Legislation offered in the House of Representatives this month would attempt to improve state and local resiliency to extreme weather events and natural disasters by promoting coordination among the various entities involved in disaster response efforts.
Sponsored by Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), the “Strengthening the Resiliency of Our Nation on the Ground (STRONG) Act” (H.R. 2227) would direct the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to chair a high-level interagency working group to assess federal agencies’ current and planned activities related to extreme weather resilience across key sectors (including water supply and treatment). The working group would then develop a National Extreme Weather Resilience Action Plan to support state, local, and private and public sector resiliency efforts and address identified gaps in response planning. The legislation would impose no new requirements or mandates on state or local officials.
AMWA supported a similar version of the bill in the 113th Congress, and the association is once again backing the measure as a compliment to H.R. 1278, separate legislation that would offer assistance to local water and wastewater utilities faced with implementing projects to respond to climate change and extreme weather. While neither bill appears likely to advance in the Republican-held Congress, the measures will help maintain awareness of the adaptation and resiliency-related needs of local communities and water systems.