April 11, 2025 11:15 a.m. 

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led his Democratic colleagues in the Oregon delegation in calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to immediately restore Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants.

A release from Merkley, Senator Ron Wyden, and Representatives Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter and Jannelle Bynum, said these federal grants are critical to ensuring that Oregon communities – especially in frontier, rural, and coastal regions of the state – can withstand the increasing threat of natural disasters. On April 4th, FEMA decided to cancel all current and future awards under the BRIC program.

The lawmakers demanded, “Terminating the BRIC program including the terminations of projects that are already underway, is not only wasteful and makes us less safe, but will make our communities bear a higher cost for repairs and recovery when disaster inevitably strikes. The Department should immediately restore this program”.

The delegation said that what they called a “shortsighted cancellation” comes with a disastrous economic impact, as every $1 spent on preparedness and resilience saves communities $13 in damages, cleanup costs, and economic impacts.

The full text of the letter is linked: https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Oregon-Delegation-FEMA-BRIC-Cancellation-Letter.pdf