Blumenthal Introduces the Rebuilding with Resilience Act Following August Floods in CT

[HARTFORD, CT] - Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Rebuilding with Resilience Act to encourage infrastructure repair projects completed with federal disaster relief funding increase resilience to natural disasters, like the severe floods that took place in Connecticut earlier this year.

"After disaster strikes - a new normal of thousand-year storms every year - Connecticut or elsewhere must rebuild resiliently. All our public assets - structures, roads, and bridges - must withstand the force of recurring extreme weather events," said Blumenthal. "The Rebuilding with Resilience Act would explicitly encourage the practice of building back better."

The legislation would amend the Stafford Act to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to collaborate with state, local, and tribal governments that have declared disasters to ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, projects completed using disaster assistance funding substantially reduce the risk of, or increase resilience to, future damage, hardship, loss, or suffering. This language will codify FEMA's practice of working with Public Assistance applicants to make their projects as resilient as possible to future disasters.

The legislation is scheduled to be marked up by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs next week.

Bill text is available here.

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