2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan - U.S. Social Security Administration

U.S. Social Security Administration
Posted on: 12/22/2021 - Updated on: 7/01/2022

Posted by

CAKE Team

Published

Abstract

We have about 60,000 Federal employees who serve the public from a network of more than 1,500 offices across the country. Our offices include field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers, hearing offices, the Appeals Council, regional offices, and our headquarters (HQ) in Baltimore, Maryland.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has oversight for most of our 1,500 offices through lease agreements. We will coordinate with GSA to determine if and how the leased offices are impacted by climate change so that we can reduce vulnerability and improve resilience.

GSA has delegated operations and maintenance authority to us for 17 facilities. Thus, for purposes of Federal reporting on matters related to sustainability and climate change, our Climate Action Plan (CAP) will focus on the 11 delegated facilities on our HQ campus, our data centers at the National Support Center (NSC) and Second Support Center (SSC)1, and the following 5 regional delegated facilities around the contiguous United States:

  • Frank Hagel Federal Building in Richmond, CA
  • Harold Washington Social Security Center in Chicago, IL
  • Mid-Atlantic Social Security Center in Philadelphia, PA
  • Addabbo Federal Building in Jamaica, NY
  • Wilkes-Barre Data Operations Center in Wilkes-Barre, PA

In our CAP, we provide an update on our climate vulnerability assessments. We highlight our five priority areas for action. We discuss our effort to enhance climate literacy within the agency. Finally, we describe our climate-related activities from a facilities perspective, as well as an acquisition perspective.

Our CAP demonstrates our commitment to bolstering adaptation to climate change by following the National Climate Assessment reports and flood-plain maps that will increase our capability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to climate risk vulnerabilities. We will continue improving our understanding of climate change risks through interagency initiatives and the National Climate Task Force established through E.O. 14008. We will continue to support climate mitigation by reducing energy use in general at our facilities; installing renewable energy technology, such as photovoltaic systems; using as much pollution-free electricity as possible; and reducing emissions from our vehicles and heating plants.

In this plan, we summarize our climate vulnerabilities first to set the context for the five priority actions and the remaining topics.

The Assistant Deputy Commissioner (ADC) for Budget, Finance, and Management (BFM) is our Climate Adaptation Official and responsible for the implementation of the activities described in this plan. The ADC for BFM works closely with our Chief Sustainability Officer and the offices primarily involved in executing the actions in this plan.

Citation

Climate Adaptation Plan. August 2021. The Social Security Administration. https://www.sustainability.gov/pdfs/ssa-2021-cap.pdf

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