September 21, 2021

BRIC Grant Opportunities

​​​​​​​It is widely accepted that mitigation projects are more cost beneficial than recovering from the last disaster. BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) is a FEMA grant program for hazard mitigation projects that can assist communities in preparing for, lessening impacts of, or recovering quicker from the next disaster. BRIC incentivizes public infrastructure projects, projects that mitigate risk to one or more lifelines, projects that incorporate nature-based solutions, and increases funding to applicants who facilitate the adoption and enforcement of the latest published editions of building codes.

Last year, FEMA accepted applications that may result in up to $700 million available through the new BRIC program. The initial FEMA application round resulted in the agency selecting 406 applications for further review, summarized below according to FEMA.gov. States submitted applications, while local jurisdictions submitted sub-applications to be included under state applications.

Top Five Project Types by Total Project Cost:

• Flood Control = $550 million
• Utility/Infrastructure Protection = $91.3 million
• Wildfire Management = $49.3 million
• Relocation = $21.9 million
• Saferoom/shelters = $15.2 million

Top Five Project Types by Number of Sub-Applications:

• Hazard Mitigation Plan Updates = 123 sub-applications
• Engineering, Environmental, Feasibility, and/or Benefit-Cost Analysis = 72 sub-applications
• Planning Related Activities = 20 sub-applications
• Flood Control = 16 sub-applications
• New Hazard Mitigation Plan = 16 sub-applications

For 2021, FEMA will make $1 billion available for the next round of BRIC funding. Here are some important related dates to add to your calendar:

• August 9, 2021 – FEMA published its Notice of Funding Opportunity for BRIC outlining program details for this year.
• Starting at the end of August and continuing through October 13, 2021, FEMA will hold a series of important BRIC webinars to highlight technical information and share best practices.
• September 30, 2021 – Opening of the FEMA BRIC grant application period
• January 28, 2022 – Closing of the FEMA BRIC grant application period

Based on last year’s program, some states will likely have intermediate dates for review and consideration of sub-applications, for example:

• Georgia – Sub-applications possibly due to The Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency by mid-October
• Florida – Sub-applications are due to The Florida Division of Emergency Management by November 12, 2021
• New Mexico – Sub-applications due to The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management by early November 2021
• North Carolina – Letters of Intent due to The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management by October 1, sub-applications due November 24, 2021
• Texas – Sub-applications due to The Texas Division of Emergency Management by December 3, 2021

Reach out to Freese and Nichols Funding Specialist Mark Evans at mark.evans@freese.com, or contact your Freese and Nichols project manager for more details.