Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a coalition of 23 states secured a court order on March 6 requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reverse the termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program (BRIC) and restore billions in funding for disaster mitigation projects. The order follows a motion filed by the coalition to compel FEMA to comply with an earlier court decision from December.
The BRIC program has played a key role for three decades, providing resources that help communities strengthen infrastructure against natural disasters. Its focus on mitigation and resilience has been credited with saving lives, reducing injuries, protecting property, and lowering post-disaster costs.
“Today’s order will allow critical mitigation projects that protect us against floods, wildfires, power outages, and other disasters to proceed and bring urgently needed relief to communities across the country. But let’s be clear: the Trump Administration should have complied with the original court order in December instead of ignoring the law and leaving communities vulnerable to these disasters in the meantime,” said Attorney General Campbell. “I will continue to stand up against this Administration’s unlawful actions, especially when they threaten the safety and security of our residents.”
Attorney General Campbell and her counterparts filed their lawsuit on July 16, 2025, after FEMA moved to terminate BRIC—a step that delayed or canceled hundreds of mitigation projects nationwide. The coalition won its case on December 11, when a court declared FEMA’s action unlawful and ordered it reversed. After no indication of compliance from FEMA by February 17, 2026, the coalition sought enforcement from the District of Massachusetts. The latest ruling grants their request for relief.
Under today’s order, FEMA must make pre-disaster mitigation funds available as required by law, update states about current BRIC project statuses, file status reports with the court detailing compliance steps taken or planned, and issue a fiscal year 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity for BRIC within three weeks.
Over four years, nearly 2,000 projects have been selected nationwide for about $4.5 billion in BRIC funding. In Massachusetts alone, communities are awaiting funds for climate-proofing Boston neighborhoods, bridge upgrades in Manchester-by-the-Sea, flood protection for transit tunnels near Logan Airport, drought protection in Clarksburg, coastal flood resilience work in Chelsea and Everett, as well as local hazard planning efforts.
Attorney General Campbell co-led this legal effort with Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. Other participants include attorneys general from Arizona through Wisconsin as well as governors from Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
