Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, lashed out at President Donald Trump’s cuts to programs combating climate change on Friday in Pacifica, where local officials and residents have been left scrambling to protect critical infrastructure after a long-anticipated $50 million federal grant to address severe coastal erosion along Beach Boulevard in Pacifica was scrapped.
The grant was part of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program that was cut earlier this year.
“We have grave threats facing Pacifica — and those grave threats are the same threats facing our country,” said Liccardo during a press conference along Pacifica’s scenic shoreline. “Unfortunately, we have a president of the United States who is unwilling to stand with communities like Pacifica. These threats — coastal erosion, climate change, wildfires — are real.”
The grant Pacifica was hoping for — part of the estimated $80 million total cost of the Beach Boulevard project — was intended to replace an aging seawall along the coast, among other measures to protect residents living nearby.
The BRIC program was canceled after the Federal Emergency Management Agency called the initiative “wasteful,” according to an April 4 press release.
Following the cancellation, approximately $882 million in BRIC funding will be returned to the U.S. Treasury or reapportioned by Congress during the next fiscal year, according to FEMA.
In response, Liccardo recently co-sponsored the “Save BRIC Act,” authored by Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., last month, to restore the program.
Although Democrats are in the minority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Liccardo said fighting for the bill is crucial to protecting communities like Pacifica.
“We need to get enough signatures for a discharge petition, assuming we can get Republicans to go along with that,” he said. A discharge petition is a way for members of the House to force a vote on a bill — even if House leaders don’t support it — by gathering a majority of signatures.
While Liccardo acknowledged the effort to save the federal program faces difficult odds, he said momentum may shift if Trump’s approval ratings continue to fall.
“I think we’ll start to see more Republicans grow a spine to actually stand up against really bad decisions like this one,” he said.
The effort to scrap the disaster-risk reduction program has sparked frustration among local leaders, who argue the project is essential to protect homes, roads and businesses from worsening sea-level rise and storm surges.
The BRIC program, created in 2021, allocated $1 billion over five years to help communities reduce disaster risks.
“Ending this program will help ensure that grant funding aligns with the President’s Executive Orders and Secretary Kristi Noem’s direction and best support states and local communities in disaster planning, response, and recovery,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a press release last April.
But local officials said waiting for disasters to happen is shortsighted.
“Disasters have been affecting Pacifica for decades,” said Mayor Sue Beckmeyer. “We have to protect the ocean. We have to protect the people. We have to protect the road. We have to protect the infrastructure.”
In Pacifica, the canceled funding would have gone toward rebuilding an aging seawall, over 40 years old, that has long struggled to hold back the advancing Pacific Ocean.
Beckmeyer said the proposed project would have also bought the city time — possibly up to 50 years — to relocate residents and businesses at risk of being swallowed by the sea.
“Otherwise, you end up with what we had — where the houses don’t exist anymore,” she said.
A coastal city of 38,000 known for its beaches and rugged cliffs, Pacifica has repeatedly suffered storm and flood damage, including to the Pacifica Pier, a favorite among fishermen and crabbers.
In 2016, three apartment buildings along a sea cliff were red-tagged after erosion made them unstable. Last year, the Pacifica pier was closed for three weeks in January after it was battered during a severe winter storm that caused property and infrastructure damage in neighborhoods along the coast.
Local property owners and business leaders are now raising the alarm over what the funding loss could mean for the city’s future.
“I love this place — this is my dream come true,” said Jenifer Behling, who owns an eight-unit apartment building near Beach Boulevard. “I provide housing for seven other families to also enjoy life along the ocean. My whole investment is being threatened. I am terrified.”
Jennifer Christiansen, co-founder of the Seaside Merchants Association, said local businesses are already facing the consequences of rising seas and seasonal flooding.
“Being so close to the ocean, we see the impacts of climate change on our district,” said Christiansen, who owns Art Space on the Coast, a pottery and art store. “This is directly related to our aging infrastructure.”
Supervisor Ray Mueller, who represents the San Mateo County coast, called the BRIC program’s cancellation “insane.”
“Our president talks about bringing jobs,” Mueller said. “Getting rid of the BRIC program gets rid of jobs — these are public investments that protect our communities and our economy. It’s an absolute travesty.”
Across the Bay Area, other public projects have also taken a hit. Earlier this month, Santa Clara County officials said $85.6 million in federal grants — mostly for public health — have been canceled under the Trump administration.