Washington and multistate coalition secure a victory preventing billions in cuts to disaster mitigation funding

Court order requires Trump administration to reverse illegal shutdown of the FEMA BRIC program

Washington and a multistate coalition today won their lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful attempt to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, designed to protect communities from natural disasters before they strike.

For the past 30 years, the BRIC program has provided communities across the nation with resources to proactively fortify their infrastructure against natural disasters. The program has protected lives, communities, and property - more efficiently spending money to mitigate disasters, rather than just recovering from them.

"The devastating flooding hurting communities across Western Washington right now underscores why these kinds of mitigation grants are so vital," said Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. "This administration illegally canceled a longstanding bipartisan program, leaving communities more vulnerable because they have been unable to fortify against disasters. The court's decision is a resounding win for public safety."

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed a law mandating that FEMA protect communities through four interrelated functions - mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. The BRIC program is the core of FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation efforts. BRIC projects are required to be cost-effective, and a recent study concluded that every dollar FEMA spends on mitigation saves an average of six dollars in post-disaster costs.

The BRIC program supports often difficult-to-fund projects, such as constructing evacuation shelters and flood walls, safeguarding utility grids against wildfires, protecting wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, and fortifying bridges, roadways, and culverts.

Over the past four years, FEMA has selected nearly 2,000 projects to receive roughly $4.5 billion in BRIC funding nationwide. In Washington, about two dozen BRIC projects totaling more than $150 million have been in limbo due to the federal government's actions. Most of the funds go to small towns and rural communities, supporting projects like constructing levees and floodwalls in Aberdeen and Hoquiam and generating electricity in Klickitat County for hospitals and school districts if the power goes out during wildfires and severe weather.

Today's court decision affirms the coalition's position that FEMA's decision to abruptly terminate the BRIC program is in direct violation of Congress's decision to fund it, and that the executive branch has no lawful authority to unilaterally refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress. The judge also concluded that FEMA's actions violate Separation of Powers, the Appropriations and Spending Clauses, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The decision requires FEMA to reverse the termination of the BRIC program and to once again make available these critical funds to the communities relying on them.

Brown and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led the lawsuit. The coalition also includes the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the governors of Kentucky and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A copy of the summary judgment order is available here.

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