2026年3月25日 / 美国东部时间晚上7:42 / CBS/美联社
联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）周三重新开放了一项重大韧性赠款项目的申请，该项目是该局去年取消的，而这距离联邦法官下令FEMA提供资金还不到三周。
FEMA将提供10亿美元用于”建设有韧性的基础设施和社区”（BRIC）项目，该项目旨在帮助各州、地方政府、领地和部落开展防灾准备项目，以抵御火灾、洪水、地震和飓风等自然灾害。
FEMA代理负责人凯伦·S·埃文斯（Karen S. Evans）在宣布恢复该项目的声明中表示：”如果实施得当，缓解活动可以挽救生命并降低未来灾害的成本。”
特朗普政府削减了FEMA多个项目中的灾害准备资金。自去年以来，特朗普总统一直未批准任何州或部落提出的灾害缓解资金申请，而这通常是重大灾害声明中的常规附加项。
尽管如此，FEMA一份概述该赠款机会的文件显示，政府可能现在正接受缓解灾害的某些方面，称”BRIC旨在将联邦投资的重点从灾后反应性支出转向以基础设施为重点的前瞻性灾害缓解”。
此次资金宣布之前，FEMA在之前的代理负责人卡梅伦·汉密尔顿（Cameron Hamilton）领导下，于2025年4月取消了BRIC项目，称其”浪费且无效”。这一决定遭到了共和党和民主党议员的反对，因为约36亿美元的资金被冻结，这些资金原本用于保护美国各地的基础设施、社区和房屋的多年项目。
去年的一项哥伦比亚广播公司新闻调查显示，BRIC资金削减不成比例地影响了支持特朗普2024年选举的县，数据分析发现，三分之二失去资金的县都投票支持特朗普。特别是东南部易受自然灾害影响的弱势社区受到了严重影响。
FEMA数据显示，资金削减影响了近700个项目，包括佛罗里达州南部饱受洪水困扰的运河盆地改造工程，以及路易斯安那州的新防洪系统——2016年该州中央镇60%的建筑在暴雨中被毁。
去年12月，联邦法官作出裁决，认定FEMA不能取消BRIC项目，并命令FEMA在22个民主党领导的州和哥伦比亚特区联合起诉特朗普政府取消该项目后改变决定。
这起诉讼发生在FEMA被指责对德克萨斯州洪水应对不力导致130多人死亡（其中至少37名儿童）之后，同时也是在纽约、新泽西到新墨西哥等多个州遭遇暴雨和洪水淹没社区几天后提起的。
在FEMA未能发放资金后，美国地区法官理查德·G·斯特恩斯本月再次下令FEMA采取措施恢复该项目。
上周，FEMA宣布在国土安全部（DHS）停摆结束后恢复BRIC项目的资金支持，称已完成对该项目的评估，该项目最初是在特朗普第一任期内签署成为法律的。FEMA在声明中表示，在拜登政府时期，BRIC变得过于官僚化，”过度关注’气候变化’举措”。
各州将有120天时间申请这一新的资金机会，该机会涵盖2024和2025财年，因为FEMA去年取消了该年度的申请。
虽然恢复的资金为一些地区恢复了急需的援助，但FEMA实施了新规则，这与特朗普政府试图将更多灾害管理责任推给各州的做法一致。
新规则包括停止为灾害缓解规划和非财务直接技术援助提供资金，这可能影响资源和专业知识较少的小型社区。
FEMA在声明中表示：”该项目现在最大限度地提高了州和地方政府在韧性建设和风险降低方面的责任，而不是联邦政府投资于广泛的活动。”
然而，新的赠款也包括对单个受赠者可获得的资金设置上限，并优先考虑新申请者和”贫困社区”。这些变化可能是对过去批评的回应——即BRIC项目偏袒沿海州，农村地区难以获得资金。
根据FEMA的说法，其他变化还包括优先考虑”准备实施”的重大基础设施项目，以及鼓励”最新的抗灾建筑规范”。
与此同时，目前尚不清楚各州何时能恢复已获批准的赠款发放。
民主党众议员、众议院交通和基础设施委员会排名成员里克·拉森（Rick Larsen）周三在声明中表示，BRIC项目的取消阻碍了其华盛顿选区防洪墙的建设。”减缓各州防灾准备能力是目光短浅的，像阿伯丁这样的社区为此付出了代价。”
根据气候中心数据库，在过去十年中，造成10亿美元或更多损失的与天气和气候相关的灾害数量几乎与之前35年的总和相当。
多项研究表明，灾害准备的预防性投资可以产生显著节省。2024年由美国商会资助的一项研究发现，每投资1美元用于灾害准备，就能在经济影响、损害和清理成本中节省13美元。
在克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）任期动荡之后，前FEMA官员、国会议员和灾害幸存者谨慎地希望新任国土安全部部长马克韦恩·穆林（Markwayne Mullin）能为该机构带来更多稳定。穆林在上周的参议院确认听证会上支持FEMA的使命，并表示支持提高FEMA效率、加快向州和地方政府支付款项以及更好地服务农村社区的努力。
FEMA resumes disaster mitigation program following judge’s order on lawsuit brought by Democratic-led states
March 25, 2026 / 7:42 PM EDT / CBS/AP
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday opened applications for a major resilience grant program that the agency canceled last year, less than three weeks after a federal judge ordered FEMA to make the funding available.
FEMA will make $1 billion available for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which helps states, local governments, territories and tribes take on preparedness projects to harden against natural hazards like fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.
“When done correctly, mitigation activities save lives and reduce the cost of future disasters,” Karen S. Evans, FEMA’s acting leader, said in a statement announcing the resumption.
The Trump administration has slashed disaster preparedness dollars across multiple FEMA programs. It’s been one year since President Trump approved any state or tribe’s request for hazard mitigation funding, a typical add on to major disaster declarations.
Still, a FEMA document outlining the grant opportunity signals the administration might now be embracing aspects of mitigation to safeguard against disasters, stating that “BRIC aims to shift the focus of federal investments away from reactive post-disaster spending towards proactive infrastructure-focused hazard mitigation.”
The funding announcement comes after FEMA under a previous acting leader, Cameron Hamilton, canceled the BRIC program in April 2025, calling it “wasteful and ineffective.” That decision drew blowback from Republican and Democratic lawmakers as roughly $3.6 billion was halted for what amounted to several years’ worth of projects to protect infrastructure, communities and homes across the U.S.
A CBS News investigationlast year revealed that the BRIC funding cuts disproportionately affected counties that supported Mr. Trump in the 2024 election, with two-thirds of the counties that lost funding having voted for the president. The elimination of the BRIC program especially deprived vulnerable communities across the Southeast — an area prone to natural disasters — the CBS News data analysis found.
FEMA data shows the cut impacted nearly 700 projects, includingimprovements to canal basins in South Floridaplagued by flooding anda new flood control systemin Louisiana, where 60% of the structures in the town of Central were devastated by torrential rains in 2016.
A federal judge last December ruled that FEMA could not eliminate BRIC, and ordered FEMA to reverse course after a coalition of 22 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbiasued the Trump administrationover the cancellation.
The lawsuit came as FEMA faced scrutiny about its response tofloods in Texasthat killed more than 130 people, including at least 37 children. It was also filed days after heavy rains and flooding inundated communities in states ranging fromNew YorkandNew JerseytoNew Mexico.
After FEMA failed to release funding, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns again ordered FEMA this month to take steps toward restoring the program.
Last week, FEMA announced it would resume program support for BRIC awards when the DHS shutdown ended, saying that it had finished evaluating the program that was originally signed into law during Trump’s first term. Under former President Joe Biden, BRIC became too bureaucratic and “focused on ‘climate change’ initiatives,” FEMA said in a statement.
States will have 120 days to apply for the new funding opportunity, which covers fiscal years 2024 and 2025, since FEMA rescinded last year’s opportunity.
While the resumed funding restores access to badly needed assistance for some areas, FEMA imposed new rules that are in line with the Trump administration’s attempt to push more responsibility for disaster management on states.
The new rules, which include the cessation of funding for hazard mitigation planning and non-financial direct technical assistance, could impact smaller communities with fewer resources and expertise.
“The program now maximizes state and local responsibility for resilience and risk reduction rather than federal investing in a wide range of activities,” a FEMA statement said.
However, the new grants also include certain caps on how much any single recipient can receive, and prioritize new applicants and “impoverished communities.” Those changes could be nods to past critiques that the BRIC program favored coastal states and was difficult for rural areas to access.
Additional changes include prioritizing major infrastructure projects that “are ready to implement,” according to FEMA, and that incentivize “the latest hazard-resistant building codes.”
Meanwhile, it’s still unclear how quickly they can expect resumption of the grants they were already awarded.
BRIC’s cancellation held up construction of a flood wall in his Washington district, Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking member, said in a statement Wednesday. “Slowing states’ ability to prepare for disasters was shortsighted, and communities like Aberdeen paid the price,” Larsen said.
In the last decade, there have been almost as many weather- and climate-related disasters causing $1 billion in damages or more as there were in the 35 years preceding that, according to a Climate Central database.
Multiple studies have shown that preemptive investments in disaster readiness can yield significant savings.A 2024 studyfunded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found every $1 invested in disaster preparation saved $13 in economic impact, damage and cleanup costs.
Former FEMA officials, lawmakers and disaster survivors have expressed cautious hope thatnewly sworn in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullincould bring more stability to the agency after Kristi Noem’s tumultuous tenure. Mullin endorsed FEMA’s mission at his Senate confirmation hearing last week and said he backed efforts to make FEMA more effective, speed up payments to state and local jurisdictions and better serve rural communities.
