This is the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program (FMA) homepage. The purpose of this page is to provide general information on the FMA program.
General Program Information
The FMA program is authorized by Section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended with the goal of reducing or eliminating claims under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FMA provides funding to States, Territories, federally-recognized tribes and local communities for projects and planning that reduces or eliminates long-term risk of flood damage to structures insured under the NFIP. FMA funding is also available for management costs. Funding is appropriated by Congress annually.
FEMA requires state, tribal, and local governments to develop and adopt hazard mitigation plans as a condition for receiving certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance, including funding for HMA mitigation projects. For more information on mitigation plan requirement or refer to the current HMA.
Please refer to the current HMA guidance for detail information on the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program.
Eligibility
Below is a flowchart showing the process individual homeowners, businesses, subapplicants and applicants must go through in order to apply for FMA grants and how this process leads to FEMA.
Generally, local communities will sponsor applications on behalf of homeowners and then submit the applications to their State. All FMA grant applications must be submitted to FEMA by a State, U.S. Territory, or federally-recognized tribe.
The following is a list of governments that can sponsor an application:
- States
- Territories
- Federally-recognized tribes
- Local governments
Fiscal Year 2016 Application Cycle
The Fiscal Year 2016 application period announced via the Notice of Funding Opportunity posted on Grants.gov: DHS-16-MT-029-000-99 was open March 15 through June 15, 2016.
Please refer to the Fiscal Year 2016 Flood Mitigation Assistance Fact Sheet for more information.
FEMA completed its review of the Fiscal Year 2015 Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program applications and made selections based on the agency’s priorities and available funding. FEMA will not send notification letters to each applicant regarding their status. Rather, applicants should review the FY 2016 FMA Subapplication Status online.
Fiscal Year 2015 Application Status
FEMA completed its review of the Fiscal Year 2015 Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program applications and made selections based on the agency’s priorities and available funding. FEMA will not send notification letters to each applicant regarding their status. Rather, applicants should review the FY 2015 FMA Subapplication Status online.
Application Process
Subapplicants submit mitigation planning and project subapplications to their State during the open application cycle. After reviewing project and planning applications to determine if they meet the program’s requirements, the States, territories, or federally-recognized tribal governments prioritize and forward the applications to their FEMA Regional Office.
Planning subapplications submitted for consideration for FMA funding must only be used to support the flood hazard portion of State, tribal, or local mitigation plans to meet the requirements outlined in 44 CFR Part 201 Mitigation Planning. Funds are only available to support communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Projects submitted for consideration for FMA funding must be consistent with the goals and objectives identified in the current, FEMA-approved State or Tribal (Standard or Enhanced) hazard mitigation plan along with the local or tribal hazard mitigation plan for the jurisdiction in which the activity is located.
Funding is limited and FEMA Headquarters must make difficult decisions as to the most effective use of grant funds. FEMA awards FMA funds to State, U.S. Territory, and Federally-recognized tribal Applicants, who in-turn provide subawards to local government subapplicants.
Please contact your State Hazard Mitigation Officer, federally-recognized tribal government official and/or a local government official to obtain detailed information on the FMA application process.
Please note that the FMA program is a competitive grant program and FEMA chooses the applications to be funded based on the Applicant’s ranking of the project and the eligibility and cost-effectiveness of the project.