Mitigation Grant Programs

Mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management. It's the ongoing effort to lessen the impact disasters have on people and property. Mitigation involves keeping homes away from floodplains, engineering bridges to withstand earthquakes, creating and enforcing effective building codes to protect property from hurricanes -- and more.

FEMA currently has three mitigation grant programs: the Hazards Mitigation Grant Program (HGMP), the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program (PDM), and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program.

Hazards Mitigation Grant Program (HGMP)

Authorized under Section 404 of the Stafford Act, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides grants to States and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The purpose of the program is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.declaration. The purpose of the program is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding is only available in States following a Presidential disaster declaration. Eligible applicants are:

• State and local governments
• Indian tribes or other tribal organizations
• Certain private non-profit organization

Individual homeowners and businesses may not apply directly to the program; however a community may apply on their behalf. HMGP funds may be used to fund projects that will reduce or eliminate the losses from future disasters. Projects must provide a long-term solution to a problem, for example, elevation of a home to reduce the risk of flood damages as opposed to buying sandbags and pumps to fight the flood. In addition, a project's potential savings must be more than the cost of implementing the project. Funds may be used to protect either public or private property or to purchase property that has been subjected to, or is in danger of, repetitive damage. Additional HMGP information is located within the Multihazard pages.

Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program

FMA provides funding to assist States and communities in implementing measures to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manufactured homes, and other structures insurable under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). There are three types of grants available under FMA: Planning, Project, and Technical Assistance Grants. FMA Planning Grants are available to States and communities to prepare Flood Mitigation Plans. NFIP-participating communities with approved Flood Mitigation Plans can apply for FMA Project Grants. FMA Project Grants are available to States and NFIP participating communities to implement measures to reduce flood losses. Ten percent of the Project Grant is made available to States as a Technical Assistance Grant. These funds may be used by the State to help administer the program. Communities receiving FMA Planning and Project Grants must be participating in the NFIP. A few examples of eligible FMA projects include: the elevation, acquisition, and relocation of NFIP-insured structures. Additional information can be read on the Mitigation Planning pages.

Funding for the program is provided through the National Flood Insurance Fund, and FMA is funded at $20 million nationally.

States are encouraged to prioritize FMA project grant applications that include repetitive loss properties. The FY 2001 FMA emphasis encourages States and communities to address target repetitive loss properties identified in the Agency's Repetitive Loss Strategy. These include structures with four or more losses, and structures with 2 or more losses where cumulative payments have exceeded the property value. State and communities are also encouraged to develop Plans that address the mitigation of these target repetitive loss properties.

Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program

The Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program provides technical and financial assistance to States and local governments for cost-effective pre-disaster hazard mitigation activities that complement a comprehensive mitigation program, and reduce injuries, loss of life, and damage and destruction of property. FEMA provides grants to States and Federally recognized Indian tribal governments that, in turn, provide sub-grants to local governments (to include Indian Tribal governments) for mitigation activities such as planning and the implementation of projects identified through the evaluation of natural hazards.