Agency Announces First Selections Awarded for Two Mitigation Grant Programs
FEMA is expediting mitigation grant selections and assistance to help states, local communities, tribes and territories enhance disaster resiliency sooner.
The awards totaling $91.2 million are the first round of selected projects for the fiscal year 2021 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant programs. FEMA is announcing these first-round selections earlier than last year to better assist communities across the nation to build resilience.
States, local communities, tribes and territories may use this grant for mitigation planning, adoption and enforcement of building codes and standards, project scoping and small-scale mitigation projects.
FEMA is also announcing selections of 20 diverse communities, tribes and territories set to receive non-financial direct technical assistance to help build community-wide resilience. In this assistance, FEMA provides free support for mitigation projects and application-specific needs to underserved communities that may encounter barriers when trying to access Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs.
“We are excited about this opportunity to provide support at the earliest stages to communities, which may not have the capacity to start the application process on their own,” said FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks. “FEMA looks forward to working with these communities to find solutions to make them more resilient and reduce the impacts of climate change.”
These selections will help FEMA set a baseline to achieving the goals of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which prioritizes delivering at least 40% of the overall benefits of federal investments to disadvantaged communities.
FEMA will make the second round of project selections later this summer. The announcement will include more complex projects like those from BRIC’s national competition and Flood Mitigation Assistance community-wide flood mitigation projects.
These are the first selections of $1.16 billion in the FMA and BRIC funding that FEMA announced in August. The programs provide funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for eligible mitigation and planning activities. They strengthen our nation’s ability to build a culture of preparedness and promote and sustain a prepared nation.
The first round of selections may be viewed on FEMA.gov.