20 states sue Trump administration over disaster prevention funding

A coalition of 20 states on Wednesday sued the Trump administration over its decision to shut down a multibillion-dollar grant program aimed at strengthening infrastructure before natural disasters strike, Report informs referring to The Hill.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, contends that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unlawfully eliminated its Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities (BRIC) program earlier this year, stepping on Congress’s powers.

The states say the impact of the shutdown has been “devastating.”

“Communities across the country are being forced to delay, scale back, or cancel hundreds of mitigation projects depending on this funding,” the complaint reads.

States that signed on are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington.

“Projects that have been in development for years, and in which communities have invested millions of dollars for planning, permitting, and environmental review are now threatened,” it continues. “And in the meantime, Americans across the country face a higher risk of harm from natural disasters.”

Before the turn of the century, Congress and FEMA started implementing mitigation as a tactic against natural disasters, as opposed to reacting after crises.