Bresnahan: FEMA should restore program funding 21 flood buyouts in Scranton
Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan contradicted the Trump administration’s contention that a certain Federal Emergency Management Agency funding program is wasteful and advocated for restoration of $2.5 million for flood buyouts in Scranton.
On Tuesday, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti issued a letter to Bresnahan, whose district includes Scranton, as well as to Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, to advocate in Congress for reinstating and preserving BRIC or an equivalent funding source.
Ending BRIC “will have a direct and detrimental impact on our city’s ability to mitigate flood risks, modernize infrastructure, and protect residents in vulnerable neighborhoods,” Cognetti said in her letter to the legislators. The city had been working on BRIC-funded buyouts of 18 homes rendered uninhabitable in flash flooding of Sept. 9, 2023, and three vacant lots also deluged. Those properties are on North Merrifield Avenue and Leggett, Mary and Jackson streets. The city intended to pay for the $3.4 million total buyout cost using $2.5 million of BRIC grant funding and $849,000 of city funds, as the city’s portion was a 25% contribution.
On Wednesday, Bresnahan, of Dallas Twp., sent a letter to FEMA expressing his opposition to the canceling of BRIC, noting the program began in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term. Bresnahan noted FEMA’s website described BRIC as a shift away from reactive spending of federal dollars on disasters to proactive investments. Ending BRIC now leaves Scranton “holding the bag” to come up with $2.5 million to complete the buyouts, according to Bresnahan’s letter, which cites in a footnote a Times-Tribune article reporting on Cognetti’s letter.
“I am writing to express my opposition to FEMA’s recent announcement it would cancel the [BRIC] program … this decision is detrimental to my constituents, and I strongly urge you to reverse this decision,” Bresnahan’s letter said. “This program is a hand-up, not a hand-out, to at-risk communities who have suffered catastrophic weather events. This includes my district and Northeastern Pennsylvania."
The 8th Congressional District includes all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties.
Bresnahan’s letter continued: “Without the support from the BRIC program, the city will be forced to come up with an additional $2.5 million in funding in order to create floodplain restoration and infrastructure, which is important to city public safety and future cost savings. … In cases where communities cannot bear the full cost of property purchases, programs like BRIC are not wasteful, but well within the purview of federal coordination of disaster relief efforts.”
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