FEMA Reinstates Massive Disaster Mitigation Program After Legal and Advocacy Pressure

By Oliver Porter, NLIHC DHR Intern, and Noah Patton, NLIHC Director of Disaster Recovery 

On March 18, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it would reinstate the Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure (BRIC) grant program. This announcement marked a massive win for disaster mitigation advocates, including the more than 900 members of NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC), who have been fighting against the cancellation of the program since the Trump administration first closed BRIC last April, causing nearly $3.6 billion in spending to be paused.  

BRIC, which was created during the first Trump administration, provided states with funding to make communities’ infrastructure more resilient in the face of disasters. The program funded initiatives ranging from increasing the use of fire-resistant construction materials for withstanding wildfires to stronger levees to protect against flooding.  

Despite strong support for the program among state governments and Emergency Managers, the program was placed on an indefinite pause last year, resulting in multiple legal battles. In a case filed by Attorneys General of 22 states, a federal judge ruled at the end of the year that the termination of the program had been illegal. On March 6, the judge ordered FEMA to reinstate BRIC within two weeks, prompting the agency to announce the program’s return. 

While FEMA’s announcement is certainly cause for celebration, it remains unclear the extent to which the agency will comply with the spirit of the judge’s order. The agency released a notice of funding opportunity (NoFo) for BRIC on March 26, marking the first step in resuming funding cycles for the program. That NoFo introduced some major changes to the program, shortening the application timeline and requiring that funding only go to “shovel-ready” projects. These changes have the potential to steer funding away from under-resourced communities that typically need additional time and planning support for disaster mitigation projects.  

BRIC was originally created from the belief that it is more cost effective to strengthen communities’ ability to withstand disasters than it is to rebuild them altogether after disasters strike—a fact becoming increasingly relevant as climate change-fueled disasters intensify in both strength and frequency all over the country. According to legal filings, BRIC (and similar federal programs) have prevented more than $150 billion in disaster damages. These extraordinary savings lend support to researchers’ findings that for every dollar spent on federal mitigation grants, six dollars are saved, demonstrating the critical importance of public mitigation investments. 

The new DHS secretary, former Senator Markwayne Mullin—who was confirmed last week by the Senate and who, during his confirmation hearing, promised not to be a “micro-manager”—will peripherally oversee BRIC’s return. NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery, Research, and Resilience team will continue to monitor future changes to the BRIC program, updating members and partners of any notable developments as needed.