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.
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
For the first round, FEMA has selected 316 subapplications for further review totaling $65.7 million across each state and territory, including 55 tribes. Most of the selections are for capability and capacity building projects specifically for project scoping, planning, partnerships and building codes.
Examples of a wide variety of subapplication selections include relocating 10 homes in the Native Village of Napakiak in Alaska, project scoping a bridge in Biloxi, Mississippi and completing a flood study of the Lower Brandywine River and developing a mitigation strategy for future flooding in Delaware.
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Direct Technical Assistance
FEMA selected 20 communities to receive non-financial Direct Technical Assistance. This helps communities submit high-quality grant applications to reduce disaster damage, carry out risk-reduction projects and sustain successful mitigation programs.
Flood Mitigation Assistance
For the first round, FEMA has selected 22 subapplications for further review totaling $25.5 million across five states. The majority of the selections are to elevate repetitively flood-damaged buildings insured under the National Flood Insurance Program that will benefit socially vulnerable households.
Other subapplications for further review included capacity and capability building activities such as project scoping, planning and technical assistance.
Examples of subapplication projects selected include elevating more than 70 buildings in Ascension, New Iberia, Rapides and St. Tammany parishes in Louisiana and project scoping a housing complex in East Harlem, New York that has been vulnerable to flooding.
As FEMA is reviewing the second round of selections to be announced this summer, there will be a greater focus and priority on socially vulnerable communities.
FEMA remains committed to investing in mitigation. Important elements of our grant programs are aligned to build a culture of preparedness and promote and sustain a prepared nation by reducing disaster losses and protecting life and property from disaster damage.
For more information, visit the Hazard Mitigation Assistance webpage.
Original source can be found here.
