Pre-disaster mitigation grant program reinstated

WASHINGTON — This week the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it will resume administering the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. The announcement comes after a federal judge ruled in December that the Trump administration’s ending of the program was illegal. The agency had until March 20 to reinstate the program and made its announcement to do so on March 18.  

The BRIC program provides pre-disaster mitigation funding to fix issues before storms occur and make communities more resilient. 

Sarah Edwards, SELC’s legislative counsel based in Washington, D.C. released the following statement:  

“The BRIC grant program is an important tool for communities facing the rapidly changing landscape of worsening disasters exacerbated by crumbling or inadequate infrastructure. States, tribes, and communities rely on BRIC to get ahead of the next big storm and mitigate otherwise costly damages. We support this progress to restart BRIC and encourage FEMA to continue offering robust funding for innovative and cost-effective resilience solutions. It is essential that states and communities can rely on the program as a predictable and accessible source of pre-disaster mitigation funding.”