March 19th, 2021
by Karl Fippinger

On Jan. 29, 2021, the fiscal year 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance application period closed. In early March, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) started the project selection process. A total of $700 million is available for the two grant programs. In addition, FEMA is preparing the fiscal year 2021 grant cycle.

 

FEMA fact sheet available online

For the fiscal year 2020 grant application cycle, FEMA received nearly $3.6 billion in applications for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and nearly $400 million for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program. This continues the trend of oversubscription to Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs and demonstrates the need for hazard mitigation in the United States.

FEMA estimates the project grant selections for the BRIC and FMA grant programs will be announced in the summer of 2021. From March-April, FEMA is reviewing each sub-application to ensure eligibility and minimum program requirements are met. In addition, a National Technical Review team reviews each eligible project sub-applications for cost-effectiveness and engineering feasibility. All eligible projects go through an environmental and historic preservation review.

This year for the BRIC grant applications, FEMA convened a virtual National Review Panel to score qualitative criteria for projects that are eligible for funding under the national competition. In addition to FEMA employees, the agency received more than 400 individuals who expressed interest from other federal agencies, state, local, tribal and territorial governments to serve on the BRIC National Review Panel. The review panel helps increase transparency in decision-making while building mitigation capability and partnerships.

To keep stakeholders informed about the process in reviewing and selecting the eligible grants, FEMA is publishing the data to its website in the fact sheet section. Search for “Hazard Mitigation Assistance.”

Details about the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant application process can be found in the 2015 HMA Guidance, which can be accessed on FEMA’s website. Search for “2015 HMA Guidance”. Also, continue to check the website for updates about the application review processes for the Hazard Mitigation Assistance program on FEMA’s grants webpage.

Read the full FEMA Advisory — Fiscal Year 2020 Flood Mitigation Assistance and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Update — for more details.

About the Author
Karl Fippinger
Karl Fippinger, CEM, PMP is Vice President, Fire and Disaster Mitigation for the International Code Council. He is a 30-year veteran of the fire and emergency services having served as an Assistant Fire Chief with the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department in Prince William County, VA as well as an adjunct fire and rescue instructor for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Fairfax County, VA. Karl is also a Certified Emergency Manager with the International Association of Emergency Managers and serves as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council. He brings more than 25 years of public and private sector experience in federal, state, and local disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.