Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank
Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (RIIB) is Rhode Island’s central hub for financing infrastructure improvements for municipalities, businesses, and homeowners. Through the issuance of bonds, originating loans and making grants, and mobilization of sources of public and private capital, RIIB aims to “create jobs, promote economic development and enhance the environment.” They leverage limited capital in a revolving fund to offer innovative financing for an array of infrastructure-based projects, including (1) water and wastewater, (2) road and bridge, (3) energy efficiency and renewable energy, and (4) brownfield remediation.
Their program “Resilient Rhody,” established after the publication of Rhode Island’s first Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy in 2018, partners with state agencies and municipal partners to accomplish the 2018 Strategy’s goals. Resilient Rhody’s objectives include updating or developing hazard mitigation plans, preserving open spaces and natural land, funding climate resilience projects, engineering shoreline adaptation projects, and engaging with municipal partners through the Municipal Resilience Program (MRP). The MRP provides direct support to cities and towns to complete a Community Resilience Building workshop, which, once completed, enables communities to apply for MRP Action Grants to implement resilience projects. Projects can include, but are not limited to, dam retrofits or removal, road elevation, floodproofing, energy efficiency, and green stormwater infrastructure. Municipalities are required to match grants with a 25% local project cost share.
RIIB was established by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1989 as the Clean Water Finance Agency. Their mandate was significantly expanded in 2015 to include energy and brownfield remediation initiatives.
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