On Friday, April 4, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dropped a bombshell with the cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, which ostensibly led to the loss of $84.65 million in funding for two levee projects in Aberdeen and Hoquiam.

According to a FEMA advisory issued on April 4, “FEMA is ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and canceling all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020-2023. If grant funds have not been distributed to states, tribes, territories, and local communities, funds will be immediately returned either to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury.”

According to a joint press release issued by Aberdeen and Hoquiam on Thursday, “The North Shore Levee and the North Shore Levee West projects were both awarded $50 million and $34.65 million, respectively, through the nationally competitive BRIC program in 2021 and 2022. These levees will protect over 5,100 properties, 1,354 businesses and over 3,000 jobs that are currently found in the designated flood zone. The Northshore Levee Project would construct a 6.2-mile levee system across Aberdeen and Hoquiam, and the North Shore Levee West Project would construct a 6.6-mile levee around Hoquiam.”

The press release indicated an updated FEMA advisory was distributed on Wednesday that says, “FEMA has cancelled all 2024 BRIC funding opportunities, and no pending applications will be reviewed or awarded. Any BRIC funds from 2020–2023 not yet distributed will be returned to the Disaster Relief Fund or the U.S. Treasury. Some fully obligated, outstanding projects may be authorized to proceed to completion. Fully obligated projects that have not started will be terminated.”

FEMA has stated that they are developing “a new approach to mitigation that is more responsive to state and local requirements, achieves clear mitigation goals, and results in more-timely obligation of funding.”

Aberdeen and Hoquiam hope that the White House will release funds for the levee projects under these new objectives.

“Despite this setback, we remain committed to pursuing funding avenues to protect residents and infrastructure from flooding,” said Aberdeen City Administrator Ruth Clemens. “Our goal still remains to get levees built for our communities, so we will continue to move forward to get a shovel-ready project for the time when FEMA’s new program comes out — we’ll be ready.”

“Building these levee projects has been our number one priority for the past 10 years to provide our citizens with critical flood protection, relief from burdensome flood zone regulations and reprieve from high flood insurance premiums,” said Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay. “There is no infrastructure project more vital to our community’s economic prosperity than the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project and we are not giving up until these projects are at the finish line.”

The cancellation of the BRIC grant program has also terminated funding for a tsunami tower in Westport and potential future funding for combined coastal resiliency projects in Westport and Ocean Shores.