By Allison Whitsitt, Director, Emergency Management, WSB
March 26, 2026
BRIC IS BACK! FEMA has released the Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025 BRIC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), marking a significant shift in program priorities, eligibility, and scoring. This overview highlights the most important changes and requirements so our teams can quickly align project strategies, assess competitiveness, and take immediate steps to prepare strong applications. If you have a project that may be eligible, please do not hesitate to reach out, we are happy to help.
Key changes from prior years:
- Project cap reduced: The maximum federal share per National Competition project has decreased from $50,000,000 to $20,000,000.
- Hazard Mitigation Planning not eligible: BRIC no longer funds hazard mitigation plan development or updates. Capability- and capacity- building activities must directly support infrastructure, such as building code adoption and enforcement or project scoping for specific infrastructure projects.
- Phased projects are not eligible and construction readiness heavily weighted: Projects at 90%+ design receive 30 of 90 possible points in the National Competition. Communities should advance project designs as far as possible before submission.
| Available Funding: | $1,000,000,000 |
|---|---|
| State/Territory Allocation Subtotal: | $112,000,000 |
| Tribal Set-Aside Subtotal: | $50,000,000 |
| State/Territory Building Code Plus-Up Subtotal: | $56,000,000 |
| Tribal Building Code Plus-Up Subtotal: | $25,000,000 |
| National Competition Subtotal: | $757,000,000 |
| National Competition Cap | $20,000,000 |
*Pre-award for application costs are eligible
| Projected Application Start Date | 03/25/2026 03:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) |
| Projected Application End Date | 07/23/2026 03:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) |
*State deadline will be 4-8 weeks before FEMA deadline (will vary by state)
Period of Performance:
36 months with limited extensions
Project Eligibility:
Capability & Capacity Building Activities
Hazard Mitigation Projects
Management Costs
Cost Share:
- 75% federal and 25% non-federal.
- 90% federal and 10% non-federal for small, impoverished communities.
- 100% federal and 0% for insular areas when the non-federal cost share for the entire award is under $200,000.
Project Focus:
“BRIC maximizes state and local responsibility for resilience by focusing federal resources on projects that directly support infrastructure and risk reduction rather than investing in a wide range of activities.”
Notable Eligibility Criteria:
- Major disaster declaration in the last 7 years for state/territory
- Required to have a FEMA approved State or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan BY APPLICATION DEADLINE AND AT THE TIME OF OBLIGATION
- Hazard Mitigation Plan Integration not required but encouraged “Applicants must identify in the BRIC application where the need for the proposed project types are specifically referenced or included in the State or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan (page number, section title, etc.).”
- Environmentally friendly measures
- Future Conditions
- Useful Life
- BCA
- Go/No Go Milestones
- NEPA
Evaluation Criteria:
- Infrastructure Project / Construction Readiness
- New Applicant or Sub applicant
- Building Code Adoption and Enforcement
- Small impoverished community
- Risk Reduction
- Implementation Measures
Questions? Please reach out to our Emergency Management Division.
