H.R. 8508: Piers Reinvestment Act

This bill would expand a federal grant program so that municipal piers can qualify for resilience-related funding. In plain terms, it would make it easier for cities and local governments to get federal money to strengthen, upgrade, or improve public piers, especially as part of efforts to protect transportation infrastructure from damage or disruption.

What changes it makes

• Adds municipal piers to the list of projects eligible for resilience improvement grants under the PROTECT program, which is a federal transportation resilience grant program.
• Adds municipal piers to another category of funding for at-risk coastal infrastructure.
• Increases authorized funding for the related grant program from $300 million to $500 million.

What that means in practice

If enacted, local governments with public piers could apply for federal transportation resilience funds to repair, reinforce, modernize, or otherwise improve those piers. The bill appears aimed at piers that are important to public access, transportation, or coastal infrastructure and that may be vulnerable to storms, flooding, erosion, or other damage.

Scope

The bill does not appear to create a new standalone program. Instead, it changes the rules of an existing federal grant program to explicitly include municipal piers and increases the amount of money authorized for the program.

Relevant Companies

None found