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General Program Questions
1. What is the purpose of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program?
The FY 2024 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) is intended to build state and local capacity to manage catastrophic incidents by improving and expanding regional collaboration among emergency managers and other preparedness stakeholders. The primary objective of the RCPGP is to involve regional stakeholders in the development of plans to address those core capabilities that present persistent preparedness challenges, with specific focus on community-level resilience, and an emphasis on addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities and long-term vulnerability reduction within those communities. RCPGP represents one part of a comprehensive set of actions authorized by Congress and implemented by DHS to build preparedness capabilities. The National Preparedness Goal (the Goal) defines what it means to be prepared for a wide range of threats and hazards, including catastrophic incidents.
2. What legislation authorizes funding for the FY 2024 RCPGP?
The program is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024 (Pub. L. No. 118-47).
3. How much funding is available under the FY 2024 RCPGP?
The total amount of funds distributed under the FY 2024 RCPGP will be $10.8 million.
4, What are the changes in funding levels between FY 2023 and FY 2024?
The FY 2024 funding level for the RCPGP is $1.2 million less than FY 2023.
5, Where is the FY 2024 RCPGP Notice of Funding Opportunity located?
The FY 2024 RCPGP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is located online at www.fema.gov/grants.
6. How many awards are anticipated?
FEMA anticipates that approximately 5-10 awards will be made. Applicants are eligible to apply for up to, but no more than, $3 million.
7. Who is eligible to apply for the FY 2024 RCPGP?
States, as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1 (this definition includes the District of Columbia and territories), and local governments, as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1, are eligible to apply for FY 2024 RCPGP funds. 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 (MSA) per the Census Bureau’s 2021 Population Estimates (as listed in Appendix A of the FY 2024 RCPGP NOFO: 100 Most Populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas [2021])is located within the state or territory.
- Additionally, the state or territory must obtain the support of the relevant MSA to apply on its behalf. See Section D.10.b Program-Specific Required Forms and Information in the FY 2024 RCPGP NOFO for additional details on this requirement.
- 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.
8. What must applications include?
In addition to the required project narrative, budget worksheet and narrative, and standard application forms and agreements as noted in Section D.11 of the NOFO, FY 2024 RCPGP applications must include:
- For States and Territories Only: A written, signed statement explaining the statewide or multi-state impact of the proposed investment and attesting to the advance coordination and support of at least one of the nation’s 100 most populous MSAs located within the state or territory.
- For Local Governments Only: A written, signed statement certifying that the applicant’s chief executive (e.g., mayor, city manager, county executive) and, as applicable, the chief executive of the first principal city of the MSA, supports the application as the local government’s single application being submitted for consideration by FEMA.
- All Applicants: Names of all entities partnering on the project, including but not limited to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, non-profit organizations, and other non-government entities. Partner entities can extend beyond the boundaries of the state/territory or MSA and can be in other states/territories or MSAs for the purposes of regional collaboration.
- All Applicants: Letters of support from partner entities or a written, signed statement certifying the involvement and support of all partner entities that will participate in the proposed project and, if applicable, information on the relationship between the applicant and partnering entities (e.g., existing letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements, such as Memoranda of Understanding [MOU]).
- All Applicants: A list of all counties and disadvantaged communities that will be involved in the project and will directly benefit from the project, including the Census tract numbers associated with each disadvantaged community based on the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST).
9. How will FY 2024 RCPGP applications be submitted?
Applying for an award under RCPGP is a multi-step process. Applicants are encouraged to register early in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and the FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) system, 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 D in the FY 2024 RCPGP NOFO for detailed information and instructions.
All application materials will be posted on Grants.gov. Eligible applicants should submit their application through FEMA GO. For FEMA GO support, applicants should contact FEMAGO@fema.dhs.gov or (877) 585-3242, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Completed applications must be submitted in the FEMA GO system no later than 5 p.m. ET on July 25, 2024.
10. What are the key dates associated with the FY 2024 RCPGP?
- Application start date: 05/23/2024
- Application submission deadline: 07/25/2024 at 5 p.m. ET
11. What is the FY 2024 RCPGP period of performance?
The period of performance is 36 months.
12. How will applications be evaluated?
Applications must conform to the guidance provided in the FY 2024 RCPGP NOFO. Applications that do not meet eligibility and submission requirements will not be evaluated. Accepted applications will be evaluated by a review panel comprised of FEMA subject matter experts using a scoring rubric. Below is a summary of the evaluation criteria. The needs of disadvantaged communities are factored into the scoring criteria. The full criteria can be found in Appendix C of the 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 130 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 maximum)
- 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 maximum)
- 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 maximum)
- 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 maximum)
- Bonus: Up to 30 bonus points will be applied for project proposals that:
- Provide education, tools, and training for emergency managers and other key stakeholders to identify and address the emerging risks and future conditions caused by climate change and increase community-level resilience within the identified disadvantaged communities;
- Provide education, tools, and training for emergency managers and other key stakeholders to support integration of climate change data into local planning, including hazard mitigation, emergency management, and community planning processes;
- Plan for and develop research-supported, proactive investments in community resilience;
- Benefit a relatively large number of census tracts that are identified as a disadvantaged community;
- Benefit multiple states or more than one of the top 100 most-populous MSAs; and/or
- Are submitted by a new or previously unsuccessful RCPGP applicant.
See Appendix C: Evaluation Criteria and Scoring of the FY 2024 RCPGP NOFO for additional details on scoring, including how bonus points will be applied.
13. What other resources are available to address programmatic, technical, and financial questions?
- For additional program-specific information, please contact FEMA Grants News at (800) 368-6498 or fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov. FEMA Grants News 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 Division Help Desk via e-mail at ASK-GMD@fema.dhs.gov.
- The FEMA Regions also provide technical assistance to RCPGP recipients. A list of contacts in the FEMA Regions is available at www.fema.gov/fema-regional-contacts.The Program Office can be reached by e-mail at FEMA-RCPGP@fema.dhs.gov.
- All inquiries and communications regarding the FEMA Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) review process, including the submittal of EHP review materials, should be sent to gpdehpinfo@fema.dhs.gov. EHP Technical Assistance, including the EHP Screening Form, can be found online at /grants/tools/environmental-historic/preparation-resources.