Flood Mitigation Assistance FY2019 Subapplication Status

FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs provide funding to protect life and property from future natural disasters. The Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant program assists States, Tribal, Territorial and local governments reduce or eliminate claims under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

For FY 2019, $160 million was initially made available for FMA. On August 26, 2019, FEMA posted the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on www.grants.gov to announce the availability of $160 million for FMA grants and the application period October 1, 2019 – January 31, 2019. On December 23, 2019, FEMA announced a revised FMA NOFO that amended the federal funding available from $160 million to $210 million based on identified recoveries from prior project underruns.

FEMA will fund the flood portion of mitigation planning subapplications consistent with 44CFR Part 201 up to $100,000 federal share per applicant with a maximum of $50,000 for state plans and $25,000 for local plans. In addition, applicants who were awarded FMA grant funds totaling at least $1 million in FY 2018 may receive technical assistance up to $50,000.  The remaining funds will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects.

The agency’s priorities for projects for the FY 2019 FMA program are:

1. Community Flood Mitigation – Up to $70,000,000 available

Advance Assistance

FEMA will select the highest ranked eligible subapplication for Advance Assistance from each Applicant up to $200,000 federal share based on final prioritization score (see table below) for a maximum of $4,000,000.

Advanced Assistance can be used to develop mitigation strategies and obtain data to prioritize, select, and develop community flood hazard projects for future funding.  FEMA will select subapplications that address flood risk on a community level based on final priority scoring criteria and that benefit communities with high participation and favorable standing in the NFIP. Consideration of Advanced Assistance early in the decision-making process can help facilitate the development of a viable project, as well as project implementation. There is no guarantee for future Hazard Mitigation Assistance project funding if Advanced Assistance is awarded.

Community Flood Mitigation Projects

FEMA will select the highest ranked eligible community flood mitigation subapplication from each Applicant up to $10,000,000 federal share based on final priority scoring criteria (see table below) and that benefit communities with high participation and favorable standing in the NFIP.  Applicants are not required to apply for Advanced Assistance funding to be eligible to receive a project award. 

Eligible activities include but are not limited:

• Infrastructure protective measures
• Localized flood control to protect critical facilities
• Floodwater storage and diversion
• Floodplain and stream restoration
• Water and sanitary sewer system protective measures
• Utility protective measures
• Stormwater management
• Aquifer storage and recovery
• Wetland restoration/creation

Subapplications submitted for either the community flood mitigation Advance Assistance or project funding will be scored and ranked based on the following priorities:

Priority	Description	Total Points
NFIP Policy Holder	Points will be assessed for every NFIP policy that is verified within the benefiting area of the project (5 per NFIP Policy)	5 x Each NFIP Policy
Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) and Repetitive Loss (RL) Properties	Points will be assessed for project that contains SRL or RL properties as defined in priority 4 below (10 per RL and 15 per SRL property)	10 x each RL 15 x each SRL
Private-Partnership Cost Share	Cost share taken on by private organizations/businesses emphasizing community participation, collaboration, and investment. Points will be assigned based on percentage of private cost share invested.	150
Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) rating	BCEGS rating assesses effectiveness of enforcement and adequacy of building codes with emphasis on mitigation. Classes weighted based on national class grouping ratings. Highest weight will be assigned to class 1 and descending through lower classes. (Graded Scale: 1 = 100, 2 = 90, 3 = 80, 4 = 70, 5 = 60, 5 = 50, 6 = 40, 7 = 30, 8 = 20, 9+ = 10)	10-100
Community Rating System (CRS) Participation	The CRS recognizes and encourages community floodplain-management activities that exceed the minimum National Flood Insurance Program standards. Depending on the level of participation, flood insurance premium rates for policyholders can be reduced up to 45%. Highest weight will be assigned to class 1 and descending through lower classes. (Graded Scale: 1 = 100, 2 = 90, 3 = 80, 4 = 70, 5 = 60, 5 = 50, 6 = 40, 7 = 30, 8 = 20, 9 = 10)	10-100
Cooperating Technical Partners Program (CTP) Participation	The CTP is a qualified partnership program in which communities commit to collaborate in maintaining up-to-date flood hazard maps and other flood hazard information. Points will be assigned to CTP participating communities.	100
International Building Codes (IBC) Adopted (2009 or newer)	International Building Codes (IBC) Adopted (2009 or newer)	International Building Codes (IBC) Adopted (2009 or newer)
	Total Points Available	500*

* In the event of a tie between two or more community flood mitigation applications:

• FEMA will use the highest Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) as a tiebreaker for projects; and.
• FEMA will use the total number of active policies in the local jurisdiction as a tie breaker for Advance Assistance.

After meeting the $70,000,000 available for community flood mitigation or when all eligible community flood mitigation project subapplications have been selected, FEMA will select eligible subapplications for the remaining funds in the following order:

2. Technical Assistance

FEMA will select eligible technical assistance subapplications up to $50,000 Federal share for Applicants who received FMA awards totaling at least $1,000,000 Federal share in FY 2018.

3. Flood Mitigation Planning

FEMA will select eligible planning subapplications up to $100,000 Federal share per Applicant with a maximum of $50,000 Federal share for State mitigation plan updates and $25,000 Federal share for local mitigation plans.  FEMA may reduce the Federal share of any planning subapplication that exceeds the regulatory maximums.

4. Competitive Funding for Property Flood Mitigation Projects

FEMA will select eligible flood mitigation project subapplications on a competitive basis as follows:

1. Projects that will mitigate flood damage to at least 50 percent of structures included in the subapplication that meet definition 42 U.S.C. 4104c(h)(3)(B)(ii) of a Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) property: At least two separate NFIP claim payments have been made with the cumulative amount of such claims exceeding the market value of the insured structure
2. Projects that will mitigate flood damage to at least 50 percent of structures included in the subapplication that meet the definition of a Repetitive Loss (RL) property:  Have 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
3. Projects that will mitigate flood damage to at least 50 percent of structures included in the subapplication that meet definition 42 U.S.C. 4104c(h)(3)(B)(i) of a SRL property: four or more separate NFIP claims payments have been made with the amount of each claim exceeding $5,000, and with the cumulative amount of claims payments exceeding $20,000

5. FEMA Will Select Remaining Eligible Applications Once All Above Priorities Are Met Based on Benefits to the NFIP

FEMA received 234 FMA subapplications submitted by 32 states and territories totaling over $306.2 million: 36 planning, 167 projects, 4 technical assistance, and 27 applicant management cost subapplications.

FEMA has completed eligibility review to ensure compliance with HMA Guidance and has made selections based on the agency’s priorities and available funding. FEMA has identified for further review 145 FMA subapplications from 26 applicants: 26 planning (includes 18 Community Mitigation Advance Assistance), 94 projects (includes 4 Community Flood Mitigation projects), 4 technical assistance subapplications, and 21 applicant management costs for $209.6 million.

The below table lists the submitted planning and project subapplications and the status of each alphabetically by applicant.

Most of the Flood Mitigation Assistance funding goes towards elevation, acquisitions, and mitigation reconstruction of repetitively flood-damaged buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Learn about the definition of each status description:

• Identified for Further Review
• Not Selected
• Did Not Meet HMA Requirements