Washington, D.C. — American Samoa is receiving grants totaling $1.7 million ($1,681,971) funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) as notified by Assistant Secretary Carmen Cantor in a letter to Governor Lemanu P.S. Mauga and Congresswoman Aumua Amata.

The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), of the Department of the Interior (DOI), awarded these Fiscal Year 2023 BIL funds to American Samoa Government (ASG) for three projects, based on the application efforts of ASG:

• $1,097,597 to the Governor’s Biodiversity Conservation Office for the Reviving and Restoring Degraded Wetlands in American Samoa project;
• $260,000 to the Governor’s Biodiversity Conservation Office for Developing American Samoa’s Biosecurity Resilience with its First Comprehensive Biosecurity Plan;
• $324,374 to the Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources for the Village Community Coral Restoration project.

Congress passed the BIL, officially the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, in November 2021. Amata supported the BIL throughout its consideration in Congress, as it provides major improvements to highway funding formula and over $100 million for American Samoa over five years in support for infrastructure, including roads, bridges, ports, airports, safe drinking water, broadband, cybersecurity, and sewage systems.

“Congratulations to Governor Lemanu, and thank you to Assistant Secretary Cantor for this announcement,” Amata said. “I took part in bipartisan support for the BIL to strengthen our infrastructure investment and boost our local economy. Thank you most of all to each one at ASG who works on grant applications and takes part in implementing projects.”