NRDC studied the relationship between local capacity and the ability to apply for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) competitive funds in a previous analysis. We used the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), the National Risk Index (NRI), and the Rural Capacity Index (RCI) to evaluate the accessibility of BRIC grants to lower-capacity localities.
In the next phase of this analysis, we shifted our focus from who was able to apply for funding to who may have received the funds.
We closely looked at the list of BRIC’s subapplicants to investigate if and how community characteristics (such as local capacity) are linked to receiving funding. BRIC, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is participating in the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to prioritize investments in disadvantaged communities….