Latest news with #HomeResiliencyProgram
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor signs new law that offers residents $15,000 to strengthen their homes: 'I'm proud to sign this bill'
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways A newly signed bill in Maine aims to offer its citizens protection against the looming threat of severe weather events in the state. On April 22, 2025, Maine senators unanimously passed LD 1, or "An Act to Increase Storm Preparedness for Maine's Communities, Homes and Infrastructure." The bill comes in the wake of over $90 million in recent winter storm damage to public infrastructure across Maine. Shortly after the bill passed in the Senate, Maine governor Janet Mills signed it into law. The bill will provide $15 million in funding to establish the Home Resiliency Program, which will allow homeowners to apply for grants of up to $15,000 to make investments in their homes to "safeguard" them against storms. During the bill signing ceremony, governor Mills highlighted its importance for the people of Maine. "I'm proud to sign this bill into law, a bill that will allow Maine communities, homeowners, businesses, emergency response leaders and others to prepare for the extreme weather events of the future and make Maine a safe place to live in the process," Mills said. Governor Mills formed the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission in May 2024 to evaluate the state's response to winter storms. This included identifying key areas for investment and policy changes and developing a long-term infrastructure plan. Pat Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, noted the significance of the newly formed commission. "The storms of this past winter have provided a wake-up call for Maine," Keliher said in a statement. "It is critical that we have a plan to confront the harsh reality of a changing climate." According to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase in pollution has had a clear influence on the rise of severe weather events. As the global temperature continues to increase, communities may face more frequent and stronger heat waves, heavy downpours, and severe storms. Cathy Breen, director of government affairs for Maine Conservation Voters, applauded the signing of LD 1 into law. "There is no corner of Maine safe from the severe weather we've seen in recent years and the serious conditions predicted for the future," Breen wrote in a statement. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Gov. Mills signs law to prepare Maine for severe weather fueled by climate change
Apr. 22—AUGUSTA — Gov. Janet Mills signed a new law Tuesday to help Maine communities get ready for increasingly severe weather and the long-term impacts of climate change. Her action came after the bill was approved 32-0 in the Senate earlier Tuesday. It received similar bipartisan support in the House of Representatives last week. "I'm proud to sign this bill into law, a bill that will allow Maine communities, homeowners, businesses, emergency response leaders and others to prepare for the extreme weather events of the future and make Maine a safe place to live in the process," Mills said during a signing ceremony at the State House. The new law includes a grant program that would help residents safeguard their homes against extreme weather, makes one-time investments in the Maine Emergency Management Agency, and utilizes federal funds to establish a new state office to reduce storm damage and protect infrastructure. The legislation, LD 1, responds to recommendations from the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Mills established last year after a series of winter storms caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure, mostly from flooding across the state and a destructive storm surge on the coast. It is an emergency bill, which means it will take effect immediately. The bill comes with a $39 million price tag but will be funded with surplus state funds and federal funds and does not rely on general funds from the state budget. It includes several key initiatives, the first of which would provide $15 million in one-time funding to establish the Home Resiliency Program to provide grants of up to $15,000 to homeowners to make investments to safeguard their homes against future storms. The program will be operated by Maine's Bureau of Insurance and focus on reducing roof damage, basement flooding and other targeted interventions to minimize storm damage and insurance losses. The program still must be set up and go through the rule-making process, with a first round of grants expected to be available by May 2026. One-time funding from the Bureau of Insurance will be used to invest $10 million in the State Disaster Recovery Fund to secure federal matching funds to respond to natural disasters, establish a new state fund to secure federal loans for storm mitigation and improve emergency communications technology and early warning systems at MEMA. The law also establishes a new State Resilience Office within the Maine Office of Community Affairs, funded through a five-year federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support planning that reduces flood and storm damage, protects public and private infrastructure, and supports public safety. Finally, it launches a Flood-Ready Maine Program to modernize data on flood risk and make it accessible online to municipal leaders and Mainers. The program would work to improve communication to communities, businesses and residents about flood risk, and to increase the number of flood insurance policies in use in Maine. The bipartisan legislation, which was the first bill the governor introduced this session, was sponsored by all four leaders in the Senate and House: Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick; Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford; Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle; and House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor. In a written statement Tuesday, Daughtry said the new law will be proactive in helping Maine safeguard against the threat of storms. "This legislation reflects our commitment to protecting our people, our resources and our homes for generations to come," Daughtry said. "It will also ensure that Mainers will finally be able to prepare instead of constantly having to repair." Rep. Amanda Collamore, R-Pittsfield, a Republican on the Housing and Economic Development Committee, said the law "reflects months of hard work and collaboration to streamline state resilience efforts under one roof." "By working closely with the Mills administration, we consolidated overlapping offices into the new Maine Office of Community Affairs, ensuring that our communities are better prepared, more efficient, and ready to meet the challenges of extreme weather head on," Collamore said. The new law builds on the $60 million the governor proposed and that lawmakers approved last year to support the recovery and rebuilding of Maine communities and businesses following the severe storms in December 2023 and January 2024. Maine Conservation Voters, which focuses on protecting Maine's environment through public policy and elections, was among the groups that celebrated the law's enactment Tuesday. "We applaud the governor and Legislature for recognizing that recovering from extreme storm damage, emergency management, and infrastructure resilience are not partisan issues," Cathy Breen, director of government affairs for Maine Conservation Voters, said in a written statement. "There is no corner of Maine safe from the severe weather we've seen in recent years and the serious conditions predicted for the future." Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Maine Legislature approves bill to prepare for severe weather fueled by climate change
Apr. 22—AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill to help Maine communities prepare for and respond to severe weather and the long-term impacts of climate change. Gov. Janet Mills introduced the bill and is expected to sign it into law Tuesday afternoon. It was approved 32-0 in the Senate on Tuesday after being approved in the House of Representatives last week. The bill includes a grant program that would help residents make investments to safeguard their homes against extreme weather. It makes one-time investments in the Maine Emergency Management Agency and utilizes federal funds to establish a new state office to reduce storm damage and protect infrastructure. The legislation, LD 1, responds to recommendations from the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Mills established last year following a series of winter storms that caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure across the state. It is an emergency bill, which means it will take effect immediately if signed by the governor. The bill comes with a $39 million price tag but will be funded with surplus state funds and federal funds and does not rely on general funds from the state budget. It includes several key initiatives, the first of which would provide $15 million in one-time funding to establish the Home Resiliency Program to provide grants of up to $15,000 to homeowners to make investments to safeguard their homes against future storms. The program would be operated by Maine's Bureau of Insurance and would focus on reducing roof damage, basement flooding and other targeted interventions to minimize storm damage and insurance losses. One-time funding from the Bureau of Insurance would be used to invest $10 million in the State Disaster Recovery Fund to provide matching funds to secure federal funding to respond to natural disasters, establish a new state fund to provide required matching dollars to secure federal loan funds for storm mitigation, improve emergency communications systems and to invest in two new staff members at MEMA. The proposal would also establish a new State Resilience Office funded through a five-year federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support planning that reduces flood and storm damage, protects public and private infrastructure and supports public safety. Finally, the legislation would launch a Flood-Ready Maine Program to modernize data on flood risk and make it accessible to municipal leaders and Mainers online. The program would work to improve communication to communities, businesses and residents about flood risk, and to increase the number of flood insurance policies in use in Maine. This story will be updated. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislature poised to pass emergency bill to better prepare Maine for extreme weather
Central Maine Power lineworkers shared photos of some of the destruction they encountered from the Dec. 18 storm. (Courtesy of CMP) After an initial passage vote Tuesday in the Maine Senate, an emergency measure to better prepare the state for extreme weather events passed the Maine House of Representatives Thursday. Both chambers took their initial passage votes under the hammer for the symbolic first bill of the session, which is meant to represent a coming together of the parties. Sponsored by party leadership in both chambers, LD 1 is a three-part proposal that seeks to improve emergency communications, create funding opportunities to make Maine homes more resilient and establish a new State Resilience Office to address flooding and other impacts. The Legislature's Housing and Economic Development Committee amended the bill to clarify certain language and flush out the Home Resiliency Program, which would provide grants to help homeowners better equip their houses to withstand severe weather events. Since the bill contains an emergency preamble, it will require two-thirds support in the next round of votes, known as enactment votes. If that support is secured, the bill would take effect immediately upon passage, rather than waiting the usual 90 days after the session adjourns. The legislation follows the interim recommendations from the Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Mills established by executive order last spring in response to the series of severe storms that caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure across Maine last winter. It also builds upon $60 million for storm relief that was included in the state's supplemental budget last year. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan leaders come together to try to make Maine more resilient to extreme weather
The fishing vessel Tara Lynn II crashed into the rocky coast of Cape Elizabeth amid powerful winds and record-breaking tides on the coast of southern Maine. The crew was rescued. Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star) The first bill of the legislative session, meant to be a symbol of the parties coming together, had a public hearing Thursday. Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) was joined by co-sponsor House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) in presenting the governor's bill to the Legislature's Housing and Economic Development Committee. LD 1 is a three-part proposal to better prepare the state for extreme weather events. It seeks to improve emergency communications, create funding opportunities to make Maine homes more resilient and establish a new State Resilience Office to address flooding and other impacts. 'Moving forward, I and the other bill sponsors want to help empower our state to prepare, so we don't have to always repair,' Daughtry told the committee. The proposed legislation follows the interim recommendations from the Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Mills established by executive order last spring in response to the series of severe storms that caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure across Maine last winter. The proposal builds upon $60 million for storm relief that was included in the state's supplemental budget last year. Though Maine's coastal communities saw extensive damage in the storms, Daughtry clarified that the bill would benefit the entire state because inland communities also need to prepare for flooding, wind damage and threats to water supplies. 'LD 1 won't stop storms, but it will help people be better prepared,' Faulkingham said. The proposal's three new initiatives do not rely on the state's general fund or taxpayer money, but instead leverage federal dollars and an unintended surplus of fee-based revenue from the state Bureau of Insurance. Environmental advocates including Maine Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon praised the bill for its proactive approach to mitigating the effects of climate change. Though the Maine Insurance Agents Association agreed resilience is important, it opposed the measure because its funding mechanism relies in part on fees paid by agents and insurance carriers. One initiative in the bill is the Home Resiliency Program, which would provide grants to help homeowners better equip their houses to withstand severe weather events. Insurance Bureau Superintendent Bob Carey testified in support of the program and explained its two main components: roof replacement and flood resistance. Roughly three-quarters of instances where an insurer decides not to renew a homeowner's policy is due to substandard roofs, Carey said, noting that this has been an increasing problem. The program would help homeowners who need new roofs to better withstand strong wind and rain events. Last winter's storms also demonstrated a need to fortify homes against flooding, Carey said. He said he envisions grants funded through the new program could be used for improvement projects such as elevating utility connections, sealing foundations and installing sump pumps to minimize the damage from water seepage. 'These programs will help Maine residents harden their homes to deal with more frequent and intense storms,' Carey said. 'We also believe they will foster a broader culture of preparedness.' As drafted, the bill limits the program to homeowners whose permanent residence is in Maine. Carey suggested amending the program to provide tiered-grants based on income. Between March 2022 and May 2024, Maine had nine natural disasters severe enough to warrant presidential disaster or emergency declaration, said Maine Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Joe Legee. 'These events underscore the urgent need to enhance our capacity to respond to and recover from disasters, especially at a time when the future of federal support, federal assistance is uncertain,' Legee said, nodding to ongoing spending cuts and freezes made by the Trump administration. Effective and accurate information before, during and after disasters is crucial, Legee said. The proposed legislation wants to enhance statewide disaster communications systems by adding new languages for more translation options and better targeting alerts to ensure they reach those who need to see them as well as minimizing alerts to people outside of disaster areas. The bill also proposes $10 million to bolster the disaster recovery fund, which is used to meet the state's legal obligation to cover a portion of the costs associated with federally declared disasters, Legee said. Having sufficient money in that fund helps communities recover more effectively, especially small municipalities that have faced multiple severe weather events in recent years, Legee said. The bill also invests in a new program that would better prepare Maine residents for flooding through improved data and risk reduction measures. A new flood readiness program would update flood models and maps, especially in areas where they are the most outdated, said Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. With that, it would create an online data hub to improve community access to flood risk data. The data work would be funded through a one-time $9 million investment, Pingree said, adding that there would be ongoing financial support for regional floodplain management and risk reduction. She also said this could increase participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. A new State Resilience Office will coordinate the flood readiness program, as well as other related activities, using a $69 million federal grant the state was awarded last year, Pingree said. 'LD 1 is a vital down payment on a more resilient future for Maine,' Pingree said. 'It creates a foundation of information, capabilities and capital upon which the state can build a robust system that increases protection for Mainers and their property against storms, floods and other hazards.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
