FEMA recently announced a new federal grant initiative that will help four states, including Pennsylvania, affected by Hurricane Ida, one of the most intense storms to hit the United States in recent years, become more resilient to flooding.
The new Swift Current initiative allocates a total of $60 million to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Louisiana and Mississippi to equitably expedite mitigation grants to disaster survivors with repetitively flooded homes. This is the first FEMA initiative funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to strengthen national preparedness and resilience.
Swift Current provides learning opportunities that will help FEMA prepare for a larger national rollout to substantially speed up the award of flood mitigation dollars to better align the program with the disaster survivor experience.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $3.5 billion in Flood Mitigation Assistance grants over five years. As part of the $3.5 billion, Swift Current will help communities reduce flood damage and comply with local community requirements. FEMA is providing more equitable access to mitigation grants through the act by increasing cost shares above the standard 75 percent federal share to socially vulnerable communities that often face challenges meeting their non-federal match.
Examples of eligible projects include property acquisition and demolition, elevation and relocation.
The four states were selected because they have the highest number of unmitigated severe repetitive loss and repetitive loss properties insured under the National Flood Insurance Program and total flood insurance claims within their respective FEMA regions.
Pennsylvania will receive $5 million.
To be eligible, buildings must be insured through the National Flood Insurance Program for FEMA to consider them for this funding opportunity.
The application process for federal grants can be burdensome for socially vulnerable communities. FEMA reduced grant application complexities by developing pre-calculated benefits to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of eligible mitigation projects. This enables communities with limited access to resources to apply for these grants.
The federal cost share will range from 75-100 percent:
– FEMA is offering a higher federal cost share of 90 percent for buildings located in socially vulnerable communities; these communities often face challenges in meeting the non-federal cost-share match
– The federal cost share for the Flood Mitigation Assistance program is 100 percent for Severe Repetitive Loss properties and 90 percent for Repetitive Loss properties
The application period opens on April 1 and closes Oct. 3. The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available at grants.gov/. All applications must be submitted in the Mitigation eGrants system, will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and must be submitted no later than noon ET on Oct. 3. Applications received by FEMA after this deadline will not be considered for funding.
For more information, interested sub-applicants can contact their state’s hazard mitigation officer.
