Federal government launches $1B program to connect cities fractured by historic policy decisions

Source: Smart Cities Dive by Maria Rachal

Dive Brief:

  • Funding for the upcoming year of a Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-disaster mitigation program is more than doubling, to $2.3 billion, drawing on some support from last year’s infrastructure law, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.

  • Entering its third year, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program allows local communities, along with states, tribes and territories, to seek support for hazard mitigation projects to proactively reduce their vulnerability to hurricanes, flooding and other events that are becoming more common and extreme with climate change.

  • The BRIC funding news came as part of a broader announcement from the Biden administration on Wednesday on executive actions targeting the climate crisis. Biden said late Wednesday he will make a decision soon about declaring a climate emergency.

Dive Insight:

In its first year, the BRIC program had a $500 million budget, which doubled to $1 billion this past year and is now more than doubling again, to $2.3 billion, for the coming year.

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Chelsea McCullough