The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has opened applications for $1 billion in federal funding aimed at helping communities nationwide strengthen infrastructure against natural disasters.
The funding is available through the agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program (BRIC), which supports projects designed to reduce damage from hazards such as floods, wildfires and hurricanes before disasters strike.
BRIC is FEMA’s primary pre-disaster mitigation initiative and focuses on large infrastructure projects designed to reduce long-term disaster damage and recovery costs. Eligible projects include flood control systems, wildfire mitigation, stormwater infrastructure, seismic retrofits and building code adoption and enforcement programs designed to strengthen structures before disasters.
States, territories and Tribal governments can apply directly, while local governments must submit proposals through their state. Applications are due by July 23.
The available funding includes:
• $757 million for a nationwide competition for large-scale infrastructure projects
• $112 million allocated to states and territories
• $50 million set aside for Tribal governments
• $81 million combined for building code adoption and enforcement efforts
Individual awards are capped at $20 million for national competition projects, while state, territorial and Tribal allocations are generally limited to $2 million per applicant.
The funding round prioritizes mitigation projects that are ready to be implemented and designed to reduce the effects of disasters such as flooding, wildfires and severe storms before they occur. FEMA said shifting more responsibility and funding to states and Tribal governments is intended to speed up project development and reduce the long-term cost of disaster recovery.
Photo by Juan Moccagatta from Pexels
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