FEMA's $1 Billion BRIC Program Returns From the Dead — and the Clock Is Already Ticking

One billion dollars in disaster mitigation funding sat frozen for nearly a year while wildfires, floods, and hurricanes kept arriving on schedule. On March 25, 2026, FEMA finally reopened the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program — not because the agency wanted to, but because a federal judge ordered it. The BRIC program's return is the most consequential grant reopening of the year, and applicants have exactly 120 days to submit proposals for infrastructure projects that could reshape how their communities survive the next disaster.

The backstory matters because it shapes the program you are applying to today. BRIC is back, but it is not the same program it was before the freeze. Understanding what changed — and why — is the difference between a competitive application and a wasted one.

From Cancellation to Courtroom

FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton announced the termination of BRIC on April 4, 2025, calling the program "wasteful and ineffective" and directing that undistributed funds be returned to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury. At that point, BRIC had awarded more than $5 billion in grants since its creation under the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018. Nearly 700 infrastructure projects across all 50 states, 35 tribal nations, five territories, and Washington, D.C. were affected — roughly $3.6 billion in project funding halted mid-stream.

The cancellation triggered immediate pushback. A coalition of 22 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia filed suit, arguing that FEMA lacked authority to unilaterally eliminate a program that Congress had established and funded through legislation. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled in December 2025 that FEMA could not eliminate BRIC and ordered the agency to reverse course. When FEMA failed to release funding in the months that followed, Stearns issued a second order in March 2026 directing FEMA to take concrete steps toward restoring the program.

Less than three weeks after that second order, FEMA opened the application portal with $1 billion available for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 combined. The speed suggests the agency had the infrastructure ready but lacked the institutional willingness to deploy it — until a federal court removed the choice.

What the $1 Billion Actually Looks Like

The funding breaks down across five categories, each with different caps and requirements.

The National Competition holds the lion's share at $757 million, with a maximum of $20 million per project. This is where large-scale infrastructure projects compete — utility hardening, flood control systems, wildfire-resistant community design, seismic retrofits, and critical facility relocation. FEMA has signaled a preference for "construction projects that are ready to implement," which means shovel-ready proposals with completed environmental reviews and engineering designs will have a significant advantage.

State and Territory Allocations total $112 million, capped at $2 million per applicant. These are formula-based allocations that every state and territory receives, typically used for planning grants, building code adoption support, and smaller mitigation projects.

The Tribal Set-Aside is $50 million at $2 million per applicant. Federally recognized tribal nations apply directly to FEMA rather than through state hazard mitigation offices — a structural advantage that eliminates one layer of competition and review.

Building Code Plus-Up funding splits between states ($56 million, $1 million cap) and tribal nations ($25 million). These grants specifically support the adoption and enforcement of modern building codes — one of the most cost-effective disaster mitigation strategies available but chronically underfunded at the local level.

A critical cap applies across all categories: no single applicant may receive more than 15 percent of total available funding. For the National Competition, that means no state can capture more than roughly $113 million even if its projects rank highest.

What Changed After the Freeze

The BRIC that reopened on March 25 is not identical to the program that existed before April 2025. Three changes are particularly significant for applicants.

First, FEMA has reduced what it calls "bureaucratic hurdles" and shifted more decision-making authority to states and local governments. In practice, this means the benefit-cost analysis requirements that many applicants struggled with in previous rounds may be streamlined — but it also means FEMA is less likely to provide the kind of technical assistance that helped smaller communities navigate the application process in prior years.

Second, the program now emphasizes major infrastructure projects over the community-scale planning grants that characterized early BRIC rounds. The Biden-era priorities — nature-based solutions, climate resilience, environmental justice — are no longer featured in the program description. Applicants who built their proposals around those frameworks will need to reframe their narratives around infrastructure protection and economic resilience.

Third, the status of previously awarded grants that were frozen during the cancellation remains unclear. If your community had a BRIC award in the pipeline when the program was terminated, contact your state hazard mitigation officer immediately to determine whether that funding has been restored or whether you need to reapply under the new round.

Who Should Apply — and What Wins

Eligible applicants are states, territories, federally recognized tribal nations, and the District of Columbia. Local governments, communities, and special districts apply as subapplicants through their state hazard mitigation agency. This two-tier structure means that local applicants need both a strong project proposal and a state agency willing to prioritize and forward their application.

Based on previous BRIC rounds and the program's current emphasis, the strongest applications will share several characteristics. Construction-ready projects with completed engineering designs, environmental reviews, and local match commitments will score highest. FEMA has explicitly prioritized "ready to implement" projects — if your proposal requires two years of planning before a shovel hits the ground, it will likely lose to projects that can break ground within months of award.

The cost share remains at 75 percent federal, 25 percent non-federal for most applicants — though economically disadvantaged communities may qualify for up to 90 percent federal share. The non-federal match can include in-kind contributions, donated materials, and other federal funds in some cases, but applicants should confirm match eligibility with their FEMA regional office before assuming flexibility.

Project types that align with the current program emphasis include school safe rooms and storm shelters, utility hardening against extreme weather, relocation of critical facilities from flood zones, pump station and stormwater infrastructure, wildfire defensible space and fuel reduction, and seismic retrofits for essential buildings. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Coastal Resiliency Fund, with pre-proposals due March 31, targets a complementary set of coastal resilience projects — communities along coastlines should consider both programs as part of a coordinated funding strategy.

The Compressed Timeline Problem

The 120-day application window — March 25 to July 23, 2026 — creates a compressed timeline that disadvantages communities without existing mitigation plans. In previous rounds, applicants typically had six to eight months from announcement to submission. The shorter window means that communities starting from scratch will struggle to complete the hazard mitigation planning, engineering design, environmental review, benefit-cost analysis, and state coordination required for a competitive National Competition application.

The strategic response is triage. If your community has a current FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan and an engineering-ready project, prioritize the National Competition. If you lack a current mitigation plan, focus on the State/Territory Allocation, which has lower documentation requirements and is not nationally competitive. If you are a tribal nation with existing mitigation plans, the Tribal Set-Aside offers the best odds — the smaller applicant pool and direct-to-FEMA submission process eliminate several bottlenecks.

For communities caught between readiness levels, the Building Code Plus-Up grants offer the fastest path to funding with the least documentation burden. Adopting modern building codes is well-documented as one of the highest-return disaster mitigation investments, and the application requirements are substantially simpler than the National Competition.

What Comes Next

The BRIC program's court-ordered resurrection is not a permanent guarantee. The current funding covers fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — future appropriations are uncertain, and the administration's original position was that the program should not exist. The Disaster Recovery Reform Act provides statutory authority for BRIC, which means Congress would need to act to formally eliminate it, but future rounds could face the same administrative resistance that froze this one.

For communities and states that have been waiting since April 2025, the message is clear: apply now. The $1 billion on the table represents the largest single BRIC funding opportunity since the program's creation, and the political dynamics make future rounds unpredictable. Platforms like Granted can help you identify whether your project aligns with BRIC's current priorities and build a submission-ready application before July 23 arrives.