On July 15, 2019, NASEO submitted official comments on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, created as a result of the Disaster Recovery and Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA). NASEO’s comments are a reflection of the priorities and opportunities identified by State Energy Offices and our partners. To date, NASEO has engaged 20 State Energy Offices through NASEO’s Energy Sector Resilience State Working Group, which also includes private sector partner organizations such as the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), U.S. Green Buildings Coalition, federal officials and others.
NASEO has assembled an array of examples of energy-specific mitigation projects which demonstrate they are practical, cost-effective, environmentally-sound, hazard-specific, and often include public-private partnership investments to stretch taxpayer funds. These projects fall within three general categories:
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Prioritization and Modernization of Mission Critical Facilities;
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Support for State and Local Government Building Code Implementation; and
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Explicit Inclusion of Physical Energy System Mitigation and Protection Actions.
Click here to view all of NASEO’s official comments on BRIC.
In support of state and FEMA resilience efforts, NASEO will continue to identify energy-focused pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation projects nationwide which have been adopted by states and/or approved by FEMA; convey the financial, community, and system resilience benefits of those projects; and assist State Energy Offices across the nation in developing strategies to adopt and implement energy sector resilience projects.
NASEO has also submitted a letter to FEMA’s Acting Administrator, Peter Gaynor, which provides further details on NASEO’s approach to supporting mitigation projects through the BRIC Program. You can view the letter here.