On April 4, 2025, FEMA announced its decision to terminate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. FEMA created BRIC to implement a law passed in 2018 creating additional funding for state, local, territorial and Tribal governments to invest in predisaster risk mitigation.
FEMA also canceled all previous BRIC awards from 2020-2023, including $882 million in BRIC funds appropriated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The cancellation affects billions in awarded grants, primarily for state and local governments’ disaster preparedness projects to protect critical infrastructure, update communities’ hazard mitigation plans, and fund local emergency management offices. FEMA argued the program was an example of “waste, fraud and abuse” and “politicized.”
Twenty states sued FEMA, challenging the termination of the BRIC program. On Aug. 5, 2025, a federal district court barred FEMA from using BRIC funds for other purposes while the litigation was ongoing. On Dec. 11, 2025, the court granted summary judgment to the states and barred FEMA from terminating the BRIC program. Washington, et al. v. Federal Emergency Management Agency, et al., Docket No. 25-cv-12006 (D. Mass. July 16, 2025).
Background
Under President Biden, FEMA updated its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Policy, effective Apr. 26, 2022. The guidance included environmental disasters exacerbated by climate change. Key changes from the previous policy included a new principle to “promote equity, including by helping members of disadvantaged groups and prioritizing 40 percent of the benefits to disadvantaged communities,” consistent with the administration’s Justice40 Initiative. The guidance also clarified FEMA policy changes including 100% federal coverage of applicant’s management costs; language to promote projects that account for the future effects of climate change; and changes to FEMA’s definition of “small impoverished communities,” deleting the unemployment metric previously required.