On Friday, U.S. Rep. Emily Randall (D, 6th District) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to follow up on the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program.
The Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project was allocated $87 million in BRIC grants when FEMA abruptly cancelled the program in April 2025, putting the funds on hold.
“The cancellation of this $87 million grant has had widespread economic repercussions,” wrote Rep. Randall in the letter. “In the cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam, more than 5,100 properties and over 1,000 existing businesses are trapped in the floodplain — all of which would’ve been protected by the BRIC-funded levee project. As a result, residents and employers collectively pay over $2 million each year in flood insurance premiums, which means thousands of dollars a year in added costs for homeowners.”
Rep. Randall continued: “To be clear: the cancellation of BRIC is not promoting government efficiency by any measure or definition. By halting preventative infrastructure, FEMA is increasing long-term disaster response costs while simultaneously reducing the tax base needed to fund them.”
As a result of the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate the BRIC program, multiple counties in Washington’s 6th District stand to lose funding.
The lack of necessary flood protection has also made development prohibitively expensive and, in many cases, impossible, according to a news release. Aberdeen and Hoquiam rely on infill development, or building within vacant lots due to limited land space, yet flood-zone construction requires first-floor elevations of three to seven feet above the flood-zone.
The resulting cost increases routinely kill projects before they even begin. Critically, most other federal financing tools can’t be used in the floodplain — contributing to lost federal leverage and economic activity. For example, $15 million for a commercial project in Hoquiam fell through, despite an executed purchase and sale agreement, because HUD financing could not be applied to a flood-zone site. That project would have generated jobs, local economic activity, and ongoing federal tax revenue.
The levee project itself would be a direct generator of federal revenue. With approximately $160 million in construction activity, it is projected to produce at least $14 million in state and federal sales tax revenue alone, while supporting hundreds of construction jobs over a two-year period.
Delaying or cancelling this project does not reduce federal spending in a meaningful way, it eliminates long-term economic growth Rep. Randall said.
By 2050, it is estimated that $500 million in home value will be at risk between Aberdeen and Hoquiam because of flooding. This destruction is preventable with the right infrastructure and funding, Rep. Randall said.
“The Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project is a clear example of how strategic infrastructure investment reduces federal liabilities and expands federal revenue,” Rep. Randall wrote in her letter to Noem. “Continuing to block this project places rural communities in economic stasis and deprives the federal government of returns it would otherwise realize.”
In December 2025, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had unlawfully cancelled the BRIC grant program. Since then, the Trump administration has begun unfreezing BRIC grants for other projects across the U.S.
