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Homeland Security and Emergency Management Grants



Homeland Security Grants EMPG-Emergency Managment Performance Grant
Purpose: The purpose of the FY 2012 Emergency Management Preparedness Grants (EMPG) Program is to provide grants to states to assist state, local, tribal and territorial governments in preparing for all hazards, as authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). Title VI of the Stafford Act authorizes FEMA to make grants for the purpose of providing a system of emergency preparedness for the protection of life and property in the United States from hazards and to vest responsibility for emergency preparedness jointly in the federal government and the states and their political subdivisions. The federal government, through the EMPG Program, provides necessary direction, coordination, and guidance, and provides necessary assistance, as authorized in this title so that a comprehensive emergency preparedness system exists for all hazards. The FY 2012 EMPG plays an important role in the implementation of Presidential Policy Directive – 8 (PPD-8) by supporting the development and sustainment of core capabilities to fulfill the NPG.


SERC-State Emergency Response Commission

 

Hazard Mitigation Program grants:

Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants
http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=4225 (2012 guidance)

As can be expected when many programs with competing eligibility requirements with the same goal come on the scene, a method to the overall process must be developed to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. FEMA implemented the Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants to bring all these programs with the same goal under one set of rules. Effectively this brought the requirement of an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan, and a user friendly environment for grant requests.
The HMA covered programs are listed below:

HMGP-Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is the oldest of the mitigation grants. It is also the only grant that derives its funding in direct proportion to a disaster, and is allowed to submit applications that can be approved up to one year if the Hazard Mitigation Plan is expired. Federal disaster declarations must ask for mitigation and designate the counties requesting mitigation. Because mitigation is the act of using resources today to lessen the impact of disasters, mitigation is always requested for every county in the state that is eligible for that funding. To be eligible for the funding a community must have an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan, and be in good standing in the NFIP. The community must also not have a federal obligation owed from previous disaster funding sources. All projects submitted must be cost beneficial and lastly, the community must agree to all terms and conditions set forth in the grant agreement. Individual property owners CANNOT apply directly but instead MUST be sponsored by an eligible community that has jurisdiction over the property in question. Communities can cooperate to ensure successful running of the project but the resulting deed restricted property MUST become the possession of the community of jurisdiction upon completion. This program is completely reactionary to a disaster that has already occurred and since the damage is fully on the minds of the property owners, it is a good time to do mitigation outreach.

How It Works
The first thing required for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding is a federally declared disaster. During the course of response and recovery, 15% of the cost of the overall disaster gets allocated for HMGP. Further, the federal government will provide only 75% of the funding for mitigation leaving states or communities responsible for the other 25% non-federal share of that cost. West Virginia has stepped up to the plate in ways that other states have not in providing that non-federal cost share so that communities do not have to worry about it. Project planning starts from the beginning with the targeting of certain structures that would be likely candidates for mitigation. After six months from the date of declaration, the State will know how much money is available for that disaster's HMGP projects. It is at this time that the state will notify communities of the availability of HMGP funds and any community wishing to apply MUST return their completed applications with all supporting documentation before the designated ending date. Once the state has the returned applications, they must prioritize the projects in accordance with the State Hazard Mitigation Plan and ensure that the projects meet all program requirements (are cost effective, meet environmental and historical laws, have other agency clearance, etc.) and forwards those to FEMA for review and approval. To further complicate the program, the state has only one year (with the possibility of two ninety day extensions for good cause) to submit those eligible applications to FEMA. Any money not obligated to projects after that time becomes unavailable for further obligation. It is for this reason that the state will typically set a deadline for applications the month prior  to the actual FEMA deadline. All applying communities will be assigned a state project officer who will assist them in the process.
This program has a 75/25% cost share.

 

Flood Mitigation Assistance
Building on the success of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Congress saw the need to provide a mechanism that wasn't reactionary to disasters. They did this by enacting the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 modifying the underlying act that created all the disaster programs. The Robert T. Stafford Act was modified to include mitigation for reduction of repetitive flood insurance claims as well as creating a non-disaster funded yearly allocation for mitigation projects. The first of these programs was the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program which has its funding source being the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). It was intended to reduce those structures that have repetitive flood claims from the rolls as well as provide technical assistance to states to address flood insurance specific issues. The requirements for an FMA application were an approved Hazard Mitigation  plan and a known repetitive flood claim property. West Virginia meets the FMA planning requirement as long as the community plan is valid.
This program has a 90/10% cost share.
 

 

Severe Reptitve Loss Program
The SRL program is meant to address those properties that have been identified as having severe flood insurance claims. The definition of SRL is as follows:
Definition: The definition of severe repetitive loss as applied to this program was established in  section 1361A of the National Flood Insurance Act, as amended (NFIA), 42 U.S.C. 4102a.   An SRL property is defined as a residential property that is covered under an NFIP flood insurance policy and:

(a)  That has at least four NFIP claim payments (including building and contents) over $5,000 each, and the cumulative amount of such claims payments exceeds $20,000; or

(b)  For which at least two separate claims payments (building payments only) have been made with the cumulative amount of the building portion of such claims exceeding the market value of the building.

For both (a) and (b) above, at least two of the referenced claims must have occurred within any ten-year period, and must be greater than 10 days apart.

Purpose: To reduce or eliminate claims under the NFIP through project activities that will result in the greatest savings to the National Flood Insurance Fund (NFIF).

Federal / Non-Federal cost share:  90 / 10 %; funding for projects approved in States, Territories, and Federally-recognized Indian tribes with FEMA-approved Standard or Enhanced Mitigation Plans or Indian tribal plans that include a strategy for mitigating existing and future SRL properties.

Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM)
Pre-Disaster Mitigation (referenced as PDM in other areas of this document)
is a program that is allocated each year and is not linked to a disaster.
It is a competitive program in that every state/community within the Nation is judged on its feasability, cost, benefit, and several other factors.
Project awards are granted on the strengths of the projects.
These projects have a 75/25% cost share.

Repetitve Flood Claims (RFC)
RFC is meant to address Repetitive Flood Claims against the NFIP. Like the SRL, this is a claims based program and like SRL this too is funded by the NFIP. The program is defined by FEMA as:

Project Grants to implement measures to reduce flood losses, such as elevation, acquisition, or relocation of NFIP-insured structures. States are encouraged to prioritize FMA funds for applications that include repetitive loss properties; these include structures with 2 or more losses each with a claim of at least $1,000 within any ten-year period since 1978.
This program also has a 90/10% cost share.




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