On New Year’s Day President Trump signed into law the Resilience Revolving Loan Fund (RRF) for states and local governments.
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed the bipartisan bill as S. 3418, STORM Act in December, a news release says. The legislation authorizes $200 million for the RRF and allows states to offer low-interest loans to counties and cities for disaster-mitigation projects.
Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher was among the leaders at the local level who supported the legislation.
“Congress has prioritized resilient communities by passing the bipartisan STORM Act,” said Tom Smith, executive director, American Society of Civil Engineers. “As civil engineers, we’re thinking about building infrastructure that will last for 50 to 100 years or more. The opportunity to build strategically is now.”
The legislation, he said, will communities “get the resources they need to prepare, adapt and mitigate, and to recover from the next catastrophic storm.”