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$500M in FEMA BRIC Grants Available in National Competition

Friday December 18, 2020 05:26 am - 2652 Views - Posted By Recovery Assistance & Mitigation Planning
$500M in FEMA BRIC Grants Available in National Competition

Terrebonne Parish

Department of Planning and Zoning

Recovery Assistance and Mitigation Planning

FloodSafe Minute

$500M in FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities Grants Available in National Competition

 

This year FEMA announced that applications will be accepted for the new Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities grant program.  The new program will be funded through a congressionally approved budget valued at 6% of the spending on disasters in the previous year.  This year, $500 Million is available.  BRIC focuses on seven lifelines critical to the function of communities:

  • Safety and Security,
  • Food, Water, and Shelter,
  • Health and Medical,
  • Energy,
  • Communications,
  • Transportation, and
  • Hazardous Material.

This novel program will take the place of the previous Predisaster Mitigation Assistance program that has funded plans and elevations for the Parish, and last year, was selected for further review to fund the Bayou Black Pump Station on Geraldine Road and a home elevation program. The traditional mitigation activities are still available for applications, and the Parish is likely to submit an application for elevation of structures not eligible for other programs due to a lack of flood insurance this year like other years.  However, the national competition for this funding will be fierce due to the broad list of lifeline targets.

Terrebonne Parish completed the Hazard Mitigation Plan Update this year as required by FEMA for participation in these funding competitions.  During that planning process, the Parish educated the Steering Committee, the general public, as well as energy, medical and public safety professionals resulting in a list of potential projects to submit to this program.  Requests included towers for 9*1*1 and other emergency services, a safe room within a new building for the Levee District, targeted drainage projects and projects to support the Morganza to the Gulf and the marsh system.

Projects being considered at this time include a water tank for Terrebonne General Medical Center and a new generating station hardened for wind and flood.  TGMC would provide the local match for these projects.  The Parish is also developing a project for generators at the Ashland Jail facility, a grant to complete the Oysterbed Shoreline Protection project in Lake Chien, and a small pump station project on Lirette Street in Bayou Black. These will all be vetted for cost effectiveness.

Steering Committee members have requested that the Parish identify shoreline protection projects and consider uniform regulatory standards to protect all assets equally from flooding in particular.  Members of the planning team are meeting to identify the best projects for shoreline protection along Shrimpers Row that may be funded through other means.  The Parish is also considering programs to provide flood insurance on a temporary basis to people otherwise eligible for other grant programs that pay 90% to 100% to elevate or reconstruct storm damaged houses.

Infrastructure and regional projects are preferred in the proposed scoring, this in the future this program may be helpful in supporting the projects identified through the Governor’s Watershed Initiative that seeks to coordinate water management over multiple parishes.  Th projects under development now meet several of the lifelines supported by the new BRIC program.

Each project will compete at the state and federal levels for funding.

For inquiries, call Jennifer Gerbasi at 873-6565.  For more information on BRIC, visit https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities.

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