The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is providing $12 million in funding to eligible states and local governments to close known preparedness capability gaps, encourage innovative regional solutions to issues related to catastrophic incidents, and build on existing regional preparedness efforts.
Overview
The FY 2022 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP), as authorized and appropriated by the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2022 (Pub. L. No. 117-103), provides funding to close known capability gaps, encourage innovative regional solutions to issues related to catastrophic incidents, and build on existing regional preparedness efforts. The purpose of the RCPGP is to build regional capacity to manage catastrophic incidents by improving and expanding collaboration for catastrophic incident preparedness.
The National Response Framework defines a catastrophic incident as any natural or manmade incident, including an act of terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, or government functions. Effective prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery activities require a cohesive regional approach to catastrophic planning.
FEMA is implementing three new strategic priorities in the FY 2022 RCPGP: equity, climate resilience, and readiness with an emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations. Recognizing the value of all-hazards emergency preparedness planning, and consistent with the strategic priorities of the FY 2022 RCPGP, the focus areas for the FY 2022 RCPGP are the Core Capabilities of Housing, Community Resilience, and Long-Term Vulnerability Reduction that improve capability levels as reported through the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)/Stakeholder Preparedness Review (SPR). Additionally, applicants should consider the needs of socially vulnerable populations and involve representatives from the affected communities in the development and execution of proposed projects to ensure their needs are sufficiently addressed.
Eligible applicants are advised to thoroughly review the FY 2022 RCPGP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for detailed instructions and other important information prior to submitting their application. The FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO is located online at Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, as well as on Grants.gov.
Funding
In FY 2022, FEMA will competitively award $12 million in RCPGP funds to assist states and local governments to develop innovative regional solutions to issues related to catastrophic incidents.
Eligibility
States, as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1 (this definition includes territories), and local governments, as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1, are eligible to apply. The following eligibility restrictions for these groups apply:
- A state or territory is eligible to apply if one or more of the 100 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) per the Census Bureau’s 2021 Population Estimates (as listed in Appendix A of the FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO) is located within the state or territory.
- Local governments must be located within one of the 100 most populous MSAs. FEMA will accept no more than one application per MSA.
Additional guidance on RCPGP-specific eligibility is available in the NOFO.
Application Process
Applying for an award under the RCPGP is a multi-step process. Applicants are encouraged to register early as the registration process can take four weeks or more to complete. Registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact your ability to meet required submission deadlines. Please refer to Section C in the FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO for detailed information and instructions.
Eligible applicants should submit their initial application at least one week prior to the application deadline at 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 5, 2022, through the Grants.gov portal at www.grants.gov. Applicants needing Grants.gov support should contact the customer support hotline at (800) 518-4726 24 hours per day, seven days per week except federal holidays.
Eligible applicants will be notified by FEMA and asked to proceed with submitting their complete application package in the Non-Disaster (ND) Grants System by the Aug. 5, 2022 application deadline.
Funding Selection Criteria
Applications will be evaluated using a scoring rubric, a summary of which is provided below. The needs of socially vulnerable populations are factored into the scoring criteria. The full criteria can be found in Appendix C of the FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO, which details the specific criteria aligned to each of the project narrative requirements and the maximum number of points an application can receive for each criterion. The four base criteria earn up to 100 total possible points. The bonus criterion brings the total to 120 possible points.
- Need: The applicant demonstrates a need for grant funds, including identifying their current capability and a gap/need for a project to build beyond current capability within the core capability of interest. (Possible Points: 0 – 20 max)
- Project Design: The applicant demonstrates an effective and sustainable project approach for building their current capability within the 36-month period of performance, including the specific project implementation, project management, and regional collaboration approaches. (Possible Points: 0 – 35 max)
- Impact: The applicant demonstrates the proposed project’s regional impact, including how the project will build the applicant’s capability, performance measures the project is expected to achieve, and how the project can be scaled or replicated to benefit national preparedness. (Possible Points: 0 – 25 max)
- Budget: The applicant demonstrates a reasonable and cost-effective budget (based on the budget detail worksheet and project narrative), including explanation of reasonable project costs across the requested categories, the project’s relative cost effectiveness and sustainability, and the applicant’s ability to manage federal grants. (Possible Points: 0 – 20 max)
- Bonus: Up to 20 bonus points will be applied to project proposals that:
- Benefit multiple states or more than one of the top 100 most populous MSAs.
- Support socially vulnerable populations based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index data.
- Address climate resilience with a focus on equity.
- Commit to a 10 percent or greater cost share in the proposal.
- Are submitted by a new or previously unsuccessful RCPGP applicant.
See Appendix C: Evaluation Criteria and Scoring in the FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO for additional details on scoring, including how bonus points will be applied.
For More Information
There are a variety of resources available to address programmatic, technical, and financial questions, which can assist with RCPGP:
- The FY 2022 RCPGP NOFO is located online at Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program as well as www.grants.gov.
- FEMA Regional Offices issue, manage, and close out RCPGP awards. This includes conducting cash analysis, financial and programmatic monitoring, and audit resolution. The Regional Offices also provide technical assistance to RCPGP recipients. FEMA Regional Office contact information is available at fema.gov/fema-regional-contacts.
- Applicants needing technical support with the ND Grants System should contact ndgrants@fema.dhs.gov or (800) 865-4076, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
Contact Us
The FEMA Program Office provides support in addressing specific programmatic questions regarding the FY 2022 RCPGP. The Program Office can be reached by e-mail at: FEMA-RCPGP@fema.dhs.gov.
For additional program-specific information, please contact the FEMA Grants Information Desk at fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov OR at (800) 368-6498. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
For support regarding financial grants management and budgetary technical assistance, applicants may contact the FEMA Award Administration Help Desk via e-mail at ASK-GMD@fema.dhs.gov