The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this month that it is cancelling a popular grant program that provides hundreds of millions of dollars each year to states for projects designed to protect 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 latest round of funds.
“The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement. “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 slated for projects across the state. FEMA has committed to giving the state more than $9 million toward projects that are currently underway. The state has received some, but not all, of that money, and it’s not yet clear how much of those funds will now be lost.
FEMA has approved applications for another $81 million toward future projects or new phases of existing projects. Much, if not all, of those dollars will return to the U.S. Treasury, according to FEMA.
In addition, the state had already prepared applications for more than $70 million in new projects, said Maryland Department of Emergency Management Deputy Secretary Chas Eby. He said the state expected much of the new funding to be approved based on past success with the program.
The BRIC grant program emphasizes nature-based measures to reduce the risks of natural disasters like floods. For example, Maryland is using BRIC grant funding 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,” Eby said. “We've funded projects to relocate communities of mobile home owners out of flood plains and out of flood prone areas. We've used the BRIC program to receive technical assistance from the federal government to local communities, especially those that don't otherwise have the capacity to identify risks.”
Officials are particularly concerned about the future of the projects whose applications FEMA approved in previous years.
“For example, in the city of Crisfield in Somerset County, they had successfully applied for a BRIC 2023 grant for a major flood resilience project at the city dock area and surrounding areas. It was selected for further review at $36 million for that project alone,” he said.
Because that project is still in a planning stage, FEMA had not yet committed to awarding — in FEMA parlance, “obligated” — the funds. According to a FEMA memo sent to states on April 16, all projects selected but not obligated will be cancelled.
There is less clarity about the future of other projects, including some in Baltimore City.
The wetlands restoration project in South Baltimore was hoping to get $31.9 million in BRIC grant funding. Of that, $5.2 million was obligated, including about $400,000 that the state has not yet submitted for reimbursement by FEMA. Officials fear FEMA will revoke its promise of paying that $400,000.
FEMA also awarded Maryland $528,222 to address flooding near the corner 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.”
The flooding has gotten more severe in recent years due to climate change, Ramos said. She rattled off some recent floods, such as the flood in 2020 when a city bus got 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, estimated that she and her husband have had to replace their refrigerator, washing machine and dryer five or six times due to flooding.
She described one particularly bad flood from the 1980s.
“We had so much water. The water came all the way up from the basement to my first floor,” Williams said. “I had to put in a new floor. I had to get my furniture reupholstered.”
The 76 year old and her husband say they have also lost multiple vehicles to floodwaters. One time her husband had to be rescued from his truck. Williams said neither of them can swim, and her husband almost drowned.
The city is still in the process of designing the best fix to prevent the flooding. Although FEMA has obligated the funding for the project, the state has not yet sought reimbursement for any of it. Now officials are worried FEMA will revoke its promise.
Ramos said the project will move forward with or without the federal funds, but without the funds, it might take a little longer for the city to pull together the money.
The loss of BRIC funding is more than just a new challenge for government budgets, said Gavin Smith, a professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning at North Carolina State University whose research has examined BRIC and similar programs and a former assistant director in North Carolina Emergency Management.
He said cancelling the BRIC grant program is going to cause more people to lose their homes or even their lives, especially 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 said. “The fact that we're talking about cutting these very programs when disasters are getting worse, is, to me, extraordinarily short sighted.”
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to note that FEMA has promised Maryland more than $9 million toward ongoing projects.
