ICC Applauds U.S. House Passage of the Resilient AMERICA Act
Tuesday, April 4, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 5689, the Resilient Assistance for Mitigation for Environmentally Resilient Infrastructure and Construction by Americans Act, or Resilient AMERICA Act. The legislation, which was introduced late last year by Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Sam Graves (R-MO), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Daniel Webster (R-FL), first passed out of the House’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in October. The Code Council, which has supported this legislation since its introduction, recently joined over 25 emergency management, non-profit, and industry members in a letter to House leadership urging its swift consideration and passage last month.
The Resilient AMERICA Act more than doubles the allowable funding calculation under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program from the current 6% to 15%, which allows for additional projects and activities to be funded. With these additional resources, the legislation also recognizes the significant return on investment provided to communities by adopting, implementing, and enforcing up-to-date hazard-resistant, consensus-based codes and standards. Resilient AMERICA requires that each annual BRIC grant cycle invests at least ten percent in code-focused grant awards.