Overview

• On July 16, a coalition of 20 states filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts challenging the April shutdown of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
• The lawsuit contends that Congress never authorized ending BRIC, accuses acting FEMA directors of improper appointments and argues the termination breached separation‐of‐powers principles.
• Since its 2018 launch, the BRIC program awarded about $4.5 billion to nearly 2,000 projects nationwide, measures credited with averting more than $150 billion in potential disaster costs.
• States say the abrupt suspension forced hundreds of communities to delay, scale back or cancel critical floodwalls, wildfire defenses and other pre‐disaster infrastructure projects.
• Plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to compel immediate reinstatement of BRIC funding while the legal challenge moves forward.