FEMA announces $1.16B in resiliency, flood mitigation
On August 9, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it published funding notices for two hazard mitigation grant programs for $1.16 billion to combat climate change and protect underserved communities against disaster hazards.
The Flood Mitigation Assistance and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programs provide funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for eligible mitigation activities to strengthen the nation’s resilience.
These pre-disaster programs fund projects that build resilience, reduce disaster suffering and avoid future disaster costs, particularly in disadvantaged communities in the face of more severe floods, wildfires and hurricanes.
“It is critical that as we work to address climate change, we are doing so in a way that ensures equity in the delivery of our programs,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “By altering the criteria for the programs, we aim to reach more underserved and at-risk communities, which are often disproportionately impacted by climate change, and provide them with the necessary means to make them more resilient for the next disaster.”
This follows last week’s historic announcement of the post-disaster $3.46 billion in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program assistance for hazard mitigation measures across the 59 major disaster declarations issued due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Nearly $5 billion in new funding opportunities is now available to help communities prepare for extreme weather and climate-related disasters.
The application period for the BRIC and Flood Mitigation Assistance grants opens on Sept. 30 and the funding notices are available on Grants.gov.
The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant amount this year is $160 million. FEMA will use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index as a selection factor in its competitive scoring process for Flood Mitigation Assistance grants. This means underserved populations will receive more points for projects that benefit their communities.
Eligible applicants must apply for funding using FEMA Grants Outcomes, the agency’s grants management system. Submit applications in FEMA Grants Outcome Portal no later than 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 28, 2022. Applications received by FEMA after this deadline will not be considered for funding.
Interested applicants can contact their hazard mitigation officer for more information, or visit Fema.gov.
