Before You Apply for Flood Mitigation Assistance Funds

Eligibility

Cost Share or Non-Federal Match

Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) funds may be used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program including:

• Project Scoping
• Technical Assistance
• Community Flood Mitigation Projects
• Individual Structure/Property-Level Flood Mitigation Projects
• Management Costs

Projects must:

• Be cost effective
• Located in a participating NFIP Community (In good standing)
• Align with the applicable hazard mitigation plan
• Meet all environmental and historic preservation (EHP) requirements

Applicants and Subapplicants

Subapplication Types

States, tribes and territories can submit applications on behalf of subapplicants for FMA funding in the FEMA Grants Outcomes (GO), the new grants management system to support FEMA grant programs.

Applicants may have their own priorities and or requirements when screening their subapplications. Subapplicants cannot submit directly to FEMA. Subapplicants must submit their subapplications to their applicant for review and submission.

Homeowners, business operators, and non-profit organizations cannot apply directly to FEMA, but can be included in a subapplication submitted by an eligible subapplicant. For more information please contact your local government or state to apply for FMA funding.

Applicants often determine mitigation priorities, which are generally aligned with the program's visions and goals. Contacting the State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO), or equivalent representative for a respective federally-recognized Tribal government or territory can be helpful in choosing which hazards pose the greatest threat and determining the best strategy for mitigation. From these broad mitigation strategies, subapplicants weigh public interest while targeting specific mitigation projects beneficial to their communities.

Entities interested in creating FMA subapplications may contact town/city/county managers, planning, and/or emergency management offices within local governments, including cities, townships, counties, special district governments, and federally recognized tribal governments. For local governments, please contact your State Hazard Mitigation Officer to learn about the applicant’s priorities, deadlines, and additional requirements.

• Applicants may include states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Indian tribal governments (federally recognized).
• Each state, the District of Columbia, territory, and federally recognized tribal government shall designate one agency to serve as the applicant for funding. Each applicant’s designated agency may submit only one Flood Mitigation Assistance grant application to FEMA. An application can be made up of an unlimited number of subapplications.
• Applicants must have a FEMA-approved State or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan by the application deadline and at the time of obligation of grant funds.

• Local governments, including cities, townships, counties, special district governments, state agencies, and federally recognized tribal governments (who choose to apply as subapplicants) are considered subapplicants and must submit subapplications to their state/territory/tribal applicant agency.
• All subapplicants for FMA must be participating in the NFIP, and not be withdrawn or suspended, to be eligible to apply for grant fund.
• Subapplicants must have a FEMA-approved Local or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan by the application deadline and at the time of obligation of grant funds for mitigation projects (with the exception of mitigation planning).
• Federally recognized tribal governments and non-federally recognized tribes can choose to apply as a subapplicant to an eligible state or territory.

Community Flood Mitigation Projects are local level drainage/flood control projects to improve drainage and reduce flood risk for communities and can include numerous activities such as drainage pipes, pump stations, topographic grading, seawalls, marsh restoration, and other nature-based solutions.

Individual Structure/Property-Level Flood Mitigation Projects: Individual flood mitigation projects are those that mitigate the risk of flooding to individual NFIP-insured structures and give priority to properties meeting SRL and RL definitions. These project types include Acquisition, Acquisition Relocation, Relocation, Elevation, Mitigation Reconstruction, and Dry floodproofing of historic or commercial structures.

Project Scoping: Project scoping activities are designed to develop mitigation strategies and obtain data to prioritize, select, and develop complete applications in a timely manner that result in either an improvement in the capability to identify appropriate mitigation projects or in the development of an application-ready mitigation project for FMA or another.

Technical Assistance: FEMA will select eligible Technical Assistance subapplications up to $50,000 federal cost share for Recipients to which FEMA obligated at least $1 million federal share the previous FMA cycle.

Flood Mitigation Planning Activities: Planning subapplications for the flood hazard component of states, local communities, tribes and territories hazard mitigation plans and updates to plans are limited to $100,000 per applicant for flood hazard mitigation planning with maximums of $50,000 for state flood hazard mitigation planning and $25,000 for local flood hazard mitigation planning.

Cost Share Information

Severe Repetitive Loss

Repetitive Loss

Cost share is required for all subapplications funded by the Flood Mitigation Assistance program. Generally, the cost share for this program is 75% federal / 25% non-federal.  Contributions of cash, third-party in-kind services, materials, or any combination thereof, may be accepted as part of the non-federal cost share.  Learn more about cost share.

FEMA may consider the non-federal cost share based on availability of remaining federal funds, as noted in the Notice of Funding Opportunity,  Section E, Application Review Information. Community Flood Mitigation projects are only eligible for 75% federal cost share.

FEMA may contribute a higher federal cost share for individual property mitigation projects for Repetitive Loss (RL) and Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties.

These projects include Acquisition, Acquisition Relocation, Relocation, Elevation, Mitigation Reconstruction, and Dry floodproofing of historic or commercial structures.

FEMA may contribute 100% federal cost share. The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 updated the definition of a severe repetitive loss property.  This includes:  

• A current National Flood Insurance Program policy [HR1] is in effect for both building and contents coverage and the property has incurred flood-related damage with the following criteria
• Four or more separate claims payments (includes building and contents) have been made under flood insurance coverage with the amount of each such claim exceeding $5,000, and with the cumulative amount of such claims payments exceeding $20,000
• At least two separate claims payments (includes only building coverage) with the cumulative amount of such claims exceeding the market value of the insured structure.

FEMA may contribute up to 90% federal cost share. A repetitive loss property is defined by a flood insurance policy issued for the National Flood Insurance program.  The definition includes the following two items:

• Incurred flood-related damage on two occasions, in which the cost of the repair, on the average, equaled or exceeded 25% of the market value of the structure at the time of each such flood event. 
• At the time of the second incidence of flood-related damage, the contract for flood insurance contains Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage.