REP LIEU APPLAUDS $23 MILLION FEMA GRANT AWARDED TO RANCHO PALOS VERDES FOR LANDSLIDE PREVENTION

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) announced that the city of Rancho Palos Verdes will receive a $23.3 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a landslide mitigation project. The funding will support the city’s Portuguese Mud/Landslide Community Infrastructure Resilience Project to stabilize a 240-acre landslide area, eliminate excess moisture, and reduce future ground movement. The announcement follows a massive landslide that occurred in nearby Rolling Hills Estates, which forced evacuations and destroyed many homes. Both Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes are located in the Palos Verdes Peninsula, an area in Congressman Lieu’s district that is becoming increasingly vulnerable to land movement and landslides.

“My heart goes out to all the residents impacted by the recent landslide in Rolling Hills Estates. I am pleased to see federal funding go toward a landslide prevention and mitigation project in my district. When Congress passed the historic infrastructure law last year, we envisioned more funding going directly to our communities to strengthen our infrastructure and make it more resilient to climate disasters and extreme weather events, including landslides. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, more funding has been made available for FEMA climate resilience programs like this one than ever before. I look forward to seeing construction on the project begin and will continue to advocate for local landslide mitigation project funding in Congress.”

The FEMA grant comes from $3 billion in climate resilience funding, announced earlier this week as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Overall, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides FEMA $7 billion to help local communities improve resilience to extreme weather events and climate disasters including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and more. In addition to supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in Congress, Rep. Lieu has also submitted a request for $1.8 million in Fiscal Year 2024 federal funding to mitigate the risk of landslides in the City of Rolling Hills.