This week, we continue our breakdown of programs that are part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). These programs are significant because they help create stronger community bonds. How do they do that? Resiliency is the name of the game. Thanks to the IIJA, communities will be better equipped to face the challenges of the 21st Century.
If you missed last week’s Part I, you can check it out here. Now, let’s dive back into this:
Programs for Resiliency
Below is the second part of programs for resiliency funding, and how they’re intended to be utilized:
- Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program: The IIJA provides $550 million of block and competitive grants to states, local governments and tribes. It will provide funds to assist in reduced energy usage, reduced fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency.
- Building Codes Implementation for Efficiency and Resilience: The IIJA provides $225 million in grants to states and state partnerships in order to create or enable State or regional partnerships to provide training and materials, collect and disseminate quantitative data on construction and codes implementation, develop and implement a plan for high efficient codes implementation, address various implementation needs in rural, suburban, and urban areas, and implement updates in energy codes.
- Habitat Restoration: The IIJA provides $491 million in grants to restore marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystem habitats, as well as protecting ecological features that protect coastal communities from flooding or storms.
- Coastal Zone Management: The IIJA provides $207 million in grants to restore and protect coastal ecosystems.
- Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs: The IIJA provides $8 billion in grants to support the development of at least 4 regional hydrogen hubs to improve clean hydrogen production, processing, delivery, storage, and end use.
- Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants: The IIJA provides $3 billion in grants to ensure that the United States has a viable domestic manufacturing and recycling capability to support a North American battery supply chain.
- Rehabilitation of High Hazard Dams Program: The IIJA provides $585 million in grants to rehabilitate dams through repair, removal, or any other structural/nonstructural measures to rehabilitate an eligible high hazard dam.
- National Dam Safety Program: The IIJA provides $148 million in grants and direct federal spending to encourage the establishment and maintenance of effective state programs intended to ensure dam safety, protect human life and property, and improve state dam safety programs.
- Energy Storage Demonstration Pilot Grant Program: The IIJA provides $355 million to carry out 3 energy storage system demonstration projects.
- Carbon Utilization Program: The IIJA provides $310 million in grants to procure and use products derived from captured carbon oxides.
- Building Codes Implementation for Efficiency and Resilience: The IIJA provides $225 million in grants to enable sustained, cost-effective implementation of updated building energy codes to save customers money on their energy bills.
- Energy Auditor Training Grant Program: The IIJA provides $40 million in grants to train individuals to conduct energy audits or surveys of commercial and residential buildings to build the clean energy workforce, save customers money on their energy bills, and reduce pollution from building energy use.
- Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities: The IIJA provides $1 billion in grants, making federal funds available for hazard mitigation activities, for eligible applicants for activities like mitigation projects, management costs, and capability and capacity-building.
- Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program for At-Risk Communities: The IIJA provides $1 billion in grants to help communities at risk from wildfire to develop or revise their community wildfire protection plans and carry out projects described within those plans.
- Hazard Mitigation Revolving Loan funds/Safeguarding Tomorrow Through Ongoing Risk Mitigation: The IIJA provides $500 million in grants to provide capitalization grants for the establishment revolving loan funds to provide hazard mitigation assistance to local governments.
- National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund: The IIJA provides $492 million in grants in addition to the National Coastal Resilience Fund which restores, increases, and strengthens natural infrastructure to protect coastal communities while also enhancing habitats for fish and wildlife.
- Grants for States and Tribes for Voluntary Restoration: The IIJA provides $400 million in grants to implement voluntary restoration projects on private or public lands.
- Financial Assistance to Facilities That Purchase and Process Byproducts for Ecosystem Restoration Projects: The IIJA provides $400 million in grants for the management of programs with authority to dispose of National Forest System timber and non-timber forest products harvested for commercial, personal, and Tribal uses.
- Direct Federal Spending for Invasives: The IIJA provides $100 million for invasive species detection, preventions, and eradication.
- Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund: The IIJA provides approximately $11.29 billion in funding to clean up abandoned coal mine sites and related problems.
The environment is part of our infrastructure. The same goes for our energy needs. Communities that have an efficient energy infrastructure and a healthy environment are resilient. That why resiliency is a crucial part of the infrastructure system in America. These programs promise to make our communities stronger in the face of opposition.
Be sure to join us next week as we continue our breakdown of the IIJA.
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Source: GFOA.org
