“Nearly thirty years ago, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress recognized a simple fact: Preparing for disasters, instead of just reacting to them, saves money and lives,” Bonta said.
An alliance of state attorneys general has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s termination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ‘Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities’ grant program.
Since establishing the grant program in 2020, FEMA has disbursed billions of dollars to states, with much of that money used to prepare for natural disasters before they happen.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, notes that his state is “uniquely at risk from natural disasters” and is the “largest beneficiary” of the BRIC grant program.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Bonta emphasized that the creation of BRIC was a bipartisan initiative—one that the Trump administration decided to scrap while pursuing its goal of eliminating government “waste” and “inefficiency.”
“Nearly thirty years ago, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress recognized a simple fact: Preparing for disasters, instead of just reacting to them, saves money and lives,” Bonta said.
“Yet in the name of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, President Trump and his lackeys have once again jeopardized public safety with their indiscriminate slashing of pre-disaster mitigation funding,” he said. “We’re taking them to court – not because we want to, but because we have to. As we continue to build a climate resilient California, we deserve a federal government that is a partner, not a roadblock in our efforts – and that’s exactly what Congress intended.”
The lawsuit states that, over the course of the past 20 years, BRIC-related disbursals were estimated to have saved more than $150 billion in disaster management-related expenses.
“For instance, before the Trump Administration shut it down, BRIC was poised to fund hundreds of critical, lifesaving projects, including (1) floodwalls, levees, pump stations, and stormwater management systems to protect against flooding, (2) seismic retrofits to fortify against earthquakes, (3) saferooms to provide shelter from tornados, (4) an evacuation tower to allow for escape from tsunamis, (5) soil remediation to protect against landslides, (6) vegetation management to reduce damage from wildfires, and (7) shoreline upgrades to protect against erosion and flooding,” the lawsuit says.
“Many of these projects were intended to protect critical infrastructure, ensuring that electricity, heat, clean water, and medical care remain available in emergencies,” it says.
The attorneys general also pointed out that Brock Long, who served as FEMA’s chief administrator under the first Trump administration, was a proponent of BRIC.
“Building more resilient communities is the best way to reduce risks to people, property, and taxpayer dollars. I cannot overstate the importance of focusing on investing in mitigation before a disaster strikes,” Long wrote in written testimony cited in court filings.
Bonta’s office says that, with Trump in office for a second term, the administration’s stance has changed.
“All that changed when Cameron Hamilton, who the Trump Administration unlawfully installed to act as FEMA’s Administrator, suddenly shut down the program. His unilateral decision to shutter the nation’s largest, most popular, and most cost-effective pre-disaster mitigation program is illegal,” Bonta’s office said. “Neither Cameron Hamilton nor his successor, David Richardson, were lawfully appointed or qualified to run FEMA, as required by the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and statutory requirements. Their purported termination of the BRIC program flatly contravenes Congress’s decision to continue to fund it, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Congress’s power of the purse.”
Sources
20 States Sue Trump Administration Over Ending FEMA Funding for Disaster Mitigation
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