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Regional planners warn FEMA BRIC cancellation, federal grant cuts threaten local hazard planning
Summary
At the April 7 Rutland Regional Planning Commission meeting staff reported FEMA/ Vermont Emergency Management notified the region that the BRIC program for 2024 was canceled and that several federal grant streams show cuts or cancellations, jeopardizing local hazard mitigation planning and other projects.
A staff member told the Rutland Regional Planning Commission on April 7 that Vermont Emergency Management informed regional staff that FEMA canceled the BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) program for 2024 and that selected but not-yet-awarded applications were also being canceled.
Why it matters: BRIC is the primary funding source the region uses to prepare or update local hazard mitigation plans (LHMPs). Those plans reduce communities’ flood insurance and disaster recovery costs and help secure other federal aid. The staff member said BRIC is “the number 1 funding source for our local hazard mitigation plans.”
Staff reported the cancellation affects multiple towns in the region and projects that had been in the pipeline, including Rutland City’s first municipal LHMP, which staff said had only recently been revamped to meet new requirements. The presenter said the federal decision will likely leave pending 2023 awards “canceled as well.”
Commissioners asked whether the information came directly from the federal government. The staff member replied the notice arrived through the state this week.
Staff also said the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) program is at risk and that the region already experienced a 10% cut last year and has been level-funded since 2017. “We have been level funded since 2017,” the staff member said, adding that another cut would reduce the program’s capacity to support local emergency management functions.
Planners flagged additional federal changes under discussion: delegation of the federal Public Assistance (PA) program to states and a proposed increase in the disaster threshold to $5,000,000, which staff said would be harmful for Vermont because it could sharply reduce qualifying events for federal PA funding.
Beyond emergency management, staff said three federal or state grants have already been fully or partially canceled: health equity, energy-efficiency/conservation block grant, and the climate pollution reduction grant. While those cuts were not described as budget-busting, staff named two larger federal grants—“Department of Labor Works 6” and “Brownfields 8”—as possible severe hits if reduced or canceled. Staff said the commission’s top budget priority is avoiding any staff layoffs.
Staff urged close monitoring: “At this point, our number 1 goal is to not have to lay out any staff at any point,” they said.
Ending: Staff said they are tracking the state and federal updates and will report back as more details emerge about whether state-level delegations or funding revisions will change timelines for plan approvals or available grant dollars.
