As a means to build resilience to climate change and extreme weather, the Biden administration announced recipients this week for nearly $3 billion.
Choices were made through two competitive grant programs, and include both $1.8 billion through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) competition and $642 million for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) for community-scale flood mitigation projects. Another $160 million in BRIC and FMA selections was announced by FEMA in May.
“From Hawaii to Maine, communities across the country are experiencing more frequent and intense severe weather events, resulting in devastating impacts to their homes, businesses and families,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said. “Though FEMA will always help communities respond to and recover from these disasters, it is also paramount to build resilience before disasters strike.”
This latest round of selections included projects in 23 states that have never received competitive BRIC funding prior.
In the case of BRIC, FEMA chose 124 projects rooted in 115 communities, including 38 states, one tribe and the District of Columbia. These include measures such as strengthening the electrical grid in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, by equipping poles and wires to withstand 150 mph winds. In Detroit, new sewer mains will be installed to better protect against flooding. In Hawaii, three electric hubs will be built to provide stability during severe weather and long outages. Pipeline upgrades, dam modifications, drainage improvements, wildfire mitigation efforts and more are all on the list as well.
“Our local and community partners are the first responders when extreme weather events unfold, and they are on the front lines of building our nation’s resilience to the impacts of climate change,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said. “By investing today in strengthening our critical infrastructure, particularly for the most marginalized and vulnerable communities, President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is going to keep Americans and their communities safer and more resilient.”
On the Flood Mitigation Assistance side of things, FEMA chose 149 projects among communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Efforts there will tackle structure elevation, eliminating repetitive flood threats, upgrading stormwater infrastructure and other pushes to control flooding and provide individual property mitigation through elevation, acquisitions, mitigation reconstruction and more. Communities in 28 states and the District of Columbia will benefit.