FEMA Announces $660M for Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants

1200px-FEMA_logo.svg_The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last week announced that the application period for $660 million in FY 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants will open on September 30. States and local governments will be eligible to apply for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and the new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) pre-disaster mitigation grants.

$500 million will be available through the BRIC program to provide funding to implement pre-disaster mitigation activities that reduce risk and disaster costs and increase the resilience of critical infrastructure lifelines such as transportation, energy, communications, and health facilities.

$160 million will be available through FMA grants to help local governments implement changes to reduce or eliminate the risk of flood damage to structures insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FEMA has allocated $70 million of the total amount for Community Flood Mitigation Projects such as floodwater diversion and flood-control measures.

According to the National Association of Counties (NACo):

FEMA will be offering a series of informational webinars for applicants to provide an overview of the grant programs and details about the agency’s funding priorities and review process. Dates and times for the webinars can be found below. Registration information will be available soon on FEMA’s BRIC website.

  • Tuesday, August 18 from 2–3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Thursday, August 20 from 2–3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Tuesday, August 25 from 2–3:30 p.m. EDT

For more information on the grants and to access the application portal, please click here.