Technical Assistance Available for FEMA Resilience & Hazard Mitigation Planning Grants

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced technical assistance for pre-disaster hazard mitigation and climate preparedness, including grants for smaller municipalities.  The deadline to submit a letter of Interest is this Friday, January 28 by 3:00 p.m. Communities that should apply for this technical assistance include: 

• Those with a desire to increase their capacity and capability to conduct mitigation activities,
• Looking to increase resilience to natural hazards  
• Those that need help identifying projects that will reduce risk
• Communities that need support developing or submitting a BRIC application  

One steady funding source that has emerged in the last two years is the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) from FEMA which supports states, local communities, tribes, and territories and they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards.

FEMA has created the BRIC Direct Technical Assistance (DTA) program to help smaller communities and those with less staff capacity with free advice and support. This program was designed for eligible communities who need support in developing resilience capacity and are interested in applying for BRIC and other resilience grant funding.  A Letter of Interest for the BRIC DTA program is due on January 28, 2022. This free technical assistance will last for up to 36 months.  

The fund’s guiding principles include supporting communities through capacity-building, encouraging and enabling innovation, promoting partnerships, enabling large projects, maintaining flexibility, and providing consistency.

The deadline to submit a Letter of Interest is this Friday at 3 p.m. There is no required format for the letter, the 1 or 2-page Letter of Interest should include the following:    

• Community point of contact name, position, email, address and phone number; 
• Description of the community’s need for Direct Technical Assistance;  
• Description of the community’s capacity to assist in the DTA activity, including committed staff; and
• Objectives and timelines, including the duration (up to 36 months) of technical assistance.   

Completed letters of interest should be emailed to FEMA-BRICDirectTechnicalAssistance@fema.dhs.gov.