Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program FY 2022 Subapplication and Selection Status

Summary of Fiscal Year 2022 Selections

Final Selections Summary

Initial Selections Summary

Social Vulnerability Total Cost Share

Highlights of Data

Subapplication Status by State

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program is a competitive annual grant program that provides funding to states, local communities, federally recognized tribes and territories. Funds can be used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

On Aug. 28, 2023, FEMA announced the final selection of 149 subapplications totaling nearly $642.5 million in available grant funding for fiscal year 2022. In addition, applications were also selected to receive $44.36 million in management costs. These selections are across nine FEMA regions in 28 states and the District of Columbia. This brings the total federal cost share for final selections to $686.8 million.

For fiscal year 2022, FEMA announced selections of 230 subapplications totaling $711 million in FMA grant funding.

FEMA prioritized key initiatives important to stakeholders in this grant cycle.

This includes the mitigation of repetitively flooded properties. In this cycle, the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program selected 127 of the 137 submitted individual property flood mitigation projects. Repetitively flooded structures put the greatest strain on the National Flood Insurance Program. In total, 40% of the structures selected were repetitively flooded. 

The village of Machesney Park, which is immediately east of the Rock River, will purchase 19 parcels and demolish the residential structures that are all located in the floodplain and floodway of Special Flood Hazard Areas. The village has received five other rounds of grant funding which has been used by consultants to complete most of the work.

In Jefferson Parish, 47 flood-prone structures will be elevated to meet the height of the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map base flood elevation, plus an additional two feet. This project will begin the engineering design phase to inform on how to elevate the structures.

The borough of Longport will begin Phase 2 of the Winchester Avenue Resiliency Project by replacing and installing storm sewer infrastructure to benefit 356 structures, including 19 repetitive and severe repetitive loss homes, that are insured under the National Flood Insurance Program.

The Borough of West Wildwood is an island community located on the back bay intercoastal waterway in southeast Cape May County. It consists of 220 total acres, half of which are environmentally sensitive lands where development is not prohibited. The project will include six stone breakwaters with adjoining marsh and beach habitat. All of this will be in a tombolo formation with a variety of elevations behind the breakwaters that will let natural adaptation occur and will make plantings more successful.

Harris County is working with Harris County Precinct 4 and the city of Houston to mitigate existing flood hazards in the Sherwood Oaks subdivision. This project will upsize existing storm drainpipes, build a parallel storm drain system, and upgrade the existing infrastructure to meet Houston’s standards.

As the threat of floodwaters reaching living areas rises, Monroe County will take steps to elevate 19 single-family homes throughout the Florida Keys. The living areas within these structures will be elevated using piers and concrete footings to at least three feet above the Base Flood Elevation or to the elevation set by the local floodplain ordinance, whichever is higher. Any non-habitable areas within these homes will be converted to storage or parking and provide protection against a 100-year storm event.

The project aims to build a flood control facility near Lost Dutchman Boulevard and State Highway 88 in Apache Junction. The project will recharge the groundwater naturally using the impounded stormwater. The facility will also use nature-based solutions, including permitted surface recharge, to enhance water resource resilience and reduce reliance on the Colorado River.

The city of Canton is asking for grant funding for the Martin Luther King (MLK) South Flood Mitigation Project. As part of flood mitigation efforts, Canton is looking to carry out a capital improvement project that includes activities to improve detention/retention ponds and drainage channels. The city will also rehabilitate and expand riverbank buffers.

There are various types of projects eligible for this grant funding. The list below reflects the top five subapplication types by the number of subapplications and total funding amount selected.

Uses of Flood Mitigation Assistance	Number of Subapplications Selected	Total Amount of Federal Cost Share
Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects	22	$378,754,296
Individual Property Mitigation Projects	127	$263,703,514
Management Costs	23	$44,361,625
Project Scoping	51	$23,777,821
Technical Assistance/Flood Hazard Planning	7	$477,375
Totals	230	$711,074,632

For final selections, FEMA selected 149 subapplications to receive FMA grant funding for include individual property flood mitigation and localized flood risk reduction projects.

For initial selections in fiscal year 2022, FEMA selected 57 subapplications eligible for FMA grant funding for capability and capacity building activities. 

Eligible project types include updating flood hazard mitigation plans, technical assistance, and project scoping. FEMA awards these funds so communities can enhance capability and capacity and implement mitigation projects faster. 

Highlights from the selections include:

• 25 subapplications selected in disadvantaged communities totaling $10.4 million in federal cost share funding.
• Multiple subapplications selected include funding requests for project scoping activities future eligibility to receive funding through FEMA’s grant programs that address localized flood risk reduction and individual flood mitigation.
• In the District of Columbia, FEMA selected one subapplication for project scoping activities that will allow the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA) and the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) to incorporate new flood risk data into high-level planning documents, development of resilience plans, and identify mitigation projects that reduce flooding of homes in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).
• In North Carolina FEMA selected one subapplication for project scoping activities to be used for conducting outreach with repetitive loss property owners in the community, and other activities that will lead to the development of future individual flood mitigation projects.
• In Pennsylvania FEMA has selected six subapplications, including project scoping activities in the City of Coatesville. Coatesville experienced flooding from storm events in 2021 and will seek long term resilience solutions to reduce the potential for flooding in urban areas.
• In Texas FEMA selected 15 subapplications for $6.7 million for project scoping activities and planning. This funding will support the evaluation of past flood events and implementation of mitigation planning to reduce future flood risk in communities across the state.

For fiscal year 2022, subapplications were evaluated using an interim equity data standard established by FEMA at the time of the funding opportunity release. The standard used is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Social Vulnerability Index (CDC/ATSDR SVI) to identify subapplications with high (≥0.6) and very high (≥0.8) social vulnerability.

	High and Very High Social Vulnerability Community Federal Selection	Total Federal Selection
Initial Selections (Announced May 19)	$10,778,085.09	$24,255,196.41
Final Selections (Announced Aug. 28)	$212,167,824.53	$642,457,810.44
Management Costs (Initial +final)	$0	$44,361,625.51
Flood Mitigation Assistance Totals	$222,945,909.62	$711,074,632.36

For FY 2022 selections, nearly $223 million of available funding, accounting for 31% of selections, will go to socially vulnerable communities.

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program has been greatly improved. In comparing fiscal year 2022 data and statistics to the fiscal year 2019-2021 grant cycles, FEMA can tout successes and improvements in the FMA program. The total number of subapplications selected in fiscal year 2022 nearly quadrupled from fiscal year 2021 and more than doubled the amount selected in fiscal year 2020.

• In fiscal year 2022, FEMA made selections that totaled over $141.4 million more FMA grant funding than the total amount of all three previous fiscal years combined.
  • The success can be attributed to the substantial increase in available FMA grant funding in fiscal year 2022 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and improved coordination between federal, state, and local agencies.
• 22 subapplications totaling over $378.7 million were selected for Localized Flood Risk Reduction projects. This is over $267.2 million more than the total amount of all three previous fiscal years combined for this project type.
  • The increase in selections of Localized Flood Risk Reduction projects in fiscal year 2022 is due to enhancing the federal share allowed to 90% for projects impacting socially vulnerable communities, increasing final priority scoring, expanding access to Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) waivers, and encouraging the use of nature-based solutions and green infrastructure.
• 127 subapplications totaling over $263.7 million were selected for Individual Property Flood Mitigation projects. This is nearly three times the amount for subapplications selected in fiscal year 2021 and over $85.5 million more than fiscal year 2019.
  • The increase in selections of individual property flood mitigation projects in fiscal year 2022 is due to a substantial increase in available funding ($80 million in fiscal year 2021 to $400 million in fiscal year 2022) for this project type and making up to 100% federal cost share available for repetitively flooded properties.

The below table shows each subapplication status by state. For this grant cycle, FEMA made two announcements. In May, initial selections for capability and capacity building activities that include updating flood hazard mitigation plans, technical assistance, and project scoping. In August, final selections for projects that include individual property flood mitigation and localized flood risk reduction projects. 

Learn about the definition of each status description:

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