OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Washington is among a group of states that are continuing their effort to prevent FEMA from ending a key grant program for disaster preparedness.
Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown filed a motion alongside 20 other attorneys general on Tuesday, Feb. 17 asking a federal court to stop FEMA from terminating its BRIC program.
BRIC, which stands for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, provides communities with resources to prepare for natural disasters.
It’s doled out roughly $4.5 billion in funding across the country over the past four years.
Despite the coalition of states already winning a lawsuit in December to prevent FEMA from ending the program, Brown says the agency hasn’t shown any sign of resuming the funding.
He says about two dozen BRIC projects in Washington worth more than $150 million have been in limbo as a result.
Brown’s action came the same day as Governor Bob Ferguson asked FEMA for more assistance to help recover from the December floods.
The preliminary damage assessment is currently just over $180 million.
