A federal judge has ruled that the Trump Administration unlawfully ended a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program designed to help states prepare for and mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
Twenty state attorneys-general, including Maine attorney-general Aaron Frey, had sued the Trump Administration in July over canceling FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The BRIC grant program was established after Hurricane Katrina to give states funding to proactively prepare for disasters, like building floodwalls, evacuation shelters, and fire prevention.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had announced in April it would end the BRIC program, calling it ineffective, wasteful and politicized.
A 2019 FEMA study had found that for every $1 spent on disaster prevention, it saved $6 in recovery efforts. FEMA has granted $4.5 billion in grants over the past 4 years.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns found that the President lacked the authority to terminate the Congressionally-funded program through executive order and redistribute the funds elsewhere, writing that the administration's action amounted to an "unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose."
"The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives," wrote Stearns in the decision. "It need not be said that the imminence of disasters is not deterred by bureaucratic obstruction."
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement that the BRIC program has been an essential tool to help Maine prep for disasters.
“In Maine, we know we will see ice storms, floods, and nor’easters. This win means that our communities will be able to continue preparing for natural disasters instead of just reacting to them,” Frey said. “It is obvious that the work to prepare for extreme weather events is essential for a safe and healthy state. We were not going to look the other way while the Administration deprives us of the ability to prepare.”
