The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published two Notices of Funding Opportunity, making millions in federal funding available to help states and territories protect their communities from floods and earthquakes. Both floods and earthquakes can happen nearly anywhere with little warning, and they both can cause mass devastation to American communities. These funds demonstrate how FEMA is returning to its core mission: safeguarding the American people and increasing state, local, tribal and territorial capability to respond to and recover from disasters.
“With these funding opportunities, we are empowering states to take charge of their disaster preparedness,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of the FEMA Administrator David Richardson. “States and local governments know what their communities need, and they can use this money to get it. The more we build resilience at the state and local level, the more prepared our nation will be.”
The announcement comes after a critical evaluation of all grant programs and recipients to root out waste, fraud and abuse and deliver accountability for the American taxpayer. Unlike the previous administration, recipients of grants will no longer be permitted to use federal funds to house illegal immigrants at luxury hotels, fund climate change pet projects or empower radical organizations with unseemly ties that don’t serve the interest of the American people.
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 funding opportunity for the Community Assistance Program–State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) makes $15 million available to states and territories to help them manage their flood risk. In recent years, recipients of the CAP-SSSE grant have used this funding for various projects, including:
- Helping communities rebuild after major flooding, including the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
- Training local government officials on how to assess flood damage and submit claims for assistance, empowering them to manage disaster recovery.
- Developing resources to inform the public on what to do after a flood, helping individuals and families jumpstart their recovery.
The FY 2025 funding opportunity for the NEHRP Individual State Earthquake Assistance makes $2 million available to states and territories to help them protect against the impacts of earthquakes. In recent years, recipients of FEMA NEHRP Individual State Earthquake Assistance have used this funding for various projects, including:
- Mapping critical facilities—like police stations, fire departments, schools and medical facilities—located in high earthquake hazard areas to help local governments plan for how damaged facilities may impact their response.
- Exercises with first responder, law enforcement and other government agencies to help the state plan how to respond rapidly to save lives after an earthquake.
- Training for local government officials on how to identify and inspect earthquake risk to critical buildings and take steps to protect that infrastructure.
The application period for both these grant programs will open on Monday, July 28, at 9 a.m. ET and close on Monday, August 11, at 5 p.m. ET. All applications must be submitted in FEMA GO.
The original announcement can be found here.