On @FEMA Watch This Week

 

August 12, 2022-  Subscribe

In This Issue: More than $3 Billion in Funding for Two FEMA Programs to Increase Climate Resiliency Nationwide FEMA Releases Guidance About Hazard Mitigation Grant Program’s 90/10 Cost Share Changes External Stakeholder Working Group: 2023 Membership Biden-Harris Administration Announces Finalists for over $1 Billion in Funding to Make Communities More Resilient to Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Summer Engagement Series

More than $3 Billion in Funding for Two FEMA Programs to Increase Climate Resiliency Nationwide   FEMA has published funding notices for two resilience grant programs for more than $3 billion to help communities become more resilient to climate change and associated extreme weather events and other hazards.    The funding level for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) annual grant program will more than double to nearly $2.3 billion while the Flood Mitigation Assistance  (FMA) funding level will see a five-fold increase to $800 million. The funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood and hurricanes by preparing before disaster strikes. Funding has increased from $700 million in FY20 and $1.16 billion in FY21.   The funding opportunities infuse over $900 million through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The law increases the amount of funding for both programs. The Flood Mitigation Assistance and BRIC programs provide funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for eligible mitigation activities to strengthen the nation’s ability to build a culture of preparedness. These pre-disaster programs fund projects that invest in a more resilient nation, reduce disaster suffering and avoid future disaster costs, particularly in disadvantaged communities in the face of extreme heat and more severe floods, wildfires and hurricanes.   The application period for the BRIC and Flood Mitigation Assistance grants will open Sept. 30 and be available on Grants.gov.  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. 27, 2023. Applications received by FEMA after this deadline will not be considered for funding.  FEMA is also hosting a 10-part webinar series to help potential applicants navigate the application process. Interested applicants should contact their hazard mitigation officer for more information. For more information visit FEMA.gov.  Equity Aligning with the administration’s Justice40 Initiative, the Flood Mitigation Assistance and BRIC programs aim to deliver at least 40% of the overall benefits of climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water and other investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, overburdened, and underserved. Using money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FEMA is increasing the federal cost share to 90% for socially vulnerable communities to lower the financial burden on certain resilience activities. The agency may assist federal recognized tribal governments and disadvantaged communities with enhancing Benefit-Cost Analysis for mitigation projects to meet eligibility requirements. FEMA anticipates these actions will help minimize the gap of continued oversubscription to these grant programs and address growing resilience needs nationwide. Direct Technical Assistance  FEMA is expanding investment in the BRIC’s non-financial Direct Technical Assistance to at least 40 communities in the next grant cycle to help build capacity and capability at the local level.   Direct Technical Assistance reduces barriers that prevent some communities from accessing the BRIC program. FEMA is transforming the initiative to a more flexible, customer-focused format to support more communities with building and sustaining successful mitigation programs, submitting high-quality applications and implementing new and innovative projects that reduce risk and increase resilience.  FEMA will share additional information about Direct Technical Assistance with stakeholders. They may also visit the BRIC Direct Technical Assistance webpage to find information and detailed instructions on submitting an application.  The agency anticipates opening the submission period no later than Sept. 30, 2022. Communities interested in participating have until Jan. 27, 2023 to submit an application. Visit fema.gov for more information about Hazard Mitigation Assistance. Back to Top FEMA Releases Guidance About Hazard Mitigation Grant Program’s 90/10 Cost Share Changes FEMA recently published Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) guidance to help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments better understand FEMA’s interpretation of the cost share change that was signed into law on March 15 (H.R. 2471, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022). This law granted a minimum 90% federal cost share for any emergency or major disaster declaration declared from or having an incident period beginning between, Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021. This newly released guidance provides information about: Funding Application period extensions FEMA, state, tribe, territory agreements HMGP administrative plans and Periods of performance By further clarifying our programs’ guidance, FEMA is demonstrating progress towards reducing complexity and building equitable outcomes that will lead to a more resilient nation. FEMA recognizes this historic opportunity to reduce the cost burden for local governments and help them to achieve greater mitigation outcomes. Back to Top External Stakeholder Working Group: 2023 Membership FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Division is now accepting applications to join the HMA External Stakeholder Working Group (ESWG). The ESWG is a collaborative working group established in 2016 with the purpose of increasing engagement and transparency with non-federal partners in hazard mitigation, including states, local communities and jurisdictions, tribal nations, and territories (SLTT). The ESWG provides a venue in which federal partners and external stakeholders can openly communicate, share insight and feedback on mitigation and/or program issues, and increase transparency and understanding regarding HMA policy development and program priorities. What does the ESWG do? Workstreams - Turn discussion into action by engaging in deep dive problem solving on topics aligned with HMA/ FEMA strategic priorities. Outreach – Move mitigation forward by acting as a bridge of knowledge and communication between FEMA and stakeholder communities. Engagement – Provide stakeholder perspectives on FEMA initiatives. Learn more about the HMA External Stakeholder Working Group here. To be considered for a position on the ESWG, please download and complete the Expression of Interest form. Email your completed forms to joshua.ghaffari@fema.dhs.gov by Sept. 19, 2022.   Back to Top Biden-Harris Administration Announces Finalists for over $1 Billion in Funding to Make Communities More Resilient to Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events Remaining selections have been announced for $1.16 billion in climate resilience funding through two competitive grant programs to help communities across the nation enhance climate and disaster resiliency.  The selections include large resilience projects like those from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) national competition and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) community-wide flood mitigation projects. Selections are from Fiscal Year 2021 funding round with $1 billion made available through BRIC and $160 million made available for Flood Mitigation Assistance.  Selected projects will help improve community resiliency to a multitude of hazards including floods, droughts and wildfires. For BRIC, FEMA selected projects across all 10 FEMA regions with 53 states and territories, the District of Columbia, 271 different communities, including 33 tribes. For the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant programs, FEMA made selections in 19 states and 72 different communities. State, local, tribal and territorial governments submitted record-breaking requests for funding totaling a combined estimate of $4.7 billion for the BRIC and FMA grant programs. The oversubscription for communities looking to receive grant funding demonstrates the growing needs for mitigation investments nationwide. FEMA anticipates additional funding made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help to minimize the gap for future funding cycles. In May, FEMA announced the first selections of FY 21 funding, allowing for quicker funding for mitigation planning, adoption and enforcement of building codes and standards, project scoping and small-scale mitigation projects. Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities  During President Biden’s first year in office, he increased BRIC funding from $500 million to $1 billion, allowing FEMA to select more projects across a more diverse geographic scope. FEMA more than doubled the project selections and increased the number of states with BRIC project selections. The top five project types selected for the BRIC program by total project costs are listed below. Flood Control:  = $1.39 billion Utility/Infrastructure Protection = $1.26 billion Stabilization and Restoration = $219 million Mitigation Reconstruction = $101 million Retrofits = $100 million Flood Mitigation Assistance  Of the $160 million made available, FEMA selected 61 subapplications totaling $134.4 million across 53 different communities in 14 states. Most of this funding— $93 million—will go towards elevating, acquisitions, and mitigation reconstruction of repetitively flood-damaged buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.  From the final round of selections, the top five project types selected for the FMA program by total project costs are listed below: Elevation = $64.5 million Flood Control = $47.4 million Acquisitions = $27 million Project Scoping (Engineering, Environmental, Feasibility, and/or Benefit-Cost Analysis) = $5.6 million Mitigation Reconstruction = $1.6 million For more information, visit the Hazard Mitigation Assistance webpage.  Back to Top FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Summer Engagement Series Each year, FEMA hosts a number of educational webinars for applicants, subapplicants and other relevant stakeholders interested in FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs. The 2022 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Summer Engagement Series began on Aug. 4,  2022 and will continue through September. Throughout the series we’re hosting experts and special guests to provide information and insight on the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs, as well as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). There will also be three webinars that focus on the fiscal year 2022 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for BRIC and FMA. The webinars are listed below: Upcoming Webinars Thursday Aug. 18: System-Based Mitigation: Building Enduring Community Resilience Friday Aug. 19: Mitigating Severe Repetitive Loss and Repetitive Loss Properties Thursday Aug. 25: Application Pitfalls Thursday Sept. 22: BRIC Notice of Funding Opportunity Technical and Qualitative Criteria Thursday Sept. 29: Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation Review 101 Tuesday Oct. 4: Using Grant Funding to Build Resilience: The How, When, and Where of Applying for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Notice of Funding Opportunity Webinars Tuesday Aug. 23: BRIC/FMA Notice of Funding Opportunity Webinar #1 Thursday Sept. 1: BRIC/FMA Notice of Funding Opportunity Webinar #2 Thursday Sept. 15: BRIC/FMA Notice of Funding Opportunity Webinar #3 – Tribal-Focused If someone is in need of special accommodations, please contact fema-hmacomms@fema.dhs.gov and we will ensure those needs are met.  We look forward to your participation!