Improving coastal resilience with ASBPA’s water level observing network
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently released policy guidance on the new Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC) program. Established through the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, BRIC builds on FEMA’s mission to prepare communities for disasters before they happen, with added focus on resilience. It is funded through a percentage of funds from every disaster declaration, with the potential to provide $300-500 million annually and even billions of dollars in years following major disasters, making it one of the biggest federal efforts on resilience. BRIC is also intended to help drive collaborative decision-making between states and FEMA in disaster preparedness.
Natural Infrastructure – the beaches, dunes, and wetlands – that help communities reduce their risk of coastal storm and flood damage in ways that can be more sustainable with more additional benefits (ecological, recreation, etc) can be funded through BRIC.
Proposed policy guidance came out in mid-April, with a 30-day comment period open until May 11. (Submit comments here.)
BRIC will serve as an important policy and source of funding for coastal communities who are managing and restoring their beaches and shorelines in order to reduce flood risk. But its scope is far greater than beach and shoreline management. ASBPA is happy to share more information from partner organizations on BRIC:
More Resources:
- “Building Resilience Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC),” presentation by Camille Crain, BRIC Section chief, FEMA (5/4/20)
- “$400M+ expected to go to cities and towns for resilience projects this fall“, blog from American Flood Coalition (of which ASBPA is a member) (4/23/20)
- “Moving Mitigation Forward: The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program“, presentation at ASBPA Coastal Summit by Tucker Mahoney, senior advisor for Mitigation Directorate, FEMA (3/25/20)
BRIC will be funded (in part) from a percentage of all federal disaster response funding – meaning, some money appropriated after a disaster must go to preparing for the next disaster. (Image courtesy of FEMA.)