FEMA grant money is available through the Nevada Floodplain Management Program to assist state level agencies, federally recognized Indian Tribal governments, cities and counties with flood mitigation planning and projects. Grants are available through three FEMA flood mitigation grant programs: 1) Flood Mitigation Assistance program, 2) Repetitive Flood Claims program, and 3) Severe Repetitive Loss program. These three grants are part of the Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program in Nevada.
Grants from all three programs are administered on a cost-share basis, with FEMA typically contributing up to 75% of the total eligible costs. All applicants must be participating communities in good standing with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and must have adopted a FEMA-approved multi-hazard mitigation plan by the grant application deadline.
Click here for current year’s funding allocations for Nevada and grant deadlines.
Click here for FEMA’s web site and detailed information about flood mitigation grants.
For additional information about FEMA’s flood mitigation grants in Nevada, contact the Nevada Floodplain Management Program office.
Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program – The Flood Mitigation Assistance program provides Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funds for planning and project activities related to acquisition, elevation, or relocation of structures that experience repetitive losses from flooding.
FMA Planning Grants: Flood mitigation planning activities eligible for FMA funding should: identify high hazard flooding areas, identify the number and types of structures at risk, and identify and prioritize possible mitigation actions and potential actions.
FMA Project Grants: Project grants are available to communities that have an updated FEMA approved Flood Mitigation Plan in place. Eligible FMA project activities include acquisition and demolition or relocation of structures, with conversion of the underlying property to deed-restricted open space, elevation of existing structures, dry flood proofing of non-residential structures, and minor localized flood reduction projects.
FMA funds are allocated to the State annually, in contrast to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds which only become available following a declared disaster. FEMA’s target allocation to Nevada under the FMA program is based on the national percentage of NFIP policies present in the State. The State may apply for funding up to or exceeding its target allocation however there are no guarantees that funding above the target allocation would be made available.
Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) Program – The Repetitive Flood Claims program provides funding to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to Repetitive Loss Structures insured under the NFIP. A Repetitive Loss Structure is an NFIP insured structure that has had at least two paid flood losses of more than $1,000 each in any 10-year period since 1978. RFC funds may only mitigate structures that are located within a State or community that cannot meet the cost share or management capacity requirements of the FMA program. Eligible activities under the RFC program include acquisition and demolition or relocation of structures, with conversion of the underlying property to deed-restricted open space, elevation of existing structures, dry flood proofing of non-residential structures, and minor localized flood reduction projects. The RFC program is nationally competitive and FEMA awards will prioritize projects that create the greatest savings to the National Flood Insurance Fund.
Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) Program – The Severe Repetitive Loss program provides funding to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to Severe Repetitive Loss residential structures insured under the NFIP. A Severe Repetitive Loss structure is defined as a residential property that is covered under an NFIP insurance policy and:
(a) That has at least four NFIP claim payments (including building and contents) over $5,000 each, and the cumulative amount of each claims payments exceeds $20,000; or
(b) For which at least two separate claims payments (building payments only) have been made with the cumulative amount of the building portion of such claims exceeding the market value of the building.
For both (a) and (b) above, at least two of the referenced claims must have occurred within any ten-year period, and must be greater than 10 days apart.
Grants are available to communities that have an updated FEMA approved Flood Mitigation Plan in place. Eligible activities under the SRL program include acquisition and demolition or relocation of structures, with conversion of the underlying property to deed-restricted open space, elevation of existing structures, dry flood proofing of non-residential structures, and minor localized flood reduction projects. FEMA’s target allocation to Nevada under the SRL program is based on the national percentage of Severe Repetitive Loss properties present in the State. The State may apply for funding up to or exceeding its target allocation however there are no guarantees that funding above the target allocation would be made available.