Senator James Lankford (R-OK) recently introduced S. 1429, the Promoting Opportunities to Widen Electrical Resilience (POWER) Act, which would help communities recover from disasters and make investments to become more resilient in the future.
The bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 164, which was passed by the House 419-2 in January. A copy of the Senate bill can be found here.
The Senate bill is cosponsored by Senators Margaret Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).
It makes two key improvements to the Stafford Act. First, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could cover the cost of hazard mitigation improvements made during disaster recovery; and second, communities would not be precluded from FEMA hazard mitigation assistance for systems rebuilt during recovery.
Collectively, the POWER Act alleviates the painful choice between immediate response and long-term investments, allowing communities to restore power as quickly as possible, while also taking steps to mitigate against hazards in the future.
APPA strongly supports the bill and has been working with other stakeholder groups toward its enactment in the 119th Congress.
In related news, Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) was joined by 11 original Republican and Democratic cosponsors in re-introducing the FEMA Loan Payment Interest Relief Act (H.R. 2836).
The text and mechanics of the legislation have been changed since its introduction in the 118th Congress, but its purpose is the same: to have FEMA help pay the interest on loans taken out to cover utility-related disaster recovery costs that FEMA itself will eventually reimburse.
APPA also strongly supports the bill and is working with other stakeholders toward its passage by the House and introduction in the Senate.
A copy of the bill will be available here when printed in the Congressional Record.
