FEMA Announces $2.3 Billion In Funding For Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently announced $2.3 billion in funding for its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for Fiscal Year 2022 as part of a series of new executive actions unveiled by President Biden on July 20.

This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes, a White House fact sheet on the executive actions said.

In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services on July 20 issued guidance that for the first time expands how the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and more.

In April, the White House released $385 million through LIHEAP to help families with their household energy costs, including summer cooling—part of a record $8 billion that the Administration has provided, boosted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The White House also announced that the Department of the Interior proposed the first Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Biden previously directed the Secretary of the Interior to advance wind energy development in the waters off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast.

These actions follow the President’s launch of a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership.

Biden made the announcements at a former coal-fired power plant in Brayton Point, Massachusetts that will host a cable manufacturing facility to support the offshore wind industry.