Court Orders FEMA to Restore $4.5B BRIC Climate Resiliency Grants

A federal judge has given FEMA two weeks to comply with a ruling that reinstates the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, restoring access to roughly $4.5 billion in climate resiliency grants that the agency froze nearly a year ago.

Judge Richard G. Stearns of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued the March 6 compliance order after FEMA ignored an earlier December 2025 ruling that declared the program's termination unlawful. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 19 other state attorneys general brought the lawsuit.

What FEMA Canceled — and What Communities Lost

The BRIC program has funded billions in pre-disaster infrastructure projects across the country: sewer upgrades, riverbank stabilization, wastewater treatment facility flood-proofing, water pump station relocations, and flooding vulnerability studies. North Carolina alone had $200 million in previously awarded grants frozen when the program was shuttered.

Towns like Hickory, Buncombe County, and Hillsborough saw critical infrastructure projects stall indefinitely. Nationally, the freeze left communities unable to begin or continue projects designed to protect residents from increasingly severe weather events.

Where Things Stand Now

FEMA announced this week that it will "fully resume programmatic support for BRIC awards and sub applications, such as award monitoring and closeout, and completing pre-award review activities once the lapse in appropriations has ended." The agency also indicated it would publish a new funding opportunity as it reconstitutes the program.

But skepticism remains. A spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Justice told reporters that no money has surfaced yet, and the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown is further delaying the release of funds. FEMA programmatic staff remain largely unreachable.

What Grant Seekers Should Do Now

Organizations with pending BRIC applications or frozen awards should contact their state emergency management agency immediately to confirm their project's status. Those considering new applications should begin preparing proposals now — FEMA's promised new funding opportunity could open with a compressed timeline once the appropriations lapse ends.

Grantedai.com users can track FEMA BRIC updates through the platform's federal grant alerts. For communities that depend on pre-disaster mitigation funding, the next few weeks will determine whether the court's order translates into actual dollars flowing to local projects.

In-depth analysis of FEMA funding trends and compliance strategies is available on the Granted blog.