Nola Reporter

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell today issued the following statement commemorating the 2nd Anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is not only helping build resilience in cities across the country but also providing much needed resources to ensure cities like New Orleans will thrive for generations to come," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

"My administration created the multi-departmental Federal Infrastructure Task Force in January 2022 to analyze the most pressing needs within New Orleans that could be addressed with these critical federal funds. Thanks to funding from National Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants, the City of New Orleans was able to secure funding for the Bayou Bienvenue Central Wetlands project in the Lower 9th Ward. My administration will continue to utilize federal dollars to provide crucial support with community outreach and planning, as well as to restore and protect the Bayou and surrounding neighborhoods from impacts of rising sea levels and intense weather events made worse by the climate crisis.” 

The City of New Orleans has received numerous federal awards as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:

EPA SWIFR GRANT

The City of New Orleans was awarded $3.9 million from the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling for Communities (SWIFR) program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to expand its residential recycling program, continue recycling outreach and education and develop a Solid Waste Master Plan (SWMP) to guide the City's future waste diversion efforts.

Most of the funding will be used to purchase and deliver 83,000 residential recycling carts to all eligible households that have not already opted into the service. This will ensure universal and equitable access to curbside recycling and is anticipated to provide recycling access to about 73,000 new households and replace another 10,000 older and damaged recycling carts. It is estimated that this project will initially recycle about 19,000 tons per year of readily usable recyclable materials that are currently being landfilled in the city and up to 30,000 tons annually in future years as the program matures.

NOAA/NFWF AWARDS FOR RESTORATION OF BAYOU BIENVENUE WETLANDS TRIANGLE

The City has been awarded two grants for design of restoration of the Bayou Bienvenue Wetlands Trinagle, including $489,813 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities Program and $888,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) National Coastal Resilience Fund.

Rehabilitation of the wetlands will include a combination of wetland creation, vegetative planting and hydrologic restoration. The proposed work will use a structured decision-making process, informed by past projects and public engagement, to develop a restoration plan that considers project costs, sediment availability and land ownership issues. The City will then use this plan to develop preliminary designs for the restoration of the area, then contract to finalize the design of an approximately $10 to $15 million restoration project.

Partnering with the City of New Orleans on the project are The Water Institute of the Gulf, Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, National Wildlife Federation and Nunez Community College.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATION RAISE AWARD FOR DOWNTOWN TRANSIT CENTER

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and City of New Orleans were awarded $24.8 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the final design and construction of the Downtown Transit Center and connecting transit corridor.

The new bus terminal will provide safer connections between transit modes and improved rider conveniences like shelter from extreme weather, restroom facilities and more. The Downtown Transit Center will also serve as the key downtown hub of the proposed Bus Rapid Transit project, which will significantly shorten transit times for New Orleans East and West Bank riders. The site of the new transit center is in the same location as the former Southern Railway Terminal. The project will also include right-of-way improvements to make the surrounding area safer for people walking, bicycling, riding transit, and driving.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GRIP AWARDS

The City partnered on two major awards from the Department of Energy's Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program with Entergy New Orleans (ENO) and the State of Louisiana.

ENO was awarded $55 million for their proposal to strengthen their transmission and distribution lines in New Orleans East, as well as add solar battery backup systems. The State of Louisiana’s Hubs for Energy Resilient Operations (HERO) project was awarded $250 million for a $500 million overall project to greatly expand solar powered community resilience hubs across the state.

The City of New Orleans collaborated with both ENO and the State on their successful applications. The City will partner with ENO on workforce development with their award, while funding from the State’s HERO project will help fund solar and battery installation on several critical City and NORD facilities.

New Orleans faces an array of environmental challenges, including increasingly stronger hurricanes and rainfall events, soil subsidence, coastal erosion and extreme heat. Both the City’s Climate Action Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan call for an expansion of solar as a power source to lower our carbon footprint while increasing energy resilience.

CLEAN WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND - LDEQ

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) has been approved to receive approximately $75.5 million in funding through EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). 

The CWSRF program is a federal-state partnership that provides low-cost financing to communities for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects. SWBNO, working in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), has gained approval for $31.5 million in sewer system rehabilitation work in to modernize and enhance the resiliency of the city’s sanitary sewer system. This work on the sanitary sewer system is complimented by a $39 million CWSRF loan for repairs and upgrades to both the Wastewater treatment plants that service both the East and West Banks of the City of New Orleans. 

Original source can be found here.