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Hazard Mitigation Assistance Project Type Definitions

These definitions represent two “top five” lists for the Fiscal Year 2021 Flood Mitigation Assistance and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.  One list is the number of applications and the federal cost share by project type.  The second list is the number of applications received by project type.

Acquisitions
Acquisition projects involves the community or other eligible entity purchasing homes and/or commercial structures and the underlying property, demolishing all structures, and maintaining the property in open space.

Elevation
Elevation is where the home is raised so potential floodwaters may flow underneath.

Flood Control
Flood risk reduction projects are designed to eliminate or reduce the frequency, extent and water depth of flood events. Flood sources for these projects could be coastal, riverine or rainfall events or a combination of any of those sources. This can include projects involving greenspace, water control systems such as channels or berms or other flood prevention projects which reduce flooding impacts to homes and communities.

Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
This includes requests to update or develop Hazard Mitigation Plans.

Mitigation Reconstruction
Mitigation reconstruction is the construction of an improved, elevated building on the same site where an existing building and/or foundation has been partially or completely demolished or destroyed. These activities include either total or partial demolition of the structure and result in the construction of code-compliant and hazard-resistant structures on elevated foundation systems.

Safe Room/Shelters 
Safe room projects are designed and constructed to provide immediate life-safety protection for people in public and private structures from severe wind events, including hurricanes, tsunamis and tornadoes. For Hazard Mitigation Assistance, the term “safe room” only applies to structures that meet the criteria in FEMA P-361 Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes.

Project Scoping (Engineering, Environmental, Feasibility, and/or Benefit-Cost Analysis)
Projects that include environmental analysis and cost determination of future risk reduction benefits of a hazard mitigation project. Activities 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.

Retrofits
Retrofit projects are modifications to existing structures to reduce or eliminate the risk of future damage and to protect inhabitants. Retrofits can be structural or non-structural and can be done for a range of hazards.

Stabilization and Restoration
Stabilization projects reduce risk to structures or infrastructure from erosion and landslides, by installing erosion control measures such as geotextiles, stabilizing sod, rip rap, vegetative buffer strips or other activities such as preserving mature vegetation, decreasing slope angles or other means of slope anchoring.

Utility/Infrastructure Protection
Utility/Infrastructure Protection projects are ones that elevates, moves or improves a critical infrastructure such as elevating a pumping station or enhancing power poles to resist fire and/or wind.