The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this month that it will discontinue a popular grant program that provides hundreds of millions of dollars to states each year for projects aimed at protecting local communities from the effects of natural disasters.
FEMA abruptly announced the change to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, grant program on April 4, just two weeks before the deadline to apply for the most recent round of funds.
“The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,” a spokesperson for the agency stated. “It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.”
Maryland officials say the program’s cancellation will cost the state millions of dollars that were set aside for projects throughout the state. FEMA has committed to giving the state more than $9 billion for current projects. The state has received some, but not all, of the funds, and it is unclear how much will be lost.
Furthermore, Deputy Secretary Chas Eby of the Maryland Department of Emergency Management stated that the state had already prepared applications for more than $70 million in new projects. He stated that the state expected the majority of the new funding to be approved based on the program’s previous success.
The BRIC grant program focuses on nature-based solutions to reduce the risk of natural disasters such as floods. For example, Maryland is using BRIC grant funds to restore wetlands in South Baltimore.
“BRIC projects include everything from infrastructure upgrades to withstand natural hazards, retrofitting of public safety buildings and similar nature-based solutions,” according to Eby. “We have funded projects to relocate mobile home communities out of floodplains and flood-prone areas. We’ve used the BRIC program to get technical help from the federal government for local communities, particularly those that don’t have the resources to identify risks.”
Officials are especially concerned about the fate of projects whose applications FEMA approved in previous years.
“For example, in Crisfield, Somerset County, they successfully applied for a BRIC 2023 grant for a major flood resilience project at the city dock and surrounding areas. It was chosen for further review at $36 million for that project alone,” he stated.
Because the project is still in the planning stages, FEMA has not yet committed to awarding — or “obligated” — the funds. According to a FEMA memo distributed to states on April 16, all projects selected but not obligated will be canceled.
Other projects, including those in Baltimore City, have less clarity about their future.
The wetlands restoration project in South Baltimore hoped to receive $31.9 million in BRIC grant funding. Of that, $5.2 million was obligated, including approximately $400,000 that the state has yet to submit for reimbursement from FEMA. Officials are concerned that FEMA will back out on its promise to pay $400,000.
FEMA also awarded Maryland $528,222 to address flooding near the intersection of 35th Street and Hillen Road in northeast Baltimore.
“We have actually had flooding in this area for decades,” said Baltimore City Council Member Odette Ramos, who represents the intersection and the surrounding area. “I actually have a photo that one of the residents who lives on the corner gave me from 1959 of the flooding in this area.”
According to Ramos, climate change has exacerbated the flooding in recent years. She mentioned some recent floods, including the one in 2020, when a city bus became stuck in the floodwaters and cars floated onto residents’ lawns.
“There was one year where it went as high as the stop sign here,” Ramos said, pointing to the stop sign on the corner. “Another time I was up to my waist in the water.”
Pamela Williams, who lives near the intersection, said she and her husband have had to replace their refrigerator, washing machine, and dryer five or six times due to flooding.
She described an especially bad flood from the 1980s.
“We had plenty of water. “Water came all the way up from the basement to my first floor,” Williams explained. “I had to install a new floor. “I had to have my furniture reupholstered.”
The 76-year-old and her husband claim they have also lost several vehicles to floodwaters. One time, her husband needed to be rescued from his truck. Williams claimed neither of them could swim, and her husband nearly drowned.
The city is still designing the best solution to prevent flooding. Although FEMA has committed funding to the project, the state has yet to seek reimbursement for any of it. Now, officials are concerned that FEMA will break its promise.
Ramos stated that the project will proceed with or without federal funds, but that without them, it may take the city longer to raise the funds.
The loss of BRIC funding is more than just a new challenge for government budgets, according to Gavin Smith, a professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning at North Carolina State University who has conducted research on BRIC and similar programs and who previously served as an assistant director in North Carolina Emergency Management.
He stated that canceling the BRIC grant program will result in more people losing their homes or even their lives, particularly as climate change worsens.
“Disasters are not only getting worse, but they disproportionately impact the people that are poor, people of color, communities that don’t have adequate resources, and they need help,” Smith informed the crowd. “The fact that we’re talking about cutting these very programs when disasters are getting worse, is, to me, extraordinarily short sighted.”
