Fiscal Year 2024 & 2025 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program is a competitive federal grant initiative administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), specifically its Resilience and Hazard Mitigation Assistance Division. The BRIC program is authorized under Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and is designed to support sustained pre-disaster hazard mitigation to reduce risk to people and structures from natural hazards. With funding available for both fiscal years 2024 and 2025, this iteration of BRIC provides a robust opportunity to invest in infrastructure-focused mitigation projects, reflecting FEMA’s growing emphasis on proactive and resilient disaster preparedness rather than post-disaster recovery. The primary purpose of the BRIC program is to make federal funds available to states, U.S. territories, federally recognized tribal nations, and local governments to support hazard mitigation activities. This includes construction-ready infrastructure projects that mitigate risk from natural hazards such as floods, wildfires, earthquakes, droughts, and more. BRIC explicitly prioritizes infrastructure that delivers measurable, immediate risk reduction. It also places emphasis on the adoption and enforcement of modern building codes and restricts capacity-building activities to those that directly support infrastructure resilience. The program is informed by lessons learned from previous disasters and aims to reduce the reliance on federal disaster funding by promoting mitigation before disasters strike. The funding under this NOFO totals $1 billion and is distributed across multiple competitive and formula-based tracks: $112 million is allocated to states and territories, $50 million is reserved for tribal nations, $56 million is designated for state/territory building code enhancements, and $25 million is available for tribal building code activities. A significant $757 million is made available through a national competition for large-scale mitigation projects, with individual project subapplications eligible for up to $20 million. Award ceilings vary by subprogram, with a maximum federal share of $150 million per subapplication. BRIC also provides management cost allowances of up to 15% of the total award, which must be carefully accounted for. Cost sharing is a central element of BRIC funding. Generally, the program operates on a 75% federal and 25% non-federal match requirement, though this can be adjusted to 90% federal for small impoverished communities and to 100% federal for insular areas under specific conditions. The cost share can be fulfilled through cash or in-kind contributions, including third-party services and materials. FEMA encourages partnerships, including with the private sector, to meet cost-sharing obligations. All activities must align with FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance guidance and comply with relevant environmental and land use regulations. To apply, eligible applicants must submit a single BRIC application through FEMA’s Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) portal, which opened on March 25, 2026, and closes on July 23, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET. Subapplicants must coordinate through their state or territory’s designated agency. The application requires submission of standard federal forms (SF-424, SF-LLL, etc.), as well as program-specific documentation such as benefit-cost analyses, environmental review information, management cost justifications, and go/no-go milestones for construction projects. Applications must be submitted in compliance with FEMA’s environmental and historic preservation review processes. Evaluation of applications is multi-tiered. Each applicant must rank their subapplications, which will be reviewed for eligibility, cost-effectiveness, technical feasibility, and alignment with hazard mitigation plans. Subapplications submitted to the national competition are scored based on factors such as construction readiness, building code adoption and enforcement, community risk reduction narrative quality, and prioritization of small and underserved communities. FEMA reserves the right to prioritize projects based on geographical distribution and alignment with administration priorities. For technical assistance, the FEMA GO Helpdesk is available at [email protected] or 1-877-585-3242. Additional contacts include the HMA Helpline ([email protected]), Building Science Helpline, BC Helpline for cost analysis, and the Environmental and Historic Preservation Office. Awards are anticipated on a rolling basis following the application close date, and the period of performance for awarded projects is generally 36 months from the date of award. The BRIC program is recurring annually, with future cycles expected to follow a similar schedule.

Prioritize shovel-ready infrastructure projects with detailed designs; align with current IBC/IRC codes; small communities may qualify for increased cost share and scoring incentives.