Notice of Funding Opportunities for FEMA Earthquake State Assistance Grants Fiscal Year 2022

Release Date:
April 14, 2022

Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but their impacts on life, property and the economy can be managed. Congress first authorized the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) in 1977 (Public Law 95-124) to “reduce the risks of life and property from future earthquakes in the United States.” The most recent reauthorization was Public Law 115-307, signed in December 2018.

FEMA makes federal funds available annually through its NEHRP State Assistance Grant. This grant is made to individual states and territories at high and very high-risk of earthquakes, and nonprofit organizations as defined by Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 200.70 and institutions of higher education as defined by Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 200.55.

All activities funded by FEMA must be consistent with the following National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program vision, mission, and strategic goals:

Vision

A nation that is earthquake-resilient in public safety, economic strength and national security.

Mission

The mission of the program is to develop, disseminate, and promote knowledge, tools, and practices for earthquake risk reduction through coordinated, multidisciplinary, interagency partnerships among the NEHRP agencies and their stakeholders to reduce disaster suffering.

Strategic Goals

The program prioritizes reducing the risks to life and property from future earthquakes in the United States through the establishment and maintenance of an effective earthquake hazards reduction program. The program’s goals are:

  • Improve understanding of earthquake processes and impacts.
  • Develop cost-effective measures to reduce earthquake impacts on individuals, the built environment, and society-at-large.
  • Improve the earthquake resilience of communities nationwide.
  • Reduce disaster suffering.

Available Funding

For Fiscal Year 2022, FEMA will distribute $2.15 million to individual states and territories determined to have a high to very high-risk of earthquakes and up to $1.389 million to nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education to reduce seismic risk.

Eligibility Information

Individual State Earthquake Assistance. states and territories that have been determined to have a high or very high-risk of earthquakes. Eligibility is further limited to those states or territories who can provide the statutory 25% non-federal cost share.

Multi-State and National Earthquake Assistance. Nonprofit organizations as defined by Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations (2 C.F.R.) Section 200.70 and higher education institutions as defined by 2 C.F.R. Section 200.55 with a demonstrated capability and capacity to develop, promote and deliver national and/or multi-state seismic risk reduction activities.

Determination of Risk

Individual State Earthquake Assistance (ISEA) funding is allocated based on a determination of risk, and not as a competitive grant award process. The risk determination is made and published annually by FEMA as the State Assistance Target Allocation Plan.

The Fiscal Year 2022 plan determination is based on the Seismic Design Category (SDC) as outlined by the following:

  • American Society of Civil Engineers and Structural Engineering Institute ASCE/SEI 7-16 Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures
  • 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) SDC maps and at-risk population in a state.
  • A state or territory of high earthquake risk (with areas in the State boundary designated as SDC D0 or above per the 2018 International Residential Code SDC map and at-risk population over 50,000 based on 2010 US Census population. A state that has over 1000 square miles of high seismic area (SDC D or above per 2018 International Residential Code SDC map) will be eligible for a baseline amount plus an additional award amount.

Applicants should be aware that changes in areas of earthquake hazard within the state or territory and changes in population size affect the determination.

The additional amount is in proportion to the state or territory’s Annualized Earthquake Loss (AEL), which is from the FEMA P-366 HAZUS Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States.

Cost Share

A cost share is required for all Individual State Earthquake Assistance grants funded under this program. The non-federal cost share may consist of cash, donated or third-party in-kind services, materials, or any combination thereof.

  • FEMA will provide 100% federal funding for management costs. The cost share for Individual Earthquake Assistance grants is 75% federal/25% non-federal.
  • or insular areas, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, FEMA automatically waives the non-federal cost share for the recipient when the non-federal cost share for the entire award is under $200,000.

A cost share is not required for Multi-state and National Earthquake Assistance grants funded under this program.

National Review Panel

Multi-State and National Earthquake Assistance grant funding is determined through a competitive process that includes an Initial Eligibility Review and National Panel Review.

Eligibility Review

  • Prior to application consideration, FEMA will conduct an initial review of all applications to verify applicant eligibility and ensure each application is complete. FEMA will not process incomplete applications for further review and will not consider them for funding.
  • All eligible and complete applications will progress to the FEMA Program Office where it will be evaluated and scored by a National Panel of FEMA subject matter experts.

Panel Review

  • Applications will be reviewed and scored by a review panel comprised of personnel from FEMA.
  • Applicants that do not meet initial eligibility and application submission requirements will not be evaluated and scored by the national review panel.
  • The panel will evaluate each applicant’s experience, proposed work plan, deliverable schedule, anticipated outcomes, and proposed budget.

Application and Funding Deadlines

To apply for funding made available for Fiscal Year 2022 through the FEMA NEHRP State Assistance Grant Program, applicants must adhere to the following application and funding deadlines:

Application Opening: May 2, 2022

Application Deadline: June 1, 2022 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time

Anticipated Funding Selection Date: July 1, 2022

Anticipated Award Date: July 15, 2022

Period of Performance (POP) Start Date: Aug. 1, 2022

End Date: Jan. 31, 2024

  • After submitting the initial application in Grants.gov, Applicants must submit their final application in using the Non-Disaster Grants (ND Grants) system.
  • Applicants can register early with ND Grants and are encouraged to begin their ND Grants registration at the time of this announcement or, at the latest, seven days before the application deadline. Early registration will allow applicants to have adequate time to start and complete their applications.
  • Applicants needing assistance registering for the ND Grants system should contact ndgrants@fema.gov or 800- 865-4076. For step-by-step directions on using the ND Grants system and other guides, please see the Non-Disaster Grants Management System resource.

Additional Resources

The resources below provide additional information about NEHRP, the FEMA NEHRP State Assistance program and the National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program:

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

NEHRP Annual Reports and Plans

NEHRP Fact Sheet

FEMA Earthquake State Assistance Grant Program

Previous Earthquake Mitigation Activities

General questions about the FEMA NEHRP State Assistance Grant Program can be sent to FEMA-NEHRP@fema.dhs.gov.

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