Planning for Drought Resilience from FEMA

The DHSEM Mitigation and Recovery Staff forwarded this information from our partners at FEMA to share with our stakeholders.  This information will be applicable to many as DHSEM begins the applicatoin process for FEMA's Pre-Disaster Migitation and Flood Mitigation Assistance Grants.  Learn more about Planning for Drought Resilience by following the links below.  To learn about mitigating drought, read the “Planning for Drought Resilience Fact Sheet”. To learn more about these project types, visit “Mitigating Flood and Drought Conditions Under Hazard Mitigation Assistance.”  To learn more about various Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) project types, visit the “Hazard Mitigation Assistance Mitigation Activity Chart.”

About “Mitigation Minute” This series is provided by FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Division. The “Mitigation Minute” contains a weekly fact about grants and resources provided across the country to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards.

DHSEM Accepting Grant Applications for Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Flood Mitigation Assistance

Grant Application Period Open

FEMA has formally announced the FY 2017 PDM and FMA grants. These nationally competitive grants provide mitigation funding on a cost share basis to local communities for the completion of eligible, cost effective mitigation projects. FEMA’s announcements state that $90 million and $150 million have been allocated to the PDM and FMA programs for FY 2017 respectively.

• Eligible project types include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Hazard mitigation planning
• Localized flood control to protect critical facilities
• Wildfire mitigation (to include hazard fuels reduction, defensible space and ignition-resistant construction)
• Floodwater storage and diversion
• Floodplain and stream restoration
• Property acquisition and demolition in high hazard areas
• Water and sanitary sewer system protective measures
• Utility protective measures
• Community safe room construction

Additional information available on our Grant Announcements page under the 2017 Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) and Flood Mitigation Assistance tab.
Grant Priorities

Detailed information is posted on our PDM and FMA Program Grant Priorties tab under the Grants tab. A summary of important dates is listed below:
Grant Subapplication Submission Timelines (applicable to both PDM and FMA grants)

FEMA will be opening eGrants to prospective applicants August 14, 2017. Applicants are required to develop preliminary applications in DHSEM’s EMGrants system prior to this date. DHSEM has replicated the FEMA eGrants application in EMGrants to avoid duplication of effort prior to FEMA making applications available in eGrants. Completion of a project/plan application in EMGrants will facilitate the application completion process in eGrants.

Draft subapplications in eGrants are due to the State by October 18, 2017. The compressed timeline suggests that the most competitive projects will be those in alignment with Federal program priorities, previously scoped, in pre-design, and with a well-established cost estimate. Below are the important DHSEM deadlines:

• July 28, 2017:  EMGrants Preliminary Application due to DHSEM via EMGrants
• August 18, 2017:  Draft Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) Submitted to DHSEM for Review
• October 18, 2017:  Draft Applications Submitted to DHSEM in eGrants
• November 10, 2017:  State Application Completed in eGrants and Submitted to FEMA
• January 30, 2018:  FEMA Identifies Sub-Applications for Further Review (estimated date)

Procurement Training for FEMA Grant Recipients

FEMA is hosting two webinars regarding procurements under FEMA awards and requirements for Recipients and subrecipients when procuring services and supplies with funding under Stafford Act grant programs (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program [HMGP] and Pre-Disaster Mitigation [PDM]). This information will also apply to Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) awards.

The webinar will cover requirements set forth in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR 200) so that participants can identify and avoid potential violations of the Federal procurement requirements. Violations of the Federal procurement requirements can result in reduced Federal grant funding.

The goal of the webinar is to reduce applicant violations of the Federal procurement regulations by training participants on the Federal procurement requirements set forth at 2 CFR Sections 200.317 through 200.326.

Topics include:

• overview and use of contracts by Recipients and subrecipients
• procurement by a tribal, state, local governments, hospitals, institutions of higher education and other nonprofit organizations
• competition
• methods of procurement
• cost or price analysis
• contractor bonding requirements; and
• contract provisions.

The webinar content and log-in information is the same for both sessions. Closed captioning will be provided.

Dates and Time:

April 13th - 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Mountain Time or
Call in number 1-800-320-4330; participant code 830172
URL https://fema.connectsolutions.com/grant_procurement_requirements

April 21st - 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time
Call in number 1-800-320-4330; participant code 271609
URL https://fema.connectsolutions.com/grant_procurement_requirements

Existing resources related to procurement include:

• Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Guidance 2015 Part III.D.3

• HMA Procurement Standards Job Aid This Job Aid describes the procurement standards for non-Federal entities that obtain property and services under a Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Federal award. Procurement includes the selection, award, and administration of contracts.

• Using Contract Support to prepare applications After FEMA’s adoption of procurement regulations in 2 CFR 200, FEMA received several questions regarding the use of contract support in preparing subapplications. This document presents eight common Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) application development scenarios and provides guidelines to address procurement issues related to non-Federal entity use of contracted support for the development of HMA application elements.

• Cost Estimating Principles for HMA Project Applications This document provides principles for Applicants to use when determining cost estimates using reasonable cost and price analysis approaches.

DHSEM Accepting NOIs for Hazard Mitigation Assistance

The Colorado DHSEM Mitigation Team is now accepting Notice of Intent (NOI) forms for the FY15 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance(link is external) grants, including the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM(link is external))  and Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA).(link is external) These grants represent an opportunity to improve a community’s ability to mitigate natural hazards and reduce potential impacts on citizens, property and local economies. NOIs will be evaluated for eligibility and alignment with HMA program priorities as laid out in the fact sheets linked below. The Mitigation Team will invite jurisdictions to complete a full grant application as appropriate. 

FEMA Program Grant Announcements

• HMA Fact Sheet(link is external)
• Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program(link is external)
• Flood Mitigation Assistance Program(link is external)
• Flood Mitigation Assistance Program Fact Sheet(link is external)

Timeline

Similar to last year, the timeline for application development is significantly shorter than in previous years. The compressed timeline suggests that the most competitive projects will be those in alignment with Federal program priorities, previously scoped, in pre-design, and with a well-established cost estimate. 

June 12, 2015	Notice of Intent forms due to DHSEM
June 19, 2015	Notice of Intent reviews complete
July 24, 2015	Benefit-Cost Analysis complete
August 14, 2015	Subapplications completed in eGrants
August 28, 2015	State application completed in eGrants and submitted to FEMA

Please take a thorough look at the program webpages and grants.gov sites as linked above, as well as the FY15 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance(link is external). FEMA in 2015 has also provided an addendum that helps to clarify some of the changes to the Guidance FY15 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance Addendum(link is external)

Please fill out the NOI that represents the intent of your specific project.

Visit the DHSEM website for the NOI forms.