Dozens of lawmakers representing districts across California are demanding that federal authorities restore a disaster resiliency program that was designated for termination earlier this year.

A bipartisan congressional delegation, led by Rep. Jimmy Panetta, sent a letter last week to Trump administration officials asking that they reconsider a decision in April to end the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and to cancel applications from fiscal years 2020 through 2023.

A grant from the program worth $420,000 that was meant for conducting initial studies to improve the Pajaro River levee system near a wastewater treatment plant was canceled.

“We are deeply concerned about the impact of this decision,” wrote the group of 38 lawmakers, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren and senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. “Ending the BRIC Program will result in higher costs for Americans, especially as natural disasters become more frequent and severe. The BRIC Program allows the State of California and its many communities to shift away from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience. We urge you to immediately reverse this decision and do all you can to support the work of this vital program.”

Altogether, the state stands to lose more than $1 billion in funding from the program that would have gone to drought and earthquake mitigation projects as well as wildfire management efforts, according to the letter.

“This BRIC funding, which included a match from local homeowners, would have funded home hardening, defensible space fuels reduction, evacuation route fuel reduction, and landscape-scale fuel reduction work. We are deeply concerned about the impact of this decision,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter addressed to U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting FEMA administrator David Richardson. FEMA is a Homeland Security agency. “If FEMA decides to ultimately withdraw its federal investment, these counties will be forced to abandon these life- and infrastructure-saving projects.”

An intention to shutter the program, established in 2018 by President Donald Trump during his first term, was announced by FEMA April 4 as part of an effort to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. “The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement. “It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, we are committed to ensuring that Americans in crisis can get the help and resources they need.”