FMA Grant: $600M for Flood Mitigation via State Pass-Through (FY 2024)

FEMA's FY 2024 Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program — amended and re-opened April 30, 2026 — makes $600 million available across three project tiers with an August 6, 2026 deadline. FEMA plans 40 direct awards to states, tribes, and territories, distributing an estimated 725 subawards to cities, counties, special districts, townships, and tribes. Every FMA dollar has to land on an NFIP-insured structure, in an NFIP-participating community, and inside a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan. For local governments with repetitive-loss inventory, this is a rare 100%-federal-cost-share opportunity — but only for structures that meet FMA's specific Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) definition.

What Is FY 2024 FMA?

FMA is FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant program dedicated exclusively to reducing flood damage to structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). It was authorized by Section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 4104c), with FY 2024 funding drawn from the DHS Appropriations Act, 2024 (Pub. L. 118-47) and Division J, Title V of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58).

The important context: this is the FY 2024 appropriations round, amended April 22, 2026, and still open in July 2026 because the application period opened only on April 30, 2026. If you're accustomed to FMA closing in the fall, this timing is unusual — and it means the FY 2025 and FY 2026 rounds are still ahead. Applicants coming to FMA for the first time in 2026 are working from a re-opened prior-year NOFO, not the current fiscal year.

How FMA Differs from BRIC

FMA is often confused with FEMA's BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) program because both fund mitigation. The distinction matters for scoping:

• FMA targets flood risk to NFIP-insured buildings and structures. Every subapplication must benefit specific NFIP-insured properties, and the priority scoring rewards NFIP policyholders, Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties, and CRS/CTP participation.
• BRIC is broader — all natural hazards, community-scale resilience, capability building, and infrastructure projects that don't have to be tied to individual NFIP structures.

If your project protects a community's water system, wastewater plant, or public buildings from any hazard, that's a BRIC conversation. If it addresses repetitive flooding of specific NFIP-insured homes or business properties — and the community participates in NFIP — FMA is where the money is.

Who Can Apply

FMA eligibility is layered. Only four entity types can apply directly to FEMA:

• State governments
• District of Columbia
• U.S. Territory (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands)
• Federally recognized Indian/Native American Tribal Governments

Each state, territory, DC, and tribe designates one agency as its FMA applicant and submits one FMA grant application per cycle. That designated agency is typically the State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) or equivalent tribal office.

Where Local Governments Fit

Cities, townships, counties, special districts, and tribes that don't apply directly to FEMA are considered subapplicants. Their work — project scoping, mitigation plans, localized flood risk reduction projects, individual flood mitigation projects — is packaged into their state's or tribe's FMA application.

Eligible subapplicant types:

• City or Township
• County
• Special District (regional flood control districts, drainage districts, water conservation districts, etc.)
• Federally recognized Indian/Native American Tribal Government (choosing to apply as a subapplicant)

The NOFO specifically notes that a special district (like a regional flood control district) may act as a subapplicant on behalf of a broader NFIP community if it provides the community's zoning, building code enforcement, or planning services. That opens the door for regional entities to consolidate multi-jurisdictional subapplications where individual cities lack capacity.

Threshold Requirements Every Subapplicant Must Meet

• NFIP participation: The community must be participating in the NFIP and not be withdrawn, on probation, or suspended. Community status is verifiable in the NFIP Community Status Book.
• FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan: Applicants (state/tribe) need a current standard or enhanced FEMA-approved state or tribal plan under 44 CFR Part 201 by both the application deadline and the time of obligation. Subapplicants need a current FEMA-approved local or tribal plan — except for C&CB mitigation-plan subapplications, which are exempt.
• NFIP-insured structures for individual projects: Every structure in an Individual Flood Mitigation Project subapplication must have an NFIP policy in effect before the application period opened (April 30, 2026), and the policy must be maintained for the life of the structure.

The Three FMA Tiers and What They Fund

FMA doesn't run a single pool. It runs three separate priority tiers with distinct scoring rubrics, per-subapplication caps, and cost-share rules. FEMA selects subapplications in order: C&CB → Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects → Individual Flood Mitigation Projects until the $600 million is committed.

Tier 1: Capability and Capacity Building Activities (up to $60M)

C&CB activities fund the work that enables future flood mitigation projects. Four sub-categories, in FEMA's own priority order:

• Mitigation Plans (42 U.S.C. § 4104c(c)(3)(F)) — up to $50,000 per state mitigation plan and $25,000 per local mitigation plan. Maximum $100,000 per applicant. This is the fastest route into FMA for a jurisdiction that lacks a current FEMA-approved local plan.
• Technical Assistance by States to Communities (42 U.S.C. § 4104c(c)(3)(J)) — up to $50,000 per applicant. Only available to applicants that received an FY 2023 FMA award of at least $1 million federal cost share.
• Project Scoping — up to $900,000 federal cost share per subapplicant. Funds data-gathering, feasibility analysis, and preparation of future Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project or Individual Flood Mitigation Project subapplications. Requires a geospatial file (shapefile, KML/KMZ, geodatabase, or census tract list) delineating the benefiting area. FY 2024 project-scoping subapplications are not eligible to convert into FY 2024 project funding — scoping seeds future rounds.
• Additional C&CB Activities — up to $300,000 per subapplicant. Covers partnership development, floodplain management enhancement, SRL/RL strategy development, substantial damage procedures, and similar activities under 42 U.S.C. § 4104c(c)(3)(G).

C&CB cost share is 75% federal. Mitigation plans and technical assistance are funded on eligibility (no scoring). Project scoping and Additional C&CB are scored on:

• RL Strategy with Substantial Damage Procedures: 5 points if the activity includes a comprehensive RL strategy that includes substantial damage procedures
• CRS Participation: 3 points if the subapplicant participates in FEMA's Community Rating System
• CTP Participation: 3 points if the subapplicant is a Cooperating Technical Partner

Tie-breaker for C&CB: total dollars in NFIP claims paid in the subapplicant's jurisdiction over the past 5 years.

Tier 2: Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects (up to $420M)

This is the biggest pool by dollars — and, in practice, the most competitive. Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects address community-scale flood risk in a way that benefits specific NFIP-insured structures. Eligible examples from the NOFO:

• Localized flood control
• Floodwater storage and diversion
• Floodplain and stream restoration
• Stormwater management
• Wetland restoration and creation

Cap: $50 million federal cost share per subapplication.

Cost share: Up to 75% federal.

Every subapplication must include a geospatial file delineating: the project footprint, the benefiting area (with hydrologic and hydraulic modeling where available — Phase I projects excepted), and the active NFIP policies inside the benefiting area.

Scoring is priority-based, cumulative, and (in the case of ties) broken by total NFIP claims paid in the benefiting area over the past 5 years:

A subapplication with 100 NFIP policies (200 points), a mix of SRL/RL structures (say 150 points), $1M+ in recent claims (100 points), CRS participation (25 points), and CTP participation (25 points) can top 500 points before considering the C&CB origin bonus. That's the target profile for a competitive Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project subapplication.

Tier 3: Individual Flood Mitigation Projects (at least $120M)

Individual Flood Mitigation Projects mitigate flood risk to specific NFIP-insured structures. This is where the highest federal cost shares live — but only for structures that meet FMA's precise definitions.

Threshold: The project must mitigate flood damage to at least 75% of structures that meet FMA and/or NFIP SRL/RL definitions.

Cost share tiers (per structure, applicable only to FMA-defined SRL/RL):

• Up to 100% federal cost share for FMA-defined SRL properties — buildings with 4+ NFIP claims payments (each exceeding $5,000, cumulative exceeding $20,000), OR 2+ claims payments with cumulative exceeding the market value of the structure
• Up to 90% federal cost share for FMA-defined RL properties — buildings with flood damage on two occasions where each event's repair cost averaged at least 25% of market value, with ICC coverage at the second event
• Up to 75% federal cost share otherwise (including NFIP-defined SRL/RL that don't meet the FMA definitions)

The distinction between FMA-defined SRL/RL and NFIP-defined SRL/RL is easy to miss and consequential. The 100% and 90% cost shares only apply to the FMA-defined categories; documentation demonstrating the structures meet the FMA definitions must be submitted with the subapplication.

Individual Flood Mitigation Project priority scoring:

• Substantial Damage: 10 points per substantially-damaged structure (50%+ of market value in repair costs), no cap. Requires a community substantial damage determination within 5 years of the application deadline plus a verification letter.
• FMA- and NFIP-defined SRL and RL Properties: up to 30 points (30 if >35% of properties in the subapplication are SRL or RL; 15 if 25%–35%)
• FMA C&CB Origin: 20 points if the project was generated from a previous FMA award

FEMA may rank a subapplication lower if the average elevation federal cost share exceeds $250,000 per single-dwelling unit or if the acquisition federal cost share exceeds $750,000 per unit. FEMA also prioritizes single-family dwellings with building value below $750,000 (replacement cost value, actual cash value, or assessed market value) to maximize the count of structures mitigated.

What FMA Cannot Fund

The NOFO is explicit about unallowable activities:

• Activities not tied to reducing NFIP-insured flood damage
• Non-localized flood risk reduction (as defined in the HMA Guide)
• Exercise-related costs
• Operational overtime
• Costs not tied to approved mitigation activities
• Personal use of goods, entertainment expenses, excessive administrative costs
• Matching or cost-share requirements for other federal grants (2 C.F.R. § 200.306) — FMA funds cannot be used as match on another federal award
• Lobbying activities (18 U.S.C. § 1913; 2 C.F.R. § 200.450)
• Prosecuting claims against the federal government (2 C.F.R. § 200.435)

Management & Administration Costs

M&A costs are governed by 44 CFR § 77.7.

• Applicants: up to 10% of the total federal and non-federal costs of all subapplications
• Subapplicants: up to 5% of their total subapplication costs
• Total M&A cannot exceed 15% of the award combined

M&A eligible activities include subapplication solicitation and review, subapplication development and BCA (benefit-cost analysis), geocoding of hazard mitigation projects identified for further review, plan reviews and training, quarterly reporting and Go/No-Go milestone management, site visits, equipment/travel/professional development directly tied to HMA implementation, and staff salaries for direct HMA support work.

Application Contents and Format

Required Standard Forms (Submit via FEMA GO)

• SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
• Grants.gov Lobbying Form (Certification Regarding Lobbying)
• SF-424A (Budget Information — Non-Construction) — or SF-424C (Budget Information — Construction) for construction activities
• SF-424B (Standard Assurances — Non-Construction) — or SF-424D (Standard Assurances — Construction)
• SF-LLL (Disclosure of Lobbying Activities)

Subapplication Types in FEMA GO

FEMA GO uses seven distinct subapplication types — use the right one or the subapplication may be misclassified:

• plan — for mitigation plans (state or local)
• technical assistance — states to communities
• project scoping — project scoping and additional C&CB activities
• project — Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project and Individual Flood Mitigation Project
• management costs — applicant M&A

NEPA and Benefit-Cost Analysis Requirements

Hazard mitigation project subapplications (Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project and Individual Flood Mitigation Project) must provide the NEPA information required by DHS Directive 023-01, DHS Instruction Manual 023-01-001-01, FEMA Directive 108-1, and FEMA Instruction 108-1-1. All hazard mitigation project subapplications must use FEMA-approved Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) methodologies — typically the BCA Toolkit — to demonstrate cost-effectiveness. See HMA Guide, Part 5: Cost-Effectiveness for further guidance.

Registration Prerequisites

Applicants must be current with:

• UEI number and EIN — see our UEI number guide
• Active SAM.gov registration
• login.gov account (linked to SAM.gov by shared email)
• FEMA GO account with Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) established

FEMA advises the registration process can take up to four weeks. Late registration is not good cause for a deadline extension.

Selection Process

1. Eligibility and completeness review. FEMA screens each subapplication against threshold criteria and application criteria.
2. Financial integrity review. Per the Payment Integrity Information Act (Pub. L. 116-117), 41 U.S.C. § 2313, and the Do Not Pay Initiative (31 U.S.C. § 3354). Includes financial stability, management systems quality, past performance history, audit findings, and ability to implement requirements.
3. Supplemental financial integrity review for awards expected to exceed $350,000. Includes SAM.gov responsibility/qualification records; applicants may review and comment before the risk review.
4. Tier-by-tier scoring. FEMA scores and selects subapplications within each priority tier per the rubrics above.
5. Selection status assignment. Each subapplication receives one of three statuses:
   • Identified for Further Review (IFFR) — selected, within available funding. FEMA retains discretion based on agency priorities, program priorities, and geographic distribution.
   • Not Selected — eligible and complete but not funded within the tier.
   • Does Not Meet HMA Requirements — eligibility or completeness failure.

Reconsideration: Applicants or subapplicants (through their applicant) may request reconsideration of a Not Selected or Does Not Meet HMA Requirements status only for substantive technical or procedural error, within 60 days of the subapplication status posting. No reconsideration is available for amount of planning subapplications, applicant management costs, or technical assistance costs.

Post-Award Requirements

Award Acceptance

Recipients must accept awards within 30 days of the award date via FEMA GO. Funds remain on hold until the recipient accepts.

Reporting

• Federal Financial Report (SF-425): Quarterly, due January 30, April 30, July 30, and October 30 for the prior quarter. Final SF-425 due within 120 calendar days after the end of the period of performance.
• Performance Progress Report: Quarterly via FEMA GO, including progress toward Go/No-Go milestones. Due within 30 days from the end of each federal quarter.
• Single Audit: Required for recipients expending $1,000,000 or more in federal awards during their fiscal year, per 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart F.

Closeout

Recipients must submit final request for payment (if applicable), final SF-425, final progress report with an inventory of all construction projects, and a qualitative narrative summary within 120 days of the end of the period of performance. Pass-through entities are responsible for closing out their subawards within 90 days of the subaward period-end date.

Termination

The FY 2026 DHS Standard Terms and Conditions include broad termination authority. FEMA may terminate the federal award for noncompliance with terms and conditions, for convenience (including when the award no longer advances agency priorities or the national interest), or if FEMA determines — in its sole discretion — that the award objective or program design is ineffective at achieving program goals or is not aligned to the DHS or FEMA strategic plans. This is a meaningful change from earlier FMA cycles; recipients should plan project scoping and phasing with this authority in mind.

Preliminary Injunctions Affecting Terms and Conditions

The NOFO references three active preliminary injunctions that may exempt certain plaintiff jurisdictions from specific DHS Standard Terms and Conditions:

• County of Santa Clara et al. v. Noem, et al., No. 25-cv-08330-WHO (N.D. Cal.), issued November 21, 2025
• City of Chicago et al. v. Noem, et al., No. 25-CV-12765 (N.D. Ill.), issued November 21, 2025
• City of Seattle v. Trump, et al., No. 2:25-cv-01435-BJR (W.D. Wa.), issued October 31, 2025

Jurisdictions that are plaintiffs in any of these actions should read the DHS Standard Terms and Conditions section of the NOFO carefully — specific anti-discrimination and executive-order-related terms may not apply during the injunction period.

Practical Guidance for FY 2024 FMA Applicants

1. Start With Your State Hazard Mitigation Officer — This Week

Because only states, DC, territories, and tribes can submit directly, every local government FMA effort passes through the applicant's designated agency. That agency has its own internal subaward solicitation timeline, and those state deadlines typically run weeks ahead of the federal deadline. Contact your SHMO immediately if you're not already engaged. FEMA maintains the current State Hazard Mitigation Officer directory.

2. Confirm NFIP Community Status and Local Mitigation Plan Currency

Two hard threshold checks: (a) your community must be NFIP-participating and not withdrawn/probation/suspended, and (b) your local (or tribal) hazard mitigation plan must be current and FEMA-approved as of both the application deadline and the time of obligation. Check the NFIP Community Status Book and your plan expiration date before drafting anything else. If your local plan is expiring in the 2026–2027 window, the C&CB mitigation-plan subapplication ($25,000 federal cost share) is a fast route in.

3. Map Your NFIP-Insured Structures Against SRL/RL Definitions Precisely

The single biggest FMA scoring lever — and the difference between 75%, 90%, and 100% federal cost share on Individual Flood Mitigation Projects — is precise property classification against the FMA definitions (42 U.S.C. § 4104c(h)(3) for SRL and 42 U.S.C. § 4121(a)(7) for RL). Pull NFIP claim histories for candidate structures and match them to each definition before deciding cost-share strategy. FMA-defined SRL and RL structures are worth substantially more per-property in scoring than NFIP-defined SRL/RL.

4. Consider Project Scoping Now Even if the Real Project is FY 2025 or FY 2026

Project scoping subapplications (up to $900,000 per subapplicant) can fund the technical work — feasibility analysis, BCA, hydrologic/hydraulic modeling, geospatial mapping — that makes a future Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project competitive. FY 2024 project scoping does not convert into FY 2024 project funding, but a scoping award creates a documented lineage that yields 50 additional points on a future Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project subapplication and 20 additional points on a future Individual Flood Mitigation Project. It's the highest-leverage way for a jurisdiction without shovel-ready projects to enter the FMA pipeline.

5. Join CRS and CTP if You Aren't Already

Community Rating System participation and Cooperating Technical Partners status both directly score in FMA (3 points on C&CB, 25 points on Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project). CRS also independently reduces NFIP flood insurance premiums by up to 45% for policyholders. Neither is a fast onramp — but if a jurisdiction anticipates FMA activity across multiple cycles, both are worth pursuing.

6. Bundle Your High-Claims and SRL Structures for Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project Scoring

The Localized Flood Risk Reduction Project scoring rubric rewards volume: NFIP policy count (2 points per policy up to 200), SRL/RL properties (5–10 points each up to 175), and the flat 100-point High Claims Resilience bonus for jurisdictions with $1M+ in NFIP claims paid in the 12 months before the deadline. The competitive strategy is to define a benefiting area that concentrates all three — not a scatter of individual sites.

7. Get Your BCA Right — It Is Not Optional

Every hazard mitigation project subapplication must demonstrate cost-effectiveness using FEMA-approved BCA methodology. The BCA Toolkit is FEMA's standard. Contact FEMA's BC Helpline (BCHelpline@fema.dhs.gov) early if the project is large or complex. A subapplication that fails BCA is a subapplication that doesn't get funded.

8. Environmental and Historic Preservation Compliance Starts Now

All activities where a mitigated structure remains (elevation, mitigation reconstruction, floodproofing, etc.) must be designed to NFIP standards in 44 CFR Part 60 and the most recent ASCE 24 edition, and stated as such in the scope of work. FEMA Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (OEHP) reviews are a common bottleneck — email FEMA-OEHP-NOFOQuestions@fema.dhs.gov with any threshold questions.

Contact Information

• Program Contact: Contact your FEMA Regional Office or State Hazard Mitigation Officer
• HMA Helpline: fema-hmahelpline@fema.dhs.gov
• Benefit-Cost Analysis Helpline: BCHelpline@fema.dhs.gov
• Building Science Helpline: FEMA-BuildingScienceHelp@fema.dhs.gov
• Environmental Planning & Historic Preservation: FEMA-OEHP-NOFOQuestions@fema.dhs.gov
• FEMA Grants News: fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov or (800) 368-6498
• FEMA GO Helpdesk: femago@fema.dhs.gov or (877) 585-3242
• Program Website: FEMA.gov — Flood Mitigation Assistance

How Avila Can Help

FMA has an unusual profile for a $600M program: only states, tribes, DC, and territories submit; local governments are subapplicants working on state timelines that run ahead of the federal one; every project has to tie back to specific NFIP-insured structures under specific FMA statutory definitions; scoring is priority-based within tiered pools; and BCA plus NEPA compliance are non-negotiable. The result is a coordination-heavy application with real technical requirements and a hard August 6 deadline just three weeks out.

Avila's AI-powered platform helps state hazard mitigation offices and local subapplicants work FMA efficiently:

• Parsing the NOFO and mapping every threshold, cost-share tier, and scoring criterion to a required deliverable
• Classifying candidate NFIP-insured structures against the FMA-defined SRL and RL definitions to maximize per-property scoring and cost share
• Coordinating subapplicant submissions across a state's regional flood control districts, cities, counties, and tribes
• Tracking SAM.gov / UEI / FEMA GO registration, local mitigation plan currency, NFIP community status, and CRS/CTP participation for every subapplicant
• Structuring project scoping subapplications now to seed FY 2025 and FY 2026 project rounds

Ready to explore how Avila can support your FY 2024 FMA application? Book a demo to learn more.

For related federal-grant guides, see our posts on BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities), the FY 2026 EMPG Program, and the FY 2026 SAFER Grant. For registration prerequisites, see SAM.gov registration, UEI numbers, and Grants.gov registration.