by Dean Audet, PE, Senior Vice President | Business Line Leader and Erik Mas, PE, Vice President | Business Line Manager
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recently announced unprecedented funding of $1 billion for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. This program, which allocated $500 million nationwide in FY20, supports projects that increase the resilience of community lifelines to natural disasters and climate-related hazards. BRIC is an unparalleled opportunity to fund climate adaptation projects, funding projects up to $50 million with a 25% non-federal match requirement. The application period will open on September 30, 2021, with final applications due by January 28, 2022. State emergency management agencies will have interim deadlines as they select sub-applications from municipalities that will be included in that state’s application.
Based on our experience, there are several key considerations when assessing potential projects as candidates for the BRIC program:
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- BRIC allocates funding directly to states, tribes, and territories. It also sets aside funding for a national competition. $56 million will be allocated directly to states and territories, $25 million will be allocated to tribes, and $919 million will be allocated for the national competition. Municipalities are sub-applicants to their state’s application to access this funding. A 25% non-federal match is required.
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- The national competition will fund the final design and construction of adaptation projects. To be eligible for funding, a project will need to demonstrate a calculated benefit-cost ratio of 1.0 or greater, which indicates the project is cost effective. The FEMA benefit-cost analysis will require understanding of the costs to implement the project, as well as the value of future damages or loss of function avoided by implementing the project.
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- A certain level of analysis and design will be required to adequately define the costs that will be used to inform a benefit-cost analysis. This analysis can either be funded under a separate funding program, or can be funded by a state’s BRIC allocation. Each state will be allocated $1 million for mitigation planning and planning-related activities. $500,000 can be used for scoping and planning activities that could support development of a benefit-cost analysis.
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- National competition projects need to be completed within 36 months of date of award. Projects that still require complex permitting or several seasons of construction should be developed in a manner such that the FEMA-funded portion of the project can be completed in three years.
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- It is critical that, before a local government applies for this funding, they have a current Local Hazard Mitigation Plan in place. These plans can take 6 to 12 months to complete and be approved, so keeping your plan current is important to obtain access to this funding.
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- Private property owners can access this funding by teaming with their local government for an application to make improvements to private property that reduce risks posed by natural hazards. These projects would compete with other sub-applicants for funding under the state allocation of the national competition.
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- Last year, most of the national competition funding went to Mid-Atlantic and West Coast states. However, New England had a number of mitigation planning projects that were funded. These generally consisted of project scoping with budgets of $50,000 to $150,000 that allowed the applicants to better understand the scale, costs, benefits, and potential benefit-cost ratio for a project. Future implementation projects that had earlier project scoping phases funded by FEMA as project scoping will score higher in the national competition.
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- Even with increased funding, there will be substantial competition for funding the implementation of adaptation projects. Last year, project applications submitted to the BRIC program totaled $3.3 billion. As a result, it will be important to make sure that future applications are prepared in such a manner as to make them highly competitive. This will include a strong benefit-cost ratio (i.e., values well over 1.0) and elements that make the project stronger by demonstrating community lifeline benefits, support for economic development, public engagement, and protection of vulnerable populations.
If you would like to discuss how this funding could help you implement a project in your community, please contact Dean Audet, PE (daudet@fando.com, 800-286-2469 x 4560) or Erik Mas, PE (emas@fando.com, x4433) and we can help you to better understand your possibilities.
https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities/before-apply
About the Authors
Dean Audet, PE is Fuss & O’Neill’s Water and Natural Resources Business Line Leader. Dean has led the planning, development, design, and construction of a number of large-scale flood resilience projects in New England and has helped his clients identify, apply for, and receive funding for their projects.
Erik Mas, PE is a manager in our Water and Natural Resources Business Line. His primary expertise is in water resources planning, including watershed management, stormwater and water quality, and climate resilience. Erik leads the firm’s municipal stormwater compliance practice, and oversees and manages projects that involve analysis and mapping of geospatial data to support local decision-making in the context of water quality, flooding, and climate change issues.