Equity concerns drive changes to federal community hazard mitigation program
The 2021 application period for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program is now open. Based on lessons learned from last year’s inaugural grant cycle, FEMA made some integral changes to the program including increasing and restructuring the available funds to support the nation’s most vulnerable populations in accordance with the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. This initiative mandates that 40 percent of the BRIC funding benefit economically disadvantaged rural communities; but is that set-aside enough?
Hagerty’s Director of Mitigation, Amelia Muccio, discussed the challenges disadvantaged communities face when applying for this funding, and how the federal government could address these potential barriers to entry.
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