FEMA to Reinstate BRIC Grants After Court Orders, WNC Projects Still Waiting

A flooding vulnerability study in Buncombe County remains on hold, and Hickory is still waiting for millions to protect its wastewater treatment center, even as FEMA announced plans to reinstate the federal grant program a coalition of 23 states twice forced back into court to restore.

FEMA said it will "reconstitute" its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, known as BRIC, and publish a new funding opportunity after federal courts repeatedly ordered the agency to reverse its April 2025 cancellation of the program. The North Carolina Department of Justice was blunt about what that announcement means on the ground: "No money has surfaced yet," a spokesperson told Blue Ridge Public Radio, adding that the office had not seen the restart "go into effect yet."

The legal fight traces back to July 2025, when North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued FEMA over its decision to cancel the $200 million storm-relief program, a move that halted more than 60 infrastructure projects across the state. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled on Dec. 11, 2025, siding with Jackson and 19 other state attorneys general, declaring FEMA's termination of BRIC unlawful and issuing an immediate, permanent injunction to restore the program. FEMA did not release the funds.

North Carolina then joined 22 other states in filing an enforcement motion, and on March 6, Judge Stearns granted everything the states asked for. The order gave FEMA 21 days to issue BRIC's Notice of Funding Opportunity for Fiscal Year 2024, unlocking roughly $750 million in grants that have sat frozen since the original cancellation. FEMA also had 14 days from March 6 to communicate the status of current projects to plaintiff states and file court reports outlining a schedule for FY2025 and FY2026 funding cycles. The court wrote that the cancellation broke the law and that "the imminence of disasters is not deterred by bureaucratic obstruction."

Jackson made the stakes plain after the March 6 ruling. "FEMA tried to cancel $200 million for North Carolina," he said in a release. "We took them to court, we won, and then they defied the court order and refused to pay. So we just took them back to court — and won again. FEMA has 14 days to show the court they are complying. The clock is ticking, and we are ready to do this again if necessary."

FEMA denied it was defying court orders. "FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security are fully complying with all court orders regarding BRIC funding. These baseless assertations are simply incorrect," the agency wrote in an email. FEMA attributed the long delay to a "methodical evaluation of the program" conducted by former Department of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, and said it remains "deeply committed" to resiliency projects.

The consequences of the yearlong freeze are concrete across western North Carolina. In addition to the stalled Buncombe County flooding study and Hickory's wastewater treatment center project, Hillsborough has been unable to move forward with relocating a water pump station out of a floodplain. Nationally, more than 2,000 BRIC projects are in limbo, the legacy of a program that had historically provided billions of dollars to help communities prepare for floods, fires, and other disasters.

Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, said the March 6 ruling at least provided a framework for action. "Mitigation is a race against time, and this ruling provides the necessary framework for the agency to honor its commitments to the state and local partners who are on the front lines of disaster resilience," Berginnis said.

Whether FEMA meets the court's deadlines will determine whether Buncombe County's flood study and dozens of other stalled projects finally move forward — or whether Jackson heads back to court a third time.