USA - Biden-Harris Administration Announces Second Round of Funding to Mitigate Repetitive Flooding

WASHINGTON -- Today, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell announced the availability of another $300 million in Swift Current funding to help property owners across the nation become more resilient to flooding.

This funding opportunity is the second time that FEMA is using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Swift Current, which is a sub-program of FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Program. Swift Current makes homes safer and more resilient for National Flood Insurance Program policyholders with repetitively flooded properties.

“Now more than ever, it is critical that we work with local governments to protect our homes and communities from the flooding events that we see intensifying across the country due to climate change,” said Administrator Criswell. “Thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are able to build off the success of the first round of Swift Current funding to make even more communities flood resilient and reduce suffering after disasters.”

Swift Current aims to speed up the award of Flood Mitigation Assistance funding to reduce the damage-repair cycle of repetitively flooded or substantially damaged properties. Rather than through the annual grant cycles, Swift Current provides resiliency dollars for properties insured through the NFIP as quickly and equitably as possible after a flood disaster event.  

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Examples of projects eligible for this funding include property acquisition and demolition, elevation and relocation. To be eligible, buildings must be insured through the National Flood Insurance Program.

For the first Swift Current announcement in 2022, FEMA allocated a total of $60 million to Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- all affected by Hurricane Ida -- to equitably expedite mitigation grants to disaster survivors with repetitively flooded homes. As of Nov. 7, 2023, a total of 326 properties across the four states have benefited from the initiative, making their communities more resilient to flooding -- the nation’s most common natural disaster.

For this announcement, FEMA expanded criteria so more places could benefit. Applicants will be eligible if they meet two criteria:

1.) They must have received a major disaster declaration for a flood-related disaster event between June 1, 2023 - May 31, 2024. Flood-related disaster events include coastal storms, hurricanes, remnants of hurricanes, and floods.

2.) One of the following criteria must also be met:

• The applicant -- state, Tribe or territory -- has at least $1 million in prior National Flood Insurance Program claims from June 1, 2022, to the major disaster declaration date until May 31, 2024.
• The applicant -- state, Tribe or territory -- has 500 or more National Flood Insurance Program claims in a declared flood-related disaster event from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2024.
• The applicant is a U.S. territory or a federally recognized Tribal government participating in the National Flood Insurance Program.  

If the applicant does not meet the eligibility criteria above, they may be approved through a special consideration for Swift Current to the FEMA regional administrator.

FEMA will work with states, Tribes and territories to explore their participation during this cycle. Potential applicants who have questions may contact their FEMA regional office.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $3.5 billion in Flood Mitigation Assistance grants over five years. As part of this funding, Swift Current will help communities reduce flood damage and comply with local community requirements. Swift Current advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

In alignment with the Flood Mitigation Assistance annual grant program, Swift Current provides more equitable access to mitigation grants through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is offering tailored pre-application support to disadvantaged communities that often face challenges meeting their non-federal match.

The application period opens on Nov. 15, 2023, and the last eligible disaster declaration date is May 31, 2024. The funding opportunity is available on Grants.gov.

All applications must be submitted in the Mitigation eGrants system and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application deadline date will be provided to the applicant. Applications received by FEMA after the deadline will not be considered for funding.  

For more information, interested subapplicants should contact their state or territory hazard mitigation officer.