BRIC Direct Technical Assistance

Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Direct Technical Assistance (DTA) gives full support to communities that may not have the resources to begin climate resilience planning and project solution design on their own.  Through process-oriented, hands-on support, BRIC DTA will work to enhance a community’s capacity to design holistic, equitable climate adaptation solutions that advance numerous community-driven objectives. 

FEMA will give wide-ranging support to BRIC DTA communities including climate risk assessments, community engagement, partnership building, mitigation and climate adaptation planning, and BRIC program requests throughout the grant lifecycle. Support for BRIC DTA communities will be given from pre-application activities to grant closeout.

FY22 Direct Technical Assistance Selections

On May 19, FEMA announced the selection of 46 communities and tribal nations for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Direct Technical Assistance. This assistance can provide holistic hazard mitigation and climate resilience planning and project support from the earliest stages to completion.

To date, this brings this hands-on support to 74 local jurisdictions nationwide.

The deadline for requesting support for the FY22 BRIC NOFO cycle was Jan. 27, 2023. Information on how to request BRIC Direct Technical Assistance for the next cycle will be announced as it becomes available.

There is no requirement for a previous BRIC grant sub-application or award, or an approved hazard mitigation plan, to be considered for participation.

BRIC Direct Technical Assistance Communities
FEMA is currently assisting 28 communities across the United States and its territories. Read more about their locations and requests here.

FEMA will review each request and will prioritize assistance for communities that meet one or more of the definitions below:

• Noted in Executive Order (EO) 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, including tribal nation governments
• Have demonstrated the community, or areas within the community, have a Center for Disease Control’s (CDC)/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) score greater than or equal to 0.6
• Qualify as an economically disadvantaged rural community. (This definition is in Title 42 United States Code § 5133(a) as a small impoverished community.) It includes a community of 3,000 or fewer individuals, where residents have an average per capita annual income that does not exceed 80% of the national per capita income. It is based on best available data.
• Have shown a compelling need. This includes communities with: disadvantaged populations as referenced in EO 14008; multiple major disaster declarations within the past five years; limited funds; strong community engagement but that need technical expertise.
• Have not received a grant award, including Advance Assistance or Capability- and Capacity-Building subaward under Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) and/or BRIC, Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), or  Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) awards within the past five years.

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Review the Program Support Material (PSM) for more information on DTA.