Sen. Brian Schatz Announces $13.4M FEMA Grant to Modernize Hilo Bridge

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz announced a $13.4 million federal grant through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to design and modernize the Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge in Hilo. Schatz made the announcement on March 5, 2026, saying the funding will support design work that targets flood and earthquake resilience for the downtown Hilo crossing.

The office release describes the grant as intended to modernize the bridge, enhance flood and earthquake resilience, ensure the modernized bridge meets current national standards for disaster readiness, and reduce potential future disaster losses in affected communities. The announcement explicitly frames safety for local travel as a priority, noting the project aims to make the crossing safer for families who use Waiānuenue Avenue.

“This new federal funding will modernize the Waianuenue Avenue Bridge, making it safer for local families to use and get where they need to go,” said Senator Brian Schatz. Schatz is identified in the announcement materials as a member and senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a position highlighted as part of his role securing federal dollars for Hawai‘i projects.

The $13.4 million HMGP award is presented as complementing an earlier $1.5 million grant received in 2021 for related bridge work or planning. The announcement specifies FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program as the funding mechanism but does not list which local agency will receive or administer the HMGP funds.

Schatz placed the bridge funding in a wider funding push for Hawai‘i, citing nearly $34 million in new congressional directed spending he secured in a bipartisan Senate package. The Senate release lists specific earmarks and amounts that accompanied that package: County of Maui received $1 million for Lahaina water system upgrades to increase reliability and meet fire flow requirements and secure backup supplies; Chaminade University of Honolulu received $1 million to support an institute for justice-fields training for the Pacific Islands; the University of Hawai‘i received $1 million to improve space weather forecasts to protect electrical infrastructure and satellites; and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center received $1.5 million to use electronic monitoring technology to supplement human observer coverage for Hawai‘i’s longline fleet. “Despite some challenges in Washington, we secured nearly $34 million in new earmark funding for Hawai‘i and expect more to come,” Schatz said. “These earmarks will give local non-profits and infrastructure projects more resources to serve communities across Hawai‘i.”

The announcement does not identify a timeline for design deliverables or construction, nor does it name the grantee agency such as the County of Hawai‘i or the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation. FEMA Region 9 confirmation and details on award conditions, scope, and schedule were not included in the materials released with the announcement and remain to be confirmed.

As background on the senator’s federal capacity, a Q4 FEC disclosure filed January 30, 2026 shows Schatz reported $94,200 in fundraising for the quarter with 58.3 percent from individual donors, $101,300 in spending, and $2.2 million in cash on hand at the end of the filing period. The bridge grant announcement positions Hilo’s Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge project as a federally funded design-phase effort intended to raise resilience to flood and earthquake hazards while officials work out implementation and timing details.