$3 Trillion HEROES Act Would Provide Assistance to Vulnerable Communities during Pandemic

As states begin the process of reopening their economies, Congress has continued its work to stimulate and stabilize the economy. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, Public Law No: 116-136), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, and provided trillions of dollars in emergency relief, was understood to be only one piece of the overall federal relief strategy. The House of Representatives passed its follow-up to the CARES Act, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act, H.R.6800), on May 15, 2020. Within the $3 trillion in funding allocated by the bill are provisions aimed at housing, environmental justice communities, biofuel, energy and water services, and transportation infrastructure.

Some of the bill’s funds would go toward assisting low-income and vulnerable communities and households. For example, the moratorium on evictions established in the CARES Act would be extended, and $100 billion in grants would be made available for emergency rent assistance. Furthermore, the HEROES Act acknowledges the additional difficulties that environmental justice communities may be facing during the crisis due to levels of exposure to air pollution that have been associated with elevated coronavirus transmission and mortality. The bill would provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $50 million in environmental justice grants to investigate the connections between air pollution exposure and coronavirus transmission and health outcomes in environmental justice communities. For more information on the links between environmental justice and the pandemic, see this EESI recap of a roundtable by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee on the subject.

Although the HEROES Act does not contain provisions aimed at the solar or wind energy sectors, it does establish the Renewable Fuel Reimbursement Program to provide relief for biofuel producers. The program, run through the Department of Agriculture, would pay eligible producers 45 cents per gallon of qualified fuel produced between January 1 through May 1, 2020. Any renewable fuel or advanced biofuel qualifying as biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard would qualify for reimbursement through the new program.

The HEROES Act would also assist low-income households with water and energy expenses. States, territories, and tribes would be eligible for $1.5 billion in grants to help low-income households pay for drinking water and wastewater services, and any states and utilities receiving federal emergency funds would have to adopt or maintain policies preventing energy and water shutoffs. The Act would also require that residences’ connection to water services be maintained and that any reconnections be done in a way that minimizes health risks.

Finally, the HEROES Act includes provisions to support transportation infrastructure, although there are no environmental requirements to receive funds. Rather the focus is on the Federal Aviation Administration, which would receive funding to maintain facilities, provide hazard and overtime pay, and study ways to mitigate the spread of the virus within airplane cabins. Grants would also be available for highway and transit agencies to conduct ongoing road maintenance and maintain basic services.

The bill, which narrowly passed the House in a party-line vote, has not yet been considered in the Senate where Republican leaders do not appear eager to take it up. Meanwhile, the eight Democratic members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition are in the process of drafting a letter to Democratic leadership to place a higher priority on climate change in further recovery actions.

 

Author: Abby Neal