FEMA Receives Another Record-Setting Request for BRIC, FMA Funding

FEMA received another record-setting request for funding through two grant programs that aim to enhance disaster resiliency. The agency received 1,657 subapplications from state, local, tribal and territorial governments totaling nearly $8 billion requesting funding through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs. In this fiscal cycle FEMA made available a total of $1.8 billion for these two grants, a large portion of which came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This continues the trend that each year more subapplications are submitted than funding is available.

BRIC Summary
FEMA received 1,233 BRIC subapplications across all 50 states, 35 Tribal Nations, five territories and the District of Columbia requesting more than $5.6 billion. For this funding cycle, the agency made $1 billion available.

BRIC helps state, local, tribal, and territorial governments address high-level risks to natural disasters such as wildfires, drought, extreme heat, hurricanes, earthquakes and increased flooding to foster greater community resilience and reduce disaster suffering.

Building Codes Plus-Up Summary
BRIC received 133 subapplications totaling more than $52 million for Building Code Plus-Up, a new set-aside funding opportunity for strengthening building codes. Funding is available to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and federally recognized Tribal Nations for building code activities, such as adoption and enforcement.

Flood Mitigation Assistance Summary
FEMA received 424 subapplications for Flood Mitigation Assistance across all 10 FEMA regions with the requests totaling nearly $2.3 billion from 39 states, American Samoa and two federally recognized tribes. For this funding cycle, the agency made $800 million available while an additional $300 million was offered through the Swift Current funding opportunity.

FMA grants are available to National Flood Insurance Program participating communities to address severe and repetitive loss projects.

BRIC Direct Technical Assistance
Additionally, FEMA saw an increase in requests for BRIC Direct Technical Assistance with 164 submissions, 28 of which were from federally recognized Tribal Nations and 136 communities across all 10 regions. These increases represent an oversubscription trend in funding to make communities safer from natural hazards and the effects of climate change.

The agency has already announced a total of 74 communities and Tribal Nations selected from previous grant cycles. FEMA is expecting to make at least 80 more selections from these submissions.

Next Steps
Later this year, FEMA anticipates releasing a more detailed analysis of the subapplications received for the fiscal year 2023 grant cycle.