FEMA Extends Deadline for Hazard Mitigation Grant Applications

“U.S. communities recovering from major natural disasters now have more time to apply for a resilience-focused grant program the Federal Emergency Management Agency offers in the wake of such events,” according to a Smart City Dive article by Ysabelle Kempe. In August, FEMA published a final rule extending the application window for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program from 12 months to 15 months, as well as the extension window from 180 days to 240 days. It will also allow FEMA to reopen closed application periods in certain cases, something that wasn’t previously possible.

State, local, tribal, and territorial governments that have experienced a federally declared major disaster are eligible to apply for the program, which provides support both to rebuild and mitigate future disaster impacts. “However, nearly 20% of the funds available through the program are left on the table, Victoria Salinas, FEMA’s associate administrator for resilience, wrote in an Aug. 15 LinkedIn post. She attributed the problem to the challenges posed by deadlines and how extensions were made,” Kempe reports. In addition to making it more feasible for governments to apply, the deadline extension is expected to reduce extension requests, which will reduce the administrative burdens for both the communities and the agency.

“The change is ‘a great example of an agency making small tweaks to a program based on stakeholder input’ and a move in the right direction, Melissa Roberts, founder and executive director of the American Flood Coalition, wrote in an Aug. 15 LinkedIn post,” according to the Smart Cities Dive article.