By: National Special Districts Coalition
A deadline is approaching for special districts and others to receive free FEMA help with hazard mitigation planning and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) project support.
Communities – including special districts – that lack resources to begin climate resilience planning and designing projects have until Thurs., Feb. 29 to submit the form to request BRIC Direct Technical Assistance (BRIC DTA).
FEMA provides BRIC DTA which is tailored support to communities and Tribal Nations through a range of activities and from pre-application to grant closeout. FEMA will engage with each selected community for up to 36 months to further explore and better understand their specific requests for direct technical assistance.
BRIC DTA can be provided whether or not a requesting eligible entity has a FEMA approved Hazard Mitigation Plan and regardless of if they have ever applied for or received BRIC funding. Project types from past BRIC DTA requests include:
General support in the areas of grants management, project scoping, and hazard mitigation planning;
Technical assistance and evaluation for climate risk assessments and nature-based solutions' projects
Natural hazards project scoping activities such as those for flooding, drought, fire, typhoons, and erosion.
Interested communities and Tribal Nations are asked to submit a BRIC Direct Technical Assistance Request Form to fema-bric-dta-submission@fema.dhs.gov to be considered for this cycle of selections to be announced later this summer. FEMA will select up to 80 communities and Tribal Nations to receive direct technical assistance.
FEMA’s Fiscal Year 2023 BRIC Notice of Funding Opportunity requires that communities and Tribal Nations requesting assistance for BRIC DTA identify at least two ongoing or potential community partners in the request form.
In May 2023 FEMA announced 74 communities and Tribal Nations have been selected to receive support from BRIC DTA.
To learn more about BRIC Direct Technical Assistance visit FEMA.gov.
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