AUGUSTA — Gov. Janet Mills signed a new law Tuesday to help Maine communities get ready for increasingly severe weather and the long-term impacts of climate change.

Her action came after the bill was approved 32-0 in the Senate earlier Tuesday. It received similar bipartisan support in the House of Representatives last week.

“I’m proud to sign this bill into law, a bill that will allow Maine communities, homeowners, businesses, emergency response leaders and others to prepare for the extreme weather events of the future and make Maine a safe place to live in the process,” Mills said during a signing ceremony at the State House.

The new law includes a grant program that would help residents safeguard their homes against extreme weather, makes one-time investments in the Maine Emergency Management Agency, and utilizes federal funds to establish a new state office to reduce storm damage and protect infrastructure.

The legislation, LD 1, responds to recommendations from the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Mills established last year after a series of winter storms caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure, mostly from flooding across the state and a destructive storm surge on the coast. It is an emergency bill, which means it will take effect immediately.

The bill comes with a $39 million price tag but will be funded with surplus state funds and federal funds and does not rely on general funds from the state budget.

It includes several key initiatives, the first of which would provide $15 million in one-time funding to establish the Home Resiliency Program to provide grants of up to $15,000 to homeowners to make investments to safeguard their homes against future storms.

The program will be operated by Maine’s Bureau of Insurance and focus on reducing roof damage, basement flooding and other targeted interventions to minimize storm damage and insurance losses. The program still must be set up and go through the rule-making process, with a first round of grants expected to be available by May 2026.

Susan Shannon sweeps water out of her store, Sea Glass Jewelry Studio in Kennebunkport, on Jan. 10, 2024. Shannon said she had 7 1/2 inches of water in her store. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

One-time funding from the Bureau of Insurance will be used to invest $10 million in the State Disaster Recovery Fund to secure federal matching funds to respond to natural disasters, establish a new state fund to secure federal loans for storm mitigation and improve emergency communications technology and early warning systems at MEMA.

The law also establishes a new State Resilience Office within the Maine Office of Community Affairs, funded through a five-year federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support planning that reduces flood and storm damage, protects public and private infrastructure, and supports public safety.

Finally, it launches a Flood-Ready Maine Program to modernize data on flood risk and make it accessible online to municipal leaders and Mainers. The program would work to improve communication to communities, businesses and residents about flood risk, and to increase the number of flood insurance policies in use in Maine.

The bipartisan legislation, which was the first bill the governor introduced this session, was sponsored by all four leaders in the Senate and House: Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick; Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford; Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle; and House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor.

Floodwaters from the Kennebec River surround cars parked at the Hathaway Creative Center in Waterville on Dec. 19, 2023. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

In a written statement Tuesday, Daughtry said the new law will be proactive in helping Maine safeguard against the threat of storms. “This legislation reflects our commitment to protecting our people, our resources and our homes for generations to come,” Daughtry said. “It will also ensure that Mainers will finally be able to prepare instead of constantly having to repair.”

Rep. Amanda Collamore, R-Pittsfield, a Republican on the Housing and Economic Development Committee, said the law “reflects months of hard work and collaboration to streamline state resilience efforts under one roof.”

“By working closely with the Mills administration, we consolidated overlapping offices into the new Maine Office of Community Affairs, ensuring that our communities are better prepared, more efficient, and ready to meet the challenges of extreme weather head on,” Collamore said.

Legislators clap after Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 1 into law at a ceremony Tuesday at the Maine State House in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The new law builds on the $60 million the governor proposed and that lawmakers approved last year to support the recovery and rebuilding of Maine communities and businesses following the severe storms in December 2023 and January 2024.

Maine Conservation Voters, which focuses on protecting Maine’s environment through public policy and elections, was among the groups that celebrated the law’s enactment Tuesday.

“We applaud the governor and Legislature for recognizing that recovering from extreme storm damage, emergency management, and infrastructure resilience are not partisan issues,” Cathy Breen, director of government affairs for Maine Conservation Voters, said in a written statement. “There is no corner of Maine safe from the severe weather we’ve seen in recent years and the serious conditions predicted for the future.”