A United States District Court judge on Thursday ruled that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was wrong to cancel a program that has funded infrastructure resiliency efforts in communities across the country.
The Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) program provided more than $200 million worth of projects to protect North Carolina’s infrastructure, including nearly $7 million to relocate Hillsborough’s pump station out of a flood plain.
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FEMA cancelled the program in April, calling the grants “wasteful and ineffective.”
In July, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued FEMA over its decision to cancel.
“We’re asking the court to treat this as an emergency,” Jackson told WRAL News in an interview at the time.
“Hillsborough is pleased to learn U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stevens issued a summary judgement today restoring BRIC funding to North Carolina and numerous other states. Congress had approved funding for this critical program before it was abruptly terminated, and Hillsborough looks forward to learning more about the details of ruling in the days ahead and moving forward with our BRIC projects as soon as possible," Mayor Mark Bell told WRAL News.
Nineteen other attorneys general joined Jackson in the federal lawsuit.
Thursday’s summary judgment order says “the court declares that the termination of the BRIC program is void and of no force or effect.” It found that plans to divert BRIC funds to other programs was also unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stevens wrote that canceling the program was "unlawful Executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose."
While he ordered FEMA to "promptly take all steps necessary to reverse the termination of the BRIC program," he did not directly order that funds be released for the infrastructure projects, including the one in Hillsborough.
