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Local governments around the country are scrambling to replace funding for infrastructure projects. That's because the Trump administration is canceling billions of dollars in grants that were already awarded. The funding was meant to prevent damage from disasters that are getting worse. Lauren Sommer from NPR's climate desk reports.
LAUREN SOMMER, BYLINE: When it rains a lot in DePue, Illinois, Daniel Hoffert worries that people won't be able to flush their toilets. He's the village president there. And in heavy rain, floodwater pours into their sewage treatment plant.
DANIEL HOFFERT: Once it would flood into the system, it would actually shut down the whole sewage treatment plant. And then we would be in a major hurt.
SOMMER: That's because when the plant stops working, sewage starts backing up in the pipes, even spilling into the basements of people's houses.
HOFFERT: Probably a good 125 of them had some infiltration of water into the basement - not all sewer, but, you know, water.
SOMMER: The problem is that DePue's sewage treatment plant is in a low-lying area, and it needs to be moved. The cost to build a new one would be about $25 million, way out of reach for the small rural community.
HOFFERT: That's more tax money than we'll get in 25 years, maybe 50 years.
SOMMER: So Hoffert applied to a federal grant program run by FEMA known as BRIC - Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities. It was started during Trump's first term. After years of working on the grant, DePue heard the money was on its way. But earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled the grant program, including grants like DePue's, which had already been awarded but not paid out yet.
HOFFERT: It was probably within a month or two of being OK, so that's really harsh.
SOMMER: In a statement, FEMA says the grant program is being canceled because it's ineffective and part of an effort to root out waste and fraud. Hoffert takes issue with that.
HOFFERT: I don't think they know what waste is. I don't think they know what fraud is. None of this, to me, is wasteful and fraud.
SOMMER: DePue, Illinois, is one of hundreds of local governments around the country who are seeing their FEMA funding canceled. Kristin Smith, who researches disaster funding at the think tank Headwaters Economics, says the projects are designed to cope with disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, which are getting more intense as the climate gets hotter.
KRISTIN SMITH: They're often really essential infrastructure. These projects save lives, protect property and reduce long-term costs.
SOMMER: The BRIC program also marked a key shift for FEMA, Smith says. Instead of just paying for damage after disasters, it was designed to prevent that damage from happening in the first place.
SMITH: Programs like BRIC really help us avoid these ballooning disaster costs that we've seen by simply being more proactive. We can pay a little bit now or a lot more tomorrow.
SOMMER: The biggest impact is being felt by small rural communities, like Kamiah, Idaho. Deputy city clerk Mike Tornatore has worked for years on a grant to prepare for wildfires.
MIKE TORNATORE: This community, due to the age of it, the building materials that were used at that time, we are ripe for a fire to sweep through this community and burn it to the ground.
SOMMER: Kamiah was planning on setting up a grant program to help homeowners make their houses more resistant to wildfires if they can't afford it themselves. That includes replacing older wood roofs and clearing flammable brush.
TORNATORE: I have 30 people waiting to receive these grants, but I'll find another way for them. I will, and it's what I have to do.
SOMMER: Tornatore knows that won't be easy. There's no local resources, and state funds are a drop in the bucket compared to what the federal government can offer. But, he says, the risk of disasters is simply too great to do nothing.
Lauren Sommer, NPR News.
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