Apply for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), with the primary purpose of ensuring that repair and reconstruction efforts following a disaster will address opportunities to include mitigation measures designed to reduce the loss of life and property from future disasters. FEMA has made available for all state, tribal, and territorial governments close to $3.5 billion in HMGP funding following the COVID-19 pandemic, which is additive to additional HMGP funding associated with weather-related disasters.

Since state, local, tribal or territorial governments must apply through their emergency management departments, there are varying application deadlines. FEMA’s application deadline for the HMGP COVID funding is February 1, 2023. Click here to locate your State Hazard Mitigation Officer’s contact information and confirm your state’s deadline. Award funding is available through emergency management departments.

What is the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and How Can it Be Used

HMGP is federal assistance to state, local, tribal, or territorial governments triggered by a Presidential declaration of a major disaster or a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG), pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (“Stafford Act”).

All state, local, tribal and territorial governments are required elsewhere in the Stafford Act to develop and adopt hazard mitigation plans to receive funding through HMGP. Project eligibility spans four primary areas that include Planning and Enforcement (including development, adoption, evaluation, enhancement and enforcement of building codes and standards), Flood Protection, Retrofitting, and Construction. Code projects are not subject to a cost-effectiveness evaluation. States, tribes, and territories can use HMGP funds for any eligible activity for any type of hazard and are not limited to the hazard that resulted in the major disaster declaration or limited to the geography where the event occurred. HMGP awards are required to have at least a 25 percent non-federal cost share. Brick-and-mortar HMGP projects are required to meet one of the two most recent editions of the International Building Code (IBC).

Additional information on the HMGP can be found in the Addendum to the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance.

Assistance Through the Code Council

The International Code Council is available to help you apply for HMGP funding. If you are interested in applying or need more information, please contact advocacy@iccsafe.org.

For more information on other available Federal Grants, please visit iccsafe.org/ federalgrants