Washington, D.C. – During National Preparedness Month, Congressman Kevin Mullin (CA-15) reintroduced the Weatherization Resilience and Adaptation Program (WRAP) Act. First introduced in the 118th Congress, this legislation would help low-income homeowners and affordable housing providers protect their property from weather-related disasters.
“The theme for National Preparedness Month this year is Preparedness Starts at Home – that could not be more salient for our community,” Mullin said. “Across the country, we’ve seen countless homes destroyed during storms, fires and other extreme weather events that are expected to worsen due to climate change. We need to take action before a disaster strikes, and my bill would help protect the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Specifically, the WRAP Act would:
- Create a grant program administered by states and Tribal governments to provide direct assistance to low-income homeowners, affordable housing property owners, and the owners of manufactured home communities in adapting and making their property more resilient to disasters.
- Require states and Tribal governments administering this program to conduct outreach to educate households on how they can make structural improvements to their home and property to make them more resilient to climate change.
- Direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and publish dwelling and property resilience and adaptation standards, which would provide guidance to states on what activities may be funded under the program.
The bill has been endorsed by the Center for Law and Social Policy, Climate Resilient Communities, Earth Justice, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Taproot Earth.
The WRAP Act is cosponsored by Reps. Troy Carter (LA-02), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-52), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Mike Thompson (CA-04).
A copy of the bill text can be found here.
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