The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program funded projects from flood prevention to power station upgrades.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been directed to dismantle the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program which helps communities prepare for future weather disasters, report Jake Bittle and Zoya Teirstein in an article for Grist republished in Fast Company. The agency announced it is canceling $750 million in grants that were announced in January, as well as other BRIC grants that were not yet disbursed.
According to FEMA staffers, “BRIC awards have helped communities bury power lines, build culverts, protect wastewater facilities from being inundated by flooding, and upgrade power stations. If BRIC is frozen, communities will no longer be able to apply for the grants for fiscal year 2024 made available in January.” The program is widely popular: “In fiscal year 2023, FEMA received more than 1,200 subapplications across all 50 states, 35 tribes, five territories, and Washington, D.C., totaling more than $5.6 billion in requests. It was able to provide less than a fifth of the money requested.”
Rescinding grants funded by congressional appropriations is technically illegal, so this decision, like many others in recent months, will likely face legal challenges.
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