Press Releases
01/21/2025
DEEP Launches Matching Funds for Community Resilience Projects as Part of Its Climate Resilience Fund
State Funds Will Help Municipalities Secure Federal Funding Through FEMA BRIC for Construction Projects That Will Make Communities More Resilient; Applications Due March 3, 2025
(HARTFORD, CT) —The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for a new matching funds grant program to support Connecticut communities pursuing funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. DEEP's new matching grants program is a component of the DEEP Climate Resilience Fund, which helps communities to invest in projects needed to address vulnerabilities to extreme weather and reduce impacts to critical infrastructure.
From historic flooding in the Naugatuck Valley to recent wildfires, including the 100+ acre Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, climate-driven hazards are already causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to Connecticut roads, bridges, homes, and businesses. Communities are responding by developing innovative approaches to build resilience to natural hazards, often seeking to fund these resilience projects through state and federal grant programs. FEMA BRIC, administered by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DESPP/DEMHS), is one of the largest sources of funding for projects that make communities more resilient, providing grants of up to $50 million. Communities often struggle to take advantage of FEMA BRIC, however, because the program requires them to cover one quarter of the project cost. DEEP is launching a program that will help communities meet the funding match requirements for FEMA BRIC projects to help Connecticut take full advantage of the fiscal year 2024 funds that FEMA announced earlier this month.
“In 2023, DEEP announced funding to help communities plan and develop project pipelines for resilience projects through DEEP’s Climate Resilience Fund. With today’s announcement, we are helping communities turn plans into on-the-ground projects that will build resilient communities,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “These matching funds will increase the impact of state dollars threefold by unlocking a critical source of resilience funding through FEMA BRIC, enabling more projects that use innovative built and nature-based infrastructure to protect our communities from floods, heat waves, power outages, and the other impacts of climate change we have seen in Connecticut in recent years.”
“We are pleased to be working alongside DEEP to bring more funding for resilience to benefit the residents of the state,” DEMHS Deputy Commissioner Brenda Bergeron said. “For many years we have had municipalities tell us that the cost share requirements for FEMA BRIC have prevented them from applying. We look forward to directing those communities to this program, and encouraging more communities to successfully apply for federal funding.
DEEP’s Matching Funds for FEMA BRIC program is open to municipal governments, local public utilities, federally recognized Tribal nations, and other entities eligible for FEMA BRIC funding. DEEP will award between one and three quarters of a project’s non-federal match requirements, with larger awards going to projects that benefit environmental justice communities and incorporate nature-based solutions.
Applications are due by midnight on March 3, 2025. Applicants must complete a brief application, which includes a map of the project area and a copy of their Notice of Intent to apply for FEMA BRIC that will be part of their application to the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Additional details on review criteria for applications and how to apply can be found in the Request for Proposals on the webpage for the DEEP Climate Resilience Fund.
DEEP will hold two office hours to give applicants opportunities to ask questions:
- Wednesday, January 29 from 12pm-1pm
- Tuesday, February 18 from 2pm-3pm
For questions about this program, please email DEEP.climateresilience@ct.gov.
- Twitter: @CTDEEPNews
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Contact
DEEP Communications
DEEP.communications@ct.gov
860-424-3110