New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, joined by 19 other states, over the termination of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The program has been instrumental in providing funds for infrastructure improvements to prepare for natural disasters. According to Attorney General James, “This administration’s decision to slash billions of dollars that protect our communities from floods, wildfires, and other disasters puts millions of New Yorkers at risk.”
The BRIC program has supported nearly 2,000 projects nationwide with $4.5 billion in funding over the past four years. It provides financial and technical assistance covering up to 75 percent of project costs, rising to 90 percent for small rural communities. These funds have helped construct evacuation shelters, flood walls, and improve water and power infrastructure.
In New York alone, there are 38 BRIC projects worth over $380 million at risk due to the program’s termination. Notably, New York City was expecting $50 million for the Central Harlem Cloudburst Flood Mitigation Project aimed at protecting residents from flash flooding.
Attorney General James argues that the termination is unconstitutional as Congress has mandated disaster preparedness as part of FEMA’s mission and appropriated funds accordingly. The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent reallocation of BRIC funds and a permanent injunction to restore them.
The coalition includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont Washington Wisconsin along with Pennsylvania’s governor.
