FEMA issued the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Policy, effective Apr. 26, 2022. The guidance explicitly includes environmental disasters exacerbated by climate change. Key changes from the previous policy include 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 guide 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” by deleting the unemployment metric previously required.
Federal Environmental Justice Tracker