing and small businesses.
- Cross-sectoral risks are rarely addressed. Heat poses significant risks to agriculture, energy, transportation, tourism, and other aspects of rural and coastal economies—but legislation rarely reflects these cascading impacts.
The report includes detailed findings for each of 11 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Louisiana passed the most bills (14) and had the highest success rate (74% of proposed bills passed into law). The authors write that the state stands out for its bipartisan support for urban forestry as a heat mitigation tool and its robust protections for the elderly population.
The legislatures in Florida (32), Virginia (30) and Mississippi (29) led the pack with the most proposed bills, and each passed more than 10 into law. However, that relatively large volume does not always equate to increased safety for residents. Passed in 2024, Florida House Bill 433 blocks local governments from enacting ordinances that would require employers to safeguard workers from extreme heat—making it the only state in the analysis to explicitly prohibit heat protections.
The report also tracks the outcomes of proposed bills across eight sectors. Infrastructure (22) received the most attention in bills that became law, followed by housing (16), education (14) and health (13). None of the six proposed bills related to labor was passed.
“Extreme heat isn’t just a single issue,” said lead author Julee Snyder, policy associate with the Heat Policy Innovation Hub. “It touches public health, labor and infrastructure, and it’s hitting the Southeast especially hard. The policies need to catch up.”
The report recommends nine evidence-based actions for state legislators, agencies and partners to prioritize:
- Engage with employers to support safer working conditions, especially in high-risk industries. Public agencies can provide technical assistance, model policies and recognition programs to expand voluntary uptake.
- Propose worker safety measures, advancing legislation that solidifies safety guidelines for outdoor workers.
- Define cooling as essential infrastructure, establishing indoor temperature standards in schools, hospitals, elder care facilities, prisons and housing. Expand tenant protections around air conditioning, especially for low-income and medically vulnerable households.
- Integrate heat protections into public health systems, including state emergency management frameworks and Medicaid coverage.
- Strengthen energy resilience and affordability via grid modernization, distributed cooling systems, backup power for critical systems and programs that reduce energy burden and prevent utility shutoffs during heat events.
- Expand urban heat mitigation strategies by increasing local and state investment in tree canopy expansion, green infrastructure, reflective surfaces and shaded public spaces—particularly in neighborhoods historically exposed to redlining, disinvestment and urban heat island effects.
- Support rural and coastal adaptation by prioritizing capital investment, planning support and service expansion in regions with high heat risk.
- Commission risk assessments to evaluate heat’s impacts across diverse economic sectors and use the results to inform legislation and agency planning.
- Undertake governance reforms to coordinate statewide planning, data sharing, partnership-building and reporting.
The report was written by Snyder and Ward, along with two Duke graduate students: Andrea Wilk Mizrahi (MEM/MBA ’27) and Camille Harley (MPP ’26).
###
CITATION: Snyder, J., A. Wilk Mizrahi, C. Harley, and A. Ward. 2025. Heat Legislation in the Southeast: Gaps, Innovations, and Opportunities. NI R 25-05. Durham, NC: Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Duke University. https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/heat-legislation-southeast-gaps-innovations-and-opportunities.
For media inquiries, contact the Nicholas Institute communications team at ni-comm@duke.edu.
