"A judge ruled in December that the agency could not cancel a program that had helped states invest billions of dollars in disaster readiness."
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday it would relaunch a canceled grant program that had helped states invest billions of dollars in projects that made local communities more resilient to floods, fires and other disasters.
The announcement came days ahead of a deadline imposed by a federal judge who ruled in December that the Trump administration’s decision to end the program, known as Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure, or BRIC, last April was illegal. In a March 6 court order, Judge Richard G. Stearns of U.S. District Court for Massachusetts gave FEMA two weeks to comply with his ruling and reinstate the program.
FEMA’s announcement on Wednesday did not mention the ruling. The agency said officials were reviving the grant program — which FEMA created during President Trump’s first administration — after completing an evaluation. It concluded that under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the program had become too “focused on ‘climate change,’” but that the Trump administration would “reconstitute the BRIC program in a way that reflects good stewardship of taxpayer money,” the announcement said.
The court ruling was a victory for 22 states that had sued the Trump administration seeking to have the grant program reinstated, citing laws regarding federal spending and FEMA’s statutory mission to help prevent disaster damage."
