U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Monday announced that a recently enacted fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill includes $15 million to help communities recover from coastal infrastructure damage.
“Maine’s working waterfronts are the economic engine of our coastal communities,” Sen. Collins said, “but recent damaging weather events have posed significant challenges to their resilience and underscored the urgent need for federal assistance.”
Specifically, the FY 2024 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill signed into law on March 9 by President Joe Biden as part of a package of six government funding bills, includes $10 million through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to repair and renovate infrastructure affected by recent storms, and $5 million to establish a new program at the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for working waterfronts.
The funding supports the bipartisan Working Waterfront Preservation Act, S. 3180, which Sen. Collins sponsored last November alongside lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) to create the new EDA grant program that will support municipal and state governments, nonprofits, and participants in maritime industries in purchasing or improving working waterfront property in coastal states, according to the lawmaker’s staff.
“This investment aims to revitalize working waterfronts across the country, allowing communities like Harpswell to recover from severe storm damage whose financial toll exceeds the capacity of local government to meet,” said Sen. Collins.
Following damaging storms this past winter along Maine’s coast, Sen. Collins in January met with a group of fishermen and town officials to tour the impacted Harpswell, Maine, and other sites in need of federal assistance to rebuild.