Court Orders Restore BRIC Grants for Disaster Resilience

FEMA announced in April 2025 that it would end a mitigation grant program called BRIC. The program was created to help states and local governments pay for projects that reduce damage from floods, fires and other hazards. When FEMA moved to cancel the program, twenty-two states and several groups sued. On December 11, 2025, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that FEMA’s termination of BRIC was unlawful and issued an injunction restoring the program.

After months of disagreement, the court issued a March 6, 2026 order to enforce the December ruling. The judge set deadlines for FEMA to report the status of grants and to reverse steps that had halted BRIC. The order required the agency to issue the FY2024 BRIC notice of funding opportunity within 21 days. BRIC had involved roughly $4 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for hazard mitigation. While FEMA had said it was evaluating the program, the court action is now pushing the agency to make grant opportunities available again. States and local officials had sought the funds to build sea walls, improve drainage and harden power systems.