Resiliency Officer Helps Design an Environmental Impact Bond to Finance Community Resilience Projects

Hampton, Virginia created the state’s first environmental impact bond to finance community resilience projects. The city’s resiliency officer led the effort, and partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an outcomes-based capital firm, and local partners to make the bond and the storm-water management resilience projects a reality. Projects include retrofitting ditches into linear stormwater parks, elevating flood-prone streets, and examining how roads, greenways, and public parking lots are constructed to improve stormwater management. The environmental impact bond was finalized in 2020 with a total of $12 million dollars in outcomes-based financing. This will fund many flood-mitigation and resiliency projects in Hampton.