NORTH CAROLINA — After shuttering a multi-billion-dollar natural disaster mitigation grant program in the spring, the Trump administration is being sued. Twenty states have joined a lawsuit to decry FEMA canceling the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, noting Congress holds statutory power over it.
READ MORE: President says FEMA to ‘phase out’ by end of hurricane season, area leaders respond
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in a Massachusetts court against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, David Richardson in his senior official capacity, the Department of Homeland Security and secretary of defense Kristi Noem. The lawsuit includes North Carolina, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program was canceled in April; it began in 2018 and was signed into law by Trump. Rather than being reactive, BRIC’s goal was to remain proactive and help communities ahead of catastrophes by funding projects that would mitigate damage and reduce hazardous risk.
In the last four years alone, BRIC has rolled out $4.5 billion for 2,000 projects nationwide, ranging from stormwater improvements, such as creating or correcting levees and pump stations, to addressing fire safety needs, like vegetative management, to providing safe rooms for those facing a tornado.
The lawsuit states BRIC has been known to save $6 for each recovery dollar spent post-storm or disaster. In the last four years, it saved $150 billion for taxpayers.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said thwarting this funding is unconstitutional as it intrudes upon Congress’ “power of the purse.”
“In North Carolina, we know what it takes to rebuild from a disaster,” he noted in a release Thursday, announcing North Carolina’s participation in the lawsuit. “This money helps us better prepare for future storms. FEMA was wrong to break the law and cancel this money, which will save lives. I’m taking it to court to win these funds back for our state.”
While Trump bolstered the program during his first term as president, the current administration allowed BRIC’s cancellation under acting interim FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton, calling it “wasteful spending” and accusing it of being “politicized.” FEMA rendered all applications from fiscal years 2020-2023 null and void and stated no new allocations would be put forth, despite Congress explicitly directing the emergency agency to “make mitigation a core part of its mission.”
New Hanover County has applied to BRIC funding before, according to spokesperson Alex Riley, though no grants were awarded in recent years. However, Leland lost just more than $1 million in April, which was going to cover costs for a sewer lift station to be relocated away from the heavily flooded Sturgeon Creek, with the goal to prevent sewer overflow.
BRIC’s cancellation is anticipated to cost the state roughly $200 million in protecting infrastructure, including projects in:
- Gastonia — $5.9 million to restore Duharts Creek banks
- Hillsborough — $7 million to relocate a pump station from a flood plain
- Mount Pleasant — $4 million to help with stormwater drainage and secure electrical wires
- Salisbury — $22.5 million to relocate a pump station on the Yadkin River to maintain drinking water supply
Gov. Josh Stein supported Jackson joining the lawsuit, noting North Carolinians are far-too familiar with natural disasters, and the destruction and hefty fiscal responsibility often left behind: “Building more resilient infrastructure helps to mitigate damage and save lives and money.”
The lawsuit also claims Hamilton, who was fired in May, was not legally appointed to oversee the agency and therefore lacked authorization command.
The states are asking for a reverse order on BRIC and to reinstate funding.
“The impact of the shutdown has been devastating,” the lawsuit indicates. “Communities across the country are being forced to delay, scale back, or cancel hundreds of mitigation projects depending on this funding. Projects that have been in development for years, and in which communities have invested millions of dollars for planning, permitting, and environmental review, are now threatened. And in the meantime, Americans across the country face a higher risk of harm from natural disasters.”
The lawsuit was filed after a letter — signed in bipartisan support, including from NC Senator Thom Tills — was sent to the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. It compelled the institutions to bring back BRIC and work with Congress on measures that strengthen it.
“Forgoing these critical investments will only make it harder and more expensive for communities to recover from the next storm,” the letter indicates. “We acknowledge that the BRIC program, like all grant funding programs, has room for improvement, and we urge you to couple the reinstatement of the program with an opportunity for Congress and FEMA to improve the application review and funding distribution process to more effectively reduce the costs disasters pose to our communities, economies, and livelihoods.”
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