Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

LOS ANGELES, CA — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and a bipartisan group of California delegation members in demanding the restoration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The Trump Administration recently announced its decision to end the BRIC program and cancel all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020-2023, a shortsighted move that jeopardizes pre-disaster mitigation measures and infrastructure resiliency efforts in California and throughout the country.

President Trump signed the BRIC program into law as part of the 2018 Disaster Reform Act, helping fund local projects that reduce damage from flooding, tornadoes, and other weather-related events. Since its inception, the BRIC program has invested $5 billion in grants for resilient infrastructure. Projects in California include drought and earthquake mitigation projects in Kern and Tulare counties and wildfire management projects in Santa Cruz, Napa, Sonoma, and Nevada counties, all of which are still working to recover from the 2020 wildfires that were some of the deadliest and costliest wildfires in California history.

“We are deeply concerned about the impact of this decision. If FEMA decides to ultimately withdraw its federal investment, these counties will be forced to abandon these life- and infrastructure-saving projects,” wrote the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers. “Ending the BRIC Program will result in higher costs for Americans, especially as natural disasters become more frequent and severe.”

“The BRIC Program allows the State of California and its many communities to shift away from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience. We urge you to immediately reverse this decision and do all you can to support the work of this vital program,” continued the lawmakers.

Every dollar spent on pre-disaster mitigation and preparedness saves between $6 and $13 in damages, cleanup costs, and economic impact. California stands to lose over $1 billion in disaster resilience and mitigation funding if the Administration proceeds with the cancellation of the BRIC program.

In addition to Padilla, Panetta, and Schiff, the letter was also signed by Representatives Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.-33), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.-44), Ami Bera (D-Calif.-06), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Jim Costa (D-Calif.-21), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.-10), Vince Fong (R-Calif.-20), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42), Josh Harder (D-Calif.-09), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.-17), Young Kim (R-Calif.-40), Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.-16), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.-38), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.-32), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-14), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04), Norma Torres (D-Calif.-35), Derek Tran (D-Calif.-45), and David Valadao (R-Calif.-22).

Senator Padilla previously joined over 80 of his colleagues in a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to reinstate the BRIC program.

Full text of the California lawmakers’ letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Noem and Mr. Richardson,

We write with great concern regarding the decision to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and cancel all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020- 2023. Given its impact on the State of California, which stands to lose over one billion dollars in promised resilience funding, we urge you to reconsider this decision.

The BRIC program, established in the 2018 Disaster Reform Act and signed into law by President Trump, has distributed $5 billion in grants since its inception, driving investment in resilient infrastructure. While we understand and support the need to find efficiencies and improve the BRIC program, these grants save federal dollars and help protect our most vulnerable communities through emergency preparedness.

Projects in the State of California include drought and earthquake mitigation projects in Kern and Tulare counties and wildfire management projects in Santa Cruz, Napa, Sonoma, and Nevada counties, all of which are still working to recover from the 2020 wildfires that were some of the deadliest and costliest wildfires in the State’s history. This BRIC funding, which included a match from local homeowners, would have funded home hardening, defensible space fuels reduction, evacuation route fuel reduction, and landscape-scale fuel reduction work. We are deeply concerned about the impact of this decision. If FEMA decides to ultimately withdraw its federal investment, these counties will be forced to abandon these life- and infrastructure-saving projects.

Moreover, pre-disaster mitigation and up-front investment saves taxpayer dollars. For every dollar spent in pre-disaster mitigation and preparedness, between $6 and $13 is saved in damages, cleanup costs, and economic impact. We support the Agency’s goal of reducing the amount of federal dollars spent on disaster recovery and believe the BRIC program helps to achieve future cost reductions. Ending the BRIC Program will result in higher costs for Americans, especially as natural disasters become more frequent and severe.

Consequently, we respectfully request responses to the following questions by June 13, 2025:

1. How many projects in California will be impacted by this decision?

2. What is FEMA’s timeline and process for cancelling this funding?

3. In a memo, Director Hamilton noted that not all projects will be impacted if they have already commenced. What stage of project completion will allow recipients to continue to receive funding?

4. Former Director Hamilton also noted that FEMA will create a new, similar program. What are the details and timelines for the rollout of this program?

The BRIC Program allows the State of California and its many communities to shift away from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience. We urge you to immediately reverse this decision and do all you can to support the work of this vital program.

Sincerely,

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