PROVIDENCE, RI – Today, Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank announced $12 million in Action Grants for participants of the Municipal Resilience Program (MRP). Communities prioritized local actions through the program and will use grant funds to implement projects that will increase their climate resilience. Funding for these action grants comes from the 2022 voter-approved Green Bond, which provided for $16 million for municipal resilience projects and was part of Governor McKee’s FY2023 budget.
“Investing in Rhode Island’s communities isn’t just a prudent decision but a crucial step in securing a resilient future,”
The Green Bond directs $16 million to the MRP to help communities restore and improve vulnerable coastal habitats, river and stream floodplains, and infrastructure. It also includes $5 million for a small business energy loan program to provide zero-interest and below-market loans for clean energy projects.
“In just the last few weeks, communities across Rhode Island have experienced the effects of extreme storms, severe flooding, and coastal erosion, all of which are anticipated to increase due to the impacts of climate change,”
“As a coastal community, we’re feeling the impacts of increasingly severe weather, from coastal erosion to abnormally high tides, that combined with high winds and flooding are swamping Newport treasures like King Park,”
With support from The Nature Conservancy, 35 of Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities have participated in the MRP workshop process to develop prioritized lists of actionable resilience plans and projects. Municipalities are then eligible to submit applications for MRP Action Grants with a 25% local match requirement.
For this round of MRP Action Grants, the Infrastructure Bank received 41 proposals from 30 communities, totaling $52 million in grant requests. Far exceeding currently available funding.
After a competitive review process, the selection committee (with representatives from the Infrastructure Bank, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Statewide Planning, and the Coastal Resources Management Council) recommended the following proposals to receive funding for implementation:
Click here for more detailed project summaries by municipality.
“As recent storms have once again demonstrated, municipalities across the state are already feeling the impacts of climate change – from severe flooding, to coastal erosion, to property damage,”
All Rhode Island cities and towns that have completed a workshop are eligible to apply for the Municipal Resilience Program. A second round of funding is expected to be released in spring 2024. More information on the program can be found here.
Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank is Rhode Island’s central hub for financing infrastructure improvements for municipalities, businesses, and homeowners. We leverage capital in a revolving fund to offer innovative financing for an array of infrastructure-based projects including water and wastewater, road and bridge, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and brownfield remediation. These quality-of-life projects improve the State’s infrastructure, create jobs, promote economic development, and enhance the environment. www.riib.org – Facebook: @RIinfrastructure – Twitter: @RI_InfraBank