FEMA Reopens $1 Billion BRIC Grants After Court Order and Adds New Limits on Planning Aid
FEMA formally reopened applications for $1 billion in BRIC grants on March 26, 2026, covering fiscal years 2024 and 2025 after U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ordered the agency to restore the program following its April 2025 cancellation by acting chief Cameron Hamilton, which had frozen roughly $3.6 billion in resilience funding. The agency also imposed new limits that end BRIC support for hazard‑mitigation planning and non‑financial technical assistance — a change FEMA says shifts more responsibility to state and local governments — and comes amid a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has not approved state or tribal hazard‑mitigation add‑ons for about a year.
📌 Key Facts
- On March 26, 2026, FEMA formally reopened applications for $1 billion in BRIC grants covering fiscal years 2024 and 2025 after last year’s opportunity was rescinded; the reopening follows a court order to restore the program.
- U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled in December that FEMA could not eliminate BRIC and this month ordered the agency to take additional steps to restore the program, prompting the reopening.
- In April 2025, acting FEMA chief Cameron Hamilton canceled BRIC as “wasteful and ineffective,” freezing roughly $3.6 billion that had been slated for several years of resilience projects.
- New FEMA rules end BRIC support for hazard‑mitigation planning and non‑financial direct technical assistance, shifting more responsibility and costs to states and placing special burdens on smaller, less-resourced communities.
- The administration has not approved any state or tribal hazard‑mitigation funding add‑ons to major disaster declarations for about a year, reflecting a broader pattern of cutting preparedness dollars.
- FEMA says the revised program ‘maximizes state and local responsibility for resilience and risk reduction’ and criticizes the prior (Biden-era) BRIC as overly bureaucratic and too focused on ‘climate change’ initiatives.
📊 Relevant Data
In counties struck by large natural disasters, Black survivors experience an average wealth decrease of $27,000, while White survivors experience an average wealth increase of $126,000.
How FEMA Can Prioritize Equity in Disaster Recovery Assistance — Center for American Progress
FEMA individual assistance requests are denied at a rate of 11% in predominantly Black neighborhoods compared to 4% in predominantly White neighborhoods.
How FEMA Can Prioritize Equity in Disaster Recovery Assistance — Center for American Progress
Low-capacity counties received only 4% ($157 million) of BRIC funding across four funding rounds (2020-2023), compared to 76% ($3 billion) for high-capacity counties, representing 19 times less funding for low-capacity areas.
Rising demand for FEMA’s BRIC program far exceeds available funding — Headwaters Economics
Subapplications to the BRIC program from counties with higher social vulnerability scores (based on CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index) were more likely to be selected for further review across fiscal years 2020-2022.
The Role of Local Capacity in Who Receives BRIC Funding — Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Confirms FEMA has formally opened applications for $1 billion in BRIC grants as of March 26, 2026, specifying that the money covers fiscal years 2024 and 2025 after last year’s opportunity was rescinded.
- Details that under prior acting chief Cameron Hamilton, FEMA canceled BRIC in April 2025 as 'wasteful and ineffective,' freezing roughly $3.6 billion that had been slated for several years of resilience projects.
- Reports that U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled in December that FEMA could not eliminate BRIC and again ordered the agency this month to take additional steps to restore the program.
- Explains that the Trump administration has not approved any state or tribal hazard‑mitigation funding add‑ons to major disaster declarations for a full year, signaling a broader pattern of slashing preparedness dollars.
- Describes new FEMA rules ending BRIC support for hazard‑mitigation planning and non‑financial direct technical assistance, shifting more responsibility and costs to states and especially burdening smaller communities with fewer resources.
- Quotes FEMA’s new framing that 'the program now maximizes state and local responsibility for resilience and risk reduction rather than federal investing in a wide range of activities,' and its criticism that under Biden BRIC became too bureaucratic and focused on 'climate change' initiatives.