FY24 Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Amendment

Description

FMA Grant Intent

The intent of the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA) is to provide funding for projects either reducing or eliminating the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

For more information on the FMA program, please visit: https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/floods Application Period

Application Period

FY 2024 Full Application Deadline to VDEM: June 30, 2026 5:00 PM Eastern Time. This will give VDEM time to review all applications, request additional information, and submit all project sub-applications through the FEMA GO system by FEMA’s application deadline of August 6, 2026.

Eligible Project Types

• Capability and Capacity Building Activities: Covers a broad range of planning and programmatic efforts designed to strengthen a community's ability to reduce flood risk over time. Eligible activities include partnership development to support mitigation initiatives, enhancements to local floodplain management programs, and the development of Severe Repetitive Loss and Repetitive Loss strategies. Communities can also pursue substantial damage procedures, hazard mitigation plan development and integration, and project scoping activities that lay the groundwork for future flood mitigation investments.
• Localized Flood Risk Reduction: Projects span a wide range of infrastructure types, all aimed at reducing flood damage to NFIP-insured properties at a community scale. Common project types include stormwater management improvements such as upsizing culverts and storm sewers, and floodwater storage and diversion features like detention ponds, bioretention basins, and bioswales. Communities can also pursue floodplain and wetland restoration projects that leverage natural systems to reduce flood peaks and dam and spillway improvements to address outdated flood risk estimates.
• Individual Flood Mitigation: Projects target specific NFIP-insured structures with a history of repetitive or severe repetitive flood damage, providing funding for a variety of property-level mitigation measures. Common project types include structure acquisition and demolition as well as structure elevation to raise buildings above the base flood elevation. Communities can also pursue dry floodproofing for historic structures, mitigation reconstruction to rebuild existing structures to current flood-resistant standards, and other structural retrofits designed to reduce a property's vulnerability to flood damage.

Who can apply?

• Local governments, including cities, townships, counties, special district governments, state agencies, and federally recognized tribes (who can choose to apply as an applicant or subapplicant) are subapplicants and must submit applications through their respective qualifying agency (VDEM).
• FOR HOMEOWNERS: Those who wish to apply for grant funding assistance for elevation, acquisition and demolition or relocation, or mitigation reconstruction of their home should contact their local government’s grants representative for information on how to participate. Individual property owners must apply through an eligible subapplicant to be considered for funding opportunities.

Additional Eligibility Criteria

• All subapplicants must be participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and not be withdrawn, on probation or suspended. Structures identified in the subapplication must have an NFIP policy in effect at the application start date and must maintain it through completion of the mitigation activity and for the life of the structure.
• Subapplicants must have a FEMA-approved Local or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan by the application deadline and at the time of obligation of grant funds for mitigation projects (with the exception of capability and capacity building activities’ mitigation plans).
• While community flood mitigation projects are only eligible for 75% Federal cost share, FEMA may contribute a higher Federal cost share for individual mitigation projects that include Repetitive Loss (RL) or Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties.

How To Apply?

All project pre-applications, applications, and supporting documentation must be submitted through VDEM’s grants management portal at https://vdem.emgrants.com. If you do not currently have an active account, you can register for a new account through this portal as well.

Application

After a pre-application is reviewed for eligibility and processed by VDEM, you will be prompted to complete a project application which will require detailed scope of work, project cost, and other pertinent information necessary to qualify for consideration by FEMA following submittal.

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